Xbox Live supremacy has once again shifted gears. GTA IV is now the top dog. We all knew GTA was going to make noise, but to top COD4 and Halo 3 is a testament to how big this game is really becoming.
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 GTA IV
2 Call of Duty 4
3 Halo 3
4 Guitar Hero III
5 Gears of War
6 Rock Band
7 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Vegas 2
8 Iron Man Demo
9 FIFA 08
10 Forza Motorsport 2
[via majornelson]
As if Gamestop doesn’t do enough things to look stupid… I was picking up my copy of GTA IV Special Edition this morning for PS3 at my local Gamestop. Another guy was there buying the game off the shelf. Both of us got ID’d to buy the game. I look nowhere near 17, but whatever. The guy next to me asks “Are you kidding?” The follow up reply from the old guy behind the counter waiting on me was “We’re not taking any chances with this game.”
Ok, you might say. As soon as the other guy leaves, a kid walks up to the counter to buy a used copy of Call of Duty 4. The kid was no more than 4 feet tall and couldn’t have been older than 13 or 14. Did he get ID’d? Nope. When I asked the guy behind the counter why not, I was told “We’re only worried about GTA.”
Wow. So let me get this straight. Gamestop doesn’t care about the ESRB “M” rating and will sell these games to minors as long as it’s not GTA? What kind of bull is that? I shook my head, took my copy of the game and went home. Still baffled over this one. It’s this kind of crap that fuels people like Chuckles.
Want to know what the fastest selling DLC is on Xbox Live? That would roughly be the Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4. Activision sent over a press release to let us know the maps sold over one million copies in its first nine days.
Additionally, Xbox LIVE members played more than 30 million sessions and logged more than 30 million hours of gameplay.
That’s pretty impressive! You all know my stance on buying maps, but the Variety Map Pack and the Legendary Map Pack for Halo 3 are two that are really worth it. If you haven’t bought either and play the games regularly online, go buy these maps now.
PS3 owners will finally get a crack at the new maps on COD4. They will also get a double exp points weekend where all kills and assists have a 2x multiplier in the specified games.
To celebrate the release of both map packs we will be hosting a Double XP weekend for North America from 12:01 AM PDT on Friday, April 25 to 11:59 PM PDT on Sunday, April 27. North American players will be able to play the new maps against members of the Infinity Ward team on Friday, April 25 from 5 PM to 8 PM PDT.
So get downloading the mapes when they come out and be sure to check it out. There are more special weekends planned as well. Click here for those.
There is a general discontent with downloadable content from gamers nowadays. More frequently than not, its an attempt from a developer to grab a few extra bucks for content that probably should been packaged with the original release but withheld for the aforementioned reason. The Variety Map Pack for COD4 on the Xbox 360 (the PS3 version is identical, have not played it yet) does not meet that criteria. Activision’s add-on brings gamers four new and totally different maps to further expand their already record breaking multiplayer. Furthermore, each map also seems like it was designed for a specific game type and that adds to the replayability even more.
The first map, Chinatown, is a complete rehash of Carentan from COD1 and 2. That’s where the similarities end. Though the maps’ skeleton remains, its skin has been completely redone. From DVD shops to markets to empty apartments, few maps give the frenzied feel that Chinatown can. There are strategically placed gun turrets as well which add to the overall wildness of the map.
Don’t fret, PS3 players of Call of Duty 4. Your maps are coming. Infinity Ward announced that the Variety Map Pack and ensuing patch went off to Sony for certification and is on schedule for release on April 24th on the PlayStation Store.
No release dates are final yet, so it could vary slightly, but I’d expect it to hit right on the expected time frame.
Xbox 360 owners have been loving the new maps, especially Chinatown. I’m sure it’s going to be the same on the PS3. Hopefully this patch brings rumble to CoD4 on the PS3 as well with the new DualShock 3 controllers.
Thanks to everyone who entered our Call of Duty 4 Giveaway! We had a ton of entries to go through, but rest assured our random winner generator did it’s thing. Here’s your list of winners:
We’ll be contacting everyone by email today to get you the prizes, so I hope you used your real email addresses to sign up for the forums 
If you didn’t win, why not enter our News Tips Contest to win the game of your choice?
Remember the glory days around this past Christmas? The days when Xbox Live just didn’t work? Last night, the servers had an acid flashback. This time, Call of Duty 4 and the new Variety Map Pack were the culprit. So many users hopped online to download the maps and play the game that they broke things for everyone.
Above a screen grab of what’s posted on the official Game of the Year edition website, where users who picked up the GoTY game enter their codes to get the maps. Yeah, even Activision put it up on their website that Live was having issues.
All seems to be fine now as people have decided to get some sleep. I’d except things to get a little hairy again later today, though, as more people get on to grab the maps.
Did you have any troubles last night? Let us know in the comments.
Your FINAL reminder folks. To coincide with the upcoming Variety Map Pack, we’ve decided to give away two copies of Call of Duty 4 to you, our loyal readers. We have one copy for Xbox 360 and one copy for PS3. But that’s not all. We also have two download codes for the Variety Map Pack on Xbox Live. Four prizes for four winners.
We want to thank Activision for hooking up the prizes for this giveaway!
To enter, hit up the forum thread here and leave a comment. That’s it. If you’re not a forum member, it’s easy and free to signup. Comments left in this post won’t count, so make sure to enter on the forums. You can enter once per day, so keep coming back to increase your chances of winning!
The contest ends at 11:59pm EST TODAY, so get commenting. Only one entry per person per day is allowed, and winners will be chosen at random after the contest is finished. Since it’s the last day, you can get in one more entry. Get to it.
After delayed, then no delayed, then delayed again, then no delays again, we finally have a concrete answer. According to Infinity Ward, the Variety Map Pack for CoD4 was scheduled to go live (no pun intended) on the Xbox 360 at 9:30am ET today. If you’re been anxiously waiting, why not take a half day and go grab these maps.
In an effort to battle Halo 3, Infinity Ward is offering some extra EXP this weekend for those playing on the new maps. Go get on it… you know you want to.
Coming Soon!
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