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Gears of War 3 Special Double XP Event For July 4th

by Shawn Kegarise

July 2, 2012 9:05 pm in News

Epic Games wants you to celebrate part of your July 4th holiday playing Gears of War 3. How do they plan on doing that? By offering special double XP along with a unique “Top Wingman” playlist hosting Alpha rules.

The double XP will be spread across multiplayer, Horde Mode and Beast Mode. The date that double XP is turned off is unspecified, but it currently is going on now.

According to the Epic Games, the new special ‘Top Wingman’ game mode will allow you to select a special weapon skin per 5 starting weapons, and they are all Top Gun themed. An example of one of these weapon skins is represented in the image above of the Lancer.

Below is the full list of weapon skins available during this event.

Maverick – Lancer
Viper – Retro Lancer
Goose – Hammerburst
Iceman – Gnasher
Jester – Sawed Off

Do you still play Gears of War 3? Get yourself on and earn some cool double XP!

Tags: Double XP Featured Gears of War 3

Shawn Kegarise

Hailing from beautiful Pittsburgh PA, Shawn has spent most of his 25 years playing video games. The original Killzone on PlayStation 2 captured his love for competitive multiplayer experiences and has thrived on that ever since. Now I live, breathe and eat multiplayer madness with the guys and gals of Lucky Strike. Subscriber

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50% off MW3 DLC Deal, Slap in the Face to Premium Elite Members?

by Mat Houchens

9:03 pm in Features

Update 2 – The sale has been officially announced for all three platforms. Major Nelson seems to have jumped the gun with the announcement last week.

Update 1 – It appears that the DOTW from Major Nelson’s blog containing the 50% Off for Modern Warfare 3 DLC was removed “pending confirmation.” Hopefully, this means the information was not accurate and MW3 DLC is in fact not on sale. Who knows if it was pulled because of enough fans complaining about it, but for now the integrity of Elite is safe.

Original Story – In the slightly modified words of Rick James, what’d the 50% off DLC for MW3 say to the face of Elite premium members? SLAP! This upcoming week from July 3rd to July 9th, you will find MW3 DLC available for 50 % off or 600 MS Points per DLC pack. For some, it’s no big deal as they had the content months ahead and got to play it first, so it was worth the premium cost. To others it shows the lack of loyalty and customer appreciation to those players who bought into the subscription model and paid full price for an Elite premium subscription.

Just to set the record straight, I did not pay for my Elite subscription as I received a free hardened edition for attending Call of Duty XP last year. Regardless of this fact, I still find it rather disheartening to know that Activision cares so much (insert sarcasm) about this subscriber base that they wanted so badly to get on a yearly subscription for content that they then discount the DLC packs 50% just months after they were originally released. Black Ops DLC discounts… I can dig it. The game is over a year old and no more new content is coming for the game, it makes sense.

How can we, as Call of Duty fans and enthusiasts, have faith in this Elite subscription model when such blatant disregard for the system is shown by discounting DLC just months old for the current game with more DLC coming soon? This doesn’t sit very well with why I should renew my subscription this upcoming year. Why pay full price for a subscription when I could just wait a couple months and get the DLC for 50% off? I just feel this sets a very bad precedent of what kind of priority premium members are to the video game giant. The way the hardened Black Ops zombies maps were handled last year was perfect. They held out for nearly the full life cycle of the game giving great justification for paying for them up front and even when they were released, they weren’t free or at a discount, you had to pay full price.

Am I off my rocker or do you guys agree that giving discounts on the MW3 DLC this soon just shows there’s no reason to buy into the Elite subscription model? Do you feel like you have a hand print on your cheek?

Tags: 50% Off Black Ops Call of Duty: ELITE DLC Featured Modern Warfare 3 MW3

Mat Houchens

Creator & Founder of I Play COD, one of the largest Call of Duty communities on the interwebz. Chances are you know him better in the gaming world by his alias Nuck Fuggets. When not playing video games, he likes to spend time with his amazing daughter Lacey and beautiful girlfriend Lauren. Subscriber

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Get Your Study On With This Max Payne 3 DLC Overview

by Shawn Kegarise

7:34 pm in News

The nice guys and gals over at Rockstar were nice enough to throw up some nifty HD images of the brand new maps you will see in tomorrow’s new multiplayer expansion, Local Justice. These three new maps were taken from the single player, so they may already seem familiar to you. Also announced were images of the brand new weapon, the M4 assault rifle and the new loadout item, Light Fingers. In addition, the trophies/achievements for this DLC pack were also revealed.

Below is an in-depth look at each map and what you can hope to expect when you get your hands on this new experience.

The first map up is Imperial Palace. This map allows you to partake in carnage on Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Payne Killer game modes. Sporting an upper level and a lower level, it seems like intense close quarters chaos can you hit from any corner. This multi-leveled environment has plenty of places for you to catch unsuspecting enemies from behind, with plenty of cover and balconies to choose from.

The 55th Battalion HQ is the den of the newly introduced faction São Paulo Police. Out of all three maps in this DLC pack, 55th Battalion HQ is the only map to support Gang Wars. On top of Gang Wars, you can also participate in Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Payne Killer. As with many police stations, there’s plenty of jail cells and control rooms to run through, with bulletproof glass and a good balance of open spaces and tight corners to boot. Rockstar recommends a speedy loadout to conquer this map, equipping shotguns or dual-wielding pistols would be beneficial.

The final map in this expansion is Departure Lounge. Just as the other maps, Departure Lounge enables you to play on Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Payne Killer game modes. Located inside of São Paulo’s Piratininga Airport, Departure Lounge has plenty of vending machines, kiosks, book stores that make up the lower floor of the terminal. Rockstar promises a lot of cover, alcoves and obstructed views to help give you enough help you from certain death.

