'Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3' Release: Game Sales Expected to Break Records, Gamer Reviews Positive
"Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3" was released at midnight in hundreds of stores as countless people camped outside various electronic stores in hopes of being among the first people to play the popular shooter.
Some accounts talk of the lines becoming physical, even when GameStop employees handed out promotional shirts.
"I was visiting a friend who was waiting on a line by the GameStop in Hylan Plaza [Staten Island, N.Y.], and at some point shirts were being given out.... I saw a group of kids tug away at one shirt like a pack of rabid wolves," said Mike McNichol, who was only there for 30 minutes visiting friends.
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McNichol said at another point, he almost witnessed a riot going into the store.
Matthew Ryan, a volunteer firefighter in New Jersey, told The Christian Post he was not waiting, but his department sat with cops at the GameStop in Garwood for 4 hours to “babysit 200-something" customers on the line because "the lights in the strip mall timed out."
Gamer John-Anthony DeMaio commented on the game's release regarding the apparent inactivity on Facebook: "I think everyone's still playing...Or sleeping it off."
Gamer Dylan Klein could only muster: "Oh, O.K. Um...it's good..." when asked on Facebook if the game was worth the wait.
Early reviews of Call of Duty on gaming websites are heralding the game as the best shooter of all time.
Activision Blizzard, the company that makes the game, is anticipating to sell 6 million copies today, and at least 18 million by January.
Stockholders for the company expect the next five day's revenue to total $750 million.
The game will crush its closest competitor, "Battlefield 3," in a matter of days as it sold 5 million copies in its first week.
"'Call of Duty: Black Ops' sold 5.6 million copies its first day in 2011 and generated $650 million in worldwide sales in five days," according to Activision.
“It’s an annual franchise and it outsells everything around it,” said Michael Pachter, a Los Angeles money analyst.
Pachter also suggested people buy many Activision shares.
