But according to Cowen & Company’s Dou Activision should be worried, writing in a note to investors that:

Upon further reflection, we think the [Call of Duty] numbers are a bit more troubling than they first appear. While the year-over-year gap is only 19 percent thus far, that includes two extra weeks of sales for the 360 and PS3 versions [of Black Ops II]. Against 2011′s [Modern Warfare 3], where the difference is only one week, the title is down 32 percent life-to-date.

We don’t think it is out of the question that the title could wind up comparing down 20 percent to 25 percent year-over-year [to Black Ops II], which is appreciably worse than the down 10 to 15 percent that we think is baked in to guidance.

Now, to be quite honest, I don’t think these analysts know much about this industry, and I think they usually pull their numbers out of nowhere. Take me for example, I decided not to buy neither Call of Duty: Ghosts or Battlefield 4 for my PS3, because I knew I’d be getting a PS4 either on day one or soon after. I’d wager many gamers are thinking the same thing — more than Mr. Creutzm believe, especially in these hard times, where every dollar matters and gamers may be still saving up cash to purchase their new system of choice.

Another point that should be mentioned is the fact that over 2 million gamers are on GameStoop’s waiting list for PS4, and others planning on getting Xbox One. There must be a great percentage of gamers who are thinking of picking up Call of Duty: Ghosts with their next-gen system.

And I’m not saying that Call of Duty won’t see a decline in sales, or for that matter isn’t seeing one. I just think that these analysts don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, and usually give worthless guidance to their investors.

Maybe I should become a games analyst. Call it “Games Industry Analysis (from a REAL gamer)”.

What do you guys think?

Call of Duty: Black Ops II Apocalypse multiplayer maps include:

·         Pod: A failed utopian community from the 70’s has left stacks of dilapidated residential pods nestled into an abandoned cliff side in Taiwan. Its residents long gone, the modernist compound now hosts frenetic combat as players must run atop the pods, as well as navigate their multi-tiered interiors for a strategic edge.

·         Frost: Fresh snow meets explosive gunpowder in this snow-capped European city, where the bridge over a frozen canal separates it into two sides, requiring players to employ multi-level traversal strategies to outsmart and ultimately outshoot their enemies.

·         Takeoff:  Fans of “ Stadium” from the original Call of Duty®: Black Ops First Strike DLC will find themselves at home on “Takeoff.” Marooned in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, this remote launch site is all about close-quarters combat, combining tight corners with open spaces for intense encounters.

·         Dig: An adaptation of the fan-favourite “ Courtyard” from Call of Duty®: World at War, where two archeological dig sites in Afghanistan become the perfect playground for combatants eager for hectic, unceasing confrontations. Treyarch, has retained the spirit of “ Courtyard” with two major chokepoints, a wide open layout and raised platforms, but has provided fans with a fresh take on the multitude of paths.

Apocalypse also features Origins , the most horrifying and imaginative Zombies experience to date. Players will be deployed to a Dieselpunk-stylised World War I-era France where they will encounter the return of the four original heroes – Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen – from the very first Zombies map featured in Call of Duty: World at War, as well as hordes of undead that have overrun the French countryside’s trenches and fields, as well as the ruins of an ancient and mysterious location.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops II Apocalypse DLC Pack is available individually a la carte or for download by season pass holders. Call of Duty: Black Ops II game (sold separately) is required to play this Map Pack.

Friendly note: Double XP weekend goes live from tomorrow as Treyarch celebrates the release of the game’s last DLC offering, dubbed Apocalypse, hitting Xbox 360 first on Tuesday, August 27th.

