Been upset with people abusing the care package glitch in Modern Warfare 2?  Then Infinity Ward has a gift for you.  Robert Bowling of Infinity Ward, aka “fourzerotwo” announced in a tweet that a patch for the problem, as well as a few others, would be coming soon.

According to a post on Infinity Ward’s website, the patch has already made its way to PS3 consoles, but is awaiting certification by Microsoft for the Xbox 360. The full details of the patch are included below.

Street Fighter: The Movie, Super Mario Brothers: The Movie, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, House Of The Dead, Postal, Resident Evil Apocalypse, Street Fighter Legend Of Chun Li and the list goes on and on. These were all extremely horrible films and, an abomination in the eyes of video gamers and movie goers alike. I have always been very optimistic about that one golden video game adaptation coming along and helping me to forget these blemishes on pop culture but this is fading fast.

I will admit that this summer’s Prince Of Persia is looking quite sweet but it just looks like Pirates of the Caribbean in Prince of Persia clothing and after the steaming pile that was World’s End this does not leave me hopeful. My dream job in the future is that of a screenwriter, so needless to say that when I hear horrible dialogue and truly terrible stories I want to throw up and scream “why!?” at the top of my lungs. So I started to wonder where could a good, if not excellent, video game adaptation could come from and it lead me to one form; the mini series.

An interesting article came up on Kotaku this week regarding game companies and spoilers in their marketing strategies and it brought about a very interesting point: Are developers giving away too much information prior to the game’s release?

Do yourself a favor and read their story on the matter in addition to the one I’m presenting here. Kotaku cited Mass Effect 2 as the most recent example – and it might be the most justified case for the argument.

Nathan Drake might pick up a bit more treasure next month.

Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves leads the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, netting 15 nominations including game of the year.

In the game of the year category, Uncharted 2 is up against Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 2, Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham Asylum, Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins.

Contrary to the massive 3D movement in gaming and movies these days, 2D won this round.

Last month, Super Mario Galaxy (released in November 2007), widely considered to be Wii’s best game, was beaten by its little brother. Where the 3D Galaxy sold through 4.1 million copies since it released two years ago, the 2D New Super Mario Bros. Wii amassed 4.2 million in unit sales in about 45 days after its November 2009 release, according to numbers released by the NPD Group.

Thunder, stolen.

PS3 may have Blu-ray, but Xbox 360 gets a head start in playing the next set of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 maps! Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 will hold a timed 30-day exclusivity with the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 DLC.

Microsoft is sticking to their guns with the latest installment of the hugely popular franchise. At last year’s E3 they announced that the Xbox 360 will hold limited exclusivity with the first two DLC’s of Modern Warfare 2, and this spring (exact date TBD) they will make good on that announcement. At the conclusion of the 30-day time frame, the maps will be available for the rest of the platforms.

NPD recently released its list of the top ten best selling domestic non-PC titles and we have a surprise winner. It’s not an Xbox 360 title, nor a PS3 one; it is in fact a Wii release. And a mini-game compilation to boot.

The winner is: Wii Play.

When you think about it, the result isn’t too surprising. Being bundled with a Wii Remote and only being priced a few dollars more makes Wii Play an attractive option for Wii owners.

The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 has just received a new patch via IW-NET.

Robert Bowling, Community Manager over at Infinity Ward spilled the beans via his own personal blog; fourzerotwo.

Details of the update are as follows:

Coming soon is the Writer’s Guild of America award for excellency in “Videogame Writing” and you know, actual movies. The nominees are:

• Assassin’s Creed 2 – Story by Corey May, Script Writers Corey May, Joshua Rubin, Jeffrey Yohalem
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Written by Jesse Stern, Additional Writing Steve Fukuda, Story by Todd Alderman, Steve Fukuda, Mackey McCandlish, Zied Rieke, Jesse Stern, Jason West, Battlechatter Dialogue, Sean Slayback
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Written by Amy Hennig
• Wet – Written by Duppy Demetrius
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine – Script Writer Marc Guggenheim

Major Nelson reported a few days ago on the top titles of 2009 on Xbox Live. His lists included the most played games of the year by connectivity, the most played Xbox Live Arcade titles as well as lists for top Windows games and Top original Xbox titles.

The notable call-outs include Halo 3 taking top honors as having the most unique users play the game over Live throughout the year. Following this, we have the latest three Call of Duty games and Gears of War 2. On the Arcade side of things, Battlefield 1943 and the still-awesome Castle Crashers took the number one and two spots respectively.

Check out the lists below.

Activision and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has passed the $1 billion mark in sales. Amazingly, it made over half of that in its first 5 days as we all witnessed the hype and record-breaking online players.

In terms of how many copies of the game were picked up by those eager to shoot their digital enemies, MW2 has already passed the 14.4 million units its predecessor Modern Warfare (1) sold two years prior.

This just goes to show how the video game industry has taken over the film industry. Why watch a movie when you can control the lead within the cinematic experience, right?

The MAG Beta ended just yesterday and after running around with guns blazing in the giant battles of 64-256 players for the past few days, Game Rant has a report on how massive the gaming really has been.

