Treyarch has revealed the multiplayer modes of the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops at a press event in Los Angeles last night. With Black Ops, it seems Treyarch is really stepping up its game to make up for the (arguable) failures and downsides of Modern Warfare 2 and to really prove itself as a AAA developer, because these multiplayer modes seem awesome. Read up on the multiplayer after the break.

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After getting our wannabe-DJ on for pretty much all of Fall last year, there was only one thing we could ask for from DJ Hero –more songs. Don’t fret though for our worries have been put to rest, because DJ Hero 2’s artist list has been posted! Including some old DJ favorites such as Daft Punk and DJ Shadow as well as some new comers to the game which include B.o.B and Mos Def. DJ Hero 2 looks like its ready to scratch its way to our consoles once again this Fall. Check out the DJ Hero 2 artist list which features 108 different artists! (more…)

The company that brought us a $120 skateboard peripheral bundle and that churns out new Guitar Hero instruments every year is not eager to develop for Microsoft’s Kinect and Sony’s PlayStation Move because of the high prices of both setups of equipment (Kinect costs $150 and the Move costs $120 if you include the sub-controller and PlayStation Eye, the latter of which is necessary for the Move). Activision chief operating officer Thomas Tippl told Gamasutra that Activision is worried about the install base for the Kinect and the Move, noting that small install bases would only result in small returns on development investments by the company.

Tippl says that although Kinect and Move are going to allow innovation to occur in some genres, every type of game will not be ideal for Kinect and Move play. Activision apparently has thought about the franchises that would benefit from these technologies though, listing Tony Hawk and Rapala Fishing as examples.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Have you ever wanted to voice your opinions about a game right to the developers themselves? If you have then Infinity Ward is giving you that opportunity.  Recently tweeted by Creative Strategist Robert Bowling, gamers can now call or text this number (402) 500-0119 to give feedback, ask questions or just rant about IW and their games. If you decide to call you’ll be greeted with a voice message from Mr. Bowling himself. This is obviously an attempt to improve the image of IW/Activision. There’s no word on how long the number will be available so if you want to rant you better give them a call today.

Just uploaded today are two new multiplayer playlists for Modern Warfare 2. These two new playlists will allow gamers to play public matches with no Killstreaks. Barebones Pro consists of TDM and FFA while Objective Barbones Pro will consist of  Domination, Demolition, HQ Pro, and Capture the Flag. This update is currently available on Xbox Live, and will be coming to PC and Playstation 3 alongside the Resurgence Package DLC the week of July 6th. Barbones Pro allows  4-8 players and Objective Barbones allows up to 12 players. I don’t think i’ve ever played MW with Killstreaks disabled so this might actually get me back into playing it.

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Releasing later this year in September, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions will take you across 4 different Spider-Man universes. These universes include the Amazing universe, Noir universe, a 2099 universe, and one universe that has yet to be announced. Each universe will feature different versions of Spidey that not only look different but also have unique abilities. Comic fans all over should keep an eye out for this title.

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Activision has released new information regarding Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock including a partial set list of the game’s 90+ song library. Nintendo Power previously revealed that the game will focus on “shredding kind of rock” and will offer a Gene Simmons-narrated story mode. With the release of Warriors of Rock comes a new wireless guitar that’s “completely redesigned” and “rock-inspired” and a new Quickplay+ mode that will add more challenges to most of the Guitar Hero music library (so that means DLC, World Tour, and Guitar Hero 5 tracks).

Activision has revealed the following tracks so far:

• AFI – “Dancing Through Sunday”
• Avenged Sevenfold – “Bat Country”
• Black Sabbath – “Children Of The Grave”
• Buzzcocks – “What Do I Get?”
• Children Of Bodom – “If You Want Peace… Prepare For War”
• The Cure – “Fascination Street”
• Def Leppard – “Pour Some Sugar On Me (Live)”
• Dethklok – “Bloodlines”
• DragonForce – “Fury of the Storm”
• Drowning Pool – “Bodies”
• Foo Fighters – “No Way Back”
• Foreigner – “Feels Like The First Time”
• Jane’s Addiction – “Been Caught Stealing”
• KISS – “Love Gun”
• Megadeth – “Sudden Death”
• Metallica & Ozzy Osbourne – “Paranoid (Live)”
• Muse – “Uprising”
• My Chemical Romance – “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”
• Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• Rammstein – “Waidmanns Heil”
• The Rolling Stones – “Stray Cat Blues”
• Silversun Pickups – “There’s No Secrets This Year”
• Slayer – “Chemical Warfare”
• ZZ Top – “Sharp Dressed Man (Live)”

Kerrang! magazine has also posted the unveil trailer for the game:

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is being developed by Neversoft and Vicarious Visions and seems to be slated for a September 19 release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii consoles.

[Source: Activision Press Release, Kerrang!]