Patch Notes:

Multiplayer Issues Addressed

• Fixed an issue which caused strafe and backwards movement speeds to be slower than intended in certain circumstances.
• Addressed an issue where Players were able to copy other Players’ emblems.
• Fixed an issue where throwing down and picking up equipment (such as the Bouncing Betty) for a long period of time would cause those items to become invisible when thrown.
• Fixed bullet and equipment collision in Detour with several of the metal tiles in the lower section of the bridge.
• Players are no longer able to stand on invisible collision near the crane in Uplink.
• Fixed an issue in Uplink where Players were able to access invisible collision near the lower start spawn, outside of the intended playspace.
• Players are no longer able to Dive-To-Prone into a section of the downed plane in Cove.
• Improved stability with the preview movies in CoDTV when signing in and out of profiles.
• Fixed an issue where the lobby countdown timer would reset back to full in certain circumstances.

Zombies Issues Addressed

TranZit

• Zombies no longer jitter when they climb on the roof of the bus or when they enter from the windows.
• Fixed an issue where zombies killed inside the bus would attack Players for a second before despawning.

Die Rise

• Leapers no longer become stuck in the main elevator shaft.

Buried

• The Double Points upgrade now applies when purchasing ammunition for wall-buy weapons.
• Players are no longer able to Dive-To-Prone on a haystack in the Stables and become free from zombie attack. [Xbox 360 Only]
• Fixed an issue in the starting area where Players were able to Dive-To-Prone and safely land on collision without going down the slide.
• Players are no longer able to Dive-To-Prone on a fence outside the Church and become free from zombie attack.
• Addressed an issue where Players were able to place a Trample Steam in the Courthouse tunnels, launch themselves into a wall, and become free from zombie attack.
• Fixed an issue where Players were receiving points by touching zombies with the Insta-Kill persistent upgrade active and a sniper rifle equipped.
• Players are no longer able to access unintended collision in-between the General Store and Stables and be free from zombie attack.
• Players no longer get stuck at the bottom of the slide when using Dive-To-Prone.
• Fixed an issue where zombies were getting stuck in walls when Players stood in Vulture-Aid stink.
• Players are no longer able to stand on invisible collision on the Stables’ exterior and be free from zombie attack.

It starts at 10AM Pacific. The event is open to all platforms, including the Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Wii U.

Activision Brings Microtransactions to Call of Duty.

The Full Quencher:

Feature Improvements
The CODcast control panel can now optionally show the overhead map in the player list in games with 10 players or less.
Added the ability to view past seasons for all the leagues a team has been a part of in League History.
Background Downloading has been enabled on XBOX 360.

Multiplayer Issues Addressed
Resolved an issue where players were receiving an error message when trying to join a System Link or LAN Party lobby without internet connection.
Resolved Select Fire reverting back to default settings after a round transition.
Fixed a potential exploit using the Trophy System.
Addressed an issue with the Collector’s Edition camo un-equipping from weapons.
Addressed an issue with the Peacekeeper not appearing for players that join into a match that is already in progress.
Resolved an issue on Drone where the automatic doors at the weapon plant would trigger/destroy Lethal Equipment.
Addressed an issue with the highlight for the Dual Band Scope on players equipped with certain weapons.
Fixed an issue with the planted bomb disappearing at the “B” site on Hydro when the water floods.
Addressed an issue with the VTOL Warship not destroying if hit when exiting the map.
Players will now be able to complete the Shredder Scorestreak challenge using a Death Machine from a care package.
The Stealth Chopper no longer counts towards completion of the Chopper Hunter challenge.
Resolved an issue where planted Riot Shields were not getting destroyed by the gondolas in Downhill.
Resolved an issue with C4 and Bouncing Betty’s killing players on contact.
Fixed an issue where the Combat Axe would sometime destroy the Guardian.
Addressed a missing image issue with the Medals section of the Combat Record for new players.
Players with Hard Wired equipped will no longer lose their Care Package if throwing it while an enemy EMP Scorestreak is active.
Fixed an issue with bomb plants being automatically aborted while a Care Package or Hunter Killer Drone is equipped.
Hosts can now kick players in Custom Game lobbies.
Hint text for the Camera toggle in the Live Stream menu updated to include support for the XBOX 360 Kinect sensor.
Videos being rendered in the Theater will no longer be automatically canceled when the controller disconnects.
The CODcast UI is now displaying the flag for the Flag Carrier in the Objective column.
Addressed a button mapping issue in the Emblem Options menu.
Resolved an issue with the red crosshair appearing in the Target Finder when targeting an enemy equipped with Cold Blooded.
Fixed an issue with the stats tracking for the Executioner’s Accuracy in the Combat Record.
Fixed an issue where the Friends List showed a joinable/green arrow icon for players who were not playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.
Resolved an issue where the turret in the northern building on Turbine would become unusable.
Addressed an issue with the Lightning Strike Scorestreak if the player had the tablet out during a host migration.
Fixed an issue with some weapons having invisible magazines from 3rd person animations during an automatic reload.
Resolved an issue on XBOX 360 with backing out of a Guest Account sign-in.
Addressed an issue where the game would sometimes crash after repeated host migrations.
Fixed knife lunge launching players on the Express map.
Fixed an issue where the player could get an empty War Machine or Death Machine when switching classes at the start of the match.
Addressed a loss of functionality for the player and guest when switching between Multiplayer and Zombies and having the guest switch back to Multiplayer.
Match clocks in Multi-Team and Free-for-All games modes no longer continue to tick down in Theater when a CODcast game is paused.
Resolved an issue where planting a Claymore in front of a crouched player with a Riot Shield would cause the Claymore to fly across the map.
Resolved a couple of overlapping UI issues when CODcasting.
Players can now turn the Voice Icon On/Off when CODcasting a match in Theater.

