Tech Olive

In an attempt to make Black Ops sell even more copies, GameStop and Activision have gotten together to offer an exclusive giveaway to gamers who have pre-ordered Black Ops through GameStop. So, if you opted to pre-order your game through Amazon to take advantage of the free “laser cell,” (like us) then you’re out of luck. However, if you’re fortunate enough to have pre-ordered through GameStop, then you’d better head over to the giveaway landing page and enter yourself to win some of the fantastic Black Ops-themed prizes offered.

UPDATE: It seems that purchases through Amazon (even if you didn’t really purchase it…) also are accepted. When you go to fill out the form, choose “Online” as your purchase location, and use the code “amazon” when asked for an order number. You will not only get a free month of Xbox Live Gold (if that’s your thing…), but you also get the message “Your entry is appreciated. You have been entered into today’s sweepstakes.”

Jumping on the bandwagon with just about everyone else in the entertainment industry, Activision announced today that their recent pet-project, stereoscopic 3D implementation, will be used in the upcoming release of Call of Duty: Black Ops.

“Development of stereoscopic 3D began as an R&D project, but once we saw what the technology brought to the Call of Duty experience, what a great fit and how immersive it was, we knew that we had to develop it for Black Ops. Aiming down the sights of your weapons, flying in helicopters, rappelling down mountains, and moving through highly detailed environments are just some of the awesome experiences you will have in 3D with Black Ops,” — Mark Lamia, Studio Head of Treyarch.

The 3D gameplay will be usable in singleplayer, zombies, and multiplayer gameplay for anyone with 3D Vision active-shutter glasses and NVIDIA GeForce GPUs.

[Press Release]

We’ve all been waiting for this confirmation, as we knew it in our hearts. Today, our wish comes true. Activision issued a press release that confirms the addition of co-op players-against-zombies gameplay like we saw in Treyarch’s last CoD game, World at War.

“Zombies have been such a hit with our community that we were committed to bringing brand new zombie experiences to Call of Duty: Black Ops. We’ve taken extra special care to retain the essential ingredients of our Zombie game, and have also crafted a nice surprise for the fans.” — Treyarch Studio Head, Mark Lamia

Also mentioned in the press release is the fact that four “updated” zombie maps will be imported from World at War and included with the purchase of the Prestige and Hardened editions of the game. Since PC gamers are getting nothing but the bare-minimum retail release, it’s safe to assume that we will receive these maps as free DLC, though this is unconfirmed.

[Press Release]

If you’re one of the gamers that has been waiting for a great pre-order bonus to reserve your copy of Black Ops, here’s your shot! Treyarch’s community manager announced through Twitter that the next 100,000 gamers to pre-order a copy of Black Ops through Amazon will get a free “laser cell” (pictured above on right; click image for a larger view) as well as a wallpaper-sized image for, well, your PC’s wallpaper.

So, what are you waiting for? Go pre-order yourself a copy of Black Ops and take advantage of Amazon’s $0.99 release-day delivery option!

via [Twitter]

Earlier today, it was announced that GameServers.com would be the exclusive hosting provider offering dedicated Call of Duty: Black Ops servers. Since then, we’ve worked tirelessly with the great guys at GameServers.com to make sure that Tech Olive gets its very own 18-slot Ranked Black Ops server right when the game releases.

As you may have guessed, this Black Ops server will fully be replacing our recently-revived CoD4 server, but this is all for the better. By doing this, we’ll have even more time to waste fragging our dedicated readers this November!

During Treyarch’s multiplayer reveal event last night, we were given a ton of details about new gameplay and structures in the multiplayer side of things that have left us with an even greater burning desire to play the game. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait as no beta was announced. While we all wait patiently for beta news, hit the break to see just what did happen at the press event.

Continue Reading »

In a new post on their official blog, Treyarch has announced that they’re hosting what sounds like an online press conference of sorts. Being called the “Black Ops Multiplayer Reveal Event,” Treyarch is asking fans to submit questions to the game’s Twitter or Facebook pages to be addressed during the reveal event. Unfortunately, the blog post doesn’t mention what time the press conference will be.

“Do you want to be a part of the Black Ops Multiplayer Reveal Event? We’ll be sharing a TON of great info with the press & community about Black Ops MP on September 1st, but we’d like to hear some of your burning MP-related questions. Simply ask your questions in the comments below, on our Facebook Page, or via @JD_2020 on Twitter. For the most commonly asked questions, we’ll be fielding them at the Multiplayer Event, and will promptly provide answers here on CallOfDuty.com/BlackOps – So ask away!”

[Blog Post]

Treyarch confirmed today via their community forums that gamers would be getting modding tools for Black Ops shortly after the game’s release. Also, the developer console is confirmed. We may not be getting any Collector’s Editions of the game, but this news is far better than any special helmet or R/C car included in the over-priced packaging.

“We plan to open the game up for modding sometime post-launch. We do not know yet to what extent you will be able to mod the game. There are some purely technical issues related to engine and internal tool enhancements that do not easily fit the modtools paradigm. We have looked at it close enough to see that it is non-trivial and we will have to pick it up again post-launch. Right now we are completely focused on finishing the game.

And, dev console: confirmed.”

[Official Forums]

Treyarch announced today the plans for Black Ops‘ special edition release packages. The Hardened and Prestige packages (as with Modern Warfare 2) offer differing perks at two pricing levels. While this is all good and jolly, their announcement seems to only offers pictures and details of the PS3 and Xbox 360 bundles. So, unsurprisingly, it seems PC gamers are screwed out of yet another special edition release of a blockbuster game. Hit the break for bundle details and a reveal video.

Continue Reading »

Treyarch surprised fans today with the release of in-game Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer footage. As expected, the game is packed with new weapons along with plenty of features that made Modern Warfare 2 great, but improved upon (and hopefully with less hackers). Most notable of these advancements is the graphics engine, with this footage showing some impressive smoke, particle and weather effects.

One of the more interesting points is the “Theater Mode” (briefly shown at the end) that seems to offer gamers the ability to view and edit replays and save them. Hit the break to check out the footage!

Continue Reading »