PlayStation LifeStyle » Treyarch

Another Black Ops DLC Pack Might be Readying for Invasion

Tyler Minarik — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:55:31 +0000

Chalk this up as a vague possibility at the moment, but we found a clue that indicates Black Ops isn’t finished yet, and we may see yet another map pack for the immensely popular game before Modern Warfare 3 releases later this year.

Thanks to Microsoft, everyone on the PlayStation 3 is still waiting to see the third map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops, entitled Annihilation. However, the map pack is complete and ready to go out, seeing as how Xbox users are already playing the new maps right now. Thus, it would make sense for Treyarch to continue work on either more DLC, or a new game, and a recent interview may indicate which it is.

While talking with Digital Spy, design director David Vonderhaar was asked if they would stop at three map packs, to which he replied:

I can’t talk to anything beyond ‘Annihilation’, but keep your eyes peeled…

It’s a vague response, but the implications seem rather obvious. It may not be another map pack, but considering the trend for Call of Duty games, it seems quite likely. We’re still waiting on word about when Annihilation will hit the PSN, but trends point to July. Until then, let us know if you’re planning on picking up Annihilation, and whether or not you’d still be interested in even more Black Ops content afterward. It certainly seems like there won’t be any shortage of it, which should hold people over until Modern Warfare 3 hits shelves this November.

Black Ops Annihilation DLC Announced, PS3 Wont Get it Just Yet

Kishen Patel — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:06:31 +0000

Only a week after the release of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation map pack on the PlayStation Store, Activision has announced the next piece of downloadable content for the blockbuster first-person shooter. While PS3 owners will have to wait at least a month longer than the competing platforms, the information is still pertinent to the PSN community of online gamers.

The third DLC pack, Annihilation, follows up on the success of the First Strike and Escalation expansions with four new maps for competitive multiplayer and another new zombie map pack. According to the official announcement by Treyarch and Activision:

With Annihilation, Black Ops fans will get four exciting and unique multiplayer settings with Hangar 18, Drive-In, Silo and Hazard,” said Treyarch Studio Head, Mark Lamia. “Players will also enjoy an all-new Zombies experience, Shangri-La, an exotic and mysterious map filled with deadly traps, dark secrets and innovative gameplay that will challenge even the most daring Zombie hunters.

Guessing from the time frames between the Xbox LIVE and PSN releases of each Call of Duty: Black Ops DLC releases, our assumption is that there will be a month’s delay until the Annihilation DLC hits the PlayStation Store. For the latest news on Call of Duty and its expansion packs, stay connected to PlayStation LifeStyle.

SCEA Announces Limited Edition PS3 Call of Duty: Black Ops Bundle

Sebastian Moss — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:32:21 +0000

With the PS3 suffering a huge PR blow due to the recent hack of the PlayStation Network, rumors emerged that Sony would try to help reinvigorate potential customers interest in the console by bundling in the biggest franchise of this generation. From May 31st, you will be able to get your hands on a limited edition Black Ops bundle.

The best selling PS3 game of all time, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and it’s DLC the Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike Content Pack, will be bundled with the 160 GB PS3 system for $299.99.

Mark Lamia, Studio Head of Treyarch said:

The choice to bundle Call of Duty: Black Ops and the First Strike Content Pack with the PlayStation 3 is perfect for anyone looking to bring home an incredible entertainment experience, that delivers endless hours of excitement through the games epic single player campaign, hugely popular multiplayer on PlayStation Network, or our fan favorite co-op Zombies mode.
And for those with 3D enabled televisions, the game’s Campaign, Multiplayer and Zombies experiences are seamlessly set up for stereoscopic 3D on the PS3 right out of the box.

The First Strike Content Pack includes four extra multiplayer maps, and a new zombie experience, Ascension. If you were planning on buying a PS3, will you be picking up the bundle? Let us know in the comments below.

Call of Duty Black Ops Takes the Top Spot

Adam Wolfe — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:48:52 +0000

Since Call of Duty: Black Ops released late in 2010, it has steadily broken countless sales records. Smashing opening day sales records, as well as the record for most sales in the first five days. With it also selling almost 8.4 million units in November, it was only a matter of time until we received the latest sales record.

