Monthly Archives: November 2010

Fable III gets first batch of DLC

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Fable III

Microsoft has released the first piece of DLC for Fable III and it’s called the Understone Quest Pack.

The additional content gives Fable III players three new quests to complete based around the town of Understone, which perhaps unsurprisingly is underground. It’s below the streets of Bowerstone to be precise. Microsoft give the new addition to Fable III the following description:

“Designed by the peculiar mind of inventor Montague Hummes following the uncertain events that unfolded in “Fable II,” Understone brings new houses and stalls to own, creatures to conquer and a mystery to solve.”

Heres what Fable III players can expect from the three new Understone based quests:

“The Voice”: In the main quest, explore the mysterious underground land built by Montague Hummes in fear of the Spire in “Fable II”

  • Discover the origin of the voice that controls the people of Understone
  • Features a moral decision that will lead to two drastically different outcomes in Understone

“Shooting Range”: After defeating Saker during your quest to become King or Queen, the remaining Mercenaries have turned their camp into a tourist attraction. The main attraction being the re-playable shooting range mode

  • Beat the high scores to win three prizes that can be used while playing the mini-game: the Marksman 500 (gifted to players for downloading the pack), Money Shot (prize) and Black Dragon (prize)

“The Wheel of Misfortune”: After Reaver vacated his home, he set up a venture for budding heroes to replay the thrilling arena-based challenges within his new dwellings

  • Beat the high scores to win three new weapons that can be used while playing in the mini-game: The Full Monty (gifted to players upon downloading pack), Dirty Harriet (prize) and Dead Ned’s Revolver (prize)

The Understone Quest Pack for Fable III costs 400 Microsoft Points.

Other new bits and pieces of DLC for Fable III include the Exclusive Hair Pack, which allows you to give your character “corn rows, afro and asymmetrical bob styles” and costs 160 Microsoft Point. The 5 Star Dog Potion which ““gives your canine companion the full 5-star ability for digging, diving and tracking down hidden chests right from the start” and will set you back 80 Microsoft Points.

Also out today are a Reaver Industries Hero Outfit and a colourful Dye Pack for 160 and 80 Microsoft Points respectively.

Fable III topped the UK Chart in it’s first week of release at the end of October. In this weeks UKIE GfK Chart Track All Formats Top 40, the game lies in 24th spot.

You can check out the Fable III trailer here.

So Train2Game, have you finished Fable III? If so are you at all interested in the Understone Quest Pack? Would you part with your money to give your character a special hair style or some brightly coloured clothes?  Or have you already finished with the game for good?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Pachter predicts Call of Duty: Black Ops subscription charges

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Call of Duty: Black Ops subscription charges

Online subscriptions for Call of Duty: Black Ops could be introduced in the near future, according to industry analyst Michael Pachter.  Speaking to Industry Gamers, he said:

“I think everyone will be offered the same multiplayer options for free that they have now.  In addition, I see premium items offered as virtual goods for a modest fee–let’s say $1.”

“There will be special weapons, armour, vehicles, etc. offered, and the quantity will keep growing, in the hopes that some meaningful percentage of gamers who play online multiplayer pony up $1 or $2 per month on virtual goods. “

“I think that the company will “tier” its offering by offering a $5 per month subscription to Black Ops that includes ALL virtual items for free, plus access to all map packs released as long as the player remains active.  There are probably going to be three $15 map packs, so that feature alone has a perceived $45 value, and I’m sure that there will be dozens of virtual items, so the $5 subscriber will perceive some value from subscribing.”

“In addition, the $5 subscriber may be offered exclusive tournaments, game play modes, ladders, achievements, and any other features that Activision can think up to induce them to pony up more money.”

Pachter then went on to say how he believes that in future, Activision will offer a $10 subscription for all Call of Duty games.

“Anyone paying $10 per month gets virtual items, ladders, tournaments, achievements, game play modes and map packs for CoD MW, CoD MW2, Black Ops and World at War, and as long as their subscription remains alive, they will get the next game and the one after that. There are a total of 7 map packs (I think) available now, and will be another 3 next year, so for $10 per month, a player will get all 10 map packs. Not a bad value.

“Next, I think Activision will offer a $15 monthly subscription that is an ‘all access pass’, allowing subscribers to play WoW, StarCraft II (look for monetization there), the new Bungie game (when it comes out), all COD games, and whatever they do with Guitar Hero (maybe free downloads of songs), on an unlimited basis.