Gameplay Balancing

Spawn System Improvements:
Reduced the weight of positive team spawn influencers on owned Domination flags. This reduces cases in Domination where players may spawn near their team but also near danger.
Added more spawn points to Hijacked for Demolition and Kill Confirmed, which improves the spawn-picking algorithm on that map in those game modes.
Adjusted spawn influencers on Standoff for improved spawn-picking algorithms in all game modes.

SMGs:
MSMC: Recoil has been increased.
MSMC: Hip fire accuracy has been slightly reduced.
PDW57: Recoil has been increased.
PDW57: Hip fire accuracy has been slightly reduced.

Pistols:
KAP-40: Dual wield damage reduced.
KAP-40: Dual wield hip fire accuracy has been reduced.

Attachments:
MMS: Cold blooded now renders enemies almost completely invisible to MMS.

LMGs:
QBB-LSW: Medium range damage increased.
HAMR: Medium range damage increased.

Assault Rifles:
FAL OSW + Select Fire: Damage reduced when firing full auto.
SMR + Select Fire: Damage reduced when firing full auto.
Type 25: Move speed increased.
Type 25: Medium range damage increased.
SCAR: Long range damage increased.
SWAT-556: Long range damage increased.

Shotguns:
M1216: Medium range damage increased.

Sniper Rifles:
Ballista + Iron Sight: Idle sway reduced.

Zombies Issues Addressed
Resolved several issues with exploitable areas in the Die Rise
Resolved several exploits in Green Run
Resolved network/connectivity issues that could occur in the frontend and lobbies.

The Best Black Ops 2 Loadout

The Sweet Loadout

Primary Weapon: SIG556
Primary Attachment 1: Suppressor
Primary Attachment 2: Adjustable Stock
Lethal Grenade: Grenade
Tactical Grenade: Concussion
Wildcard: Perk 1 Greed
Perk 1A: Hardline
Perk 1B: Ghost
Perk 2: Toughness
Perk 3: Dexterity

Scorestreaks

UAV, Care Package, Lightning Strike

Play Defensively

We won’t use the term ‘campers’ because it’s all a valid way of playing. Still, if you prefer to play a little more defensively than the run-‘n’-gunners, then this is the build for you.

Primary Weapon: AN-94
Primary Attachment 1: Select Fire
Primary Attachment 2: Reflex Sight
Secondary Weapon: Five-Seven
Lethal Grenade: Claymore
Tactical Grenade (x2): Sensor Grenade
Perk 1: Flak Jacket
Perk 2: Hard Wired
Perk 3: Awareness

Scorestreaks

UAV, Counter-UAV, Sentry Gun

Play Aggressively

If Team Deathmatch is your thing then this is a build you might want to consider, which combines offensive perks and weaponry with some explosive – yet automated – Scorestreak abilities.