Last night the NPD group reported that Call of Duty: Black Ops has sold 13.7 million units. This makes it the all time best-selling game in US history, which is very impressive since it has only be on the market since early November. Black Ops toppled the former king Wii Play, and you have to admit, even if you’re not a fan of the Call of Duty series, it is nice to see an actual game in the top spot.

With Black Ops only being on the market for four months, and it still being at the top of the NPD software charts each month, what do you see its final tally being?

[Source]

Giveaway: Black Ops First Strike DLC Codes

Anthony Severino — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 02:42:35 +0000

It’s GDC, the coverage is flowing, the parties are bumping, and overall, we’re in one hell of a good mood. We’re feeling especially generous (maybe it’s all the free drinks talking) and we’re putting together a little giveaway for you, our loyal fans. We’ve got 5 DLC codes to giveaway for Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike DLC for the PS3 — here’s how to win…

To win one of 5 of our Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike DLC codes. All you have to do is follow @PSLifeStyle on Twitter, and RT the following tweet:

#BlackOps First Strike DLC for #PS3 out now. Follow @PSLifeStyle and retweet to win one of 5 codes – http://bit.ly/ec6Hn0

US residents only. Must be 18 years or older to win. One winner will be selected randomly each day until the codes run out.

Start tweeting now!

Treyarch Muffles Killzone 3 with DLC and Bonus XP Black Ops Style

Jonathan Leack — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:52:52 +0000

The Treyarch team is doing everything in their power to shift attention away from the mass attention that Killzone 3 and Battlefield 3 have been accumulating. To the delight of gamers, this means that they’ll be pushing big updates, as well as the double XP bonus weekend coming in only a few days for their latest product.

Treyarch has announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops will play host to a double experience weekend beginning in just a couple of days. Josh Olin, Community Manager at Treyarch, posted the following:

#CODBlackOps Double-XP will begin at approx. 10a PST on Friday, March 4th. It ends the same time Monday. All Platforms.

If you need a break from the mind-exploding presentation of Killzone 3, then this weekend Black Ops can offer you just that. Its first DLC titled First Strike launches tomorrow (March 3rd), just before the bonus weekend, so prepare your loadout and get ready for some Cold War action.

Treyarch Strategically Adjusts Black Ops with Title Update 7

Jonathan Leack — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:16:29 +0000

Even though Killzone 3 has absorbed the attention of FPS fans for the past couple weeks, there are still millions of gamers who are continuing to compete in last year’s best selling Call of Duty: Black Ops. The game has suffered from several issues since its inception last November, but Treyarch is continuing to prove that they wish to continue to support the title.

The patch notes for Call of Duty: Black Ops‘ title update 7 have been released. This patch is currently being approved by Sony, and should be out soon.

Issues Addressed:
Matchmaking improvements to return higher quality results faster. This change includes settings that are tunable in the live environment, so tweaking may continue beyond initial release of this update.
The in-game store now hides DLC map packs that do not match the language of the player’s disc to decrease the possibility of users downloading the incorrect language version.
Calling in a Chopper Gunner immediately after getting shot down in a Gunship will no longer end the Chopper Gunner run prematurely. Required timing-specific button presses.
Split screen players are now able to change camera perspectives and cycle through players as a spectator.
Addressed an issue where the most recent match played in Zombies could overwrite the best match played on the leaderboard.
Improved Zombies lobbies to prevent players from erroneously receiving the error “Unable to join game session” under certain circumstances.
Addressed a number of community-discovered Zombies gameplay exploits.
Additional security feature updates.
Gameplay Tuning:
Additional sniper rifle tuning.

The additions to security and sniper rifle tuning are the most eye-catching of the bunch. The PlayStation 3 version has been hit with exploit issues since the security breach last month. On the other hand, sniping in Black Ops has remained irrelevant, unlike the powerful nature of Killzone 3‘s long-range repertoire. Look out for this update in the coming week or so.

Modern Warfare 2 to Receive Major Security Patch Soon

Mike Hartnett — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:48:51 +0000

If you’ve read it on the web, or experienced it in-game, then you’re probably aware of the fact that playing Modern Warfare 2 online is, currently, nothing but one big load of frustration. Infinity Ward is well aware of this and has just announced that a security update is on its way.