“The trick is managing this without destroying sales of the game. They will tread very carefully, and will make sure that they let consumers know that they are NOT taking anything away, but are merely offering a LOT MORE VALUE for a little bit of money.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops made rather a lot of money when it launched last week, and Activision CEO Bobby Lotick has previously made no secret of his desire to make Call of Duty’s online multiplayer a subscription based service.

So Train2Game, do you believe that Activision could really introduce a subscription based service for Call of Duty: Black Ops? If so, would you be willing to pay for it? Or do you think Michael Pachter’s predictions are off the mark?

You can leave your thoughts about a subscription service for Call of Duty: Black Ops here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Gran Turismo 5 – Where can you get it for the cheapest price?

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Gran Turismo 5

Gran Turismo 5 is finally released tomorrow and various retailers will be selling the much anticipated –  and of course much delayed – racing sim at a knock down price.

HMV still has the most tempting offer, giving you the opportunity to buy Gran Turismo 5 for just £4.99 when you trade in F1 2010. But if you want to get Gran Turismo 5 for under a fiver you’ll have to be quick as HMV are only running the offer until Friday.

You can part with even less cash if you choose to buy Gran Turismo 5 from Blockbuster. It’s available for just 99p if you trade in two games from a list of chart titles including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, F1 2010 and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

The best no strings attached deal comes from Best Buy who are offering Gran Turismo 5 for just £29.99. However, there are only six Best Buy stores in the UK so unless you live near one, you’ll have to order Gran Turismo 5 online then wait a few days before you can play it.

Online retailer Shop.To are offering Gran Turismo 5 for the very reasonable price of £34.85 and say that it’ll be dispatched within five minutes of being ordered.  Shop.To Marketing Manager Philip Driver recently stated that Gran Turismo 5 will be the ‘biggest selling PlayStation 3 game of the year.’

Meanwhile, back on the High Street, Tesco are offering Gran Turismo 5 for £35.90, while Sainsbury’s have it priced at £39.99. Specialist retailers GAME and GameStation both also list Gran Turismo 5 for £39.99 and some stores will be hosting midnight launches.  You can find out if a store near you will be opening tonight for the launch of Gran Turismo 5 on the GAME and GameStation websites. The doors will open at 11:45 with Gran Turismo going on sale at 00:01.

Gran Turismo 5 is the third midnight game launch of the month, with Call of Duty: Black Ops and Kinect having previously caused games retailers to open their doors in the dead of night. Blizzard has also announced that there will also be a midnight launch for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm when the MMO is released on December 7th.

So Train2Game, will you be buying Gran Turismo 5 tomorrow? Will you be queuing up tonight to get your hands on it? Can you actually believe that after all the delays, that one of the PlayStation 3’s biggest exclusives is finally being released? Do you think Gran Turismo 5 could knock Call of Duty: Black Ops from the top of the charts?

You can leave your thoughts about Gran Turismo 5 here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm gets huge launch event

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World of Warcraft Cataclysm Worgen

Blizzard has revealed details about the UK launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm when the much anticipated expansion is released next month.

GAME will host the official launch event for World of Warcraft Cataclysm which will take place at Sound, Leicester Square on the evening of December 6th.  Fans will not only be among the first to get there hands on Cataclysm when it’s made available at midnight, but they’ll also get a chance to meet Blizzard staff.

Naturally, with this being a World of Warcraft event, there’s the obligatory costume content, and Blizzard say there will be prizes for the winners. The current details about the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm launch event, including costume contest guidelines, can be found on the Blizzard website. Expect it to be updated nearer the time with more information.

In addition to the big launch event, Blizzard say that other retailers around the country will be opening their doors for midnight launches of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

“After two years of development, we’re excited to now be just two weeks away from releasing our best World of Warcraft expansion yet,” said, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Morhaime

“Cataclysm will add a huge amount of new content to the game and change the face of Azeroth forever, and we can’t wait to celebrate this launch with players around the world.”

Changes that Cataclysm will bring to the World of Warcraft include dramatically altering the make up of Azeroth, providing new quests, allowing characters to level up to level 85, and play as two new races, Worgen and Goblins.

World of Warcraft currently has over 12 million subscribers, could Cataclysm encourage even more people to sign up to the worlds most successful MMO?

The game is set to be released for the PC on December 7th

So Train2Game, are any of you World of Warcraft players? If so, will you be attending a midnight launch event? And if you want to wear one, have you got any ideas for a costume yet?

You can leave your thoughts about World of Warcraft: Cataclysm here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Fallout: New Vegas Dead Money DLC details revealed

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Fallout: New Vegas Dead Money

Bethesda has released more details about their upcoming DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, Dead Money. The new information about the Fallout: New Vegas DLC, and the screenshot above, comes from the Bethesda Softworks newsletter.