The M4 assault rifle, seen in many other multiplayer shooters, is designed for lightweight mobility, quick target acquisition, while packing a powerful punch. Coming with its own set of attachments, this M4 assault rifle is more accurate than SMG’s, Shotguns and other assault rifles within the Max Payne world. It handles the best of both worlds wonderfully, in both long range combat and close quarters combat as well.

The Light Fingers load-out item cuts down the time it takes to loot dead corpses found around the map. If you may not know, looting corpses can net you a small amount of cash, pain killers, and spare adrenaline, not to mention that it’s pretty fun to do.

Accompanying this map pack will be a whole new set of trophies/achievements to go after. Below is a full list of all five.

Air Ace – Get 2 kills in a single Shootdodge in the Departure Lounge
Express Checkout – Kill 4 players within 3 seconds in the Imperial Palace
Keep Your Nose Clean – Get 100 kills as a member of SPP
Long Arm of the Law – Win 20 Vendettas in the 55th Battalion HQ
M4 Murder – Level up your M4 all the way to level 10

Don’t forget that Local Justice can be bought tomorrow on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 at a discounted launch week price of 480 Microsoft Points, or $4.99 on PSN. PC users will have to wait until July 17th to get their hands on this expansion.

Let us know in the comment section if you plan on picking this DLC pack up.

Tags: Achievements Featured Local Justice Max Payne 3 Overviews Trophies

Shawn Kegarise

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Modern Warfare 3’s “Terminal Coming Soon,” Releases on Xbox 360 First

by Fahed Jaradat

1:16 pm in News

Infinity Ward’s executive producer Mark Rubin is at it again, giving us more details on Modern Warfare 3’s version of Terminal. The multiplayer map from Modern Warfare 2 will be released free of charge for all users, Elite premium and non-Elite, as we previously reported.

The release date for the map is still unknown, but Mark Rubin hinted on Twitter that “Terminal [is] coming soon,” and that free map’s expected time of arrival will be announced this week.

We recently reported that it would be likely for Terminal to release on Xbox 360 first, but Infinity Ward had to consult legal in order to confirm it. Rubin seems to have received word from legal, as he stated “Unfortunately not, [Terminal can’t be released on all platforms at the same time]. We have to maintain the 30 day difference.”

As you already know, all DLC must release first on Xbox 360, even free content as it was the case with the Face Off maps. Last month, Microsoft renewed the exclusivity deal for another year to include all Black Ops II DLC.

Tags: DLC Featured Modern Warfare 3 MW2 MW3 Terminal Xbox 360

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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How I Still Enjoy Modern Warfare 3 Despite Its Failings

by MP1st Staff

July 1, 2012 2:17 pm in Features

Connectivity issues, lag compensation, hit detection, spawning systems, overpowered/used weapons are just the top few things among the vast array of grievances the majority of the vocal Call of Duty community seem to be having issues with on the most recent Call of Duty title, Modern Warfare 3.

It’s not affecting me.. well, maybe.. well, sort of.. of course it is! Spawning and general connectivity of the multiplayer servers seem to have something against me and my posse of friends. But does that stop us from playing the game pretty much every evening for a few hours? No it doesn’t – and by no way am I saying you should continue to play it if you don’t enjoy it. For all intents and purposes, I never play solo; that’s just not bearable.

Tolerance vs. Frustration

How is one still suffering? Well, get to know me here; my tolerance levels are skyscraper level and – in terms of games and how I “rage” – I can endure any sort of nonsense multiplayer games want to throw at me. I mean, I actually really enjoyed Modern Warfare 2 despite its constant barrage of filth, which would make anyone’s playing session a living nightmare. Commando, One Man Army explosives, Quickscoping, unbalanced weapons were all big issues in that game – but I still actually loved playing the game, even when Black Ops was released (note: I wasn’t the guy running around with grenade launchers, silenced UMP or Marathon, Lightweight, Commando – my favourite weapons consisted of the F2000, Vector and M21 EBR).

Same goes for MW3; I actually love to hate the game, I love to play the game as well. However, by no way am I saying MW3 has no issues and I have fun all the time. Another opinionated editorial will probably merit a detailed “issue report”-styled discussion for another day, but for the benefit of the doubt – Infinity Ward developers have said they are trying to fix a lot of issues, have fixed many bugs so far. Executive Producer Mark Rubin has said in the past that matchmaking/connections, lag compensation and spawning system – in that order – will be getting complete overhauls. Will these patches fix the problems, is probably anyone’s guess – because they sometimes don’t for many players regardless of how many ‘fixes’ are implemented.

An evening with CourtRoom and chums

Mostly every night myself and two or more friends will pop onto Team Tactical or 6v6 Domination/Search & Destroy for a night of fun, but also a night of rage – one of us will always send the others a simple comment like “time to rage?”, our colloquially structured sentence for “you guys wanna’ play MW3?”, and it justifies completely what we do in our gaming sessions. We rage a lot, but we still play a lot more; perhaps psychologically the game is so rage-intensive, it’s fun? Addictive, for sure!

Our main annoyances are not about connections or spawns as I mentioned, but the general community. We see players joining games to instantly leave again and again, we see players boosting or trying to get into boosting lobbies (Team Tactical is rife of them), we see players using “easy” weapons, we see players thinking its MW2 by only using explosive weapons, we hear players trash talking all the time, we see.. you get the picture. And, if you have not experienced one of the preceding gripes, then please tell me your godly secret for a frustration-free session.

It’s not convenient when previous Call of Duty titles are either lacklustre or hacked to be completely unplayable in public matches; where in the former case we don’t particularly enjoy Black Ops multiplayer, and latterly we cannot actually find a clean COD4 or MW2 lobby to keep us interested, and even then is it hard to enjoy ourselves when people decide to just constantly use grenade, RPG, launcher and explosives spam.

