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Feature Article: Modern Warfare 2

Posted Nov 9, 2009 at 7:04PM EST by Mabie A.

Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags: Activision, Blizzard, GameStop, GDC, playstation 3 updates, Tony Hawk, UK

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It's been a full day since the launch of Activision's much-awaited FPS, Modern Warfare 2, and now we can say the hype has been fulfilled. Since its official announcement back in December 2008, it's been a long, arduous, and highly controversial eleven months for this title, making it both a marketing boon and bane.

See, the thing with Modern Warfare 2 is that it's so big, it's inevitable it will pull in all sorts of negativities to counter all the positive spins the public relations team are weaving around it. But if you look at the other games that came out the past year, none ever came close to the amount of controversies that MW2 faced. We need not look far, actually. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released only recently, it's definitely a big game, highly anticipated too, but we don't recall it ever having to face and ward off one controversy after another.

Yes, it certainly was quite the climb up this hill, and for this feature article, we decided it is most apt to look back at the journey that we've all been through, leading up to this spectacular game that we now hold dear in our hands. So join us as we revisit the battlefield we all survived to be rewarded with Modern Warfare 2.

December 5, 2008 started out normally enough, just like any normal day, with any normal announcement about new games to be released on a normal new year of 2009. That day, a conference was held by Activision-Blizzard, and here they announced three new games that were set to come out in 2009: Guitar Hero 5, Tony Hawk, and a new iteration from the Call of Duty franchise, CoD: Modern Warfare 2. One of these titles will prove to be anything but normal, both in scope and reception.

By GDC in March, 2009, we were given a first look at the game, which was received with mixed reviews. Then again, it was only the first video, and nobody takes out their best weapon at the prelude of the fight, right? Soon after that, rumors started buzzing about the setting of the game, this time, in the land where all the hot women a la Giselle Bundchen, and hot men a la Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, bask under the golden beach and sand -- Brazil.

Up until that point, the information coming out about Modern Warfare 2 were all objective, benign details. Nothing too shocking or riveting, typical of most new game announcements. And then things started to get stirred up, all because Activision decided not to heed their call of duty.

What's in a name? Only everything.

On the same day that the launch date was confirmed back in March, (November 10, 2009 - Impressively enough, this game came right on time, as promised), Activision also gave out the news that the new title will be dropping the "Call of Duty" prefix to its name, thereby introducing it officially as just "Modern Warfare 2". It's not so much as a connotation of it being a CoD iteration, but more of the implications of why Activision would put the stress on its Modern Warfare-ness, rather than its Call of Duty-ness.

Others would posit that it's intrinsically a controversy about the developer relationships, given that the franchise has yo-yo'd back and forth between Treyarch and Infinity Ward. Some, on the other hand, we're simply harping on the supposed resulting confusion as to whether or not Modern Warfare 2 is actually still a part of the Call of Duty Universe, or if it's a mere conjecture on the World War theme. Either way, Activision felt they had a lot of explaining and justifying, and retreating and re-forwarding to do, and that's what they did for the remaining months leading up to the launch.

Two months after the release date was announced, and after dropping the CoD prefix to the title, Activision does a turnaround and decides to bring it back. Or so it would seem. Releasing the boxart for the game, the "Call of Duty" was surreptitiously added back in, on top of "Modern Warfare 2". You'd think they didn't think much of the whole name thing at all, but apparently, they did realize something from the feedback of the people enough to bring it back.

Explanations varied, coming from spokespersons to game designers. "It's a direct sequel to CoD 4," or, "Modern Warfare 2 resides in the Call of Duty universe," or, "It's a different game, but it is a sequel." All in all, though, they were never really able to clarify what the whole deal was about. Then again, looking back, does it even really matter?

If the Price is Right

The other controversy that got the press spinners of Activision in a flurry was the one about the pricing. Not too many people were ecstatic when the pricing came out, particularly for the one in UK. The Hardened Edition was priced at US$ 80, while the Prestige Edition was at US$ 149.99 for North America. For UK, however, it was pegged UKÂ£ 54.99, or almost US$ 90 -- for the regular copy.

While retailers were questioning this seemingly-alienating move from Activision, other publishers were defending them -- under anonymity of course, saying that they're giving you definite value for money anyway.

Analysts, meanwhile, such as Michael Pachter in particular, were saying that this UK pricing should be looked at as a test to the market. Given that the game is priced at a higher point than usual, it just goes to show that the companies responsible for it are confident that the game will sell despite of the price because the quality certainly makes it worth it.

If Activision pulls it off, what's most likely to happen is that they will follow the same trend for their future games as to pricing, and probably, other publishers will do the same as well. Now, if only they can guarantee that it's not only the pricing scheme they'll follow, but also the trend of making good quality games, then we shouldn't have a problem with that.

controversies:

2) pc gamers burn

co-op dropped, special ops mode instead here
no hardened edition here
delay rumor here
no dedicated servers, mods here
petitions shut down here
IWNET announced here
IWNET detailed here
stock refused here

3) pricing

hardened edition here
uk games holiday price hike here
pachter: it's a test here

4) rating

bbfc here
one-star reviews here
massacre skippable here

5) leaks

video here
private investigator here
broken street date here
gamestop here

6) opinions and analysis

500mill in first week here
biggest entertainment launch here
repulsive here

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