The official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 live action trailer featuring Sam Worthington, Jonah Hill and Dwight Howard. Whether you’re a veteran of Call of Duty or a n00b just starting out, there’s a soldier in all of us.
This is hilarious and a great promotion of the game. Nothing like a little star power and humor to sell a product.-Matt
This is the official trailer of the game which will hit the stores on October 25th. They have also created a website that goes with the video game.
Some things that popped up about this game that I thought were very interesting is that the players will be tasked with protecting UN principals……. Now that is funny, and very cool. This video game company should send a free copy to the UN Working Group, because I am sure they would love to play. lol -Matt
This is cool and I totally agree with Prince on this one. There is an incredible amount of money being made in the video game industry, and all of the big money making video games involve some form of combat and the use of guns in various types of environments throughout the world. Not only that, but they are drawing from historical battles or modern war fighting for ideas. So with that said, it makes total sense for him to enter such a market.
Here are some statistics that support what I am talking about. As of June of 2011, the gaming industry global revenue forecast was about 65 billion dollars. There were 10 million Kinect motion sensors sold, and 55 million Xbox’s sold. The top game was a first person shooter called Call of Duty, like the interview mentioned. With those numbers, it is no wonder that Prince would want to get into this market.
Anyway, this is a cool little interview below. I have not played the Kinect Blackwater game so I have nothing to add on the game itself. I would be interested in any gamer feedback on this thing though? -Matt
Blackwater founder Erik Prince enters video game business
By John Gaudiosi
September 12, 2011
More and more, today’s video game business is driven by huge military shooters like Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3″ and Electronic Arts’ “Battlefield 3.”
Now, Erik Prince, the founder of a controversial, real-world military group, is stepping into the virtual war zone with a new first-person shooter, “Blackwater.”
Designed exclusively for Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360, “Blackwater” was developed by Zombie Studios and overseen by Prince, a former Navy SEAL.
The shooter is set in a fictional North African town overrun by warlords and opposing militia forces. Players enter the fray as team members of Blackwater, the mercenaries-for-hire company that Prince founded in 1997.
Featuring licensed real-world weapons, the game can be played with a traditional controller. But it has been crafted to take advantage of Kinect’s motion controls. Gamers will be able to aim, crouch, and interact with the on-screen action using only body gestures and moves to take out enemies through a series of action-packed missions.
The game has already courted controversy, since Blackwater employees were linked to the deaths of numerous noncombatants and civilians in the Middle East while employed by the U.S. government.
Critics have complained about the game because Blackwater employees take on missions for money, while U.S. soldiers, the focal point of games like “Modern Warfare 3″ and “Battlefield 3,” fight for their country.
Following inquiries by Congress into Blackwater actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, including a shootout that led to the deaths of 17 Iraqis, Prince changed the company’s name to Xe and, in 2009, resigned as CEO. He sold the company last year.
Thanks to a reader for sending me this. What is interesting about this game is how physical it is. That the player must move, shoot, and communicate, as well as take cover as much as possible using ‘their body’ in order to advance. Imagine playing this game while wearing full kit and using your issued weapon (with attachments to interface with the game). And to do all of this for time? Pretty cool and I hope it sells. Check it out. -Matt
Now this is interesting. With the amount of celebrity and notoriety that Erik Prince brings to the table, this would make financial sense to actually produce a video game. These things are huge money makers, and by having Mr. Prince’s blessing for such a thing, could really elevate the interest in the game and equate to sales.
I compare it to football players or sports coaches endorsing video games. These folks are inserted into the story and visual effects of the game, and give the player a feeling that they are actually playing for that team. It is also why players love first person shooter games that are endorsed by former special forces troopers. Call it the John Madden Effect. lol
So what kind of money are we talking about for video games? Just look at how much money Call of Duty: Black Ops made? It set a record on it’s first day of release, making 360 million dollars! As of February of this year, the total amount earned was well over a billion dollars! Who knows where it is at now and you get the picture.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that video games rival movies these days, for the amount of money they make and for the entertainment value. A game like this can also give Mr. Prince a chance to do some serious strategic communications by showing every player that plays this game, exactly the kind of complex environments companies like this operate in. Video games, like movies, can also benefit from any publicity associated with the thing. So events in the UAE, or wherever, are actually excellent means of driving up the brand name called ‘Blackwater’. -Matt
Infamous Real-Life Mercenaries To Star In Blackwater, The Video Game
By Owen Good
June 8, 2011
Blackwater Worldwide, the real-life mercenary team linked to the killing of civilians and noncombatants in Iraq during US operations there, will be the subject of a Kinect-supported video game coming to the Xbox 360 later this year.