Creative Strategist Robert Bowling has announced that Infinity Ward (or what’s left of them) will be releasing a new security update across all major platforms in order to combat the rampant cheating which has plagues the online portion of Modern Warfare 2.

The latest patch for Modern Warfare 2 has finished production and is now going through internal quality assurance. This new title update will address security issues that have affected online play.
We plan to release this update for all platforms (Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC). No release date is set at this time. Once an ETA is established, it will be posted here.
In addition to the security updates, this patch will also address a small geo exploit on the map Fuel, which players exploited in order to get inside a rock on the outskirts of the map.

It’s great to finally see a fix coming for what can only be described as a crippled online arena, as there are still many players which seem to prefer the style of the Infinity Ward titles over those developed by Treyarch. You can be sure we’ll let you all know once an ETA is announced for this latest patch. Until then, be sure to stay tuned to PlayStation LifeStyle.

[Via]

Details On Black Ops Zombie Ascension Map Pack

Joseph Peterson — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:25:02 +0000

As expected, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops is doing quite well sales-wise, in fact it has already set many records since its release. The game is the FPS to beat, keeping gamers fulfilled until the next Call of Duty is ready to hit.

But what is a player to do once they have completed the single player campaign? Simple, fire up the multiplayer mode and get ready for a fantastic experience. Within this mode there is a zombie game mode, and it alone may be the reason many have purchased the game over others. It is easily one of the most popular modes on the game. It was initially introduced by Treyarch back on the Call of Duty: World at War title, and they decided to let it make a return in Black Ops. This is why it is so easy to see why there is a map pack on the way for the zombie mode, and the details look like it is gonna be a lot of fun for those that decide to take the plunge and purchase it via the PlayStation Store.

The map pack places you in a G-Force testing facility, and once again you must go through several steps to fully unlock the entire map, which is difficult in doing itself. Throw in hordes of zombies, and you have yourself a frantic time trying to get everything unlocked within the map. Here are a few additions that come with the map pack:

Stamin-Up – Drink this for an added spring to your step, letting you sprint for longer periods of time – and do so with heavier weapons, too. Perfect for outpacing angry zombies on your trail.
Sickle – Damn zombies laughing off your knife lunges? Pick up the Sickle to cut the laughter short.
Matryoshka Dolls – Consider yourself lucky when these pop out of the Mystery Box. And no, it’s not a toy. Toss one out for a mean explosion that spits out more dolls…and thus more explosions.

These are just a couple of the new things in Ascension, be sure to give the map pack a look when it is released.

[Source]

Patch 1.06 Released For Call Of Duty: Black Ops

Joseph Peterson — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 18:20:47 +0000

Treyarch and Activision already know how successful Call of Duty: Black Ops has been since it’s launch back in November. They also know the importance of keeping the strongest selling point of the game up to date, which would be the multiplayer mode. The most recent patch was released to update many known issues for the title.

Patch 1.06 includes the following improvements:

New Features:
New contracts added to the rotation.
Added optional pre-match timer for LAN / System-Link games.
Issues Addressed:
Fixed freeze associated with larger games.
Improved reliability of players connections to one another.
Improved ability to bring parties to the game lobby. Late party joiners would try to connect to previous lobby host and be denied if new joiners trigger a lobby host migration.
Addressed an issue where the Host encounters and infinite spinning loading circle after a Host migration.
Fixed a timing specific, long/infinite loading screen when joining games (sometimes giving you “Error – Read error (0×80010713) on file
”).

Fixed a timing-specific freeze when host powered down during host migration.
Cleaned up the map search filter in the Community section (deleted unused entries).
Fixed Combat Training’s “USE FRIENDS” option for bots names.
Fixed issue with split-screen guest profile names being blank, resulting in matches never launching.
Instead of showing the generic “Player” for offline profiles in LAN, we now display the PS3 profile name.
Fixed Friends list appearing after viewing a Friends Playercard from the Leaderboards.
Fixed filter so players can now view Friends on Zombies leadboards.
Fix timing specific issue where the game can be put into slow motion.
Addressed “disconnected path” error when using the doors in Radiation after a host migration.
Fixed stability issues navigating lobbies after client on Split Screen Zombies quits out of a game.
Addressed issue/exploit when removing Counter Spy Plane effects with the Jammer.
Fixed a freeze when quickly loading maps one after another in private match.
Fixed issue where players get primary weapons in Second Chance.
Fixed “NEW” stamp not disappearing for Custom Slot 9 when highlighting the slot.
Removed water vision effect when respawning after dying in the acid pool in Radiation.
Several contract fixes.
Gameplay Tuning:
Second Chance – players that put an enemy into Second Chance are now credited for a full kill once that enemy dies. If another player kills the enemy while the enemy is in Second Chance, they will get assist credit.
Adjustments to the PSG1 with attachments.
AK74U adjustments.
RCXD adjustments.
Silenced sniper rifle adjustments.
Removed hit markers when shooting friendly equipment.

