Treyarch Dev Teases Black Ops II Multiplayer HUD and Custom Games Settings, Debunks Old Rumor

David Vonderhaar of Treyarch talks about the new multiplayer HUD for Call of Duty: Black Ops II as the team tries to strike a balance between a great art style and readability and teases some upcoming intel.“So fired up right now,” tweeted Vonderhaar recently. “UI team put together an MP HUD visual design. Clean with high readability/usability but maintains great looking art.” He added that “the boys [have] been working so hard to find the balance between beautiful and high usability. I shed tears of joy in the meeting.”If you’re dying to know what exactly the HUD will look like (which we certainly are), Vonderhaar also teased a tease that we may be treated to in the near future, stating, “I predict a day in near future where Call...

Read more »

Posted in: Call of Duty Black Ops 2

[Updated] Bizzarre Halo 4 Multiplayer Leak

Yesterday, Sunday the 27th, one of the strangest leaks in video game history appeared on the internet.Yes, it’s of Halo 4 and, yes, it’s of multiplayer, which many hardcore Halo fans are most looking forward to, but the way in which it is presented is some of the strangest stuff we’ve seen on the internet yet.This footage, originally found on the NewGAF forums, shows what looks to be off-screen Halo 4 multiplayer gameplay footage on an old, standard-definition TV via VHS  inside a barn of some sort accompanied by some blaring music.The multiplayer footage itself resembles what we’ve seen so far when it comes to Halo 4 gameplay. It also demonstrates the sprint ability, Promethean vision as well as the Railgun, a new...

Read more »

Posted in: Halo 4

Infinity Ward Teases “Exciting Unannounced Title For Next Generation Consoles”

It looks like Call of Duty is headed to the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4!“Come work with the game industry’s brightest to design and implement high level network code for an exciting unannounced title for next generation console systems,” reads an ad for a Senior Network Engineer position in the Infinity Ward studios, creators of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise.Earlier, Treyarch was rumored to be heading a next-gen project thanks to an ad stating that the team was looking for employees with next-gen experience using next-gen tools.Activision’s only other known next-gen project happens to be Bungie’s recently announced project codenamed “Destiny.”Infinity Ward’s ad, discovered by NowGamer, clearly...

Read more »

Treyarch Discuss Black Ops 2′s New Charge-and-Fire, X-ray Sniper Rifle

Speaking to Ausgamers at a recent Black Ops 2 promotional event, Treyarch’s Mark Lamia – when asked about the tradition of keeping Call of Duty’s guns authentic and how that would translate in Black Ops 2′s near-future setting – discussed a radical new sniper rifle that’s set to feature in the upcoming sequel.The electronically initiated, charge-and-fire, X-ray scoped sniper rifle is based on technology that is available today, believe it or not! Lamia justifies the inclusion of the weapon in Black Ops 2 in the interview embedded below, and explains how the team have worked hard balancing the new sniper rifle and other features of the game.“In the demonstration of LA, we showed you a sniper weapon, but it was not a sniper...

Read more »

Posted in: Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Black Ops 2 has “Dedicated PC Team” and PC Version Built from Ground Up

Treyarch’s Director of Technology Cesar Stastny (@pcdev), has recently confirmed via Twitter that Treyarch is stepping up this year when it comes to supporting the Call of Duty PC community. With all the PC drama that began with MW2, it’ll be interesting to see what direction they’ll take with Black Ops 2. This is a great start though:-”[Black Ops 2].. developed by a dedicated PC team simultaneously with the other platforms.”-”BO2 built from the ground up to catch cheaters”-”Ability to detect and ban based on lessons learned on Black Ops.”Still no word on how dedicated servers will be handled this year. It’s clear fans have beens asking for dedicated ranked servers fo a while now, we’ll let you know the second we receive more PC intel...

Read more »

Posted in: Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Halo 4 Pre-Order Bonus Items Revealed

Ready to get your customize game on Spartan? Halo 4 is offering some snazzy armor and gun skins that are customizable for pre-ordering Halo 4 at their respective retailers.First off, pre-ordering from the Microsoft Store will net you a customizable “Pulse” armor skin. Gamestop pre-orders will receive the “Forest” armor skin. EB Canada will outfit you the same “Forest” armor but with an additional artic camo-styled Battle Rifle. Best Buy will reward players with the “Venator Raptor” exclusive multiplayer armor design. Amazon will get the “Web” armor skin while Play in the UK equips Master Chief with the “Deadeye” helmet skin. Lastly, Mightey Ape New Zealand will score players both the “Locust” helmet, “Venator Raptor” armor and “Pulse”...

Read more »

Posted in: Halo 4

Black Ops II Zombies – “We Just Want To Keep Making It,” Says Treyarch

Mark Lamia, Studio Head at Treyarch, entertains the idea of a spinoff for the ultra-popular Call of Duty game mode, Zombies.“That’s interesting, because you know we finally did exclusive DLC Zombies for Black Ops; it had its own marketing campaign, had no multiplayer maps, had no campaign. It was just zombies,” referring to the original Black Ops’ latest DLC, Rezurrection, as Lamia stated in the latest issue of Gamemaster Magazine. ”Millions of people clearly wanted it because they got it,” he added. He had no specific sales number on hand, but he did mention that it sold in the millions, keeping in mind that this is nine to ten months after the release of Black Ops.Nazi Zombies originally debuted in Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Wold at War...

Read more »

Posted in: Call of Duty Black Ops 2

Minecraft tops Black Ops on Xbox Live

4J Studios' open-world creation game tallied more unique users than Call of Duty: Black Ops for the week of May 14. Minecraft is digging away at the success of Call of Duty on Xbox Live. Microsoft's latest online activity chart reveals that for the week of May 14, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Editionhad more unique users than Call of Duty: Black Ops.Can Minecraft unseat Modern Warfare 3 next week?Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition was surpassed in unique users only by Activision's latest blockbuster shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In notching the number two spot, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition also recorded a higher number of unique users than footie simulator FIFA 12, as well as popular shooters Battlefield 3, Halo: Reach, and...

Read more »