Holy... crap!

So I was just finishing up the gaming podcast and Dustin ping me over Skype pointing me to this video and I honestly believe anyone out there who is interested in the next Call of Duty Special Ops, really needs to watch this video.

As we've been talking about in the gaming podcast, all of us seem to be a little COD-OUT, meaning it just seemed to be the same thing over and over and over again and it was starting to wear a little thin. With the announcement of call of duty black ops two, I really had no idea what to expect but, if it was just going to be the same old "gun and shoot" eh... might actually look at something else to get for my $60.00, then pick this up on the first sale which you normally get (especially around that time of year) within...oh...30 days or so. Hey like eveyone theses days, I think we all can agree $20.00 is still $20.00.

But then, we learn the entire thing takes place in the future (25 years in the future from what was said) which sets-up a sorta cool "futuristic" kind of scenarios so maybe better weapons, bigger explosions, etc...

Uh... no...

Actually, what you get is a mind bend in the gray-matter relm of a character you f'ing swore (like you saw the man BLOW THE F*** UP) appear on your screen, clear as day talking to you like your his...kid? Yep...that one threw me too!

So, if that's not enough, not only is one of the main characters who we thought was gone in the previous black ops is back but that's not the mind blower. The mind blower is, as you will hear in this video, the way you play call of duty is going to change 100%. To give you an idea of what they're going to be doing, instead of mission after mission after mission you're actually going to be presented with a choice of missions from the prescreen which will launch you into the mission of your choice. So no longer is there a waiting for the next mission to load buffer, because YOU actually choose from an area of "hot spots" from around the glob which mission you want! Oh, and one more thing that was revealed which I REALLY appreciate and I'm not sure I have ever seen successfully added to a game, a balancing UI which penalizes you if you fail in that mission. No more is it's "ah, shucks...I'll just restart the mission" as the failure of the mission actually has gameplay repercussions because you failed. How cool is that!

Now... I don't want to get to the rest of what he says because, well...he says it, but the bottom line is this is not the call of duty we all know and love, this is call of duty on steroids which we will whore ourselves out to play because we now completely (as you will see and hear) control the entire battlefield within our command! Sign me the F-UP! So, from what I understand all of this is available in the single player mode. God only knows what they're going to be capable of slamming into the multiplayer. Pre-Order... yeah... special box... sign me up Admiral!

Microsoft will repeat last year's back-to-school promotion, kicking off the deal Sunday with an offer of a free Xbox 360 game console to eligible U.S. students who buy a new Windows 7 PC.

Canadian students also qualify for this year's program, which launches there today.

U.S. high school or college students with proof of status -- a student ID card or an email address that ends in .edu -- will receive a 4GB Xbox 360 when they purchase a Windows PC for $699 or more. In Canada, the benchmark PC price is $599.

Microsoft will be giving students the $199 Xbox 360, its lowest-priced console, and one that does not come with the Kinect controller. Unlike last year, when Microsoft's only retail partner was Best Buy, this year the company has expanded the list of participating retailers to Best Buy and Fry's Electronics in the U.S., and Best Buy, Future Shop, Staples and The Source in Canada. Online sellers include Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Newegg in the U.S., and Dell in Canada.

Computerworld has the details HERE!

Cool. I know a few folks around here who are actually looking forward to this game. 

Fresh detail on how Halo 4 multiplayer works has made it's way out of Microsoft HQ.

As revealed by the publisher earlier today, the UNSC Infinity will serve as the game's multiplayer hub. You'll customise your character and manage your progress through the game's various different modes from the giant ship.

Among the modes on offer is the recently announced Spartan Ops co-op campaign. That will focus on various Infinity crew members and a new team of Spartans called Majestic Squad. New missions will be delivered on a weekly basis, along with regular cinematics offering some background narrative.

"A massive-scale adventure that builds off the Halo 4 story, access to Spartan Ops is included with Halo 4 at no additional charge - effectively delivering two campaign experiences in one game," promised Microsoft's announcement. 

Read the entire article.

Sounds to me, based on what I just heard some folks might not like all that much.