Here is multiplayer, it really does look like a cross between MW2 and Black Ops. I wish I could see PC multiplayer action instead of console

Since Jock over bashandslash took the summer off, I have been behind in the news. Here is the MW3 Spec Ops Survival Trailer. I guess this is IW version of Zombies...  

The digital distribution wars just got personal for EA: they’ve pulled Crysis 2 from the Steam store. It’s now available on the company’s Origin service, labeled as an exclusive offering.

Despite this, as of writing, the title is still available on Direct2Drive, Impulse, and GamersGate. However, it’s possible that EA is still in the process of cutting ties with other services.

While the jury is still out on whether this exclusivity will apply to all of EA’s digital offerings going forward, it’s a likely bet, as BioWare recently confirmed that its upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic will be an Origin exclusive. Moreover, today’s release of Alice: Madness Returns is nowhere to be found on Steam.



Electronic Arts is doubling down on the digital-gaming space with the launch of a new direct-to-consumer platform, called Origin.

Launching later today, Origin will allow gamers to purchase and download over 150 games directly to their PCs. So far, the content on the site is limited to games from EA "and its partners," the company said in a statement today. In the coming months, EA says that it will offer more games, including the highly anticipated Battlefield 3, FIFA 12, Madden NFL 12, and Mass Effect 3.

"Origin is a game service with two fundamental features," David DeMartini, senior vice president of Global Online at EA, said in a statement. "It's a download service for the very best content from EA and its partners. It also offers a social function which, over time, will connect a player's profile with friends lists and a cross-platform feed that shows what your friends are playing and where."

That social element comes through Origin's desktop application. After downloading it, users can connect with friends and find out what games others are playing. Users of the desktop app will also be able to download games to their PCs.

Origin, which will go live at 9 a.m. PT today, is EA's answer to Steam, a service that offers a wide selection of content. According to Steam's Web site, it now has more than 1,100 games available from a slew of developers for users to buy and play on a Mac or PC. Steam currently offers content from EA, including The Sims 3 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam, among others.

As of this writing, Steam has nearly 2.5 million concurrent users on its service. The service had more than 3 million concurrent users earlier this week.

EA's decision to jump into the direct-to-consumer market for PC games makes sense. Back in September, the NPD Group revealed that during the first six months of 2010, PC game downloads outstripped physical PC game sales by 3 million units. Moreover, digital downloads accounted for 43 percent of overall game revenue.

Going mobile
But EA isn't planning to stop at just PC games. The company also said today that it will be offering Origin to mobile gamers, allowing them to play Scrabble, among other titles, from their devices. After it launches, Battlefield 3 will also be available through Origin's mobile offering.

"In the future, mobile gamers will also be able to see what games their friends are playing, as well as compare high scores and share what's fun," the company said in a statement discussing further mobile Origin features.

EA's Origin launch will likely be just one small part of a much broader strategy on the company's part to transition its operation away from the traditional packaged-goods model. Last month, EA CEO John Riccitiello said that his plans over the long-term involve making EA a digitally focused company.

"Over the coming years, we will transform EA from a packaged goods company to a fully integrated digital entertainment company," Riccitiello told investors during an earnings call last month. "We're transforming EA to a games-as-a-service model."

That strategy seems to be working. During its last fiscal year ended March 31, EA saw its digital-games revenue grow by 46 percent year over year to more than $800 million. The company is currently forecasting that revenue to grow once again to over $1 billion this fiscal year.

EA said today that exclusive content for its titles will be made available at Origin.com during the company's press conference that the E3 Expo on Monday.

DLC3, more maps from Treyarch.

I have been meaning to post the American Teaser for MW3 a while now, but I never got around to it. With the World Premierer Trailer tomorrow, just thought I would get everyone ready. Of course you can already pre-order it for $59.99.

WASHINGTON/ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S.-led operation involving helicopters and ground forces in Pakistan on Sunday, ending a nearly 10-year worldwide hunt for the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.

U.S. officials said bin Laden was found in a million-dollar compound in the upscale town of Abbottabad, 60 km (35 miles) north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad. A source familiar with the operation said bin Laden was shot in the head.

"Justice has been done," President Barack Obama declared in a hastily called, late-night White House speech announcing the death of the elusive head of the militant Islamic group behind a series of deadly bombings across the world.

Leaders worldwide praised the killing as a dramatic success in the war against al Qaeda, although many analysts cautioned it was too soon to say bin Laden's death would mark a turning point in the battle against a highly fractured network of militants.

Jubilant, flag-waving celebrations erupted in Washington and New York after Obama's announcement. It was the biggest national security victory for the president since he took office in early 2009 and could give him a political boost as he seeks re-election in 2012.

Obama may now also find it easier to wind down the nearly decade-old war in Afghanistan, begun after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington that killed nearly 3,000.

But the operation could complicate relations with Pakistan, already frayed over U.S. drone strikes in the west of the country and the jailing of a CIA contractor accused of killing two Pakistani men.

A U.S. official said Pakistani authorities were told the details of the raid after it had taken place.

The revelation bin Laden was living in style in a mansion will also put Pakistani officials under pressure to explain how he could have been right under their noses. Residents in Abbottabad said a Pakistani military training academy is near the compound.

"For some time there will be a lot of tension between Washington and Islamabad because bin Laden seems to have been living here close to Islamabad," said Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani security analyst.

U.S. officials said American forces were led to the fortress-like three-story building in Abbottabad after more than four years tracking one of bin Laden's most trusted couriers, whom U.S. officials said was identified by men captured after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"Detainees also identified this man as one of the few al Qaeda couriers trusted by bin Laden. They indicated he might be living with or protected by bin Laden," a senior administration official said in a briefing for reporters in Washington.

Bin Laden was finally found after authorities discovered in August 2010 that the courier lived with his brother and their families in an unusual and extremely high-security building in Pakistan, officials said.

"When we saw the compound where the brothers lived, we were shocked by what we saw: an extraordinarily unique compound," a senior administration official said.

"The bottom line of our collection and our analysis was that we had high confidence that the compound harbored a high-value terrorist target. The experts who worked this issue for years assessed that there was a strong probability that the terrorist who was hiding there was Osama bin Laden," another administration official said.

Bin Laden and three adult men, including a son of bin Laden, were killed along with a woman who was used as a shield by a male combatant, officials said.

The New York Times said bin Laden's body was taken to Afghanistan and then buried at sea.

RESIDENT WOKEN BY BLASTS, GUNFIRE
 

The operation took under 40 minutes. A U.S. helicopter was lost due to a mechanical problem and its crew and assault force safely evacuated, officials said. No Americans were harmed in the operation, Obama said.