I still enjoy it, regardless

Put all displeasures aside, we still play and enjoy the game actively. Why do you think we still do, and still more importantly: how we still keep it all fresh? We’ve been working on completing challenges, attaining maximum Weapon XP to dip our guns into the barrel of liquid gold – oohh, so shiny! – and randomizing our classes to really challenge ourselves – because that’s basically what we, as a group, like to do, challenge our mental and experience ability. Tactically, while ironically, it’s not really doing us any good – but we get a mountain of laughs out of it!

Modern Warfare 3 still has a lot more playability that what most people would think. You must think we’re all demi-Gods by still being able to play the game as if it’s fresh as daisy.. after all, I have a combined total of almost 19 days played at the time of conjuring up this editorial. And I’m more than likely going to extend that for a good while longer. For as long the game keeps us raging, and keeps us playing.

“All warfare is based on deception..” – that’s the sound of the game start-up, which means it’s time for another session! Let’s see here: PM-9 w/ Extended Mags and Silencer, Desert Eagle Tac-Knife, C4, Stuns, Specialist Setup — “time to rage” …

Tags: Featured Modern Warfare 3 MW3

MP1st Staff

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July’s Battlefield 3 Premium Goodies Dated

by Shawn Kegarise

1:24 pm in News

If you are one of the 800,000 subscribers to Battlefield 3’s Premium service, then we have some news that may interest you. The bulk of the Premium advantages for the month of July finally got a release date.

The month of July is set to give Premium users more weapon camo’s, a Close Quarters strategy guide, a double XP event and a video guide which has DICE developer Alan Kertz emerge you in a guide to the weapons unlocked through the latest Close Quarters expansion.

According to the Premium Calendar, the Soldier Upgrade, essentially a bunch of weapon camo’s, are set to release to Premium users on July 8th. June’s Soldier Upgrade included camo’s for the Scar-H, PKP Pecheneg, L-96 and the F2000. Hopefully July’s release will includes more weapon camo’s, but details on exactly what camo’s are included in this batch have yet to be revealed.

The first Strategy Guide for Premium users will be released on July 3rd. Prima Games will give Premium users a comprehensive guide that is a whopping 70 pages in PDF format. This guide will be themed around the Close Quarters expansion, giving you in depth analysis of the weapons, maps, assignments and the new game modes you can find within Close Quarters. For now, you can check out our five tips for Close Quarters.

The Double XP event, which we already covered, will be a complete week for Premium users, dating from July 2nd to July 8th. The final piece of July content is the Premium Video, which has yet to get a release date.

Are you a Premium member? Do you take advantage of it all and read the guides or watch the videos? Let us know in the comment section below!

Thanks to our forum moderator Beanz3 for the tip!

Tags: Battlefield 3 BF3 Featured July Releases Premium

Shawn Kegarise

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Black Ops II Nuketown 2025 Pre-Order Bonus Now Live At GameStop and Best Buy

by Fahed Jaradat

2:40 am in News

Update: Added Amazon’s pre-order bonuses. Nuketown 2025 is still not live at Amazon.ca, Best Buy Canada, and UK’s GAME.

GameStop and Best Buy have updated their Black Ops II product listings for all platforms with the pre-order bonus map Nuketown 2025, which was officially announced yesterday by Activision.

Both retailers have added the multiplayer map to their respective pre-order bonuses. It should be noted that the first wave of Black Ops II’s pre-order bonuses at GameStop has expired. Pre-ordering at the retailer no longer nets you a prestige token in Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops II poster, but now Nuketown 2025 is up for grabs along with two more waves that have yet to be revealed. At Best Buy, however, you’ll get Nuketown 2025 and a pair of Black Ops II Dog Tags.

Amazon hasn’t updated its site with the new bonus map at the time of writing, but we will update this piece when Nuketown 2025 is added. Canada’s EB Games, which is owned by GameStop, did add Nuketown to its pre-order bonus offering.

Update 1: Amazon.com has added Nuketown 2025 to its pre-order bonuses for Black Ops II. Now you get a wallpaper and Nuketown 2025 when you pre-order at Amazon. (Still not live on Amazon.ca)

Free Nuketown 2025 Bonus Map plus Amazon Exclusive Pre-order Bonus
Pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops II and get the Nuketown 2025 bonus map for free plus access to the Amazon exclusive Call of Duty: Black Ops II Wallpaper. The Nuketown 2025 content will be available in the product packaging. We will send you the URL to access the wallpaper within two days of placing your order. Offer valid when shipped and sold by Amazon.com. This offer will be extended to all existing pre-orders. Limit one per customer. Amazon reserves the right to change or terminate this promotion at any time.

Be sure to share links to any retailers that have added Nuketown 2025 in the comments below so that we can updated the piece.

You can read up on the Nuketown FAQ sheet here, and catch all of our Black Ops II coverage through here.

Tags: Best Buy Black Ops II EB Games Featured GameStop Nuketown 2025

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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In Other MP News – Wii U Online Is Free, Future of Resistance, Black Ops Goes Mac, and Much More

by James Lara

June 30, 2012 10:45 pm in News

Welcome to another weekly multiplayer gaming news round-up.

Wii U Online Will Be Free.

Recently, Nintendo held a shareholder meeting, where they revealed that the Wii U would feature free online for all users. According to the reports, Iwata, president of Nintendo, stated that though they don’t have any issues with a paid subscription service, but free online would lead to better hardware and software development.

“…he doesn’t necessarily reject the idea of a paid service that allows not just Wii U but various other devices to connect to Nintendo Network. However, when considering Nintendo’s users, a paid membership service is not the best approach. By having everyone use the Miiverse together, word of mouth will more easily spread. This will lead to greater hardware and software sales.”

Black Ops Coming To The Mac This Fall.

Aspyr, a company that is specialized in porting games from Windows over to the Mac has officially confirmed that Black Ops will be released for Mac this fall. The port will feature all the released DLC along with the highly acclaimed Zombie mode. No official pricing or minimum system requirements been revealed yet.

