Infinity Ward (the makers of the good Call of Duty games) has announced today that the brand new security patch for Modern Warfare 2 is finished and going through internal quality assurance.  This comes as great news especially for PS3 owners (the few that aren’t cheating, that is) who have fallen victim to cheating buttholes for way too long.

The update will address known security issues that have affected online play and will be released for all platforms, though, no release date has been announced yet.

In addition to the security updates, the patch will 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.”

Surprise!  It’s BIG!  Call of Duty: Black Ops has shattered every other previous first-day video game sales record—including the one set by that other Activision game, Modern Warfare 2 last year.  In North America and the UK alone, Black Ops has sold over 5.6 million copies.  That roughly translates to a sh*t-ton of money—or about $360 million.  And by the time you read this, many more thousands of copies will have been sold.  Activision’s top dog, Bobby “diamond jizz” Kotick, says that they’re also on track to beat the previous five-day record of $550 million set by MW2.

This stat is, of course, impressive, but doesn’t really come as a shock to those of us with common sense.  The hype-machine that is Call of Duty: Black Ops has been cranking for months now; all as more and more people around the globe purchased new consoles and hopped online for the first time with little to do.  This truly is the game the world’s been waiting for—and the numbers are proving that.  At this rate, Activision will own Microsoft by next Monday.  Can you imagine playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on a console built by Activision just for that purpose?  It’s not that farfetched.

It wasn’t too long ago that online shooters offered up far less intimidating experiences for first-timers.  There was little to no customization as far as what you could bring in to battle with you.  You just chose a basic loadout and shot at other people who were using the same basic loadout.  It was simple.  It worked well.  Everyone had a fighting chance—even the noobs.  The only real advantage veteran players had over beginners was more practice.  They knew the maps well.  They knew all the good spots and maybe a few glitches—but that was all.  They didn’t have increased health and armor, airstrikes or choppers, martyrdom or any other seemingly magical abilities.  Just guns and nades—it was the good ‘ol days.

But Call of Duty changed all that.  In 2007 Modern Warfare exploded on to the scene, bringing with it a leveling system ripe with Perks and rewards that would become the standard for online FPS’s.

Because of Modern Warfare’s popularity, more and more games are following its formula for character leveling.  In this new generation of online shooters, players are rewarded with better equipment as their skills improve.  This deadly mix of more practice and better equipment further increases the gap between ‘leveled’ players and players just starting out.  The result is an environment where natural ability can only get you so far.  What was once a pick up and play experience for casual gamers has become a case of the haves and the have-nots.

Now, this system is a great idea from the standpoint of developers who want you to play their game for countless hours.  It gives the player a reason to keep playing; and it gives you a sense of progression that some earlier games have always been missing.  It’s also a great system for competitive gamers who join clans and love playing against other clans with similar skills.  The problem is that it’s unfair punishment for the players who aren’t playing every night.  It locks out casual gamers who don’t necessarily want to put in the time and rank up enough to become competitive.  Frankly, the noobs are suffering.  Frustrated and mal-equipped, casual gamers are likely to crawl back to single-player and non-competitive game modes and leave the competitive modes for the rest of us.

So, what do you guys think?  What can the developers do to level the playing field?  MW2 addressed the problem a little bit with “Death Streaks” and Halo keeps it even by only letting you customize your armor’s appearance.  What’s the answer?  How can the developers give hardcore gamers and casual gamers an equally fun experience?  Is it even possible?

Let your noob-flag fly!  Join the discussion in our Modern Warfare 2 forums.  We want to hear from both sides.

It’s no doubt that by now, if you own a PS3, you’ve downloaded the MAG open beta and run it through its paces a bit.  And by this point you’ve probably made the decision if you are going to buy it or not when it comes out on January 26^th.   And chances are, if you played the game for less than an hour-or-two, you’ve decided to not purchase the game and have gone back to playing MW2.

So if I’m right and that’s your story, I have written this mini-review on the beta just for you in hopes that you’ll give MAG a little more time—because if you haven’t put in a good bit of time getting to know the game, you haven’t really uncovered many of the things that make MAG so addictive.  Sure, once the full game comes out later this month my little review will probably mean squat, but it should at least give you an idea of what to expect with the full release.

Let’s first start out by addressing the pink elephant in the room:  MAG’s graphics don’t look to be on par with a certain shooter that came out a few months ago.  Frankly, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 makes MAG look like a PS2 game.  But once you consider the amount of action going on and the ridiculous number of players on the screen at once, you see that the subpar graphics are justified.  If MW2 had as many players as MAG does playing in one game at the same time, you could bet your noobtube you’d have complete network failure.

Zipper Interactive has really raised the bar in terms of player-count on consoles.  Gears Of War 2 maxes out at a mere 10 players.  Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 allows only 18.  Battlefield: Bad Company has room for 24.  Killzone 2 boasts 32 players.  MAG lets 256 (TWO-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FRIGGIN-SIX) players shoot at each other at the same time and runs near-flawlessly while doing it.

Impressed?  You should be.

MAG’s not running perfectly quite yet, though—occasionally servers would go down and drop me from games (usually when I was doing really well, which was maddening).  And sometimes it took a while to get in to a game, but only a few times did I experience lag during play—and it was always very minor.  Of course, these things are to be expected with such an ambitious player-count; and that’s why the beta is public, after all.  By the time MAG hits shelves, most of these issues should be fixed.

