Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - "Hardened Edition" Outed

Either it's only me, but people really seem to want to know anything and everything about Modern Warfare 3 as soon as possible... Y'know what? I think that's pretty much the majority of people. As we know, the next installment of the Modern Warfare series is in development by Infinity Ward (in collaboration with Sledgehammer Games), things have been on the downlow about it, ever since before and after info about it had been leaked. That's with the addition of the teaser trailers being released when Activision decided to announce that the game was in development. Although, just like everything these days, more leaks!

Wired.com reported that an anonymous source has sent them a picture, as seen above that Modern Warfare 3 will be getting a Hardened Edition, much like the previous Call of Duty installments (which also includes the Prestige Editions when the earlier games released). Wired.com also expects this to be unveiled to the masses during the Call of Duty XP 2011 Event in Los Angeles. This 'marketing box,' like most that are used for any other game in many retail stores, details what will be included in this edition of the game, as listed below, courtesy of Wired.

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game with unique disc art.
• One year of membership in Call of Duty Elte.
• "Founder status” on Elite with exclusive in-game emblem, player card, camouflage, clan XP boost and other exclusive benefits.
• SteelBook Case
• PlayStation Network exclusive: “Animated Timeline Theme.”
• Xbox 360 exclusive: “Special Ops Juggernaut Xbox Live Outfit.
• Limited-edition “field journal” with more than 100 pages of “authentic military sketches, diagrams and written entries.”

As much as these things are cool and nifty, I don't think I'll be picking up a Hardened Edition, but who knows, we haven't seen any word about the Prestige Edition, but only time will tell.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is set to release on November 8, 2011 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC, and Nintendo Wii.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's First Gameplay Trailer

What's more to say? Seriously, what are you waiting for? If you're still reading, let's give you a bit of a description of what we see in the trailer. As seen in the previous teaser trailer, things are not looking good for America. Why? Well a full-fledged war has took off and with the inclusion of America, different parts of the world are getting attacked. It's pretty apparent, but World War III has begun. The war-torn countries of Germany, France, and England are all being portrayed with severe intensity of war that any Call of Duty addict will just go "goo-goo-gah-gah" over. There's no doubt in my mind that there will be controversy over Modern Warfare 3.

In case you didn't notice, at the end of the trailer, Sledgehammer Games is seen. Original speculation of them collaborating seems true now!

Possible Modern Warfare 3 Debut & Its Rumored Details, Subtle Project Beachhead Info Emerges

Call of Duty, Activision's powerhouse of a franchise, seems to be alive and kicking as we expected, but the possible rumors of Modern Warfare 3 hasn't stopped since a couple of months ago, it was reported that Sledghammer Games, Raven Software, and Infinity Ward themselves have all been working on it together. Not to mention that the whole Infinity Ward + EA + Respawn Entertainment Vs. Activision fiasco (which is still on-going, by the way) has stopped development of any Call of Duty game since.

Over the weekend, there was a leaked picture from the Official Playstation Magazine, from its UK Division, teasing us with a big 3, which will be available on June 8th. Right below it it says, "The biggest game in the world returns." Since then, all eyes and hears have perked up and ready to hear if anything Call of Duty related even pops up. We haven't heard much up until yesterday at least.

Yesterday, Destructoid discovered that Eurogamer would then report something very unusual and of course very intriguing. Tresco, a UK retail store was caught by surprise that in their own database, "Call of Duty: Project Colossus" appeared and is dated for November 8th, which is always the same window that any and every Call of Duty game releases in.

The other set of info actually came about today, which  are rumored to be Modern Warfare 3 details. According to Kotaku, who has been in contact with an anonymous source has said that the 3rd installment is set to be the biggest one for the Modern Warfare franchise. Like stated before, Sledghammer, Raven, and Infinity Ward are all working on it together and with Jason West and Vincent Zampella gone, there are obviously new heads over there now.

What Kotaku says, from its sources is that the story still continues from where Modern Warfare 2 left off with the war still on-going in the States. No setting has been revealed yet, but everyone is imaging that it will definitely take places in enviroments today; like streets and cities. We may have returning characters as well, like "Soap" and Price, along with a new Russian informant that helps you out. Kotaku also says that Modern Warfare 3 will explore what other big name franchise, Battlefield, is trying to do; making things at a bigger scale and the ability of having destructible enviroments.

The next thing that came up was Project Beachhead, which has had nothing, but speculation. There has been nothing except the fact that "it will on an intergrated online platform for the Call of Duty franchise, providing a "best in class online community" with services that would "supercharge the series like never before". Today, though, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in their conference call stated that "it is the response to the passion people have for the game, the amount that people want to engage one another in a connected way. We want to create an experience that was amplifying enough... to be able to be monetized. A lot of new capabilities and services provided free of charge to our customers."

With the fiasco still going between EA, Infinity Ward, Respawn Entertainment, and Activision still going, nothing's stopping the powerhouse of a franchise, Call of Duty from selling itself. Plus, with more on the way, there's no telling when it'll stop, which, in my opinion, is starting to dry out for me.