Just a quick reminder folks, Joystiq is still giving away Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta invites every other day (in conjunction with GameDaily, who is giving them away every other other day). If you haven't made into the beta yet, you'd better hurry, as it's only open until the end of the month. And, with a new level cap that lets players unlock even more goodies, the beta is better than ever. Hell, you just might enjoy it more than waiting in line for Halo 3. If you'd like your shot at the beta, head over to the Joystiq giveaway post and enter.
Just a quick reminder folks. Joystiq has ten more Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta invites to give out today. Joystiq and GameDaily will be alternating the giveaway every day, so check GameDaily tomorrow for another shot if you don't win today. So, if you haven't made it into the beta yet (and you really should try, because, as I've just discovered, it's a total blast), head over to the official Joystiq giveaway post for your chance at modern warfare glory.
[Update: Oops. It seems we misread Joystiq's post. Turns out they're giving away 10 beta invites every day. So that's pretty good, huh?]
If you haven't made it into the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta yet, today is your lucky day. Actually, the next several days are also your lucky day, because Joystiq and GameDaily are giving out 10 beta invites a day. Joystiq and GameDaily will be alternating their giveaways everyday (beginning with Joystiq today, GameDaily tomorrow, Joystiq the next day, etc.) until they have no more Call of Duty love to give. Entering is so easy a caveman could do it, so head on over to the official Joystiq giveaway post for your shot at multiplayer glory (at least until September 30th).
Posted Sep 10th 2007 3:15PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
If you still aren't in the Call of Duty 4 beta and want to then we must ask why? It's not like you didn't have a chance a week ago when they let everyone who signed up in on the fun, you silly bum! But enough finger waiving and preaching, because you still have a chance to get in with the help of Gamespot. All this week Gamespot will be giving away CoD 4 beta tokens to registered members of their site. The tokens will be given away on a first come first serve basis (boy, that sounds familiar) with today's tokens being available at 12:00 noon eastern, so we doubt they have any left for today. Sorry about that. But tomorrow is another day and another chance for CoD 4 beta tokens. Don't be lazy, get over there and claim your token!
Earlier yesterday we mentioned that some users got into the Call of Duty 4 beta via a Gamertag recovery exploit and that those who did it were getting banned from Xbox Live for 24 hours. But, we guess that's not exactly the case. Major Nelson talked with the Xbox Live banhammer folks and confirmed with them that they are NOT banning tens of thousands of Gamertags specifically related to the beta exploit, but could and presumably are banning those who violate the Xbox Live terms of service agreement. See, according to Major this exploit technically violates said TOS agreement, so the banhammer team could ban your account if they are in the banning mood. Confused a little? Don't worry, we are too.
Breaking everything down we get that they are not banning 20,000+ Gamertags who did the CoD 4 beta exploit, but will ban those who they feel broke the TOS, which could be anyone who participated in the beta exploit. Ahh heck, stay safe in your Xbox Live adventures and learn from this little fiasco that those who don't play fair will have their conscience eat away at their soul forever ... or something like that.
Just arriving in our inbox a few minutes ago was a Call of Duty 4 beta update straight from Infinity Ward. In their update email (posted after the break) they confirmed that they are raising the rank level from 11 to 16 tomorrow morning around 10:00AM pacific (yippy!). The raise in the rank level cap will allow beta players to experience new perks and new features including clan tags which occur at level 12. The current rank level cap has been the only thing holding back current CoD 4 beta players' fun, so we're sure the increased leveling will add a new layer of excitement to the beta. Big w00t to rank level increase!
In other CoD 4 beta news, those around the world who've been waiting for their chance to get in on the beta will be allowed to do so soon. Infinity Ward announced that UK Live members will be able to join the beta this Friday simply by getting a clearance code from one of the various gaming websites listed and enter it online at the UK CoD 4 website. Also, both Australian and New Zealand Live members will get their chance at joining the beta tomorrow as well.
We're sure other countries already have received access (here's looking at you Italy) or will be joining soon, but honestly there's a lot of European countries to keep track of. So, we advise heading to your country's specific Call of Duty 4 website to get your specific details when it comes to beta facts. Phew ... we'll see you online.
