It seems the PlayStation Network isn't the only console gaming service that is currently dealing with hackers.  Though it seems on a much smaller scale, Microsoft is warning users currently playing Modern Warfare 2 that they may receive "title specific messages that are phishing attempts."  

Phishing is used to trick users into unveiling personal data to allow someone to use it for their own person advantage.  There's not much else revealed on the Xbox Live Status Page, and this shouldn't affect your gameplay, its more of a just a heads up on Microsoft's part.   Microsoft states they are aware of the problem and are currently working to resolve it.

We've all made mistakes and most of the time, we feel better about owning up to them.  Valve recently had a little slip up when their anti-cheat software automagically banned 12,000 Modern Warfare 2 players from the PC version of the game.  Turns out though, they weren't cheating at all.

To make up for the little boo boo, Valve has responded in a big way.  They sent each and every user a copy of Left 4 Dead 2 as well as an extra copy to gift to a friend via Steam.  That's right, Valve gave away 24,000 copies of Left 4 Dead 2 because they are nice guys.  Talk about co-op!

The bans obviously have been reversed as well.  "This was our mistake," Valve President Gabe Newell wrote, "and I apologize for any frustration or angst it may have caused you."

You already know that former Infinity Ward heads have gone on to form Respawn Entertainment, partnering with Electronic Arts, the result of a much publicized legal extravaganza.  Since that time though there's been a steady stream of departures from Infinity Ward, some of gone on to other companies in the industry, but a lot of followed Jason West and Vince Zampella to Respawn.

In total, there's 26 employees who have gone on and departed to other gigs.  It's unclear how many folks worked on Modern Warfare 2, but I'd say that's a good 20% of the development staff at this point.  So why is everyone leaving?  It's not 100% clear, but a lot of it has to do with unpaid bonuses and the way Activision has handled the franchise.  

In a follow up to a story we posted yesterday, Activision has confirmed that they have let studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella go from Call of Duty development house Infinity Ward.  In the investor press release Activision also made a surprise announcement, a new Call of Duty game would be coming in 2011.  Not surprised?  What if I told you it wasn't a first person shooter.

Infinity Ward, developers of the well received and best selling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, might be in a bit of turmoil with their publisher Activision.  According to reports Activision is trying to get rid of studio founders due to "breaches of contract" and "insubordination."

Jason West and Vince Zampella both met with Activision on Monday morning, but neither was seen since that meeting by any Infinity Ward employees.  What makes matters more suspicious is that several "bouncer types" showed up at the IW offices throughout the day, and when approached, refused to answer why they were there.

Despite the success of Nazi Zombie's in Call of Duty: World at War, we won't be seeing the likes of the undead shamble across the modern battlefield.  While many had hoped to see a similar style mode in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, it's been confirmed by community manager Robert Bowling that we won't be getting anything of the sort.

 "There will be no Nazis or zombies in any piece of Modern Warfare 2 downloadable content." 

The reason?  Most likely Infinity Ward is too busy patching their game from the constant griefers and cheaters that exploit it every week.  But perhaps if there's time we'll see some sort of new mode.  Maybe the psychotic Ooompa Loompa Survival mode everyone's been craving will finally see the light of day.

"If you ever get some MW2 going when I'm on hit me up. I just got it the other day."

This is the Xbox Live message I received from our very own Jackel, whom I know as Dan. Someone who took a genuine interest in meeting the Co-Opticrew at PAX, he is easy to talk to and hang out with. Pile on the fact that he has a daughter of a similar age as mine and a very open mind...the possibilities are great.

Recently, we finally had the opportunity to be online simultaneously. Despite my unhealthy addiction to the ranked versus modes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I proposed that we power through at least one Spec Ops mission, with success (Dan's a very agreeable guy).

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sold like hotcakes, to be sure.  But that doesn't mean the game was perfect.  Though the Special Ops co-op mode is great, the real question is: why no campaign co-op?  We've said it many times before.  Apparently, we aren't the only ones that feel this way.  The Escapist has a Modern Warfare 2 review by the Micro-Machines Man-mouthed Zero Punctuation.  It's pretty hilarious, if NSFW, and one of the main points is the lack of co-op in the campaign.  For fans of Modern Warfare 2 who don't take the game so seriously, it's defintely worth checking out!
 

