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After the disastrous news surrounding Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward comes word that Modern Warfare 2's map pack is one of the most over-priced pieces of downloadable content we've ever seen! Popping onto Xbox Live spokesman Larry Hryb's podcast to promote Modern Warfare 2's upcoming "Stimulus Package" map pack (which is launching first on Microsoft's console), Infinity Ward's Robert bowling revealed that the five maps - two of which are old maps being re-released for this game - will cost 1200 Microsoft Points. Or, $24 AUD. Ouch!
[1500 points cost =$29.95] *.8 = [1200 points or $23.96]

An early listing of the Modern Warfare 2 "Stimulus Package" on the Xbox Live Marketplace web site reveals it is comprised of five maps, two of them old favorites from the first Modern Warfare.

The Stimulus Package isn't due out until March 30 on the Xbox 360 (dates for the PC and PS3 versions are still TBA). Here's the description from its Xbox Live listing, which was live as of 3 p.m. U.S. Mountain Time.

The best-selling Xbox 360 game of all-time just got bigger, with more epic multiplayer content, first on Xbox LIVE! The Stimulus Package delivers 5 additional action-packed multiplayer maps featuring a variety of locations: "Bailout," a multi-level apartment complex; "Storm," an open industrial park littered with heavy machinery; "Salvage," a snowy junkyard fortified by stacked debris and crushed cars. Two legendary fan-favorites from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare return, including "Crash," [pictured above] a war-torn urban environment; and "Overgrown," which features a massive dry creek bed. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.

It'll weigh in at 328 MB. No word on pricing yet, and you can't queue it up for download, either. It asks you for a redeem code.

It's official, the 1st LAN stop of the 2010 Pro Circuit has been announced, with $1500 up for grabs. ACL will be running an event alongside Respawn Lan to create an event with over 500 gamers. The ACL / AusHalo events will be run in a separate nearby hall on an individual network. We are very excited to be involved with one of Australia's most successful LANs.

Acknowledging that as many as 20 million (of its 25 million players) "no longer [derive] pleasure from blowing up people hiding in the cockpit or on top of the crane," Modern Warfare 2's creators say new map help is OTW.

"Mapathy" is the name of this affliction, for which Modern Warfare 2 creative strategist Robert Bowling tweeted about 30 minutes ago that Infinity Ward researchers have found a cure. It's coming - to Xbox Live - March 30. That's all we know now. So, no pricing, nor PC or PS3 availability info yet.

Michael Barnes is the man to thank for this incredible piece of Modern Warfare 2 machinima, which recreates the game's controversial "No Russian" mission in a manner fit for prime-time TV.

What you're seeing here is almost entirely in-game action from the PC version of the game. What Barnes has done is record it from different camera angles than the game's standard first-person perspective, then cut it together to look like a movie or TV show.

The results are a lot more exciting than the actual mission turned out to be.

WARNING: The clip below contains violent content, so don't go watching it at work.

In addition to some other stuff that didnt make it into multiplayer, it has now been revealed that a whole heap of gametypes and weapons didn't make the grade. So what do you think?

Infinity Ward may have tried to distance itself from the rumors about the Call of Duty franchise going down Subscription Lane™, but Activision head honcho Bobby Kotick said otherwise during the publishing giant's recent earnings call. "If you think about the success that we've had in other product categories on subscription, you can get a sense of the direction that we want to take that franchise," he said.

It's by no means a confirmation that you'll be Oscar Mike to the Inn before heading into the Den of Eternal Bunnyhoppers or whatever. But if there's anything Activision is good at, it's learning how to make more money from the massive amounts of money it's already made -- and subscription-based games generate the cash money on a monthly basis.

With Activision's holiday fiscal report expected to release this week, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is predicting that the Call of Duty profit machine may not repeat its fantastic 2009 performance this year. As reported by IndustryGamers, Pachter believes the Call of Duty franchise will generate "sharply lower revenue," in 2010, to the tune of a $250 million decline. Not to worry, though, as he notes that Activision is likely to more than make up for that amount thanks to Blizzard's impending releases (hello, StarCraft II). Aside from that, of course, it's important to remember that we're talking about a $250 million decrease on almost a billion dollars, so it's not like Pachter expects Call of Duty to wind up in the toilet.

According to a "senior UK trade source" who allegedly spoke with CVG, the next Call of Duty game from Treyarch will be set in Vietnam and arrive at retailers this November. "It's going to be November again - just as with World At War and Modern Warfare 2," the source was quoted as saying. We heard as much back in May of last year, when Treyarch was said to be looking for "Vietnam War era tunes." Add to that the fact that Activision's Noah Heller explicitly said Treyarch would no longer be working on WWII-based Call of Duty games and you've got yourself a more reasonable sounding rumor. We've asked Activision for comment and will keep you updated as we hear more.

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It was an AWESOME 1st for Melbourne and indeed Australia. A MW2 LAN event to which all subsequent MW2 events must now live up to. 9 teams battled out a grueling 18 round round-robin playlist filled with a mixture of gametypes including Deathmatch, CTF, Domaination, Search and Destroy and Demolition. Consistent results saw Malice (44), Frenetic Array (40), Bitter Sweet (38) and The Unit (36) advance to a best of 3 round semi final. The Unit managed to knock out Malice with two game wins while Bitter Sweet took Frenetic Array to the third round after missing losing out on a deathmatch. Now fighting for 3rd place, Malice and Bitter Sweet went head to head with Malice taking home two convincing wins and 3rd place (not published). The final was set for Frenetic Array and The Unit which went down to round 3. Frenetic Array reigning victorious! Read more for full results and some pics. Video of the finals coming soon!