Posted Sep 6th 2007 11:30AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
A few days back an exploit was discovered allowing anyone to download the Call of Duty 4 beta as long as they could get someone who was already in the beta to recover their Gamertag on a different console. Well, that exploit has since been fixed and is ineffective for getting beta access, but those who used it aren't walking away free and clear.
Xbox-Scene is reporting that their internal Microsoft source has confirmed with them that over 23,000 consoles have downloaded the the CoD 4 beta via the exploit and that Microsoft is punishing those users. Supposedly, anyone who used this exploit will be banned from Xbox Live for a 24 hour period due to violating the terms of service agreement. In effect, the Live ban is more of a slap on the metaphorical wrist than a full scale Xbox Live ban.
We have yet to hear from or confirm these 24 hour Xbox Live lockouts, because we don't know of anyone who got in the CoD 4 beta via the Gamertag recovery exploit. But if these mini-bans turn out to be true, then we're sure the complaints will roll in soon enough.
Some new Call of Duty 4 beta news hit the newswire the other day with Infinity Ward reiterating that they are releasing 10,000 tokens a day to those who signed up on the site and that everything is moving along swimmingly. Infinity Ward also wanted to tell beta participants that the "Downloading Game Settings" glitch that some people have been experiencing has, for the most part, been fixed. Which is good, because heading back to the dashboard six times in a row just to start playing some CoD 4 kind of puts a damper on the fun. And finally it was announced that European countries will be getting their chance at the beta rather soon via CharlieOscarDelta.com or through various retail promotions. For example, UK store GAME is offering access into the beta if you pre-order the game at their stores.
That's all we have for CoD 4 beta updates, so now it's time to head back into the action. See you online.
[Thanks, Tangled Spider]
Read - CharlieOscarDelta Update
Read - Downloading Game Settings fixed
Posted Aug 30th 2007 10:00AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
If you remember a while back, Infinity Ward wanted to include the Call of Duty community in on the process of choosing a the box art for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, giving fans five different art samples and asking for their opinion. And last night, after gathering all the feedback and tweaking the designs, Infinity Ward ended up with the final design you see to the right. The winning design is based off of the "Charlie" concept (which was the best) blended with a touch of "Echo" for good measure. It's pretty isn't it?
A higher res picture of the final artwork can be found right here, so go analyze it, take it all in and pour over every colorful pixel, because from now on this community chosen CoD 4 box art will be referred to as the "Charlie hawtness". Go Charlie hawtness, go!
Posted Aug 29th 2007 4:15AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
If you signed up for the second wave of entry into the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta then boy oh boy do we have got great news for you.
As planned, Infinity Ward closed down the extended entry into the CoD 4 beta last night and prepared to send out entry tokens to a select random few. But soon after the sign up closed down we were informed of their new beta plans. Over on Fourzerotwo's blog he announced that, in an effort to apologize to the community for the last few days of craziness, Infinity Ward will be awarding CoD 4 multiplayer beta tokens to EVERY person who signed up. That's right, if you signed up for entry into the beta you are guaranteed a beta download token. Heck, your token could be sitting in your inbox right now. Fourzerotwo says that they'll be sending out beta tokens throughout the next few days, staggering the emails out a little bit so they can slowly ramp up the amount of beta participants. So, if you signed up and still haven't received your beta token, just be patient. You'll get it soon'ish. Oh, and Infinity Ward, we just want to say that you guys rock!
Posted Aug 28th 2007 8:00PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
We just wanted to remind everyone that the Call of Duty 4 beta sign-up will be closing in the next few hours when they'll quit taking entries and award the tokens to a lucky few.
If you haven't heard, Infinity Ward was equally enraged at how yesterday's beta tokens were given out with all the server problems and extended sign-up through today. Infinity Ward promises that everyone who signs up before 7:00PM pacific (10:00PM eastern) will have an equal shot at the 87,000 beta tokens they have to give out. The lucky few who get selected will be notified via email within the next 72 hours, so keep your spam filters off and wait patiently. 10:00PM eastern is the beta sign-up cutoff fanboys ... so get to it already!
