Infinity Ward - MW2 news

[Kolzig]

Is it so that MW2 is still based on the Carmack's Quake4/Doom3 engine code, but heavily modified of course? The first one was at least according to my memories.

Always oh so trustworthy Wikipedia confirms that MW2 engine is based on an id tech engine.

Because I have reason to believe that this actually would run well on my computer, if I just take off some of the effect candy. That can only be because magic done with the engine code.

My good old rig is:

Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard

AMD Athlon64 +3500 2,22Ghz

2GB 400mhz DDR ram

Geforce 8600GT 1GB

[liquid]

Yup, it used modified id tech 3.

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/7566/dsc01373l.jpg

[DanJW]

Kieron Gillen lays the smack down beautifully upon MW2 cheap shock tactics.

[flunky]

Kieron Gillen lays the smack down beautifully upon MW2 cheap shock tactics.

I'd agree with everything he says. The level is cheap, exploitative, and sadly, completely crap. As I said in a quite long comment on Shacknews, the player is given no motivation to fire except that it's what the designers expect or have the idea that you will do. If you try to pretend you are the character in the game, if you try to put yourself into the game, and involve yourself in it, which I usually do even with shooters, you won't want to fire. What IW should have done, if they had even a single brain cell, is have had you playing this undercover agent throughout the entire game, making infiltrating Makarov's gang your ultimate aim, and then sprung this level on you right at the end, making you as a player role play the choice between blowing your cover, and losing the whole game, or gunning people down. Then it would have been the mind-blowing headfuck they are so badly wishing it could be, but which it definitely isn't, the way they've done it. The way they've done it, as Gillen rightly points out, the level is completely without context, it just feels shoved in arbitrarily, which just makes it exploitative, cheap, crass, shock-value, trashy crap. There is no proper integration with the story. But I suppose when the story is told entirely during loading screens you can't expect much...

[JonCole]

The Bombcast special MW2 episode explains the story pretty well and actually comes to conclusions about that scene that actually make a little bit of sense, for those looking for the GB treatment of stories, ala Tekken or something to that effect.

[Patters]

HAHA, the world doesn't want me to get this at all, I managed to find a decently priced copy of the Hardened edition, apparently they have cancelled my order for it.

[Scrobbs]

http://torrentfreak.com/the-most-pirated-games-of-2009-091227/

dn-dn-DAAAAAAAAN!

[Kolzig]

There's some weird news in the net that the heads of Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella have been fired by Bobby Kotick.

Everything began from this I guess:

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/702911/Security-Appears-Unannounced-At-Infinity-Ward-Studio-Heads-Missing-Staff-Freaked-Out-.html

[Brannigan]

I imagined the imperial march playing while kotick stomped in menacingly.

[Patters]

There's some weird news in the net that the heads of Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella have been fired by Bobby Kotick.

Everything began from this I guess:

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/702911/Security-Appears-Unannounced-At-Infinity-Ward-Studio-Heads-Missing-Staff-Freaked-Out-.html

It's a really weird thing to happen the day before BFBC2 is due out. What ever this is it makes me hate Activision even more. What in hell is happening with that company.

[Kolzig]

Apparently Kotick accused West and Zampella for "breaching the contract and insubordination".

And also had them thrown out by bodyguards.

WTF!

This doesn't make any sense.

[Lu]

Is Kotick analogues to Activision in its entirety or something?

It's an odd story; I wonder what happened. Considering that it's contractual stuff, we'll likely never find out. Or maybe we'll get one of those press releases from activision that states that they're realigning their business plan and streamlining their production pipeline a.k.a. we just fired a bunch of people.

[baconian]

Wow. Activision really Really suck. It's like Warner brothers firing James Cameron for insubordination or something. What a shitty state of affairs for the games industry where things like this can happen.

[Lu]

How about we wait until we actually know what happened? Not in defense of anyone, just saying.

[GameDreamer]

COMING IN 2011

WEST & ZAMPELLA

"We'll have our revenge, at whatever the cost."

An Infinity Ward Production

[elmuerte]

The question is: Will they go back to EA? Or move to Take2 or Ubishit?

[Thyroid]

Activision have apparently not paid Infinity Ward any royalties re:MW2. Not sure how reliable this source is.

[Patters]

How about we wait until we actually know what happened? Not in defense of anyone, just saying.

Either way it's going to be pretty fucked up.

[liquid]

Hope Zampella got axed. I'm so sick of his sarcastic/rolling eyes attitude in almost every interview when he's asked something that he may not agree with.