No “Definite Plans” For The Future of Resistance.

Resistance: Fall of Man first debuted in 2006 as a PlayStation 3 launch title. Since then, the series has released two sequels on the PlayStation 3 and two handheld titles, one on the PSP and the other on the Vita. With the departure of Insomniac Games last year, it was unclear where the series would be heading. Burning Skies just released last May, and despite enjoying working on the title, SCEE Daniel Brooke told OPM that they currently have no plans for Resistance.

“The Resistance franchise has been exciting to work on but as for the future we have no definitive plans.”

It’s a shame considering how good Resistance 3 was. I only hope for the best and wish for it to return some day.

Dead Nation: Road of Devastation – Arcade Pack Available.

The highly acclaimed PSN exclusive, Dead Nation: Road of Devastion has received a brand new DLC pack titled “Arcade”. The Arcade mode will have you facing Road of Devastation once again, however this time survival will be made possible. Take the experience online with another player as you battle through waves of zombies to help find the ultimate soldier.

Gran Turismo 5 Players Have Traveled A 1,367 Year Trip To The Next Nearest Sun In Just Under Two Years.

Congratulation GT5 players, you have officially accomplished what would have taken mankind 1,367 years to do. Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo tweeted that in total GT5 players have accumulated more than 36.4 billion miles in online races. To put this into perspective of how far this actually is, the guys over at GTPlanet have released of what this distance is equivalent to.

GT5 players have driven the distance from the Earth to the Sun. And back. 200 times.
Or the distance from the Sun to Neptune. And back. Thirteen times.
In under 2 years GT5 players have driven three times further than Voyager 1 has managed in 35 years.
We’d still take 1,367 years to drive GT5 to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri…
Equal the record distance in the Nürburgring 24hr in 3.4 seconds
Drive from San Francisco to New York in 3.5 seconds
Drive from New York to London in 4.7 seconds
Drive from London to Sydney in 14.4 seconds
Drive around the Earth in the time it took you to read this article
Drive to the Moon in 5 minutes 27 seconds
Each player have driven nearly 500 miles

Gran Turismo 5 New DLC Available Now.

Last week we reported on a leak that GT5 would be receiving brand new tracks and vehicles. It has now officially been confirmed and released via the PSN Store.

Twin Ring Motegi Race track with four different variation. ($4.99)
Scion FR-S (free)

God of War: Ascension Collector Edition Now Available For Pre-order On Amazon.

Amazon has officially started taking pre-orders for God of War: Ascension Collection edition. You’ll receive a an exclusive 8′ Kratos statue along with a DLC pass that’ll grant you access to all future DLC. More details of what the Collection edition can be found below.

Exclusive 8″ Kratos Statue
Premium Steelbook case
Official Game Soundtrack (digital version)
PS3 Dynamic Theme
PSN Avatar Pack
Multiplayer Double XP Unlock
Pass for future DLC content

Pre-ordering from amazon will also give you a bonus exclusive Mythological Heroes Multiplayer pack, which will contain the following set of armors that you may use during online play: Achilles, Perseus, Orion, and Odysseus.

Battlefield Heroes Turns 3, New Map, Free Gifts.

EA is celebrating Battlefield Heroes 3 year anniversary with some brand new content, the first being the new map “Fortress Frenzy”. This map will take place on a small island where players will battle for control. “Treasure Chest” are also being introduced to Battlefield Heroes. These will be random special rewards that drop after killing an enemy. No word whether these content will be free, however it was confirmed that for players who log in between June 25, 2012 and July 1, 2012 will receive two free party pack. This pack includes a Battlefield Heroes Birthday Shirt, a Tricycle Emote that lasts for 3-days and a new Treasure Chest Key.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted – Autolog 2.0 Detailed

[youtube id=”UaBYxFbiyqE” width=”600″ height=”350″]

War of the Roses DreamHack 2012 Tournament Gameplay:

[youtube id=”J4Qa1GuXi4Y” width=”600″ height=”350″]

Tribes Ascend Update #6 Preview:

[youtube id=”yRa60VGZeDU” width=”600″ height=”350″]

PS3 Firmware 4.20:

Sony released a brand new Firmware Update for the Playstation 3 Home console. The following features have been added.

Sidetone now has 5 microphone audio levels along with an off option
Wireless Stereo Headset will now have virtual surround sound functionality during Blu-ray or DVD playback.
Power saving option that will automatically turn off the system have been added for [Video/TV/Music/Photo] and for [Game/Other Features].
You can now copy/delete multiple save data at once.

Xbox 360 System Update:

A new Xbox 360 system update has been released, which will fix some of the Datel controller issue along with prepping the console for the fall update.

Tribes Ascend Patch #6:

New Features:

Added support for “lock to player view” while spectating players. This allows you to see what the spectated player target sees. Press ‘L’ by default to lock the view to the player’s viewpoint. Mousewheel in for a first-person perspective.
A new TDM map has been added to the list of maps in the Quick Play rotation. (Miasma)
A new CTF map has been added to the list of maps available to play on Custom Servers. Stonehenge is a remap of a classic Tribes map. The map is currently in a “beta” state and will be added to the Quick Play rotation after it goes through testing on Custom Servers.
Web Browser no longer asks for plugin permission.