Published by 505 Games and titled, simply, Blackwater, the game is being produced in consultation with the private security contractor’s founder, the former Navy SEAL Erik Prince.
A news release called it “an intense, cinematic shooter experience”, set in a fictional North African town, in which players, as Blackwater operatives, battle two warlords’ factions to protect the city.
“This game and its immersive Kinect-based approach will give players the chance to experience what it is like to be on a Blackwater team on a mission without being dropped into a real combat situation,” Prince said in a statement issued by 505. The game was developed with in conjunction with former Blackwater members “to ensure accuracy of moves, gestures and gameplay,” the 505 release said. “The game also features a selection of officially-licensed weapons for your soldier to choose from.”
This is a great book, and is just one of many that Mr. Plaster has written over the years about SOG. What is cool is that I continue to get something new out of these books, every time I flip through them. Lots of battlefield innovation going on there and they should definitely be on your reading list.
The one area that I wanted to talk about with these books, was the North Vietnamese tracker teams that were tasked with hunting down these SOG teams. On page 54-55 of this book, Mr. Plaster goes into detail about what it was like to be hunted by these NVA tracking teams, and it was fascinating.
One of the deals I picked up on was the use of CS powder to throw off the dogs the Vietnamese would use. Although, according to the SOG troopers, it was skilled trackers who were more feared than dog teams. The reason for that is because a human can read the land and knows to keep their mouth shut.(the dogs were noisy, and only as good as the handlers) The NVA tracking teams would also drive teams purposely into traps.
The one story that Plaster talked about was being followed by a tracker team that wanted to be heard. Plaster’s SOG team figured out that the trackers were purposely trying to spook the recon team into paths, or channeling them into NVA blocking forces/ambushes. What made these trackers so effective, was how well they knew their little piece of land they were assigned along the Ho Chi Minh trail and their ability to read spoor. As a result, many SOG teams feared these trackers and had to plan accordingly. Many SOG teams were also killed and a few captured due to the efforts of these trackers. Having a knowledge of combat tracking in that environment, was just one key to the success of SOG troopers operating in such a hostile environment.
My other favorite part was Project Eldest Son. This was basically booby trapping ammunition, and planting that ammo on dead NVA soldiers that the teams would kill. This ammo was designed to destroy the AK when it was fired, as well as hurting or killing the soldier firing it. These types of operations would put doubt into the quality of ammunition the NVA troops were getting from the Chinese, and then hopefully hinder the relationship between China and Vietnam at the time. That was the idea at least.
One other story that I liked was about Bob Howard’s team and their use of Nightingales. These were distraction devices designed to make the enemy think they are being fired upon, when in fact they were just firecrackers going off. Pretty slick. But how the team used it, and the end result, was fantastic. The SOG team decided to slip one of these devices right into the center of a camp of NVA. When it went off, the NVA woke up and thought that an enemy attack was happening right in their camp. And because the SOG teams were known to dress up like the NVA and use their same weapons (pseudo operations), the NVA instantly thought that a SOG team was attacking. The funny thing was, is that there was no SOG team attacking and the chaos was being fueled by panicked NVA and the Nightingale. The outcome is what was really crazy. The NVA was actually shooting at each other and killing one another. It is the kind of results that would make the Joker from Batman giggle. In the end, the NVA camp was littered with dead and the SOG troopers were able to escape unharmed.
Anyways, check it out and let me know what you think. These books have been around for awhile, and they are great reads while out on deployment. On a side note, the video game called Call of Duty: Blackops has a story line based on the MACV SOG missions.(Mr. Plaster advised on that game) -Matt
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Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG
John L. Plaster
SOG was the Studies and Observations Group, a U.S. Army organization that operated behind enemy lines in the Vietnam War. It gathered intelligence and was responsible for rescuing downed pilots, identifying bombing targets, kidnapping enemy officers, wiretapping phone lines, ambushing convoys, and mining the Ho Chi Minh trail. Plaster shares details of his training in Fort Bragg as a Green Beret before being sent to Vietnam, where he served three one-year tours in SOG. He chronicles the group’s operations and portrays the soldiers he worked with there. Some readers may find too much here about fighting a war that many people today believe should have never happened, but the book nonetheless is an intriguing first-person account of this elite group’s intrepid operations.
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