The Community manager for Infinity Ward, known by the masses as fourzerotwo, has posted an update on his blog concerning the complete hysteria surrounding the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta. It seems that Infinity Ward was promised by the company that maintains their web servers that the site would not crash again as it has so often has during the beta sign up process. Obviously, the repeated crashes deprived many gamers of their chance to get in on the beta, so Infinity Ward is doing something about it.
So, here's the upshot of all this: Infinity Ward is doing away with first come, first serve registration. As soon as the beta site goes live again, they will be implementing open registration for 24 hours. The exact method in which this will be done hasn't been specified yet, but fourzerotwo assures us that everyone will have an equal chance to register for the beta when all is said and done. Keep an eye on fourzerotwo's blog for updates.
That's right, you've known about it for a while and now you have a thirty minute wait until Infinity Ward opens up the flood gates on registration into the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer beta to United States Xbox Live members. Today, at 12:00PM pacific (3:00PM eastern) simply head on over to the official CoD 4 website, answer three trivia questions correctly, sign up for the multiplayer beta and get your redemption code. But be warned, Infinity Ward has made it clear that the codes will be given out on a first come first serve basis, so you can almost expect their hosting servers to start on fire and people to get really, really angry. But not you, because you're in the know and already have the beta page open and are ready to sign up in a split second. Remember, today's beta sign up is for US residents only with other countries making it into the beta later on ... but not today. Good luck everyone, make us proud and get those CoD 4 multiplayer beta codes!
Update 1: Sorry everyone ... all those CoD 4 beta tokens are already gone. Stupid servers crashed and we never got to register, but we just received image confirmation that the fun is over. We call shenanigans!
Posted Aug 23rd 2007 9:30AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
If you missed out on or just didn't win the email entry lottery into the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Beta then this Monday will be your second chance to get in on the beta fun. As promised, Infinity Ward will be opening up the flood gates into the CoD 4 multiplayer beta by offering entry tokens on a first come, first serve basis. When and where exactly can you get these entry tokens? Monday, August 27th at Noon pacific at the CoD 4 Beta website are the answers you seek. And, because they love to build hype and want to make it more convenient, Infinity Ward has placed a countdown clock on their website counting down the seconds until the second wave of the beta opens up. There you have it, this Monday at noon ... let's crash those servers and get into the beta fanboys!
Activision has announced that Call of Duty 4, the highly anticipated FPS from Infinity Ward, will be hitting retails shelves this November. To be specific, the game will be landing on the 5th of November. Forsaking the franchise's World War II past, COD4 brings the series into modern times, hence the subtitle, Modern Warfare. If, by chance, you can't stand the thought of waiting until November to get in on the modernized fragfest, you might consider signing up for the multiplayer beta lottery that's going on right now.
In the meantime, um, just be sure that you "remember, remember the 5th of November."
Just a quick reminder folks, Joystiq is still giving away Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta invites every other day (in conjunction with GameDaily, who is giving them away every other other day). If you haven't made into the beta yet, you'd better hurry, as it's only open until the end of the month. And, with a new level cap that lets players unlock even more goodies, the beta is better than ever. Hell, you just might enjoy it more than waiting in line for Halo 3. If you'd like your shot at the beta, head over to the Joystiq giveaway post and enter.
Just a quick reminder folks. Joystiq has ten more 
A few days back an exploit was discovered allowing anyone to download the Call of Duty 4 beta as long as they could get someone who was already in the beta to recover their Gamertag on a different console. Well, that exploit has since been fixed and is ineffective for getting beta access, but those who used it aren't walking away free and clear.
If you remember a 
If you signed up for the second wave of entry into the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta then boy oh boy do we have got great news for you.
We just wanted to remind everyone that the Call of Duty 4 beta sign-up will be closing in the next few hours when they'll quit taking entries and award the tokens to a lucky few.
That's right, you've 
If you missed out on or just didn't win the 