Weapons Balancing:

The Pathfinder’s Light Assault Rifle will now fire bursts from just holding down the fire button, rather than having to repress the fire button for each burst.
Increased Rage Perk activation radius by 50%.
Decreased effect radius of Raider’s Whiteout grenade by roughly 8%.
Decreased damage on Shrike Rockets by 22%.
Increased Shrike Rocket damage to armored targets (ex. base turrets, beowulfs) by 30%.
Decreased damage on Technician’s Rockwind SMG by roughly 8%
Slightly increased the distance from the reticule required for the Spotted command to work.
Increased the distance Raider’s EMP grenades can be thrown to match most other grenades.
Decreased explosion radius on Pathfinder’s Compact Nitrons by 13%.
The Phase Rifle’s downscope reticule has been tweaked and crosshairs added.
Raindance: A new route has been added into the generator room.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Update 1.3

Group Finder – will make it much easier for players to join up with others in the game. This feature allows you to connect with other players who want to tackle the same Flashpoint or Operation that you do while also ensuring the group is filled out with combat disciplines that complement each other. Together you’ll be better prepared to take on the more advanced challenges in the game.
Ranked Warzones – make PvP more challenging and more rewarding. You can now create a group, compete in ranked warzones, and then track your personal performance and measure your skills against other players.
Legacy Character Perks –perks give you the opportunity to customize the leveling experience for your Legacy characters. You can focus on the parts of the game you like best, whether that’s space combat, PvP,or Group Missions and Flashpoints, you can choose which activities earn the most experience. The perks give you other bonus opportunities as well, like piloting a vehicle at level 10, earning bonus affection with companions, and even being able to reallocate your skill points in the field.
Adaptive Gear – allows you to wear your favorite social gear into combat while still enjoying the bonuses you receive from your best combat gear. We’ll almost certainly be seeing more eccentric-looking groups tackling high-level operations, but that’s part of the fun.

Max Payne 3.

New patch available on PS3 and Xbox 360

Multiplayer tuning, including spawn point tweaking, improvements to stability/load times and weapon balancing.
Reduce Hardcore Playlist requirement from 5,000 to 1,000
Fix for gold textures not unlocking on DLC weapons
Fix for XP display not incrementing between Rank 49 and Rank 50
Fix for issue where game could autosave immediately before a death screen
Fix for Rank 50 trophy not unlocking
Fix for Unlimited Bullet Time cheat not unlocking

Releases for the week of July 3rd.

Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends (PS3, Xbox 360)
The Secret World (PC)

Tags: Featured Gran Turismo 5 In Other MP News Resistance 3 Wii U

James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

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Black Ops II Pre-Order Bonus Map ‘Nuketown 2025’ Now Official, First Details Revealed

by Fahed Jaradat

3:57 pm in News

Now it’s official, pre-order Black Ops II and get Nuketown 2025 for free. “Just as it played with the developers, Nuketown became a fan-favorite in Call of Duty: Black Ops almost immediately after the game’s release,” writes Treyarch in the latest dev blog.

Nuketown is certainly one of the most popular maps the franchise has seen due to its small size. “Small and simple, yet lending itself to a variety of playstyles, the map featured the type of fast-paced action that Call of Duty fans from around the world have come to love. The numbers don’t lie, Nuketown has become the most played multiplayer map in Black Ops history.”

Treyarch concluded with a look ahead for Nuketown being remaster for Black Ops II, “Now reimagined in a 50’s depiction of the ‘Model Home of the Future’, Nuketown 2025 is set to take that familiar close-quarters chaos into the future. Pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops II today, and look forward to some explosive action on November 13th!”

Treyarch has also published the following FAQ about Nuketown 2025.

Q. How soon can I pre-order Call of Duty®: Black Ops II to get the Nuketown 2025 map?
A. Fans who pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops II now will get the Nuketown 2025 downloadable bonus map when Call of Duty: Black Ops II releases this November 13th. If you already pre-ordered the game then you’re all set, and you will be able to download the bonus map when Call of Duty: Black Ops II launches.

Q. Where will the pre-order program be available?
A. It will be available through most retailers worldwide.

Q. How do I make sure I can get Nuketown 2025?
A. Nuketown 2025 will be available to any customer who pre-orders their copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops II at participating retailers worldwide. Pre-ordering will secure you a launch unit of Call of Duty: Black Ops II that will include the Nuketown 2025 downloadable bonus map.

Q. When will Nuketown 2025 become available to me?
A. The Nuketown 2025 map will be available for download when Call of Duty: Black Ops II releases worldwide on November 13, 2012.

Q. Will it be available on all platforms?
A. Yes, it is a multiplatform pre-order program. Pre-orders will also be accepted through Steam. Simply follow the instructions to download through your console or PC.

Q. Is Nuketown 2025 locked on the disc?
A. No. Nuketown 2025 is a download.

Q. What if I have already pre-ordered Call of Duty: Black Ops II?
A. No need to worry. Those who have already pre-ordered will be able to purchase a launch unit of Call of Duty: Black Ops II that will include the Nuketown 2025 downloadable bonus map.

The featured image is from the original Black Ops.

You can find our latest Black Ops II news through here.

Tags: Black Ops II Featured Nuketown Nuketown 2025

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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Halo 4 Multiplayer Map ‘Longbow’ Detailed, Screens Released

by James Lara

2:12 pm in News

For those Halo fans out there who loved the multiplayer maps, Snowbound and Sidewinder, you’ll be excited to hear that 343 Industries is bringing back the snow in Halo 4 with “Longbow”.

Players who enjoy either infantry or vehicle combat will be happy to know that the map supports both. “On foot, players will notice it’s mostly a mid-to-long range map with pockets of close range combat in and around the base structures.” 343 wrote on Waypoint, “However, there are plenty of vehicles (currently Warthogs, Mongooses, and Ghosts) and routes through the map that will make fans of vehicular combat happy.”

As to why 343 settled on another snow themed map, “We experimented with having extremes of Fire and Ice on opposite sides, but ultimately decided a glacier theme fit better with the spectrum of themes from other maps. The look and feel really took off from there to be distinctive and atmospheric.

“The goal of Longbow was to create a playspace that showcases one of our new (and unannounced) game modes. Early in development, we considered several options, including making it something like a big Arecibo-type telescope built into a valley.”

Down below you’ll find some fresh new screenshots of Longbow along with a short description of how the map fits in the Halo universe.