Primary Weapon: Type 25
Primary Attachment 1: Millimeter Scanner
Secondary Weapon: RPG
Wildcard: Danger Close
Lethal Grenade (x2): Grenade
Tactical Grenade: Flashbang
Perk 1: Hardline
Perk 2: Scavenger
Perk 3: Engineer

Scorestreaks

Hunter Killer, Lightning Strike, Stealth Chopper

Be Quick, Be Quiet

This was a popular loadout back with the original Black Ops, and it’s one that works just as well here. It requires losing a couple of things, but is nonetheless suitable if you like to get to areas you aren’t expected at quickly.

Primary Weapon: PDW-57
Primary Attachment 1: Suppressor
Primary Attachment 2: Fast Mag
Lethal: Combat Axe
Wildcard 1: Perk 1 Greed
Wildcard 2: Perk 3 Greed
Perk 1A: Lightweight
Perk 1B: Ghost
Perk 3A: Extreme Conditioning
Perk 3B: Dead Silence

Scorestreaks

UAV, Hunter Killer, Counter-UAV

Spray And Pray

This is for those who just like to point, shoot and hope things die. Heavy amounts of ammo and a boost to hip-firing makes this loadout a good one for close quarters matches and faster game modes.

Primary Weapon: MTAR or MSMC
Primary Attachment 1: Extended Clip
Primary Attachment 2: Laser Sight
Secondary Weapon: KAP-40
Lethal: Semtex
Tactical (x2): Bouncing Betty
Perk 1: Hardline
Perk 2: Toughness
Perk 3: Dexterity

Scorestreaks

UAV, Lightning Strike, Death Machine

For Snipers

There should always be a loadout for snipers, and some Black Ops 2 maps are well built for them. The choice of weapon is by the by, this is all reliant on the attachments and the perks.

Primary Weapon: DSR 50
Primary Attachment 1: Ballistics CPU
Primary Attachment 2: ACOG
Secondary Weapon: KAP-40
Wildcard: Danger Close
Lethal (x2): Claymore
Perk 1: Ghost
Perk 2: Cold Blooded
Perk 3: Awareness

Scorestreaks

Counter-UAV, Sentry Gun, Orbital VSAT

Jack Of All Trades

Not every map is suited to every kind of playstyle, and so this set up lets you fulfil most roles in any situation. As you might expect, it’s the most customisable one of the lot.

Primary Weapon: SMR
Primary Attachment 1: Adjustable Stock
Primary Attachment 2: Quickdraw
Secondary Weapon: Five-Seven
Secondary Attachment: Suppressor
Lethal: Semtex
Tactical: Flashbang
Perk 1: Hardline
Perk 2: Toughness
Perk 3: Awareness

Scorestreaks

UAV, Care Package, Sentry Gun

This is significant because it means word of mouth continues to spread positively for Black Ops 2, hence the high sales for five straight weeks.

Coming in strong in second place, surprisingly, is Hitman: Absolution, but that’s mostly because of an aggressive move by Square to sell the game, temporarily, at an attractive discounted price. FIFA 13 is in third place, Just Dance 4 fourth and Far Cry 3 5th.