If Santa Claus didn't bring you Modern Warfare 2 for Christmas, you might want to slide on over to Amazon.com where the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of the game is on sale for $39.99.  Naughty list be damned I say!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 features a two player co-op mode called Spec-Ops that can be played locally via split-screen or online.  Want to know more?  Check out our full review.

The November NPD numbers are out, and with them we get the stats of the biggest shopping weekend of the year in the United States.  It should come as no surprise that Modern Warfare 2 topped the charts with 4.2 million copies on the 360 and 1.87 million on the PlayStation 3.  Rounding out the top 5 were Assassin's Creed 2 on the 360, New Super Mario Bros Wii and Left 4 Dead 2 on the 360.

It's good to see games with cooperative modes once again have a strong showing in monthly sales.  We'd like to think the co-op modes helped fuel sales, though in the case of Modern Warfare 2, everything fueled that unstoppable juggernaut.

System sales also saw a boost with the DS leading the Pack with 1.7 million systems sold, though the Wii sold a respectful 1.26 million units.  The 360 also led the PS3 in sales for the first time since the PS3's price cut, possibly fueled by the exclusive Modern Warfare 2 bundles.

Keep the pedal to the floor on those party chat complaints in Modern Warfare 2!  According to Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling, they hear you loud and clear on the complaints from the community.  Whether hearing is the same as acting, well that's yet to be seen, but for those of you annoyed by the lack of party chat options in certain multiplayer play lists on the Xbox 360 - scream to the heavens:  

"For the love of Soap MacTavish give us our party chat!"

The lack of party chat was done in part to prevent cheaters in different multiplayer game types.  Basically these punks would jump onto the opposing team calling out their teammates positions to their friends on the other team in party chat.  For most of us, we're unaffected by this decision because we're too busy playing Spec-Ops in co-op!

Before you get all riled up, Star Wars fans, take note: no, it will not. Of course not! But what better way to illustrate just how HUGE the Call of Duty franchise might be in the next couple of years? Both have sold ridiculously high unit counts, and if the below story is true: both are being stretched across every thinkable medium.

You heard about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's opening day records. Today, Activision boasts that their new favorite poster child has completely destroyed every previously held first-five-day record, not only in video game sales but box office sales as well. Titles like Grand Theft Auto IV, The Dark Knight, and the Harry Potter film series have been named as having fallen to the new entertainment giant.

As you well know, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has dropped into the homes of more than 4.7 million people, shattering sales records and scoring completely in the green on metadata sites. But how does the co-op stack up? Read our review.

Ah, Modern Warfare 2. The epitome of all that is unfair. Take a perfectly good formula, gimp it, insult the consumers...and then sit back and laugh as you sell 4.7 million copies in one day. Watch Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare crash the PlayStation Network in 2007, and then act surprised when it happens again in 2009. Tout your campaign as being so important that it can't support the interference of multiplayer co-op players, then copy/paste the same missions to a side mode called Special Ops...and furthermore encourage players to skip an integral plot point via the most controversial playable scene this year.

Okay, you get the point. Too many great minds in one place seems to have caused quite the tangle at Infinity Ward, but at least the gameplay remains intact. Our review is coming next week, so I'll save the rest of the soap box speech until then.

In the meantime, tell us what you think of Special Ops. Do you like the mission variety? Is it smooth online? And more importantly: are you ready for Spec Ops DLC? According to Infinity Ward, future extra co-op missions are a distinct possibility. What do you think?

When we found out that Halo 3: ODST's Firefight mode didn't support matchmaking, we were quite bummed to say the least.  If you haven't fired up Modern Warfare 2's  Spec-Ops cooperative mode yet on the 360 or PS3, we've got a bit of a downer for you - there's no matchmaking.

Bungie had an excuse for not including it, stating it was an engine limitation, an excuse we don't accept by the way.  Infinity Ward on the other hand hasn't stated why there's no matchmaking in this mode.