“Located in the northern polar region of the planet Concord, the frigid climate and unique gravitational conditions provide an optimal perch for Longbow Station’s channel-based mass drivers. Before the Covenant War, the UEG launched deep space monitoring relays from here in an effort to study far-flung star systems.”

Tags: Featured Halo 4 Longbow

James Lara

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Ghost Recon: Future Soldier DLC ‘Arctic Strike’ Pushed Back, Next Patch Details

by Fahed Jaradat

June 29, 2012 8:19 pm in News

Ubisoft and developer Red Storm have decided to delay the first DLC pack ‘Arctic Strike’ for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Arctic Strike was originally set to release on J uly 3rd, but now it has been pushed back to “later in July” according to Ubisoft.

“The first downloadable content pack for Ghost Recon Future Soldier is delayed until later in July, we’ll have an exact date soon. We decided to take a small amount of extra time to further polish the content,” reads Ubisoft’s statement.

Also, on the topic of the much await title update, Ubisoft announced that “there are multiple updates planned over the life of the game and the next title update is almost here – it is currently in submission.”

Here’s a preview of what the next title update will include, as posted on the game’s Facebook page. This list isn’t conclusive, but should give you a good idea of what will be fixed.

Matchmaking and Connection:

Reduction in the peak bandwidth required;
Improved tuning of host selection weighting;

Progression:

Players should no longer experience a decrease in their character’s displayed level;

PS3 Voice Chat:

Fixed the primary issues causing players’ voice chat to periodically drop out;
Fixed mute settings persisting in a session after a player left the lobby;

Private/System Link Kit Storage:

Player’s last used kit per character will now persist across matches and sessions;
Note that this is ONLY your last used kit per character and is shared between Private and System Link matches;

Other:

Added code which lets us remotely tune the number of rounds in the Siege Gametype;
Double-Time bonus no longer lost on respec – Players who had previously lost the bonus should have it restored after applying the title update;
Fix for infinite loading screen ;
Fixed a few infrequent crashes ;
Fixed multiple progression and map exploits.

Tags: Arctic Strike Featured Ghost Recon Future Soldier Title update

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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Modern Warfare 3 Elite Clan Emblems Are Finally Live

by Fahed Jaradat

3:51 pm in News

Following our report from last week, Beachhead studios has now officially announced that the new “Clan Emblems” have gone live on both PS3 and Xbox 360. “Saving your next Callsign change for the perfect emblem? We’ve got you covered with 17 new emblems, available to both free and premium members and unlocked according to clan level,” stated Beachhead studios on Elite.

“Clans that have already obtained levels associated with an emblem will be rewarded those emblems retroactively, available immediately for use,” assured Beachhead.

Here is a full list of the emblem unlocks by clan level:

Light Juggernaut, Clan Level 2 Fighter Jet, Clan Level 6

Bad Cattle, Clan Level 8 Gold Eagle, Clan Level 11

Owl, Clan Level 14 Scarab, Clan Level 17

Lion, Clan Level 21 Staked Skull, Clan Level 24

Medium Juggernaut, Clan Level 27 Platinum Eagle, Clan Level 31

Behemoth, Clan Level 34 Frog, Clan Level 37

Overkill, Clan Level 39 Keegan, Clan Level 42

Griffin, Clan Level 44 Heavy Juggernaut, Clan Level 47

Evil Samurai, Clan Level 50

If you’re having trouble with your clan emblem unlocks, you can contact Beachhead through the official forums.

Image credit

Tags: Call of Duty: ELITE Clan Emblems Featured Modern Warfare 3 MW3

Fahed Jaradat

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PSN Summer Sale Starts July 6, Includes Killzone 3 MP, Gotham City Impostors, and More

by Fahed Jaradat

3:30 pm in News

PSN Summer Sale 2012 has been detailed, and will go live on Tuesday, July 3rd. Eleven PSN games will be discounted at 30% off for all PSN users, or 50% off for PlayStation Plus members. The sale lasts until July 9th, and includes the multiplayer edition of Killzone 3, Gotham City Impostors, Shadow of the Colossus, and Crysis.

Here’s the full list of discouted games:

Gotham City Impostors – $10.49 ($7.34 for Plus members)
NBA Jam On Fire Edition – $10.49 ($7.34 for Plus members)
Shadow of the Colossus – $13.99 ($9.79 for Plus members)
Infamous Festival of Blood – $6.99 ($4.89 for Plus members)
Crysis – $13.99 ($9.79 for Plus members)
Killzone 3 Multiplayer – $10.49 ($7.34 for Plus members)
Closure – $13.99 ($9.79 for Plus members)
Jurassic Park – $13.99 ($9.79 for Plus members)
Worms Ultimate Mayhem – $10.49 ($7.34 for Plus members)
The House of the Dead 3 – $4.89 (3.42 for Plus members)
Real Steel – $6.99 ($4.89 for Plus members)

Are you planning on buying any of the titles above?

Tags: Crysis Featured Gotham City Imposters Killzone PSN Sale

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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Battlefield 3 Premium Hits 800,000 Members In The First Two Weeks

by Fahed Jaradat

1:18 pm in News

EA Games executive vice president Patrick Soderlund revealed that Battlefield 3 Premium has reached over than 800,000 players within the first two weeks.

“We are very pleased with the performance so far,” Soderlund told USA Today. “We’re actually only two weeks into it, so it’s a little early to tell how this is going to pay off,” he explained. “It certainly it looks very promising right now.”

The subscription service was released earlier this month for all three platforms offering early access to Battlefield 3’s expansion packs. Premium gives players access two weeks early with PS3 users having a one week jump on the other platforms.

EA has revealed that it’s looking into adding Premium-like services to other properties.