Senior Designer Chris Avellone provided the details about Dead Money in a short but revealing interview:

Can you discuss the setting for Dead Money?
Dead Money is set in the Sierra Madre, an opulent and extravagant resort that was supposed to be the greatest casino in the west – except that it never opened. Bombs fell before the gala opening, and the Sierra Madre froze in time, its state of the art security system locking the place up tight. Nothing could get in, and none of the guests could escape. Years passed. The climate control and air conditioning system within the facility began to spit toxins into the surrounding city, causing a slow cloud and haze to form over the area – which proved lethal to anyone who tried to explore the city. Only a mysterious group called the Ghost People survived to call the city home, trapped inside what appeared to be hazmat suits and never speaking to their victims… only capturing them alive and dragging them away to the depths of the city deep within the Cloud.

And so the Sierra Madre faded from the history books, only occasionally being seen in posters across the wastes, until it took on mythic ghost story status… a supposed “City of Gold” in the Mojave Wasteland where all the treasures of the Old World were rumoured to be held. It was kept alive as a late-night saloon story by prospectors who’d claimed to have found maps leading there… and were willing to part with the “map” for a few caps. Or a drink. Or a warm place to sleep.

How will the player reach this area?
The Sierra Madre is a mythical place in the wastes, with travellers all risking their lives to find it. Only one man truly “found” it – and lived. After the fall of HELIOS One, Father Elijah of the Brotherhood of Steel set out to find new weapons to eradicate NCR. And in the process he found the Sierra Madre. The Courier is lured to the Sierra Madre by a faint radio broadcast advertising the gala grand opening.

From a gameplay standpoint, Dead Money is accessed by loading a save file from any point in Fallout: New Vegas prior to the endgame sequence, in the same way as Operation Anchorage, Point Lookout, The Pitt or Mothership Zeta were triggered in Fallout 3.

Can you share details on some of the new creatures/enemies players will encounter?
This being an extension of Fallout: New Vegas, players will encounter several unique characters, each with their own motivations, all of whom will have to work together if any of them are going to survive. Aside from just struggling with their would-be companions, the courier will also have to deal with the mysterious Ghost People as well as the casino’s substantial defence systems.

Sounds interesting, right?

Chris Avellone has previously given advice about breaking into the games industry in an interview with Planet Fallout. You can check out his tips here.

Dead Money is going to be the first in a number of DLC packs for Fallout New Vegas. Bethesda have previously announced that all DLC will be Xbox 360 exclusive, but then the DLC for Fallout 3 was originally exclusive to Microsoft so it could eventually come to the PlayStation 3 and PC.

Fallout: New Vegas has sold rather successfully, and topped the UK Charts when it was released at the end of October. It only dropped out of the top ten today following the entry of other big hitters including Call of Duty: Black Ops and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.

Bethesda hopes that the DLC will increase the shelf life of Fallout: New Vegas.

The Dead Money DLC will be available on Xbox Live from December 21st for 800 Microsoft points

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the new details about the Dead Money DLC for Fallout: New Vegas? Do you think you’ll part with your cash for extra content? Or are you happy to finish Fallout: New Vegas without paying for DLC?

And does anyone else think that Ghost Person looks like one of the Combine Overwatch from Half Life 2?

You can leave your thoughts on the Dead Money DLC for Fallout: New Vegas here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

UK Charts – Call of Duty: Black Ops stays top

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Call of Duty Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops has held off Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit to hold onto Number 1 in the UKIE GfK Chart Track All Formats Top 40. It means that Call of Duty: Black Ops spends a second week at the top, following its record breaking debut.

The continued success of Activision’s shooter means that Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood has to settle for second place, despite some extremely impressive review scores, and many retailers putting on special deals for the latest in the Ubisoft series. Sainsbury’s is currently selling Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for just £29.99 with no strings attached, but the deal won’t last forever! Meanwhile, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit also makes a strong debut, entering the charts in third place.

The new entries of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit has pushed other titles down the rankings. FIFA 11 drops from second to fouth, while Just Dance two also moves down two places from third to fifth.

Two Nintendo Wii titles have re-entered the top ten with Wii Party climbing from twelfth to sixth while Wii Sports Resort jumps a massive 12 places from nineteenth to seventh. A Nintendo title also features in eighth spot with Professor Layton and the Lost Future for the Nintendo DS having dropped two positions from sixth.

Kinect Sports drops from fourth to ninth in its second week on sale while New Super Mario Brothers Wii rounds out the top ten having dropped two places from eighth spot.

