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Activision Admits: Beta Testing Would Have Helped Call of Duty Elite is Activision's subscription service, designed to work with COD: Modern Warfare 3. When it first launched, millions of players were unable to use the service, having login problems. On November 8th, Beachhead Studio Head Chacko Sonny released a statement saying that "Registration requests for our new live service Call of Duty Elite are exceeding even our most optimistic expectations, which is creating a bottleneck and some players have not been able to register." COD: Elite is designed to go beyond the Playstation Network and Xbox Live social experiences, making interaction with the Call of Duty "lifestyle" available on tablets, computers, smartphones, and more. Players can create and join groups based on similar interests, as well as create or join clans. Clans have access to an amazing management section with clan roster, schedules, and a private feed. They can compete against other clans, and all stats are recorded by Elite, tracking all kinds of progress. At the DICE Summit this weekend, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg admitted that Call of Duty Elite did not undergo beta testing. As the service was coded for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, it was not possible to test on such a scale prior to the launch of the game. Hirshberg said this weekend, "I hesitate to talk about COD: Elite, because even though we've had some early success with the numbers, it's far from time for us to be doing any victory laps on Call of Duty Elite,". The numbers: COD: MW3 is the highest selling game of 2011, and Activision's posted 2011 profits are $1 billion. 1.5 million paying customers are using Elite out of 7 million total subscribers. Certainly, the rough start to Elite is turning right around, and efforts continue to work out all the bugs in the system. Regarding the flawed launch due to the lack of proper beta testing, Hirshberg said "None of the features were going to be demonstrable in the beta because they were all tied into the code of Modern Warfare 3 and the beta was going to be Black Ops multiplayer. "With the launching of Call of Duty Elite we had a marketing Sophie's Choice. Do we do the beta, which is the right thing to do from a development standpoint, or do we make the best possible first impression, which was probably the right thing to do from the marketing standpoint?" Aside from the rocky start, it is apparent that Activision and Beachhead are dedicated to perfecting the Call of Duty Elite service for the players. "We had some technological stumbles at launch and that frustrated some of our fans. We're still making that right." said Hirshberg. by Aaron Semler, Senior Editor VETERANS-GAMING [Submitted by SemlerPDX =VG=]

Arma 3 Release Date: Fall 2012, not Summer In a recent acknowledgement, Bohemia Interactive has noted that the release of the highly anticipated Arma 3 will not be Summer of 2012. Additionally, this "change" has been a fact for some time, as the initial Summer 2012 announcement was merely part of the plans for the software early on. The actual target date of release for Arma 3 is Quarter 4, 2012 - in the Fall. This date is tenative, and with good reason. Arma fans can count themselve lucky that Bohemia Interactive is not motivated to provide a speedy release of the next installment of their ground breaking military simulator. Quoted in a statement, Bohemia CEO had indicated that the experience of the player is paramount, and comes first before release date announcements. The production schedule will be given more time, if required, to accomodate all necessary software quality levels and optimum playability. I, for one, have no problem being patient with a PC Game release, and with such motives as BI has stated, I welcome it! Full Size Image Mission editors and scripters will be happy to note that Arma 3 will support Java scripting. To ensure a smooth transition to this new method, the SQF system will not be replaced or removed. Currently, TakeOn Helicopters by Bohemia Interactive supports Java scripting, and is in fact a testing ground for implementation and usage of these new tools. In a very real way, scripters and editors can help shape the future of Arma scripting with involvement now in TakeOn Java scripting, as out of this the first frameworks and concepts will develop. It feels good to support a PC Game company who puts the player first! As BI continues to develop Carrier Command: Gaea Mission, they have confirmed that it will indeed be released sometime this Spring, in a projected Q2 2012 launch. We can conclude from this that Carrier Command: Gaea Mission will be released before Arma 3, which will may yet be delayed if it means ensuring the highest quality product for the players. A whole new world of possibilities will be opening up with Arma 3. The idea to include Java, and retaining the SQF script system as well; all the great techniques of the past will survive to complement the future ideas that will keep Arma 3 on the next level. This is one die-hard player who can't wait, but is more than happy to. by Aaron Semler, Senior Editor VETERANS-GAMING [Submitted by SemlerPDX =VG=]