Infinity Ward announced today that the second round of multiplayer maps is coming to your Xbox 360 on June 3rd (sorry PS3 and PC owners, you’ll have to wait a little longer... again).  Dubbed the “Resurgence Pack,” Xbox Live users will be able to download the pack-of-five-maps which will include a trio of brand new maps and two old favorites from the first Modern Warfare.  Returning faves include Vacant and Strike; and the three brand new maps, Fuel, Trailer Park and Carnival will supposedly offer something for everybody.  Trailer Park is a CQC playground, Fuel is a sniper’s paradise and Carnival has clowns and a Ferris wheel.

In celebration of the new Resurgence Pack, IW will also be hosting two Double XP weekends on Friday, May 28^th and again on Friday, June 4^th.

The Resurgence Pack will cost $15.  If you have also purchased the Stimulus Pack (and who hasn’t) you have now spent over $90 on Modern Warfare 2.  Congratulations!

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.

Since its inception, our Affiliate Program has been a great success—and the month of December was no different.

Now, it goes without saying that our affiliates are huge fans of KontrolFreek and use their own unique experiences to spread the word about our products to others.  But one affiliate, Boohoodman, used his awesomeness to generate some serious interest across the internet.  A couple of his Modern Warfare 2 Montages were so popular that they produced big numbers in KontrolFreek sales for the month of December.  As a result, Boohoodman was awarded $1,500.

A couple of our other affiliates, Dwestbrook and Flatline, earned $500 and $200 respectively.  Great job, guys!

As always, every one of our affiliate’s efforts is appreciated.  And we’d like to thank all of you for your continued support of KontrolFreek.  Keep up the good work!

December’s big winners prove that with KontrolFreek on your side, everybody wins.

Don’t anybody get too bent out of shape just yet, as no one really knows what this video means.  But it seems that a software hacker somehow hacked in to the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 and discovered some new, hidden game modes that aren’t available for us to play yet.  The “hidden” game modes are “VIP,” “One Flag CTF,” and “Global Thermonuclear War.”  Are they merely remnants from the cutting-room floor, or something else?

Infinity Ward haters obviously think it is [what will become] the first batch of DLC (downloadable content) coming in the near future that we’ll have to pay for to unlock.  Makes sense, as IW would probably make a bunch of loot releasing it as pay-to-download content.  But since it’s already on the $60 disk, maybe it’s just some fan-service that will unlock with a free code in a few weeks…

No, probably not.  But that would be nice.

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.