MAG is exactly what you would expect from this Modern Warfare generation of console first person shooters. It has somewhat realistic guns, controls and aiming schemes similar to SOCOM or MW2, and upgrades you can purchase with points you earn by playing the game. The leveling system is a pretty basic version of the Modern Warfare setup. Skill points are earned by gaining levels of experience and are used to purchase new weapons, equipment and upgrades. Experience is earned by killing enemies, assisting in a kill, healing teammates, or completing an objective.

After the uber success that was Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward can do whatever it wants. Well, it should be able to do whatever it wants anyway.

With all the rumors, speculation and confusion surrounding the future of the Call of Duty franchise, we have another rumor to throw into the mix. I’ve previously reported on some speculation of the next installments of Activision’s prize Call of Duty franchise and now it might be possible that one of those ideas could be coming to fruition.

The latest rumor from Destructoid states that Infinity Ward has been hiring some MMO developers from Sony Online Entertainment as well as the help from Blizzard employee. The plan is apparently to continue the annual releases of Call of Duty games with this MMO running alongside them at the same time.

EA has been throwing punches at Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 for a while now with claims that their DICE studio’s new Battlefield: Bad Company 2 would keep dedicated servers for PC gamers, valuing them and the importance of PC gameplay and customization.

Now they’re trying to throw the full one-two punch with one being the release of the newest Battlefield installment…

Here’s some news that may get fans of the record-breaking event release of Modern Warfare 2 a little disappointed; According to an inside source of VG247, Infinity Ward will not be making Modern Warfare 3 as per the Activision tradition of semi-annual releases alternating between Treyarch and Infinity Ward.

They refer to an older quote from Infinity Ward headmaster Rob Bowling where he says they’re not sure what they’re working on next (when the answer should be clear). They continue to report that their source says a Canadian studio would be handling MW3 and that another source points to the new addition to Activision and Call of Duty in the form of Sledgehammer Games.

Linear gameplay. Sometimes it can mean an excruciatingly simple and trudging story that you can do little to make fun. Other times, it can be one of the most thrilling experiences you can have playing any video game at all. In recent times, some of the best games to be released were largely linear experiences. I speak of course of titles such as Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, games that were not focused on giving you a whole-wide world to trudge through and wreak havoc upon, but rather very engaging set pieces with simple goals. I, for one, enjoyed the campaign of Modern Warfare 2 immensely. If I described it to someone, I would call it “the best summer blockbuster you’ll never see in a theater,” and I think that held true for one reason: Linear gameplay.

Linear gameplay, that is to say, gameplay that nudges you along in the right direction with no allowance of real exploration, can be a real benefit for game developers because they can concentrate on immersing the player in the story they crafted. One of my favorite parts in the MW2 campaign was the first portion of the mission in Brazil where you had to find the right-hand man of a target you were after, from that opening where you were sitting in the car, to pursuing the contact, and then to shooting him in the leg. Not a complicated gameplay segment at all, but very engaging and definitely thrilling. Why? Because YOU were there and YOU had to shoot that guy in the leg.

The internet rumor mill is abuzz with news of the next installment of the monolithic Call of Duty series. The rumor is that Treyarch and Activision are purchasing rights to many 1960s era music including some Cuban and African tunes. This is a pretty strong hint towards what’s coming up next for one of our favorite shooters. The developers at Activision have also said that they are pleased to be finished with the World War II era and are happy to move on to new and fresher settings.

I’m very interested to see how they will handle the Vietnam Era if this be the case. No game has been able to capture the tension of jungle warfare very realistically. There are so many opportunities for superior camouflage and ambushes. There should be new multiplayer tactics to match up with the dense environment filled equally with cover and natural hazards.

On Thursday, The Official Xbox 360 Magazine will be featuring the first details about the newly overhauled Medal of Honor franchise. It seems that EA brought in Military consultants in an effort to keep the game as authentic as possible in both visual and audio content. The game takes place in Afghanistan and will feature multiple playable characters.

In terms of gameplay, Medal of Honor has added the ability to spring run and use knife attacks as seen in their competitor series, but one neat development is the ability to shoot out lights for cover while switching over to night-vision.  You can view the Medal of Honor trailer here.

With the 2009 coming to its end, I’ve been incredibly impressed with how the games released this year presented cinematic experiences that feel so organic, and it only looks like it’s going to get better. Major blockbuster hits such as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Assassin’s Creed 2 (Guess things get better the second time around, huh?) definitely drive this point home and in a very big way. From the literal birth of an assassin in Assassin’s Creed 2 to a harrowing snowmobile chase after destroying a Russian military base in Modern Warfare 2, games are becoming more immersive and hugely cinematic in how they deliver their stories. Where the gamer is able to actually be in an interactive movie where you get to do all the cool things you’ve watched all before.

Recently we ran an article about a number of issues currently plaguing Modern Warfare 2. Earlier this morning Infinity Ward officially released Patch 1.07 for Modern Warfare 2 for the Xbox 360. This patch comes a few days after patches to the PS3 and PC versions of the game which fixed the Prestige and Texture Hacks respectively as well as the Private Match glitch, Infinite Ammo glitch, and balancing for the Model 1887 shotgun.

