Call of Duty: Black Ops Set to Outsell Modern Warfare 2

[Tom Goldman]

Call of Duty: Black Ops Set to Outsell Modern Warfare 2

Just because Infinity Ward is gone doesn't mean Call of Duty is dead.

GameStop announced today that Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Black-Ops-Xbox-360/dp/B003JVKHEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286500211&sr=8-1]. With last year's Call of Duty-associated release breaking $400 million on day one, this would be quite a feat.

In a press release, GameStop said: "GameStop is tracking to all-time, record reservations on Call of Duty: Black Ops. We are ahead of where we were with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 last year, which previously set the industry standard." Modern Warfare 2 went on to generate more than $1 billion [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/97446-Modern-Warfare-2-Breaks-1-Billion] in retail sales, so yeah, I'd call that the industry standard.

Though some may have believed that Black Ops wouldn't be able to hit the mark of Modern Warfare due to its development being handled by "B-team" Treyarch, that simply doesn't appear to be the case. Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-World-War-Xbox-360/dp/B001AWIP68/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286500820&sr=1-1] didn't sell as well as Modern Warfare, but it still reached a level you could call "gangbusters."

If Black Ops were a bigger success than Modern Warfare 2, it would prove that Activision's zombies [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98761-Rumor-Security-Locks-Down-Infinity-Ward-Ousts-Studio-Head-UPDATE].


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[lacktheknack]

Now, if Kotick says ANYTHING about it at this point, that would lower the figures substantially.

I don't plan to buy it, it'll have to be head-explodingly awesome and/or not be yet another war FPS for me to want it.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Even as a definite MW disliker:

Just because Infinity Ward is gone doesn't mean Call of Duty is dead.

I think it does really. Propping up the corpse and working it by strings doesn't mean there's life there still.

Then again, the sheeple have far more purchasing power than the critics.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Wait what? But it's the same bloody game! Why are these people buying it!

 

[katsumoto03]

I'm looking forward to it, but if it flops I will never buy a CoD game again... Ever.

 

[DustyDrB]

Black Ops is a cool name. Don't think that doesn't matter.

Plus, console sales have had a boost in the past year. Game sales would naturally follow.

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

Wait what? But it's the same bloody game! Why are these people buying it!

My guess is an upswing in masochism. Apparently a large consumer base has a high demand for being called a colorful slur by a small child through a plastic mic.

Joking aside, could World at War have suffered from being another WWII game? That in itself provided me with ample reason to avoid it like it was carrying a disease.

 

[tk1989]

I didnt think there was as much of a buzz for this game as there was for MW2. I mean, EVERYONE was talking about MW2, but i havent really heard too much about this if i am gonna be totally honest.

 

[DannibalG36]

BUT WHY? I mean, I'll be playing the Black Ops campaign on my roommate's 360, but I expect only a baseline, popcorn thrills CoD campaign experience. I won't even bother with multiplayer, because that hasn't really changed since the original Modern Warfare: it's good, but not good enough to tear me away from Halo: Reach, which will be my FPS multiplayer game of choice for the next year and beyond.

So, WHY ON EARTH are people buying YET ANOTHER Call of Duty? It's been virtually the same game for the past three iterations. A good game, but basically the same.

 

[Colonel Alzheimer's]

Yeah, that probably has less to do with how it looks right now, and more to do with the "Call of Duty" in the title. Casual gamers who play hardcore games (which is a demographic, as far as I'm concerned at least) will push this one over the top, which will certainly counteract the number of people on this site who have sworn of COD, myself included.[sub]
for now[/sub]
[sub][sub]maybe[/sub][/sub]

 

[Irridium]

Well considering the population at large doesn't even know about the IW scandal and couldn't care less, its not surprising.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

Yeah, that probably has less to do with how it looks right now, and more to do with the "Call of Duty" in the title. Casual gamers who play hardcore games (which is a demographic, as far as I'm concerned at least) will push this one over the top, which will certainly counteract the number of people on this site who have sworn of COD, myself included.[sub]
for now[/sub]
[sub][sub]maybe[/sub][/sub]

I agree, that is a demographic. A demographic that that was created largely by MW2. All I have to say about them is they are not fun people to play with. They pushed me away from CoD.

OT: Is that really a good thing?

 

[ZeoAssassin]

BUT WHY? I mean, I'll be playing the Black Ops campaign on my roommate's 360, but I expect only a baseline, popcorn thrills CoD campaign experience. I won't even bother with multiplayer, because that hasn't really changed since the original Modern Warfare: it's good, but not good enough to tear me away from Halo: Reach, which will be my FPS multiplayer game of choice for the next year and beyond.

So, WHY ON EARTH are people buying YET ANOTHER Call of Duty? It's been virtually the same game for the past three iterations. A good game, but basically the same.

lol sorry but that's kind of funny coming from your avatar dude. not to say your wrong of course. just a "looks who's calling the kettle black" moment...not to say i don't like CoD or Halo.

i don't know the fact that its setting isn't WW2 OR completely modern makes we want to support it. just because if it flops we might be getting more boring ass WW2 games in the future.

at least SOMETHINGs different right?

 

[Zing]

I'm thinking(and hoping) that Black Ops is going to be a better game than MW2 as well. I mean as far as generic modern warfare shooting games go.

I'll probably get it a bit down the line after i've played Fable III, TFUII and Cataclysm.

 

[bubba145]

I'll buy it i really want it bad. Zombie time M-16 for the win!!!!

 

[archvile93]

BUT WHY? I mean, I'll be playing the Black Ops campaign on my roommate's 360, but I expect only a baseline, popcorn thrills CoD campaign experience. I won't even bother with multiplayer, because that hasn't really changed since the original Modern Warfare: it's good, but not good enough to tear me away from Halo: Reach, which will be my FPS multiplayer game of choice for the next year and beyond.

So, WHY ON EARTH are people buying YET ANOTHER Call of Duty? It's been virtually the same game for the past three iterations. A good game, but basically the same.

I'd like to agree with you, but seeing as I have a PC and can't play Halo: Reach because Bungie is made up of dicks (Bungie games being the main reason I don't believe Microsoft when they say they haven't abandoned PC gamers) I'll have to settle for this.

 

[OneOfTheMichael's]

Good luck with that...

 

[Sundavar]

I'll definitely be picking up Black Ops. The fact that it's more of the same doesn't bother me. Call of Duty is an excellent franchise, particularly if you're really into FPS like myself and a few of my friends are. The changes that they are making in Black Ops should serve to revive the beaten corpse that is the Call of Duty franchise for at least a year, or more if it doesn't have the same bullshit that MW2 had