Previous chart toppers Fallout: New Vegas and Football Manager 2011 have both dropped out of the top ten, falling to thirteenth and nineteenth respectively. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II also leaves the top ten, having dropped five places to fifteenth.

However, the three top ten leavers are still above EA’s licensed Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 1, which could only manage 20th in its first week.

The full Gfk-ChartTrack top ten for the week ending November 20th is as follows:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
2. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
3. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (EA)
4. FIFA 11 (EA)
5. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft)
6. Wii Party (Nintendo)
7. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
8. Professor Layton and the Lost Future (Nintendo)
9. Kinect Sports (Microsoft)
10. New Super Mario Bros Wii (Nintendo)

So Train2Game, did you think that Call of Duty: Black Ops was always going to hold off Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit? Or are you surprised to see it still selling so well after its massive first week? And with Gran Turismo 5 being released on Wednesday, do you think we could be seeing a new number one next week?

You can leave your thoughts about Call of Duty: Black Ops, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Gran Turismo 5 or any other game in the UKIE GfK Chart Track All Formats chart here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood review round up

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Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood has been released today, and the review scores suggest that the latest in Ubisoft’s franchise is going to be a big hit.

Metacritic currently gives Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood on the PlayStation 3 a very impressive score of 91, while the Xbox 360 counterpart is one point behind on 90. That means Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood has a higher average review score than Call of Duty: Black Ops, which Metacritic rates at 88.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is therefore one of the highest rated games of the year, with Eurogamer even giving the title a perfect 10/10 and call it “one of the best games of 2010.”

CVG are also highly praising of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. They say “Overall, Brotherhood is an awesome package with enough new content to kill the competition this Christmas. There’s enough quality and scope here to put Brotherhood in the running not just as a top Christmas purchase, but one of the best action games of the year.” CVG give Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood 9.2/10.

Meanwhile, Kotaku claim that Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is the best game in the series to date. They lavish praise on the game in their review summary:

“The game that comes to mind while playing Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, is Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Not since Rockstar’s potent crime drama has a game so massive, so polished, so impressively improved from its predecessor been released just a year after the prior installment. But people won’t remember how long Brotherhood took to make. They are likely to remember its quality. Ezio’s new adventure may be less personal than his previous one, but it is as interesting and as mischievously manipulative of real history as the series has ever been. Nearly bloated with fun things to do Brotherhood is Assassin’s Creed in peak form.”

GameSpot UK are slightly less praising of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, giving it 8.5/10.  They say “Almost every aspect of the series has seen enhancements in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. There is joy in leaping across the Roman rooftops, taking in the grand sights in front of you and realizing that it is all your own playground. This may not be Assassin’s Creed III, but like Ezio’s smirk, Brotherhood is too irresistible to ignore.”

If you’re still wondering why Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is receiving so much hype, you may want to check out both the Single Player Launch Trailer, and the Multiplayer Launch Trailer.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is available now for both the PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360.

So Train2Game, have you got your hands on Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood yet? If so what do you think about it? Is it deserving of the very high praise it has received? Do you think that the excellent review scores could help it do the seemingly impossible and knock Call of Duty: Black Ops from the top of the UK Chart?

You can leave your thoughts about Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Get Gran Turismo 5 for £4.99 (And see the Kevin Butler commercial!)

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Gran Turismo 5

With the release of the much anticipated Gran Turismo 5 fast approaching, it looks like that we’ll have another retailer price war on our hands.

HMV have once again played their cards first and will be selling Gran Turismo 5 for just £4.99, thought with conditions of course. This offer will be available to anyone who buys Gran Turismo 5 from HMV and is happy to trade in a copy of F1 2010 for the PlayStation 3.  The deal runs from when Gran Turismo 5 is released on Wednesday November 24th through to Friday November 26th.

The HMV F1 2010 for Gran Turismo 5 trade in deal is very similar to one the retailer ran earlier this month for Call of Duty: Black Ops. It was possible to pick up Call of Duty: Black Ops for only £7.99 if you traded in a copy of Medal of Honor. The different retailers were keen to encourage consumers to buy Call of Duty: Black Ops from them with various different deals.

With Gran Turismo 5 being so highly anticipated – it has been tipped to be the highest selling PlayStation 3 game of the year – it’s entirely possible that retailers will once again provide special offers to encourage sales.

In other Gran Turismo 5 news, Sony have released a brand new advert for Gran Turismo 5 starring the one and only Kevin Butler. It’ll only feature on televisions in America, but thanks to the wonders of the internet you can watch it online right here, courtesy of the Official PlayStation Youtube channel.