The full patch notes have yet to be posted, but we’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available. Initial response on the forums is that everything is working as intended with the exception of unconfirmed rumors that the Model 1887’s range is still not balanced correctly in certain situations.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 banked a decent (read: rec0rd-breaking) amount in sales when it launched last month to rave reviews and record-breaking online player numbers.

Activision’s goal with the sequel to Modern Warfare was to earn the same money we see in blockbuster films and they succeeded like none have done before. So, with that success comes curiousity and speculation to the franchise which as traditionally had one game released per year, alternating between its two developers: Treyarch and their current World at War franchise and Infinity Ward with their Modern Warfare series.

As we now know, these two studios have absolutely no ties together other than the branding and work in their own ways to develop their titles. Sadly, this means for us players that they don’t work to include the best parts of each others’ titles into their own.

Well, now that MW2 has been launched and we may see a (rumored) Cold War-themed World at War 2 next Fall, Activision has recently added a THIRD developer to work on another Call of Duty property.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has won by a slim margin in our “Game of the Year” poll, barely beating out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with Batman: Arkham Asylum and Assassin’s Creed II rounding out the top four.

When Uncharted 2 received the award for “Game of the Year” at the Spike Video Game Awards, internet message boards exploded with praise and frustration. Less than a week later, the Inside Gaming Awards gave “Game of the Year” top honors to Modern Warfare 2 reigniting the fiery subject matter.

It’s about time we start sharing cool gameplay videos, something I’ve been meaning to do for week. Today marks the first day we conduct our Video of the Week feature where we’ll share any cool or funny gameplay videos we find or can think of for that week.

Two of the game ranters chimed in a few days back with a suggestion for this week’s video, coming from Modern Warfare 2, showing off a very cocky player putting on a show and performing a ninja kill.

Check out the video below and see why war games do not equal reality.

Even with the tremendous sales success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward keeps taking hits in the public arena. First, there was the perceived slight to the PC community. Then there was the abuse of the Javelin Glitch. And recently, the Public “Private Match” and Infinite Ammo Glitches were causing havoc online.

Now, color-blind gamers have publicly aired their gripes, and started an online petition requesting that Infinity Ward patch MW2 so that they are not at a disadvantage when playing online:

NPD Group has released the top software sales for 2009 through November. Even though Modern Warfare 2 only sold for one month it placed twice on the list with its 360 title taking top honors. Nintendo on the whole performed very well, claiming 4 of the top 5 spots and 6 spots overall on the list. It’s also important to note that 3 of Nintento’s titles listed in the top 5 were not released in 2009.

While the latest patch for Modern Warfare 2 may have taken care of the infamous javelin glitch, it seems there are still some bugs in Infinity Ward’s record setting game. Recently, a matchmaking glitch has appeared that allows players to connect to hacked “Private Matches” with custom settings when searching for Public games.

Robert Bowling (fourzerotwo), Community Manager for Infinity Ward put a post up on the Infinity Ward forums to put everyone at ease about the glitch:

The NPD Group’s recent numbers for hardware and software sales last month shed some interesting light on the performance of the big 3 giants and the console business on the whole. Microsoft is now touting this past November as the most successful month in the history of the Xbox 360 console. Just take it from Aaron Greenberg, Xbox 360’s Director of Product Management:

“November was the biggest month in the history of the Xbox 360 business”

This boastful statement comes despite a year on year dip on hardware sales from 836,000 last year to 819,500 this year. $838 million was spent on Xbox 360 hardware and software in November accounting for the majority of November’s $1.4 billion spent on non-PC sales.

The 2009 Spike Video Game Awards are over with, and we’ve been covering a lot of announcement and trailer information coming out of the show, but in case you missed the actual awards themselves, we haven’t forgotten about you – we’ve put together the official list of 2009 VGA winners in each category (as well as the nominees).

Don’t forget to check out our own 2009 Game of the Year Round-Up for a more extensive discussion on the most critically acclaimed titles of the year.

After all of the talk about which system was dominating Black Friday sales, and which system was about to become ancient history, NPD’s release of its November report for the United States almost seemed anticlimactic. I mean, when has Michael Pachter ever been wrong?

But, lo and behold, there was quite a surprise awaiting all of us in the November 2009 report:

The Nintendo DS sold 1.70 million units? Take that PSP!

Finally, the infamous javelin glitch has been patched for Modern Warfare 2… well almost. Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling has stated that the patch has been completed by Infinity Ward and that it is just pending approval from Microsoft.

“The same fixes that are in 1.06 are coming to you, it’s currently in Microsoft cert. Out of my hands.”

Although Mr. Bowling doesn’t mention anything about the patch for PS3, it would be safe to assume that it is also awaiting the thumbs up from Sony.

Along with the javelin glitch, Infinity Ward has also patched several other issues within the game, including the unlimited care packages gift and the areas in certain maps that would allow players to “become one with the walls” (which basically sees players with low morale glitch into the walls).