Now lets look at the actual gameplay of MAG.  Playing with 256 players is as hectic as it sounds.  In the two game types available in the beta, Sabotage and Domination, your main goal is to either attack or defend control points across the game’s large maps.  Sabotage is like “Domination-Lite”—as you only have three structures to attack or defend and only 64 players playing at once.  Think of it as training for the enormous Domination, which Zipper probably figured was too big to jump right in to and start playing.  Domination, as stated before, is seriously huge.  It has the same basic premise as Sabotage but adds manned-turrets, bombing-runs, UAV’s, advanced squad-perks and a vehicle-or-two that you can control.

Some of the advanced features (like airstrikes and squad-perks) require you to be a Squad Leader, Platoon Leader or Officer in Charge.  Becoming one of these leader-types takes quite a bit of leveling up but gives you abilities that can change the tide-of-war in a second for you and your comrades.

The whole thing sort of plays like a mash-up of Battlefield: Bad Company, Modern Warfare and SOCOM.  And at this point MAG may not be as good as any of those—but it definitely deserves a good portion of your time.  Zipper has crafted a game that finally makes you feel like you’re a small piece in a really large war—which is probably how you would feel in an actual war.  Trust me, MAG will inspire developers to think bigger, and that’s good for all of us.  Can you imagine playing Call OF Duty: Modern Warfare 6 with 500 players?  I can, and it’s all thanks to MAG—the father of Massive Action Games.

Xbox Live had its busiest day ever last Tuesday.  And we’re pretty sure that Modern Warfare 2 coming out on the same day may have had something to do with the milestone.  Internal figures released by Activision indicate that MW2 has become the most successful launch in history across all forms of entertainment.  With an estimated 4.7 million copies sold on the first day in the U.S. and U.K. alone, it’s no surprise, really, that all of those people were anxious to get online and shoot at each other.  That bloodlust resulted in more than 2 million people playing on Xbox Live simultaneously—a landmark Microsoft’s pretty happy about.

It’s pretty hard to keep a secret these days.  And with the insane amount of excitement surrounding Modern Warfare 2, it’s apparently impossible.  Leaked copies of MW2 have shown up all over the globe and spoilers are flying around like… something that flies around a lot.  The complete list of perks and kill streak rewards have recently been leaked, but Infinity Ward is still keeping mum over certain details of the game and won’t really confirm or deny much.

So without further ado, I give you the unofficial, but pretty much official, list of MW2 perks and kill streak rewards:

Note:  Three perk slots are available with each perk being upgradeable from “standard” to “pro.”

Perks:  Slot 1

Marathon - Standard: Unlimited Sprint - Pro: Get over obstacles faster
Sleight of Hand  - Standard: Faster Reload - Pro: Aim down sights faster
Scavenger - Standard: Retrieve ammo from dead bodies – Pro: Extra Mags
Bling - Standard: Dual attachments on primary weapon - Pro: Dual attachments on secondary weapon
One Man Army - Standard: Switch classes in game (no respawn needed) Pro: Same perk, but works faster

Perks:  Slot 2

Stopping Power - Standard: Increased bullet damage - Pro: Increased bullet damage to aircraft and choppers
Lightweight - Standard: Move faster – Pro: ?
Hardline - Standard: Killstreak rewards require 1 less kill - Pro: Deathstreaks require 1 less death
Cold Blooded - Standard: Undetectable by UAV, air support, sentries, and thermal – Pro: ?
Danger Close - Standard: Increases explosive weapons damage – Pro: ?

Perks:  Slot 3

Commando - Standard: Increased melee distance - Pro: Same as “standard” plus no falling damage
Steady Aim - Standard: Increased hip-fire accuracy – Pro: Hold breath while aiming longer
Scrambler - Standard: Scrambles the radar of nearby enemies – Pro: ?
Ninja - Standard: Invisible to heartbeat sensors - Pro: Move silently
SitRep - Standard: Insertions. Reveals enemy explosives and Tactical Insertions – Pro: Louder enemy footsteps
Last Stand - Standard: You remember this one… remain alive on the ground for 10 seconds after being killed, pistol equipped - Pro: Use grenades and equipment along with your pistol

Kill streak rewards:

Note:  Kill streak rewards can be unlocked in the order that you choose (except the default set).  You can also select your choice of 3 rewards to use for each character class.

3 Kills -- UAV
4 Kills -- Care Package
4 Kills -- Counter UAV
5 Kills -- Sentry Gun
5 Kills -- Predator Missile
6 Kills -- Precision Airstrike
7 Kills -- Strike
7 Kills -- Attack Chooper
8 Kills -- Emergency Airdrop
9 Kills -- Pave Low
9 Kills -- Stealth Bomber
11 Kills -- Chopper Gunner
11 Kills -- AC-130
15 Kills -- EMP
25 Kills – Tactical Nuke

Well, maybe not. But this leaked gameplay footage seems to suggest something a little strange going on during a game of multiplayer. Is it just a peek at MW2's spectator camera, or something else entirely? Will we be looking at our own derrières in certain game modes? Rumors abound. But don't be shocked if on November 10th you see "Third Person Team Deathmatch" and "Cage Match Third Person" in the multiplayer match list.