As with the past Call of Duty titles, Black Ops will not feature a co-op campaign mode. MTV Multiplayer Blog reports that Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia said that the main campaign will remain single-player only, although the game will still offer “unique co-op modes” in addition to the usual multiplayer modes.

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In September later this year, a brand new Spider-Man game is about to surface. Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions is set to, well, shatter our previous notions regarding what a Spider-Man game should be.

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While the argument over the price of the upcoming Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 “Stimulus Package” rages on, those looking forward to the map pack can check out the new trailer that gives you a quick run through of the maps. Bailout will have you fighting in what looks like an apartment complex with the ability to run through the apartments and go from building to building.  Storm looks like is set in a factory with a large multi leveled warehouse in the center of the map. This map is the largest of the three maps and has a ton of spots of snipers to sit and pick people off. Salvage is a smaller map that takes place in a snow covered junkyard. For people who hate the multi level maps will love this map since there is only one level. The trailer does show the COD4 maps but it doesn’t seem like they have changed at all. Check out the trailer.

For those who want more than that you can log onto Xbox Live and watch a walkthrough video from Major Nelson located in the Spotlight section of the dashboard. The map pack will be releasing on March 30^th for Xbox 360 and for you PS3 owners I guess you’ll just have to live without the new map for a while or you can pick up the free Bad Company maps.

Modern Warfare 2 was a huge success but many people including myself felt that it didn’t live up to the quality that its predecessor brought. Maybe Infinity Ward has been listening. They have decided to add 2 returning maps from COD4 in the upcoming DLC. Crash and Overgrown are the two remakes gamers will see in the DLC being called “Stimulus Package”. The add-on will also include 3 brand new maps Bailout, Storm and Salvage. The name of the DLC is actually quite fitting because it comes with a very hefty price tag of $15 or 1200 Microsoft points. Okay, I know, it’s only $5 more but seeing as there are only 3 new maps I can’t help but feel the extra charge was only added because Activition and Infinity Ward know people are going to buy it so why not try to add to their already fat pockets right?

According to 1Up.com the price was announced by Robert Bowling on the Major Nelson’s weekly podcast. Even though their competition, DICE’s Battlefield Bad Company 2, will be releasing a free map pack on the same day, I can’t see IW or Activision backing down from this price. The maps in MW2 don’t bother me as much as the unbalanced perks do but having the fan favorite Crash and Overgrown could add some enjoyment to the game, if it plays well with all the new perks and kill streaks. The map pack is due out March 30^th on the Xbox 360 but no dates have been set for PS3 or PC but I assume that it will release on the PS3 on April 1^st.

We wanna take you for a ride. We can’t pick up each and every one of you to give you the joyride of a lifetime, so we figured the multiplayer beta of Bizarre Creations’ upcoming racer Blur would do the trick just as well.

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The Blur multiplayer beta is set to kick off next week but Activision doesn’t want you to forget about it so they released a gameplay trailer to keep the hype going. I’m not sure what will be included in the beta but Blur will be the first racing game to allow up to 20 players online at the same time with objective-based racing events. There’s no word on how many of the 50 licensed cars we’ll see in the beta but the trailer gives you a good idea of how intense the action is going to be. Check out the new trailer below!

The zombie survival mode in Call of Duty: World at War was a huge hit with shooters and zombie fans, so much so that Activision released an iPhone app based on Treyarch’s console version. Developed by Ideaworks Game Studio Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies gives gamers a faithful representation of one of the most popular online modes of 2009. The app which was released late last year is getting its first set of DLC. “Verrückt” (Zombie Asylum) map offers gamers a new location with new weapons, defenses and Perks-A Cola Machines. The map was originally released for the console version of World at War and now you can play it on the go.

The “Verrückt” map add-on can be downloaded now for $4.99. If you don’t have the original Call of Duty: World at War: ZOMBIES App you can download it, along with a free demo here. The iPhone/iPod touch game is a really fun adaptation of the console version and anyone who misses killing zombies when they aren’t at home should definitely give it a shot.

It seems only natural that something as awesomely extreme, as bodaciously frat-boy, as fist bumpingly hardcore as Modern Warfare 2 should have its DLC announced via the can of your favorite energy drink, MONSTER (caps used to convey extreme emotion).  Thus we have the screenshot below, detailing that some map packs will be hitting Xbox Live this spring (no word on PSN or PC releases, but the can is only so large).  Microsoft  officially announced that the content is incoming this Spring. That’s really the only thing I have to pass along.  There are no details regarding what maps, a decent timeframe for the date, or even how much the maps will cost.  Given how much money Activision made off this game, they should be paying us to download their maps.  We do know this important information though:  MONSTER will be giving away 5000 codes.  So drink up people.  Get your extreme energy on and go jump into the cheater-infested chaos that is Modern Warfare 2.