[Lu]

Hope Zampella got axed. I'm so sick of his sarcastic/rolling eyes attitude in almost every interview when he's asked something that he may not agree with.

Activision and Infinity Ward have both been publicly quiet about what happened between the two companies yesterday. It can, however, be confirmed that both heads of the studio, president Jason West and CEO Vince Zampella, have confirmed they're no longer with Infinity Ward.

Confirmation of their departure comes through updates to each individual's Linkedin account.

"Jason West

President/Game Director/CCO/CTO Infinity Ward

January 2001 – March 2010 (9 years 3 months)"

"Vince Zampella

Studio Head/CEO

January 2002 – March 2010 (8 years 3 months)"

Seems like you got your wish. Still, that's kind of harsh, man.

[Korax]

Activision has filed for an investigation into "breach of contract" and "insubordination." I'm wondering what specific things they could be talking about.

I'm also wondering how the studio will react. Firing two long-time, important employees after years of rampant success is gonna send morale down the tubes.

[liquid]

Some more info: http://kotaku.com/5484046/infinity-ward-vs-activision-the-battle-for-creative-direction

http://kotaku.com/5484026/activisions-new-plans-for-call-of-duty-include-new-developer-new-genres

Don't think it's harsh. VZ is an arrogant prick who thinks he's better than anyone probably or at least that's how he tries to act when interviewed. All they have to do now is bring back Grant Collier and I may actually give IW/A some money in two years.

[SoulChicken]

They put out a press release, sorry if this is what liquids links were about (work blocks kotaku laffo)

Chris's article

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27484/Sledgehammer_To_Make_2011_Call_Of_Duty_Activision_Reorganizes_Franchise.php

Then the press release itself:

--Company to Establish Dedicated Business Unit to Focus on Product Excellence and Brand Expansion --Company Confirms New Call of Duty Game To Be Released in 2011 --Activision Publishing Plans to Launch Call of Duty in New Genres and Asia

SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 2, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced new strategic plans for the Call of Duty® franchise, one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.

The plans include the formation of a dedicated business unit that will bring together its various new brand initiatives with focused, dedicated resources around the world. The company intends to expand the Call of Duty brand with the same focus seen in its Blizzard® Entertainment business unit. This will include a focus on high-margin digital online content and further the brand as the leading action entertainment franchise in new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models.

"2010 will be another important year for the Call of Duty franchise," stated Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing. "In addition to continued catalog sales, new downloadable content from Infinity Ward and a new Call of Duty release, we are excited about the opportunity to bring the franchise to new geographies, genres and players."

The company expects to release a new Call of Duty game from Treyarch this fall. In addition, Infinity Ward is in development on the first two downloadable map packs for Modern Warfare® 2 for release in 2010.

The company is also for the first time announcing that a new game in the Call of Duty series is expected to be released in 2011 and that Sledgehammer Games, a newly formed, wholly owned studio, is in development on a Call of Duty game that will extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre. Sledgehammer is helmed by industry veterans Glen A. Schofield and Michael Condrey. Prior to joining Activision Publishing, Schofield was the Executive Producer of the award-winning game, Dead Space and Michael Condrey was the Sr. Development Director on the game. The Dead Space franchise has won more than 80 industry awards worldwide including the prestigious A.I.A.S. Action Game of the Year and two B.A.F.T.A.S.

The Call of Duty business unit will be led by Philip Earl, who currently runs Activision Publishing's Asia Pacific region and previously served in senior executive positions with Procter & Gamble and Nestle. Activision Publishing veterans Steve Pearce, chief technology officer and Steve Ackrich, head of production, will lead Infinity Ward on an interim basis. Jason West and Vince Zampella are no longer with Infinity Ward.

Lastly, Activision Publishing announced that the company is in discussions with a select number of partners to bring the franchise to Asia, one of the fastest growing regions for online multiplayer games in the world.

Senior Douche to come out on top?? Is there any management left at Infinity Ward that aren't Bobby's boys?

[Sleepdance]

That is weird. Now we will get Call of Dante?

*Visceral games leader has been asinned to new CoD.

[SoulChicken]

How many people at IW will want to follow Jason West and Vince Zampella and how many are able to?

Will Joe Public hear about this? Will they care who makes their Call of Duty games?

It will be interesting to see what the market does tomorrow, will they just think "yay Call of Duty Craft is on its way!" I mean nothing happened there today.

I think that Kotick is a PC gamer and had a secret battle with IW over dedicated servers, let them win that battle, bided his time and then dished out a delicious entree of revenge, chilled revenge. Except he told us he doesn't play Video Games.

Fancy a game of Battlefield Bad Company anyone?