By Steven L. Kent A FEW YEARS AGO, Russian “ultranation- alists” invaded the United States—in the video game Modern Warfare 2. Now those ultranationalist Russians are expanding their efforts to Europe. Welcome to Modern Warfare 3, the latest installment in Activision’s Call of Duty, a long-running series of chart-topping video games. Call of Duty first saw actionin 2003as a World War II simulation, but has more recently caught up with the times. Robert Bowling, creative strategist at Infinity Ward, the studio that developed Modern Warfare 3, was kind enough to take time from his busy schedule of programming and global domination for a conversation with The Connection.

The Costco Connection: What new features will we find in Modern Warfare 3?

Robert Bowling: There are a ton of new features in every mode of Modern Warfare 3. The biggest, and by far my personal favorite, is the all-new Spec Ops Co-op Survival mode, which lets players work together as they battle infinite waves of AI [artificial intelligence] enemies.

Spec Ops Co-op includes the most popular features from the multi-player modes, such as ranking up, unlocking new weapons and air support. It lets you customize your load on the fly from armories inside the levels. In Spec Ops Co-op, each wave of enemies introduces increasingly more difficult tactics, forcing players to change their play style to adapt.

Duty calls, again

 

CC: Where do you get your inspiration? RB: When we have concepts like breaching a sub in New York Harbor, we talk with our military advisers about how they’d approach that particular mission, then we take that real-world advice and craft the cinematic moment you see in game. CC: Gaming has become mainstream entertainment. Who do you see as the primary audience for Modern Warfare 3?

RB: While, at its core, Modern Warfare 3 is a shooter, we focus on taking players through a cinematic action-movie experience. The game has you boots-on-the-ground in the streets of New York at one moment, flying on the side of a helicopter past skyscrapers the next, and then avoiding underwater mines while piloting subs after that. CC: Where do you see the series going? RB: Right now we are 100 percent focused on Modern Warfare 3. Once players have the game in hand, we’re going to be playing online with them, listening and updating it even more as we continue to support it. C

 

Steven L. Kent ( www.sadsamspalace.com) is a novelist and video gamer. His latest novel, The Clone Redemption, came out in October.

 

The Costco Connection Modern Warfare 3 (available in mid-November) and a variety of other popular video games (see page 63) will be in the warehouses and at Costco.com this holiday season, along with top video game consoles. Game selections may vary by location, and arrival dates are subject to change.

By Tim Talevich

COUCH POTATOES, be warned: Kinect for Xbox 360 from Microsoft may not be the game console for you.

Kinect, unveiled a year ago, is all about full-body movement. Using motion-sensing technology, Kinect turns you into the controller for everything from smashing a tennis ball to setting up an HD movie to watch with the family. There are no controllers or cables—a wave of the hand starts everything off.

The system has grown up in its first year, with more game makers coming on

Microsoft’s Kinect: Action!

board with new releases in time for the holiday season. I got a chance to preview a few of them recently in a special studio on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington.

I started out with Kinect Disneyland Adventures, published by Microsoft Studios. You enter the Magic Kingdom’s iconic front gates and start strolling through the park, where all the famous Disney characters are there to greet you. Go ahead and hug Snow White—after all,