Modern Warfare 3 Breaks Every Sales Record Known to Man

[wilsontheterrible]

I don't quite understand how it got this popular. I'm not surprised, I just don't get it.

Lowest common denominator of appeal. Poll your average game buyer and you'll find some people like one game type while others hate it, you'll fine niche gamers, and you'll find title snobs. But in most western nations (and especially the U.S) there is a common visceral appeal to blowing things up. MW and Battlefield do it the best.

 

[Drenaje1]

Not surprising, not even a little bit. But it's really nothing special as far as games go, which is why I tend to have a hard time trying to figure out just why everyone is spending their money on it. What I eventually end up with is, "It's the new Call of Duty." So? "So it's the new CoD, dude! It's awesome!" But what's different this time around? Is the multiplayer more fun? Did they fix the bugs, or try to balance the game? Did they put effort into the story? "Uh, it's CoD."

That's all fine, it really is. Congratulations on selling so much, I'm not going to shove my opinion down anyone's throat. I simply state that I see nothing of value of with it, and move on. Note that the above isn't the way every fan I've met words his opinion. I've seen a few people who actually make a compelling case in it's favor, but still. Meh.

 

[lacktheknack]

The indie supporter in me is filled with intense pain. IMMENSE intense pain.

;_;

On the bright side, at least it's finally a game that holds the record across all media.

 

[thelonewolf266]

All that money and they can't provide free stat tracking. Or proper dedicated servers. I'm not going to mock people who like playing it, but Activision deserves all the shit they get flung at them.

The stat tracking is free in fact most of Elite is free only really the tournaments and access to the map packs early and for free needs a premium membership.My problem with Elite is that it still isn't working reliably.

 

[Bluecho]

It's worth noting that inflation plays a large part here. If the sales figures were adjusted for inflation, the "made more money than any form of entertainment ever" starts meaning a lot less. The dollar (or your particular currency) doesn't buy nearly as much as it used to.

 

[SergeantAnt]

I am not surprised in the slightest. It's good at what it does, and people just love it. Personally i got battlefield 3 this year just because i've never played one and am sick of CoD.

Went into gamestop though the day b4 cods release to buy their last new yakuza 4 for 20$(so worth it). It was 7 or 8 pm and there was already like 6-8 people chilling by the entrance with chairs, book, and crap. Now i found this absolutely PATHETIC -_-

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

This thread is funny.

CoD has been an awesome series since it's very beginnings. I remember when it came out as the pretender to MoH's throne, and absolutely blew it away. There's nothing "average" or "mediocre" about it. People only feel that way because it was so damn good that it ended up creating a lot of the genre cliches, and became the benchmark for what was to come...younger gamers won't understand that.

You can claim(without substantiation)that CoD has stunted the development of the genre until you're blue in the face, it doesn't make it true. The opposite could well be true...the gaming landscape could well be significantly poorer if CoD had never existed.

 

[Sixcess]

Good.

I've never played, or am likely to play, either MW3 or BF3, so the relative success or failure of them has no bearing on my gaming experience, but I still hope someone puts these figures in ten foot high letters on the wall of EA's marketing/hype department, because EA needs to STFU.

 

[JupiterBase]

-Snip-

Honestly, i would just really like to see them use all this money to break some new ground or go in new directions. Although i did kinda get bored with MW after 2. Not even interested in picking up MW3 probably just play it when my friend gets it. It does not seem like anything new at all other then a new story and from the people i have talked to who have the game they still play it online but admit it is nothing really new at except continuing the story.

 

[Tomeran]

I find it quite interesting and entertaining that there's as many people in this thread bashing this game as there is people complaining of others bashing that game.

Although I can admit to a certain extent that the MW3 hate has gone overboard, the "hate the haters or anyone that dislikes the game!1 " has also, as usual, gone overboard. Feels a bit like when people take Yahtzee's reviews too personal. Haters gotta hate other haters etc.

This is a news thread delivering some interesting news, and comments like "Modern Warfare 3 does not make up for its sales figures because it is only a mediocre game", which seem frequent in this thread but also bashed by the anti-negativists(Maybe I should start using that one!), is actually something I consider highly relevant. And in my oppinion, also highly accurate.

So what that the comments are frequent elsewhere? Just because I'd add something like "Skyrim is a nice gaming experience" doesnt make it any more flawed or correct just because it happens to be expressed in frequency somewhere else.
If you think MW3 bashing threads are being spammed out, fine. I'll agree with you on that one, even. But dont go jumping valid and relevant comments on a relevant news thread just because they're common elsewhere.

If you wish to drag your discontent over this somewhere, do it in the outspammed MW3-threads.



In regards to the OP:
I am not surprised, even if I as many others would argue that MW3 is actually MW 2.5. As some probably have pointed out, Modern Warfare has its own separate gaming culture where kids want to flock to the "cool stuff" and tradition that they find MW to be. Their friends are playing it, they want to play it too. Its hard for competitors like BF3 to break that pattern, even if they have a higher quality in content. Although last I heard, BF3 was doing relativly well.
Of course, there's also a fair few that still find MW3 to be a good experience, even if it isnt a huge climb in quality and content from its predecessors. And I've heard a surprising number of people that will only buy and play MW3 for the campaign's sake, while they get a more satisfying(in their oppinion) multiplayer experience in BF3.


