At 12.01 midnight GMT on the 10th November, HMV, Game and select supermarkets opened their doors to the hordes of eager fans aching to get their hands on Activision’s latest block buster Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Sam Gibbs, representing Pixelated Geek, was on hand at HMV in London’s Trocadero to cover the carnage. With just under 1000 people expected, security was tight with a full team of door men were there to keep the piece. Competition winners were also on hand to collect their swag and of course get their hands on the game.

HMV laid on a full squad of military personnel complete with two army Land Rovers with which people, including myself, posed for shots (sorry again I just couldn’t resist).

First in the door was Chris from Surrey who had been queuing there since 1.30 am and managed to get his hands on MW2 at about 12.30 meaning he was one dedicated fan having queued a full 23 hours on the streets of central London. His hearty devotion to the game won him some favour with HMV who took care of him shipping him out with no less than three Prestige kits (a total sum of £360’s worth).

Shout out to Mr. Lai and Mr. Wood for braving the cold with me

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As all keen FPS gamers should know by now, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 launches tomorrow, 10 November, ending the social lives of a lot of gamers across the globe for a couple of months. Activision, deciding that the follow up to the wildly popular COD4 MW deserved the red carpet treatment and held a launch event with all the trimmings in London’s Leicester Square, the home to many a film premier. The Vue cinema in the main square was the venue with hands on with the game on the big screen, a VIP party and even a surprise concert to entertain a lucky few.

For the hard core fan however, the action was already building at the Trocadero HMV where a massive queue of just under 1000 or so eager gamers had already formed. Check back later for some coverage of the action at HMV including a guy who had queued a full 23 hours on the streets of London just to be first in line and a boat load of military action.

Shout out to Mr. Lai and Mr. Wood for braving the cold with me

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to the discussion at Universal that lead to the formation of the Aliens Vs Predator movie. Here’s how I think it would have gone:

Ideas guy: ‘Dude, what about Aliens and Predators in one movie?’

Producer: ‘Man, that would be sick! But they’re not even in the same story universe’

ID: ‘Meh, so what? They did it in games in the 90s. Two of the best and biggest monsters in one movie, it would be epic!’

P: ‘Yeah but we can’t make a movie without a story can we?’

ID: ‘What about: Predators breed Xenomorph Aliens for sport hunting? Make it some sort of Right of Passage or something’

P: ‘Yep, that’d probably work. Game on, I’ll put a writing team together’

And so, the Aliens Vs Predator movie was born and a reboot to the series was initiated. Two of Universal’s biggest monster franchises, combined together into an all out action fest. Yeah, there was a story, well kind of, but the original AVP movie and it’s subsequent sequels have all been about glorious action. I think of them as the balance to all those period dramas and romcoms, which helps me come to terms with spending money to see a film with basically no narrative.

Of course, both Aliens and Predator have seen game-movie tie-ins that predictably have been a little weak. Probably the best of the lot was Alien 3 back in the 16bit era, but the latest in the long list of  franchise game spin offs, Sega’s new Aliens Vs Predator (AvP) is attempting to change that and it’s multiplayer was on show at the Eurogamer Expo in London for hands on. (more…)

The follow up to the wildly popular Xbox 360 and PC game Mass Effect is set to hit the streets in January 26th in America and 29th 2010 in Europe. Mass Effect 2  is set two years after the conclusion of the original having stopped the Reaper invasion, Commander Shepard must join forces with Cerberus, recruiting some of the galaxy’s most dangerous operatives in a bid to find out what’s causing the miraculous vanishing of entire human colonies. (more…)

So you’ve heard that the God of War 3 collectors edition is going to steam roll you wallet ($100 for the privaledge) and you’ve noted that the demo will be available on the District 9 Blu-Ray (available 29th December) if you’re not too keen on buying the first two games again on Blu-Ray with the God of War Collection, but what does God of War 3 handle like? Should it have been an FPS? Is it more of the same? Does it deserve your hard earned rent money? Well Pixelated Geek is on hand to find out.
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Yours truly will be reporting from the London leg of the Eurogamer Expo this Saturday 31st October, bringing you the latest news and previews from one of Europe’s largest games exhibitions. The Eurogamer Expo, London, is a total sell out with 16+ different publishers showing off over 50 different titles, many with a 2010 release schedule including the first UK showings of:

• Aliens vs. Predator
• Assassin’s Creed II
• God of War III
• MAG
• Heavy Rain
• Left 4 Dead 2’s Scavenge Mode
• Mass Effect 2
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii
• Red Steel 2
• Split/Second

All of which will be playable.

So if you’re unlucky enough not to have snagged a ticket for either Leeds or London, then don’t worry because we got your covered.

All coverage of the Eurogamer Expo on Pixelated Geek can be found here.

Everyday, I’ll try to post a summary of three non-geek articles I read today. This is my vain attempt at trying to spread awareness of these types of issues.

WHO
Reformist candidate (Iranian presidential election)

WHAT
Claimed that protesters were savagely raped while in custody

WHEN
Announced yesterday

WHERE
Iran

WHY
Wrote a letter to the former president

FTA
They were revealed as the head of the police admitted there had been mistreatment of prisoners detained in the aftermath of the election.

More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6004274/Iran-prisoners-were-savagely-raped-after-protests.html

(more…)

Most Londoners use the London Underground affectionately (or not so) known as the Tube. Illustrated by the recent RMT Tube strikes, the UK capital grinds to a halt when the tube is down demonstrating just how important the tube is in the daily lives of Londoners. Tube Exits is an app squarely aimed at Londoners and frequent visitors to the capital. It has the simple aim of telling you which carriage of the tube to be in to be nearest to the point of exit from the platform.

Hit the read link for more on this time saving app. (more…)

To celebrate the launch of Red Faction Geurilla, THQ set up a public smash up in the streets of our fair city, London. Parking a car filled with copies of the game with a sledge hammer chained to the side in Covent Garden, passers by could take their rage out on the hapless auto-mobile and claim a copy of the game for PS3 or Xbox 360 for themselves. I think it’s a pretty fitting time to do this kind of ‘out there’ promotion what with one of the most infuriating tube strikes just ending last night here in London, a lot of Londoners would have had some pent up aggression and displaced anger to let go. Let’s just say if I’d have seen it yesterday there might not have been much left after I’d had at it!

[Via Kotaku & Guardian]