Here’s the full quencher:

1. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II
2. HITMAN ABSOLUTION
3. FIFA 13
4. JUST DANCE 4
5. FAR CRY 3
6. ASSASSIN’S CREED III
7. HALO 4
8. NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED
9. LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS
10. WWE ’13
11. SKYLANDERS GIANTS
12. THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM
13. FOOTBALL MANAGER 2013
14. SONIC & ALL STARS RACING TRANSFORMED
15. MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLINGS THEME PARK
16. MEDAL OF HONOR: WARFIGHTER
17. LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES
18. FORZA HORIZON
19. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 2
20. DISHONORED

The Full Quencher:

New Features & Feature Improvements

Added support for posting Live Stream URLs to Twitter.
Improved audio/rumble responsiveness when hitting enemies with gunfire.
Improved overall communication of Double XP when enabled.
AAR better communicates how much XP was earned in each match.
Added the ability to “View League Teams” from any player’s Playercard.
Added the ability to “View Playercard” from League solo leaderboards.
Added a number of security system enhancements.
Added Hardcore Kill Confirmed playlist to the Hardcore category

Issues Addressed

Fixed a rare hang (“Awaiting Textures”) upon loading into maps when joining a session in progress after fresh boot.
Game now resets the Care Package for a non-owner if the owner re-rolls the package using the Engineer perk.
Players with Black Hat PDA can no longer hack a Care Package faster than the owner can capture it.
Addressed an exploit where modified console hackers could maliciously spread infected films to other users.
Added a fail-safe to prevent spawn trapping in CTF.
Increased sight checks on turrets to improve spawning algorithms.
Fixed a number of new UI error messages reported by users.
Addressed a number of issues that would cause friendly/enemy color indicators on equipment and scorestreaks to display as the wrong team.
Improved overall Theater and Live Streaming stability.
Improved film rendering stability and made progression bar more accurate while rendering a film.
Addressed issues which prevented some master challenges from being completed.
Precision challenge “Wet Work” will now unlock with 10 kills.
The wins challenge will now account for all FFA modes when ending a match with a tie (if you are in the top 3).
Players that help with the “Synchronized Attack” challenge now get credit for it.
Players will not be able to manually take control of their AGR if they die at the exact moment that their AGR deploys.
Emblem Editor no longer closes the current emblem when discarding changes.
Players using Ghost will no longer be invisible at all times in Custom Games with the mini-map option set to “constant”.
Players using Ghost and a Suppressor attachment will no longer appear on the enemy’s minimap while shooting and moving while a UAV is up.
The median for the K/D graph in the AAR is set to 1.0 instead of 0.0.
Players can no longer get on top of the shrubs in Nuketown 2025.
Thermal vision overlay no longer appears using the VTOL glitch.
Kills from the explosion on the explosive crossbow bolt now count towards challenges.
Counter UAV no longer remains for the rest of the game after a host migration.
Clan tag is no longer locked immediately after prestige.
Offline profiles can no longer be exploited to join online games when an online profile is also signed in.
Multi-team games no longer count as a tie if an entire team quits.
Fixed an area in Express where K9 Unit dogs could get stuck.
EMP grenades no longer affect the CODcaster HUD.
Party Privacy count no longer affects how many bots will spawn in Combat Training.
Shadows seen through sniper scopes now render more correctly.
Players can no longer stand on invisible collision in Carrier.
“Drop Shot” medal is no longer awarded after standing back up.
Players can now copy a custom class to the extra prestige slot.

Gameplay Balancing

The following is a list of numerous gameplay balancing tweaks that were made after thorough review of statistical data from usage patterns of weapons, equipment, perks and scorestreaks since launch.

Scorestreaks:
UAV: cost increased from 350 to 425.
Lightning Strike: added 750ms delay

Equipment/Grenades:
Bouncing Betty: increased the grace period between trigger and activation by 200ms.
Sensor Grenade: increased the range (now 1000 units), frequency (now 800ms between pings), and amount of time (now 6s) that players appear after explosion.
Concussion Grenade: decreased movement penalty and turn speed penalty when hit.

SMGs:
All: increased hip fire recoil.
All: increased max hip fire spread from 4.75 to 5.
All: reduced bullet penetration.
MSMC: increased recoil slightly.
PDW-57: increased recoil slightly.

Assault Rifles:
All: reduced idle sway for more reliable long-range aiming.
XM8: reduced lethal range of 3-hit kills from 250 to 50 inches.
XM8 + Select Fire: increased recoil.
FAL OSW + Select Fire: increased recoil.
SWAT-556 + Select Fire: increased recoil.
MTAR: Made auto aim values consistent with all other assault rifles.

