Monthly Archives: January 2012

Modern Warfare Monthly Content Release Starting….NOW!

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Activision announced that come Jan 24th, Call of Duty Elite Members will have access to post-release content. This content will be released monthly for the next 9 months. Yup NINE MONTHS! Those with Xbox Live Accounts will get the first dibs with content for other consoles coming later.

The new content will include new multi-player maps including Central Park and the Italian seaside. I’m pretty excited about this new package as MW3 is, in my opinion, the best in the series to date. If you’re an Elite Member, you can go here for more info: http://www.callofduty.com/elite/go-premium

Full Press Release below:

BIGGEST ENTERTAINMENT RELEASE OF THE YEAR GETS EVEN BIGGER WITH UNPRECEDENTED NINE-MONTH POST-RELEASE CONTENT SCHEDULE AVAILABLE FIRST FOR CALL OF DUTY® ELITE PREMIUM MEMBERS Call Of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3’s Season of Monthly Content for Call of Duty Elite Premium Members Kicks Off January 24th on Xbox LIVE Santa Monica, CA – January 10, 2012 – Modern Warfare® 3 blazes into 2012 with the debut of all-new multiplayer maps Liberation and Piazza, the front line of the Modern Warfare® 3 Content Season for Call of Duty® Elite, nine consecutive months of epic downloadable content that commences January 24th for Xbox Live users. Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI), revealed today that the content will be available first for Call of Duty® Elite’s premium members on Xbox LIVE, followed by additional platforms at a later time. From January through September, Call of Duty Elite premium members on Xbox LIVE will receive regular updates of all new content totaling at least 20 content drops. The Modern Warfare 3 Content Season for Call of Duty Elite will include a broader variety than ever, with brand new multiplayer maps, Special Ops Missions, new game modes and more. While Call of Duty Elite premium subscribers get the new content first, as promised, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 fans who want to buy the content a la carte as they have in the past, will be able to purchase the content via Modern Warfare 3 Content Collections. “The mammoth launch of Modern Warfare 3 and the breakout success of Call of Duty Elite were just the beginning. Call of Duty Elite provides an ?always-on’ connection to our fanbase, and the MW3 Content Season is the ultimate way to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Call of Duty community and provide tremendous value to Call of Duty Elite premium members, said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. With the Call of Duty®: MW3 Content Season for Call of Duty Elite we are delivering on our promise of more new content, more often, and with more variety than ever. With three studios collaborating on the first season, the breadth and depth of material on tap is truly extraordinary. It’s rare you can successfully execute both quantity and quality, but thanks to the expertise of our developers, the reach of Call of Duty Elite and the passion of our fans, we intend to deliver. All content drops for Call of Duty Elite premium members will occur once a month, starting in January for Xbox Live users and will continue through the year, ending in September. During the first three months of 2012, Activision will release five different content drops on three occasions in January, February and March, first on Xbox Live, followed by additional platforms at a later time. The first two Content Drops will be multiplayer maps also playable in Modern Warfare 3 Survival Mode that throw combatants into a war-torn Central Park and an Italian seaside village. Liberation is a vast, militarized landscape, ripe for long-range sniper and LMG fire, with mounted turrets on either end that lend power to anyone brave enough to expose themselves in exchange for deadly firepower. Piazza is the idyllic Italian getaway that is anything but, where tight corners and branching pathways pose great risk at every turn. Close-range combat dominates in Piazza, where attacks from behind, above and below are an ever-constant threat. The third Content Drop will be available for download in mid-February and two additional Content Drops will go live in March, as premium Call of Duty Elite members will receive new content once a month through September. Also in March, the first Modern Warfare 3 Content Collection will be available for purchase by the entire Call of Duty: MW3 player community on Xbox Live. To celebrate the launch of each new content drop, Call of Duty Elite will run specialized events for real-world prizes throughout the nine-month Season. Additional details about the Modern Warfare 3 Content Season for Call of Duty Elite and Collection series will be announced throughout the year. The Modern Warfare 3 Content Season is co-developed by Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Strong Language. For more information on the Call of Duty: MW3 content drops, season of content, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty Elite visit www.callofduty.com/mw3 and www.callofduty.com/elite. To become a Call of Duty Elite premium member, go to http://www.callofduty.com/elite/go-premium. For additional Call of Duty Elite updates and information, visit www.facebook.com/callofdutyelite, and also via Twitter @CallofDutyElite. Published by Activision and developed by Beachhead Studio, Call of Duty Elite is a comprehensive social gaming network offering a deep and innovative service for all registered Call of Duty players. Call of Duty Elite provides “always-on,” universal communication between the platform and the game. Players can access Call of Duty Elite via web or console—to connect with friends, plan multiplayer matches with their Clan or social Group, configure load-outs, access comprehensive stats and interactive heat maps, and much more. About Activision Publishing, Inc. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, China and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