Tags: Battlefield 3 Preimum BF3 DICE EA Featured Premium

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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EA: Battlefield 3 Premium “Exceeds What Call of Duty: Elite Does”

by Fahed Jaradat

12:48 pm in News

EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau states that the Battlefield 3 Premium service wasn’t a reaction to Call of Duty: Elite, and he goes on to claim that DICE’s Premium exceeds what Beachhead studios’ service offers.

With Battlefield 3 Premium being released eight months after Battlefield 3’s launch, many fans likened EA’s DLC pass to Call of Duty: Elite, which launched alongside Modern Warfare 3 last year. However, Premium was in the works prior to Battlefield 3’s release according to EA.

“We had EA Sports subscription before Elite came out, so adding that component to the design is not a reaction,” Gibeau told GI International. “It’s something we’d always been considering and we had been looking at. We didn’t have it [Battlefield 3 Premium] ready for launch and it took us some time to get it prepped.

“Having said that, they [Activision] did something really innovative and if your competitor does something innovative and you think it applies to what you can do, then there’s no harm in doing that. This is an industry where people have a lot of oneupsmanship and if somebody innovates, you match it or you exceed it.”

Even though Gibeau applauded Activision’s Elite, he believes that Battlefield 3 Premium is the superior product. “We actually think our Premium service exceeds what Elite does – from a value standpoint, from a content standpoint, and longer term we think that we can bring more properties into that offering and that’ll be great for the business,” Gibeau concluded.

A new update version of Elite, dubbed Elite 2.0, will launch alongside Call of Duty: Black Ops II this Novemeber, however EA hasn’t announced any “premium” service for Medal of Honor: Warfighter. Treyarch has promised better Elite integration in Black Ops II.

Tags: Battlefield 3 Battlefield 3 Premium Call of Duty: ELITE EA Featured Frank Gibeau Modern Warfare 3

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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The Last of Us Multiplayer Mode “Is Not Co-Op Within the Main Campaign”

by James Lara

12:01 am in News

Speaking with Gaming Examiner, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann has confirmed that The Last of Us will feature multiplayer. For those who have been following the game since the VGA 2011, this is indeed old news. However, at the time it was unknown as to how the multiplayer would be integrated into The Last of Us. Fans wished that the player would be able to team up with a friend in the main story and play as both characters, Joel and Ellen. Sadly, this possibility can now be put to rest.

“We are supporting multiplayer with The Last of Us,” game director Neil Druckmann told Gaming Examiner. “However, we can say that it is not co-op within the main campaign.”

With Uncharted 3 now behind them, how do you guys feel about Naughty Dog having multiplayer for a game that seems to be more focused on story. Do you believe that they will have yet another hit, like they did with Uncharted 2 and 3?

The Last of Us was recently crowned as the best game of E3 2012 in the Game Critics Awards.

Thanks, Shacknews

Tags: Featured Multiplayer mode PS3 The Last of Us

James Lara

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Retailer Confirms Black Ops II’s Free Pre-Order Map ‘Nuketown 2025’ for All Platforms – Updated

by Fahed Jaradat

June 28, 2012 9:44 pm in News

Update 2: The Black Ops II section of the official Call of Duty website has been updated with a ‘Nuketown 2025’ banner above the pre-order button. You can see the banner in the top right corner below on the navigation bar, thanks to MP1st forum user poklaan for the tip!

Also, Best Buy has released its pre-order deals for Black Ops II for this week via CAG, in addition to Nuketown 2025 pre-order bonus map, players will get a discount on the original Black Ops.

Pre-order Call of Duty Black Ops II and get Call of Duty Black Ops for only $24.99
Pre-order Bonus: Get the Nuketown 2025 Bonus Map for CoD Black Ops II

It’s now all but official as Canadian retailer Video Games Plus via Trendy Gamers has confirmed that Nuketown 2025 is indeed a Black Ops II’s pre-order bonus for all three platforms.

The online retailer has posted the following poster on all of Black Ops II’s product listings for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. “Pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops II now to get the Nuketown 2025 Bonus Map.”

This comes after our report on a series of leaks that occurred yesterday. We expect official word from Treyarch and Activision on the matter in early July, perhaps as early as July 1st when GameStop reveals its second wave of pre-order bonuses for Black Ops II.

Update 1: Here’s a couple of GameStop pictures taken by AppleMan5487 via Charlie Intel. As you can see in the first picture, Nuketown 2025 is the second wave of pre-order bonuses offered at GameStop, as we predicted yesterday.

Would you have picked Nuketown to get the “2025” treatment, or would you have chosen another Black Ops map? Let us know in the comments below!

Tags: Black Ops II Featured Nuketown 2025 Pre-order bonus Treyarch

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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Arma 3 E3 Showcase – Diving and Night Ops Gameplay

by James Lara

1:56 pm in News

During E3 2012, Bohemia Interactive presented an alpha build of Arma 3 that highlighted many improvements done both in tech and in gameplay. This included the new introduction of the diving feature that team has been working on for a very long time.

Today, they released two of the six showcases that were at E3. In the two videos you’ll learn about the Diving mechanism along with some night gameplay.

Their showcase included the following six, two of which are viewable today:

Night Ops – Taking part in a night time patrol
Diving – Clearing out enemy divers
Vehicles – Engaging enemy patrols
Supports – Attacking a well-defended location
Helicopters – Patrolling the battlefield
Infantry – Assaulting a small village

Night Ops Showcase

This Night Ops Showcase takes a look at some of the great enhancements to lighting, and demonstrates the way that lots of little features work together to create even better gameplay opportunities in a short fire fight.

[youtube id=”lwXw0g2fweA” width=”600″ height=”350″]

Diving Showcase

This Diving Showcase takes a closer look at the brand new underwater environment, demonstrating vehicles, movement, combat, and discussing the kind of gameplay potential on offer ‘unda da sea’!

