Author: DestroyRepeat

Black Ops 2 PC requirements for optimal gamers

If you are planning to pick up the PC version of Black Ops 2 when it releases on November 13, Treyarch has just released a crucial piece of information for you in the form of official minimum PC spec requirements.

The pleasing news is that it looks like many of you are going to be fine with your current hardware and there’s no real shock in the specs that Treyarch demand. Sadly though for some of the hardcore selection who are still rocking Windows XP, Treyarch has confirmed that Black Ops 2 will require Windows Vista as a bare minimum.

Vista is going to be fairly ancient when Windows 8 arrives anyway, so we’re surprised that Vista is still supported in all honesty. For CPU requirements, you’ll need at least an AMD Phenom X3 8750 2.4 GHz or a Intel Core2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz processor. On the graphics side of things, you’ll be laughing if you are already in possession of a Nvidia GeForce 8800GT or ATI Radeon HD 3870 – both require 512MB cards though.

Treyarch has said that they are ‘very confident’ that the game will still run well on the minimum specs, so that’s good news for those that previously had problems running the first Black Ops game. Additionally, the game will be running on Direct X11, compared to DX9 for Black Ops and Treyarch has stressed that PC players will be able to enjoy enhanced graphic effects not seen on console, such as lighting, shadows and antialiasing.

You can check out the requirements in full on the Call of Duty website here. Let us know what specs you have at the moment for your PC and what level of performance you are looking to achieve. Will you be hoping to play this with optimal settings, or can you only manage the minimum?

September 3, 2012
MW3 Tips & Tricks: Lines of Sight – Lockdown & Mission

September 2, 2012
Sony pushes Vita, publishers prepare for holiday season

In the absence of Microsoft and Nintendo, Sony was given a clear stage to impress with the generous PlayStation Plus subscription service and handheld Vita at this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.

Old favorite LittleBigPlanet, new touch-based title Tearaway, and shooters Killzone: Mercenary and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified amply demonstrated Sony’s plan to present Vita’s games line-up as a combination of innovative, exclusive ideas, and traditional action fare.

The subscription-based PlayStation Plus scheme was expanded to encompass the Vita, and the Cross Buy program that bundles Vita versions with PlayStation 3 games was fleshed out.

There were decent showings from the big third-party publishers such as Ubisoft and Electronic Arts.

Ubisoft continued to intruige with the Wii U survival game ZombiU and free-to-play iterations in the historical city building series Anno, the Battleship-writ-large of Silent Hunter Online, and fantasy franchise Might & Magic. Just Dance 4 was on the show floor, Rayman Legends was slick as ever, but Ubi’s star player was Assassin’s Creed III, with some visitors willing to queue up to five hours for a go on the October release.

Electronic Arts‘s Need for Speed: Most Wanted looked like a solid bet for some end-of-year motoring entertainment this November, SimCity‘s shaping up nicely for February 2013, and there are a good number of shooters in the works and on display: Medal of Honor: Warfighter for October, then Dead Space 3, Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel and Crysis 3 in 2013. And then there were this year’s sports titles in FIFA 13 and NHL 13, both of which have a considerable number of European teams.

Prominent no-shows during Gamescom week were the Wii U and a new Monster Hunter game, at a time when even the supposedly absent Microsoft managed to sneak in for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 multiplayer reveal.

Though Nintendo wasn’t present, rumors had indicated it would ambush the event with a price and release date for the Wii U that would spark a rush of pre-orders. That information may now come during its annual media briefing held near the Tokyo Games Show, September 20-23.

Likewise, an enthusiastic pre-show update from the Capcom blog had led many to believe that a new Monster Hunter title was about to be announced — further news has now been promised before the end of 2012.

PlayStation’s Gamescom presentation: youtu.be/4bBaSYPP2jk
EA’s Gamescom site: ea.com/gamescom
Select Ubisoft Gamescom trailers: Just Dance 4 (youtu.be/xV4WakL2n3s), ZombiU (youtu.be/EAz48VvPAmM), Anno Online (youtu.be/KE_OqFIrhGA), Rayman Legends (youtu.be/FKGXtm02zBE)

September 2, 2012
MW3 Collection 4: Final Assault – Trailer and Release Date
Infinity Ward has announced that ELITE Drops 19-21 will be available September 6th for PS3 Elite Premium members.

ELITE Drops 19-21:
- Special Ops Mission: Special Delievery
- Special Ops Mission: Light ‘em Up
- Game Mode: Special Ops Chaos Mode
A release date for Collection 3 Chaos Pack for PS3 will be announced next week, (via @candyslexia)

Infinity Ward has also (re)confirmed that ELITE Drops 22-24 will be available September 5th for Xbox LIVE Elite Premium Members

ELITE Drops 22-24:
- MP Map: Gulch
- MP Map: Boardwalk
- MP Map: Parish
Collection 4 Final Assault, which includes 5 MP Maps, will be available September 6th for everyone on Xbox LIVE for 1200 MSP.

SOURCE: Infinity Ward
September 2, 2012
Black Ops 2 PlayStation Magazine Cover – October Edition

Enjoy it folks!

September 2, 2012
Call of Duty: 15 things you didn’t know about the world’s biggest game

By Andy Kelly for CVG UK

This article originally appeared in Xbox World magazine.

