Here we go again, making you doubt whether you are living in the past, or the present, or the future (share the Lotto numbers please).
In this look back into the December 2011 issue of NAG Magazine (Rainbow 6 Patriots, what could have been…), we read about GTA teasers two years ahead of its release, a Battlefield/COD standoff in the festive season and a truck being hijacked containing 6000 Modern Warfare 3 copies.
While there has not been a Call of Duty in years, even worth stealing, the first two headlines may as well have been in 2025.
Let’s go!
Hi, Jack
I still can’t tell if this story is a publicity stunt or not. I’ll just read the details, and you tell me.
In France, a truck that was transporting 6000 copies of Modern Warfare 3 to retailers was rammed by a vehicle.
The driver and passenger were subdued by tear gas, and all the cargo was robbed (then the daring robbers got on their spy plane at the last second as it was taking off from the highway and…).
There’s nothing more I can add to the story here. That’s the headline.
Maybe it was real, or maybe it was Bobby Kotick being an absolute loon. Or both.
If you were to tell people (with hindsight) that their 2023 reboot edition of Modern Warfare 3 got hijacked out of a truck, they would personally fund the robbers’ petrol and fake passports to steal more copies.
Grand Tease Auto
Oh, Rockstar, you’re such a tease.
GTA V was already serving up snippets of information and sneak peeks in Christmas of 2011, well ahead of its release date in September two years later.
Dubbed back then as “the largest and most ambitious game Rockstar has yet created”, it certainly had a scope that was not seen in gaming before.
Fourteen years on, and GTA V’s ambition was not only fully realised, but I believe has expanded far beyond anything anyone could have imagined, especially in its online component (proudly sponsored by your shark cards).
GTA VI has also been a relentless question on people’s lips, and the teasers have already begun last year.
May 2026 is around the corner, so make sure you don’t kick the bucket, and you will be able to play the next big thing.
Except the Australians. The game will probably be banned there.
Are you loyal, soldier?
It’s no secret that gaming franchises that are beloved will accumulate fanbases that will fight tooth and nail in the comment section, in forums and probably in the Metaverse too if Mark Zuckerberg would stop obsessing about legs.
It’s also no secret that when you are at the top of your game, there is a target on your back where others will try to become king of the hill.
The term “Call of Duty killer” has been thrown around for years (xDefiant had that name for a while, LOL), but if you were to go back to the original, it had to be Battlefield 3.
EA had patiently toiled and crafted an authentic experience in Battlefield over the years that proved to be something that could take the fight to the big boss.
With Christmas approaching in 2011, Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 knew they would be the gifts to open.
They also knew which fanbase you were, which would almost be an act of “loyalty”.
The VP of EA, Patrick Soderlund, believed that the multiplayer was “industry-leading” and would “make people want to stay with them”.
That certainly would be the story for the next fourteen years, with both franchises seeing success and failures over each other.
The current cycle certainly points to Battlefield 6’s time in the sun, while COD fans might be crossing their fingers for their truck full of Black Ops 7 copies to be rammed into, teargassed and the cargo taken far, far away.
Bonus: Patrick Soderlund later left his role as VP of EA and helped establish Embark Studios, which has made The Finals and the brand-new extraction shooter Arc Raiders
Handhelds’ hands stop being held
In last week’s article, we already spoke about how the PS3 and Xbox 360 were going back and forth on sales entering 2008 (a distant second place to the Wii).
The same can be said for the PSP and the Nintendo DS, which saw kids play late into the night and hope their brightly backlit blanket fort would not be spotted by mom or dad.
At the end of 2011, the PS3 had closed the distance to the Xbox 360, and was looking towards the PlayStation Vita, which was due to release in Japan near Christmas and across the pond a few months later.
Nintendo had also felt the effects of the DS being caught up by iTunes and waning interest, reporting a loss that doubled their projections at the end of the fiscal year.
They were hoping the Wii U would pantomime more than the noise of an ambulance and get them back on their feet.
They would not strike gold twice.
Nintendo nearly went Wii U Wii U straight to the hospital, labelling their latest gamepad and home console as a commercial failure with only 13.6 million units sold across six years.
The PS Vita would only perform marginally better, with 14.1 million units sold across eight years.
Team Red would later find their miracle drug in the Switch (whether the Switch 2 continues to ride the wave is another story), and even the blue corner found some success in the strangely specific PS Portal.
No love for green, though. A handheld that costs more than a PS5 Pro?
That’s no ally. That’s an enemy.
Bonus:
In the spirit of other things that happen a lot in December: weddings!
And one of the fans of NAG (you guys go outside?) proudly sent a letter detailing a stunt he pulled for his big day: ordering a Halo cake topper that contained figurines of Master Chief and Cortana.
As my ouma always says: Dis oulik!
With Halo: CE being rebooted and approaching fast, surely the Chief gets the girl in this timeline. Right?
So there you have it: a glimpse into a world where GTA teased our patience, fanbases fought for loyalty, and console wars played out like holiday soap operas.
The past may be strange, the present messy, and the future uncertain, but one thing’s clear: gaming chaos is eternal.
About BigMacDaddy:
BigMacDaddy is a rockstar, MLG gamer and world-renowned knowledge base for all gaming studios… in his dreams.
In real life, he is a full-time software developer and loves family time.
His hobbies include a lil’ YouTubing, chess, game development and travel.