[youtube id=”ElWZbZ_mL38″ width=”600″ height=”350″]

Tags: Arma 3 E3 2012 Featured Video

James Lara

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Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Emergency Update Now Live – Patch Notes

by Fahed Jaradat

11:55 am in News

Infinity Ward released a new patch for the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 3 last night.

The patch is mandatory, and will set you back 9MB of HDD space.. This is the emergency title update we reported on recently, more patches will follow in the upcoming weeks to address matchmaking and lag compensation.

Fix for the Out of Memory and Spec Ops issues related to latest Elite content
Fix to CMR [Custom Match Rule] exploit, also known as Vault Mods – “It was a hack where ppl were making custom game rules and bringing them into public matches,” explained Infinity Ward’s Mark Rubin.

It seems that the patch didn’t address the “de-rank” problem for Spec Ops players. However, Rubin stated on Twitter, “I’ll be giving out instructions on how to get rank back. Hang in there.”

We will add the instructions to this piece when they become available.

Update 1: Mark Rubin has just published the following, basically the instructions are still on the way, but here’s the full statement. “With the patch for Xbox last night we fixed the bug that would reset your Spec Ops stats. However the steps to restore your stats is still coming. Should be very soon though. It should be pretty simple and straight forward and will basically just involve you going to a site and entering your gamertag and the level you were before getting reset. I will post more details as soon as I have them.”

Update 2: You can contact Activision about restoring your Spec Ops rank through here.

Tags: Emergency Patch Featured Infinity Ward Modern Warfare 3 MW3 Xbox 360

Fahed Jaradat

Senior Editor and Co-Founder. Multiplayer runs in my blood. Don't believe me? Ask for a sample! Subscriber

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Terminal In Modern Warfare 3, How Footage Was Leaked and All The Latest Info

by MP1st Staff

11:03 am in News

Following up from our previous articles regarding the leaked gameplay footage and basic information of one of MW2’s most popular maps, Terminal, we here at MP1st would like to pull all known info together into one article so you don’t have to search about and look at an abundance of tweets or forum posts!

The following details we have regarding the old MW2 map making an appearance on its successor – of which have been gathered up by reading tweets of Infinity Ward’s Executive Producer, Mark Rubin, as well as his big push to respond to questions from the community – are as follows:

Note that Infinity Ward and Activision have not publicly/officially announced Terminal as DLC content so far.

Terminal

Free for all users, both non-ELITE and ELITE premium subscribers will get it

When asked whether or not Terminal would follow the same Premium DLC or be released as a Free map, Mark Rubin responded by saying the map will definitely be “free” and will not follow the same ELITE-style content calendar; citing that Terminal will be a “stand alone Map” and be released for “everyone”.

Xbox 360 will “most likely” get Terminal before other platforms; still to be fully confirmed

Mark Rubin is uncertain that Terminal will be released on all platforms at the same time. He reaffirms that he is “not 100% sure yet” if Terminal comes out on Microsoft’s console first, but goes on to say that he “believe[s] PS3 has to get Terminal 30 days after Xbox”. He has reached out to ‘Legal’ (the department body that governs contracts so they are not broken and other legal rights have not been breached) to clarify but has not received any news yet. He “hopes” to get more information by the end of the week.

Terminal may “not necessarily” be released on a Tuesday; map itself could potentially be a Title Update (“Patch”) but most likely a DLC drop

As Tuesday is Microsoft’s patch day and also the standard day for when their Marketplace is updated, people would be safe to assume that the map would be released then. However, that may not be the case. Mark exclaims that they can release it for when it is ready. The map could arrive as part of a Title Update but he goes onto detail that ‘patches’ have size limits of which may require the map to be downloaded manually off the XBOX Marketplace and Playstation Store, while a Title Update activates it to be able to be played in multiplayer. While this information conflicts with the fact that that “everyone will get it”, further details remain vague and scarce.

Terminal releases “very soon”; supposed release date within the “next few weeks”

The Exec Producer has been extremely optimistic in the sense that the map will hit gamers within the next few weeks. He has been vocal to say that the map is ready to deploy but wants “everything to be ready” as there is still “lots to coord[inate]”. He confirms that the map will be out “as soon as [he] has a firm launch date” and “didn’t want to give people a [release] date and then change it on them”. Once they get “deployment issues” out the way, they will be able to confirm a definite release date.

Terminal does not require any major “gameplay changes”; had a quick “art” and “playthrough” pass to test.

As the Modern Warfare 3 engine is an upgraded MW2 engine, Terminal requires little gameplay changes other than checking to see if everything from MW3 works on the older-styled map – examples include the Assault Drone and if it could surpass the inflatable tube/stairs and to see if Strike Package rewards would work correctly. The art pass was to upgrade the map to look like a MW3 map – Mark Rubin answered a question about the changes, and mentioned that the tilting for ‘Burger Town’ has been changed from English to Russian characters to keep consistency and suit the environment.

Leaked images and footage clarification, which has now been removed through a copyright claim by Activision; how people managed to access the map despite not being made available.

When asked how people managed to attain the map, Mark Rubin explains that the map is “not on the disk” and that modders managed to hack into their “Development environment” and “downloaded it” from there, as reported by moriarty1975 on our forums.

Mark Rubin “hopeful” about more MW2 maps; Terminal remains as the only returning old map for now.

When asked about the possibility of other fan favourites from COD4/MW2 returning, he answered vaguely. While not confirming any further old maps to make reappearances (like Favela, Highrise, Crash and others) he did not explicitly rule it out. Terminal will be the only map “for now”.

Update: Modern Warfare 3′s “Terminal Coming Soon,” Releases on Xbox 360 First

With that vast amount of information crunched down into an easy-to-refer-to paragraphs, we hope you are more adequately informed! If you have any more further questions regarding Terminal, then please comment below!

Tags: Featured Modern Warfare 2 Modern Warfare 3 MW2 MW3 Terminal