Played every hour of the Call of Duty series? Think you’ve seen it all? Think again, soldier. Over the next three pages, we list the secrets hidden in the world’s biggest franchise…

1. The Quake connection

Since Call of Duty 2, the series has used the IW Engine. This began life as a heavily modified version of the Quake 3 engine – under license from legendary FPS pioneers id Software. The engine was also used for the Quantum of Solace spin-off game.

2. Rock and roll

In Call of Duty: Finest Hour, Sergeant Starkey – who we met during the attack on a German base in Tunisia – was voiced by geordie AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson. His father was a Sergeant Major in the British Army, and he based his voice on him.

3. Unused content

PC modders digging deeply through the files of a wide number of the Call of Duty games have found references to, among other things, an unused mission set aboard the International Space Station in Modern Warfare 2, and a scrapped British campaign for Call of Duty 2.

4. Striving for authenticity

Always striving to add the upmost authenticity to their games, while they were developing Call of Duty 4, the developers attended a live fire training session at the Twentynine Palms military base in California. They stood next to Abrams tanks as they fired so they could recreate the sensation of both noise and vibration in the game.

5. Time traveller

Captain Price, who has since become one of the CoD’s most loved characters, appeared in both Call of Duty 2, set in 1940s WW2, and Call of Duty 4, set in the modern day. Any explanation has been left ambiguous. A distant relative?

Source Article from http://www.computerandvideogames.com/365801/features/call-of-duty-15-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-worlds-biggest-game/

September 1, 2012
World of Warcraft and Call of Duty revenues shrink for Activision

Strong sales for Skylanders and Diablo III help to reduce contraction.

Activision’s Q2 2012 financial results have revealed a contraction in revenue from heavy hitters Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, reports GamesIndustry.

Revenues for the first half of 2012 are down year on year by 6.8 per cent to €1.731 billion, but Q2 sales are actually up year on year by €41 million to €837. However, take into account a constant currency rate and that 5.2 per cent sales increase is turned into a 6.2 per cent decline.

World of Warcraft’s revenue slump is attributed to lower subscriptions (now at nine million) and catalogue sales, but there was no word on why “revenues related to Call of Duty digital offerings and catalogue were lower compared to the same period last year”.

Revenues from Diablo III are yet to be felt as these have been deferred in line with regulations on online income.

And despite the reported decline Activision believes its Q3 and Q4 slate (Mists of Pandaria, Skylanders Giants and Black Ops II) is strong enough to bump its EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes and amortization) from €750 to €800 for the financial year.

Source Article from http://www.videogamer.com/news/world_of_warcraft_and_call_of_duty_revenues_shrink_for_activision.html

September 1, 2012
Nintendo Reveals Harmo Knight, New Game From the Creators of Pokemon

Nintendo of Japan broadcasted a Nintendo Direct episode a couple days ago. One of the highlights of the broadcast was the unveiling of Game Freak’s latest game. Game Freak is known for their Pokemon series of games, but their latest title isn’t Pokemon. It’s a new game that will be released on the 3DS eShop, titled Harmo Knight.

(more…)

September 1, 2012
Black Ops 2 Elite integration details coming next month – Elite 2.0

September reveal planned for Elite 2.0’s “innovative features”.

The first details on Call of Duty: Elite’s integration with Black Ops II will be released during September, Activision has revealed.

Beyond the revelation that this year’s version of Elite will include “several innovative features”, it’s currently unknown how the service will function with Treyarch’s upcoming sequel.

A subscription to the online service is also absent from Black Ops II’s Care Package and Hardened Edition. In contrast, a pre-paid 12 month subscription was included with Modern Warfare 3’s Hardened Edition.

Call of Duty: Elite is an online service offering premium consumers early access to all Call of Duty DLC. Users are also able to track their stats and access a series of exclusive videos from the developers.

Over 10 million people are said to have registered for the service, with over 2m of them signing up to a premium membership.

August 30, 2012
Black Ops 2 remote quadrotor drone in-flight

Following on from the huge reveal about the Care Package and Hardened Editions of Black Ops 2, Treyarch has now released a useful unboxing video, giving you a sneak peek at what is included in the Care Package edition, including a brief look at how the remote control MQ-27 Dragonfire Drone will operate.

The remote control quad rotor is easily the highlight of the premium edition of Black Ops 2 and for an total asking price of $180, fans are obviously expecting to be wowed by Treyarch. The developers have done their best to big up the luxurious items and you’ll see the exact scale of the Care Package you’ll have to take home with you if picking one up from retailers.

It’s a big unit indeed and you might want to make a quick exit before you get people trying to ransack your bounty in the street. The quad rotor drone looks impressive and the clip below lets you see what it looks like in flight, with Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar even flying it in a way so that it can land in his hand.

Aside from the drone, there’s plenty of other goodies on offer, including various downloadable items, some limited edition coins with in-game codes on them and of course the other two main highlights in the Care Package. You’ll also be getting access to the exclusive Nuketown 2025 multiplayer map which is set in the future from the original favorite in Black Ops 2.

If that wasn’t exciting enough, the masterminds at Treyarch have said that it was purely down to listening to the community that they decided to unleash Nuketown zombies as well. Just to clarify for those that are still unaware, this Nuketown zombies map is going to be exclusive to the Care Package and Hardened editions, so you won’t get it if you have already pre-ordered the standard edition of the game that just includes Nuketown 2025.

After seeing what the quadrotor drone looks like in-flight, are you planning to drop $180 on this?

August 30, 2012