Remember, Mr Butler is a professional driver on a closed circuit. Don’t attempt to imitate what he does!

Gran Turismo 5 is released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 less than one week on November 24th.

So Train2Game, how excited are you about the imminent release of Gran Turismo 5. Do you think you’ll take advantage of the HMV F1 2010 trade in deal? And of course, what are your thoughts about Kevin Butler’s Gran Turismo 5 commercial?

You can tell us what you think about Gran Turismo 5, the F1 2010 trade in deal or the Kevin Butler commercial here on the Train2Game blog, or over on the Train2Game forum.

Cut the Rope sales reach 3 million

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Cut the Rope

Indie iPhone game ‘Cut the Rope’ has sold more than three million units through the Apple App Store since being released at the beginning of October.

The relatively simple game costs just 59p and blends physics orientated gameplay as players’ feed dangling candy to a little green creature called Om Nom. The cute graphics, the simple but addictive gameplay and its low price have all helped Cut the Rope achieve the very impressive three million sales world wide in a short space of time.

Developers Zeptolab have used the landmark sales number to announce that Cut the Rope will soon be getting a free update:

“We thank all of the amazing fans who have shared the joyful fun Cut the Rope offers with friends and family to make it a phenomenal success,” said Efim Voinov, CTO of ZeptoLab.

“The 1.1 update is just the beginning; we hope to release an additional update just in time for the holidays and bring even more action-packed, Om Nom excitement to your fingertips!”

You can check out the Cut the Rope 1.1 update teaser trailer below.

Cut the Rope is a brilliant example of how a simple game developed for a smart phone, can go a long way and bring success to a small indie developer. iPhone games like Cut the Rope and Angry Birds are getting more and more popular, and have even recently been recognised as part of BAFTA.

The low price of games such as Cut the Rope also plays a part in the success, but you don’t need to be a mathematician to realise that 59p multiplied by three million means a lot of money!

Developing a game for an iPhone – or indeed any other smartphone – could provide a group of Train2Game students with a great start in the games industry. Indeed, during last months Train2Game webinar, veteran video games developer Jon Hare pointed out that a small team could build a simple game from scratch in as little as four months, and that simple games like Angry Birds sell very well. Dave Sharp added that successful iPhone games – such as Cut the Rope – can be quite basic, are very well produced, which adds to appeal.

If you’ve yet to try out Cut the Rope, you can buy it for just 59p at the iPhone App Store.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the success of Cut the Rope? Have you played it? If so why do you think it has been so successful? And do you think that developing a simple iPhone game could provide you with your first big break in the video games development industry?

You can leave your thoughts about Cut the Rope, iPhone games and breaking into the games industry here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Call of Duty: Black Ops – The biggest entertainment launch ever

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Its official, Call of Duty: Black Ops holds the title of the biggest entertainment launch ever.  As MCV notes, Call of Duty: Black Ops was launched in the same week as popular beat combo Take That reformed and launched a new album. Even a new Harry Potter film was premiered, but it was the video game that came out on top.

Here in the UK, Call of Duty: Black Ops broke all previous day one records for a video game, shifting 1.4 million copies and making £58 million in revenue. Call of Duty: Black Ops went on to sell over two million copies in its first week on the shelves, generating over £80 million in revenue.

These figures easily beat every other entertainment product around at the moment, and MCV point out “Even the ‘fastest selling album of the decade’, Take That’s Progress, only managed 235,000 units in its first day on Monday this week, around 2m in revenue.”

The success of Call of Duty: Black Ops, combined with the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect motion controller, means that the UK has had its biggest week ever when it comes to game sales. An estimated £114 million was made last week, beating the previous record of £107.6 million set in the final week of 2008.

Sales were possibly also improved by the various deals retailers provided in attempts to encourage consumers to buy Call of Duty: Black Ops from them.

Naturally, the massive sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops mean that it easily took the top spot in the UK video game charts. All of the games success has come on good, if not outstanding reviews, but its unlikely Activision and Treyarch will be too bothered with review scores given the massive success of the game across the globe.

If you somehow managed to miss all of the Call of Duty: Black Ops pre-launch hype, you can check out the launch trailer, and details of the new zombie mode featuring some famous faces here.

So Train2Game, do you believe the massive success of Call of Duty: Black Ops is good for the games industry? Or do you believe that it’ll just encourage developers to churn out the same old games?

And given that video games cost a lot more than going to the cinema, or buying a CD, do you think that the industry is getting too excited about the amount of money made by Call of Duty: Black Ops?

You can leave your thoughts about the success of Call of Duty: Black Ops here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.