There are several improvements listed in the update details, anything you are seeing that wasn’t addressed?

[Source]

More Impressive Numbers for Black Ops

Adam Wolfe — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 22:35:05 +0000

In November, when Call of Duty: Black Ops released, it set the record for biggest entertainment launch of all time, racking up an impressive $360 million in sales. Then it was announced, by the NPD group, that Black Ops accounted for 25% of all video game sales in November, with an astounding 8.4 millions copies sold. Finally last week, Activision revealed that Black Ops had reached $1 billion in sales, and even more impressive was that they had reached that milestone faster than Modern Warfare 2. Well, today Activision releases even more impressive numbers for their FPS juggernaut.

Treyarch has often been criticized by PS3 users for the multiple problems the online in Black Ops faced. With lag and crashes plaguing many PS3 owners, causing some to even start a petition for a refund, which has been signed by more than 7000 gamers. But be that as it may this FPS can not be stopped.

Activision has sent out a press release on the number of hours gamers have put into their FPS:

Gamers have played more then 600 million hours on Black Ops

Judging by the sales numbers and this latest information, the Call of Duty franchise is not going anywhere soon, and even with companies like EA saying they are cutting into Activision sales, you can guarantee that Call of Duty will be the king of the Mountain for a few more years.

Black Ops Hits a Billion in $ales, Out Paces Modern Warfare 2

Ray Conley — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:19:36 +0000

Activision’s estimates are in, and in looks like Treyarch’s Black Ops has skyrocketed pass $1 billion in sales of its critically acclaimed first-person shooter. More shockingly, it hit the milestone faster than Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2, something market analysts had never predicted.

Analysts had originally predicted a spike in sales for Black Ops around its release date, then expected the numbers to roll off to a simmer. However, the sales have been so fast paced for Black Ops that it managed to break the billion sales marker about a month faster than Modern Warfare 2.

Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick gives kudos to all the studios that brought the massive success to the Call of Duty franchise.

“In all of entertainment, only Call of Duty and “Avatar” have ever achieved the billion dollar revenue milestone this quickly.
“This is a tribute to the global appeal of the Call of Duty franchise, the exceptional talent at Treyarch and the hundreds of extraordinary people across our many Call of Duty studios including Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer that work tirelessly on the franchise.”

Eric Hirshber, CEO of Activision Publishing, goes as far to say that Call of Duty has evolved from being a game to growing community, thanks to the amount of time gamers have put collectively towards the online experience.

“Call of Duty continues to rewrite not just the record books, but also the rules of interactive entertainment. Even more remarkable than the number of units sold is the number of hours people are playing the game together online which are unprecedented. Call of Duty is more than a game, it’s a true community.”

[Source]

Black Ops Map Pack Strikes February

Tyler Minarik — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:47:26 +0000

The first map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops was officially announced recently, and here are the limited details. Titled First Strike it will include 4 new competitive multiplayer maps and one new zombie mode map. The pack will be releasing in February, unfortunately Xbox will get it first February 1st, while PS3 and PC will wait get it at a later, undetermined date. The pack will cost 1200 MS points, which translates into $15. Since the MW2 map packs were so successful at this high price point, it seems that Activision will continue with the established trend.

While no real details were offered about the new zombie map other than the name “Ascension”, brief descriptions for each of the four competitive maps were given by Dan Bunting in an interview with Major Nelson. “Discovery” is set in an abandoned German research station in the Antarctic. “Kowloon” will be set in Kowloon, China, taking place across rooftops of the city and is inspired by an area of the single player campaign. “Berlin Wall” is located at the historical location Checkpoint Charlie, and sets the scene for a battle between East and West Berlin. Finally, “Stadium” will take place in a hockey rink somewhere in North America.