I'd also like to see PC sales numbers. Last I heard, MW3 has lost alot of ground on the PC level and games like Skyrim has been the record breaker on that platform.

 

[Cipher1]

I doubt to many records where broken for the PC version (My god my head still hurts from playing that)

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Well, here's hoping Activision doesn't try to fuck Infinity Ward over again. Still, I quite like the game regardless of its familiarity, but I also liked Battlefield 3 too. Hell, I like games in general, and MW3 was right up my alley. Felt like a combination of MW2's aesthetics and CoD4's gameplay mechanics, but tuned to be balanced without feeling unfair and/or overwhelming. Plus, weapon levels were a stroke of genius.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

You gotta wonder what they spend all that money on 'cause it certainly isn't going towards innovation, or indeed fixing what was broken before.

People still complain about massive lag and how Elite is broken for PC (at least that's the last i heard. Not sure as to the status on console) so it's obviously not going towards online improvement either.

So tell us this, Kotick... What the fuck do you spend all that money on? (Besides swimming in it, i guess)

 

[MammothBlade]

The wonders of mass delusion marketing hype...

CoD has become the "in" thing, at this stage alot of people are playing it because of its sheer popularity, not because of its actual merits.

I wonder how much it scored in terms of units, though. It has a price factor of at least five and in some circumstances up to ten times the price of an Avatar ticket. Video games break sales records partly because of their expense.

 

[Something Amyss]

Amazing how mediocrity is so gratuitously rewarded in the gaming community.

And just about every other community on the planet.

Except hipsters, because if someone bought it, it's too commercial.

LMFAO has the #2 song on the Billboard charts this week. Michael Bay is making mad bank off his movies, Twilight is still a major phenomenon in both film and "literature," Paris Hilton is still famous, and douchebags on reality shows can still draw millions of viewers.

 

[Nico4]

If only sucess equaled quailty.

 

[VeneratedWulfen93]

I just can't play a CoD game and feel like a gamer. They're too...lackluster in all aspects but visual.

Shallow, repetitave multiplayer.
Short, Shallow campaign with no narrative appeal.

Most people I know who play CoD are all "normal" people who only play games when they aren't...socialising.

TBH I'm a huge nerd and CoD does not provide what I want in my gaming experience. Its the world's best diguised casual game: it's accesible, constantly rewards play and is addictive and that is what makes it sell so much, it's chosen market is generally people who don't consider themselves gamers which constitutes the majority of the planet.

 

[AnarchistFish]

Tim - "What? Other people like games that I don't?"

Jim - "You know what we should do? We should encourage more players to check out some of our favorite games. It's possible that they haven't tried them out and they might actually enjoy some of them".

Tim - "Shut up Jim; that's a terrible idea. What we should do instead is constantly make topics and posts that express how much better we are at life for liking the games that we do. These posts will definitely make them want to play the titles that us snobs and hipsters do. And heck, telling them that they're stupid for liking MW3 will surely make them see the point".



And then Tim proceeded to make #32455652343rd "Let's bash CoD and Halo" topic on the Escapist.

Except those kinds of people don't want to check out other games.

I think the problem is that this is used as ammunition to claim that these games are the best ever, and it does seem unfair that developers that just badly regurgitate previous ideas sell better than extremely detailed, immersive ones. And this guy, Kotick, sounds like a twat. There's also the danger that this will dumb down games as a whole in the future if developers decide that they don't actually have to make good games to make money.

 

[mikey7339]

Amazing how mediocrity is so gratuitously rewarded in the gaming community.

One of my PS3 CoD gaming buddies asked me what Skyrim was over the weekend...explained it to him, he said it wasn't his thing and I just said 'your lose'. He replied back he just doesn't have the attention span for it...

Some people prefer mediocrity.

EDIT: And honestly, some people just like other types of games or what they are used to. No sense in pressing the issue

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

In this thread: Haters still hating.

Still looking for that intelligent, mature Escapist site people keep talking about.

"There was a dream that was The Escapist. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, it was so fragile."

Sorry, couldn't resist.

OT: I'm not surprised MW3 has sold so well. After all it is bringing to a close (?) a storyline that's been running for four years now, and there are people out there who want to know what happens to the lead characters. And there are still more out there who want to play it purely for the multiplayer, which is a solid shooter that checks all the boxes on the 'How To Make A Fun And Addictive Multiplayer FPS Game' form. The Specs Ops mode has been upgraded to include a Survival mode to make the two player co-op even stronger than before, and whilst the SP campaign is ludicrously over the top that won't matter to the majority of people who will be buying it for online purposes. The truth of the matter is that if you're looking for a well put together co-op or multiplayer game, there is very little not to like about MW3.