Sniper Rifles:
All: increased hip fire spread.
All + Laser Sight: increased hip fire spread.
XPR-50: increased recoil slightly.

Shotguns:
R870: reduced one-hit kill range by 45 inches.

Pistols:
B23R: reduced headshot multiplier from 1.4 to 1.
KAP-40: reduced headshot multiplier from 1.4 to 1

Call of Duty®: Black Ops II has crossed the $1 billion mark in worldwide retail sales, according to Chart-Track retail customer sell-through information and internal company estimates. Illustrating the strong appeal of interactive entertainment to audiences worldwide, the game achieved this milestone in just 15 days after its launch on November 13, 2012. Last year’s Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare®3 reached $1 billion in retail sales in 16 days. The box office record set for feature films in 2009 by “Avatar” was $1 billion in 17 days¹.

“The release of Call of Duty® has been one of the most significant entertainment events of each of the last six years,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “Since Call of Duty was launched, cumulative franchise revenues from players around the world are greater than current worldwide box office receipts to date for the top-10 grossing films of 2012 combined. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Star Wars,’ the two most successful movie franchises of all time.”

Since the game’s launch, more than 150 million hours have been logged online playing Call of Duty: Black Ops II on Xbox® LIVE® and PlayStation Network.

“Entertainment franchises that captivate audiences for as long as Call of Duty has, on the scale that Call of Duty has, are very rare things. And it takes a lot of brilliant people working across many different disciplines to make it happen. It is incredibly humbling and gratifying to be a part of,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “In order for Call of Duty to remain the entertainment juggernaut that it is, and keep our fans coming back for more, we need to continue to bring fresh ideas and new innovations to the table every time, while always staying true to what people fell in love with in the first place. That’s what we did with Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and that’s what we intend to keep on doing. This is an incredible milestone for an incredible franchise, and I want to thank every passionate, talented, committed person on our team who made it happen.”

The game’s now on sale for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

“Leaderboards have been re-enabled,” tweeted the studio.

“We’ll be restoring entries for those impacted over the coming days. Thanks for your patience,” added the studio.

Black Ops 2 is now available for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

FIFA 13 took third, while Assassin’s Creed III managed 4th. Halo 4 held on to the fifth spot.

Elsewhere, although being a newly-released title, Sony’s PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale flopped hard, coming in a distant 38th on the Charts. Can Sony ever catch a break?

Anyway, here’s the full quencher:

1. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II
2. HITMAN ABSOLUTION
3. FIFA 13
4. ASSASSIN’S CREED III
5. HALO 4
6. LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS
7. JUST DANCE 4
8. SKYLANDERS GIANTS
9. NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED
10. DISHONORED
11. WWE ’13
12. MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLINGS THEME PARK
13. UDRAW STUDIO: INSTANT ARTIST
14. RESIDENT EVIL 6
15. FOOTBALL MANAGER 2013
16. NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 2
17. THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM
18. MEDAL OF HONOR: WARFIGHTER
19. F1 2012
20. BOOK OF SPELLS

The game, I must admit, is a refreshing take on Call of Duty – but that’s all I’ll say on that.

Have you been playing? If so, what’s your take?

This weekend I’ll be doing a hosts of things, including, of course, completing my Black Ops 2 review. I’ll be performing at a Thanksgiving event at 2pm today, and from there I attend a committee meeting concerning concert activities with a group called JoyFest.

From there I come back home for some, you know, Black Ops 2 action. Anybody up for some gaming?

What’s your weekend like? Share it, and have a blessed one!

No timetable for a fix was given.

“We are currently testing backend matchmaking changes that we think can help with this. I don’t have a time table, or I would tell you,” Game Design Director as Treyarch said via twitter.

Yesterday Activision said: “We are aware of connectivity issues that some players are facing in Black Ops II on PlayStation 3. We are working on resolution, thank you.”

Hold tight, soldiers.