Sony Xperia PLAY 4G Review

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We got a chance to check out the Xperia PLAY 4G for the last few weeks and I’ve definitely got some opinions on the phone. Read further to find out what they are!

Likes:

  • Design

When looking at the phone, it honestly looks like a business device. The chrome and shiny back really look sleek. The 4″ screen doesn’t look over-sized and it’s not a device you would be ashamed to pull out on the train or around others. You really can’t tell that this device is meant for gaming until you slide out the game pad.

  • Software Tweaks

Sony has skinned Android Gingerbread (Ice Cream Sandwich’s predecessor) and overall its pretty nice. It’s mostly visual tweaks like widgets and the way you get around the app-tray. None of these tweaks are groundbreaking but they add some extra pizzazz.

  • Games

This is what you’re waiting for no doubt. I really like the fact that there are games specifically designed for this device. They also have great titles. I’ve been playing Sims for the last week. The graphics for playing games like Asphalt 6 were great and the phone rarely stuttered in those high-speed moments. This phone really takes you away from the lower quality games and makes you want to spend money investing in decent games because you can play them better with a direction pad, touch pad and physical buttons.

Dislikes:

  • Size

The look of the device is great, but it’s pretty heavy and the game pad really makes the device look thick. I totally understand that the space is needed for physical game buttons, but it really detracts from the beauty of the phone. If this phone could slim down, it would look a lot nicer.

  • Buttons

I’m really talking about the the Android buttons here. They are really thin and are situated in a sort of arc at the bottom of the phone which is kind of annoying. It’s really hard to hit any of them without looking since they are so close together and not linear. I also didn’t like the left and right bumper as well as the volume rocker all on the same side. It’s really cluttered on the right side and the left side is pretty much barren except for the micro USB slot and 3.5 mm jack. I really would have liked to see the bumpers a little smaller and perhaps doubling as the volume rocker when a game is not being played. Or maybe even one of them as a physical camera button when in camera mode. I definitely understand the need for the game buttons to only have in-game use, but they are just so big so you really can’t ignore them. so why not use them?

  • Touch Pad

The two touch pads are really neat, but I just can’t get used to them. The area is so small it’s difficult for me to really game effectively. However, it is more sensitive than the D-Pad I’ve found, but I’d rather have a more sensitive D – Pad in the end.

Summary:

I love the concept. It’s a phone that plays games. Well. It has a directional pad built in along with the other bells and whistles that come with a normal game controller. But it’s also a phone. This is awesome, and if you like to play games on your mobile device you should really consider this phone. However, I found that the phone and game portions of the device didn’t mesh as well as they could. You really can’t use the directional pad or touch pad anywhere other than in a game. For the rest of the time, half of your phone is unusable which I think is a real shame. I think Sony Ericson should have ditched balance and went with one of the characteristics. A gaming device that makes calls or a calling device that plays games with an emphasis on one or the other, but this phone seems to be balanced exactly 50/50 which I think hurts it a bit. But what do I know – check it out for yourself!