It looks like there will be some good variety of settings here to do battle in, and Treyarch is making effort to bring fans more of what they want. Dan Bunting elaborated a bit, saying they wanted to bring “a variety of weaponry, a variety of engagement types, variety of verticality, bringing some sniper opportunities into it” as well as “scripted moments and interactivity in every single one of the new maps”. We’ll keep you posted when more information is available. In the mean time, are you excited for an opportunity to extend your COD: Black Ops experience?

Possible Release Revealed for Battlefield 3

Adam Wolfe — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:12:25 +0000

The Battlefield series has been a long and successful franchise — easily one of EA’s most popular first-person shooters. During this generation of consoles we were introduced to the Battlefield: Bad Company games. The original sold rather well, but it wasn’t until the second one that the sales took off, and the online really felt like it was perfected. So, the question is, when do we get our hands on a third installment? EA’s CEO has the answer.

In a recent interview, John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, was discussing the state of EA’s FPS franchises and how they fare against juggernaut Call of Duty. While discussing that, he mentions that he doesn’t think Treyarch, the team behind Call of Duty: Black Ops, has proven themselves to gamers just yet, and that EA can rival the powerhouse franchise with their own IPs. He then moved on to the 2011 releases and dropped some very interesting news.

“next year we’ll make a lot more progress. We’ve got a couple of third-party games in the form of Crysis 2 and Bulletstorm, and then our big focus is Battlefield 3 in the second half of the year. I’d be shocked if we didn’t take a notch out of [Activision].”

So it looks like EA is set to release Battlefield 3 at the end of next year, which should be interesting since Call of Duty releases annually that time of the year to capitalize on the holiday sales rush. This is definitely shaping up to be quite a battle, and should be interesting to see how much EA can cut into Activision’s profits.

Look for more information as we move into 2011.

[Source]

Black Ops 1.04: New Features… and Crashes

Tyler Minarik — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:24:54 +0000

Two days ago Treyarch released patch 1.04 for the immensely popular Call of Duty: Black Ops. Intended to fix numerous issues that have plagued the game since its release in November, as well as bringing several new features to the game, the patch has also appeared to cause a bunch of problems for PlayStation 3 players. Complaints have been pouring in about games randomly freezing, disconnecting, having host migration issues, among many others issues. However, help may be on the way.

Earlier today Community Manager Josh Olin posted a thread specifically regarding the PS3 issues:

Hey PS3 community –
We are aware that many online players have been experiencing connectivity issues since Tuesday’s patch. We have been working hard to track down the cause and fix them as quickly as we can. We’ve already updated the game with one “hot fix” since Tuesday’s release that has improved many of those connectivity problems, and we’ve got more coming, so stay tuned.
Forum feedback has been tremendously helpful. In fact, we’ve been on the forums, monitoring feedback and in a number of cases, working with community members directly, so please keep the feedback coming. In the meantime, know that we’re committed to doing everything we can to support the best online experience, and we’re working quickly to resolve this issue.
NOTE: There have been rumors suggesting that deleting your save data will improve network connectivity. Please do not delete your save data, as it will not have an effect on network connectivity. A hot fix was released at 9:30p PST last night, coinciding with the first instance of this rumor, and this hot fix is the reason many users have experienced improved connectivity.
Thank you for your continued support and feedback. As always, we will keep you updated.

So, it appears all is not lost. If you were experiencing issues and haven’t tried logging on today, it might be a good idea to check it out, and report anything you experience. Mixed results have been reported, with some users experiencing improvement, and others still suffering. In the mean time, here are some of the new features included in the patch for when playability is improved.

Over 400 brand new Contracts
Practice Dummies (aka, AI bots) in offline Local Split Screen
A new camera editing mode in Theater called “Dolly Cam”
“Load Multiplayer by Default” option for the PS3

So, it appears that if you’re having a hard time playing online, you can still get some practice in with a buddy by playing offline and facing some AI opponents. Sure, it may not be as exciting as the competition between your online friends, but at least you’ll be ready to blow their brains out all over the wall if Treyarch gets everything fixed. Check out page two for the full patch notes.