The Call of Duty series is one of the most successful video game franchises in history. Rightfully so, the ever greatful and wonderful creators have decided that it needs its own convention; Call of Duty XP 2011.
From September 2nd to 3rd of this year, a convention will take place in Los Angeles, California. The CEO in charge of publishing, Eric Hirshberg, says that it is meant to mirror Blizzard’s Blizzcon, and says that to CoD fans, it will “feel like you stepped into the game.”
I cannot say that I’m overly excited about this gig, but that stems from my non-fanboy status on the CoD series. It’s a great game that has been filled to the brim with screaming 10 year olds whose parents have chosen the easy babysitter, even while they’re in the house (I’m talking about the Xbox here, guys), and like to remind me of my sexual orientation every other minute. No worries though, I imagine that the convention will be a little more mature, as the event is said to feature a full sized recreation of Burger Town from Modern Warfare 2, a paintball area modeled after the same game’s Scrapyard multiplayer map, and much much more.
In order to attend this event, attendees will need to purchase a ticket costing $150, with all proceeds going to Call of Duty Endowment, a charity organisation that helps American war veterans find jobs and receive training in civilian life. A list of other things to happen at the convention are:
- A Call of Duty multiplayer tournament with over $1,000,000′s worth of cash and prizes to be won! 32 teams of 4 players will have to qualify prior to the event, but Activision say that “there will be additional ways to qualify on site”.
- A real-life zipline!
- The reveal of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3′s multiplayer component! Modern Warfare 3 is scheduled to ship around two months after the convention, on November 8th.
- A real-life Modern Warfare 2 Burger Town to eat at!
- A further reveal of Activision’s upcoming subscription-based Call of Duty: Elite service.
- The Call of Duty® Armory, where attendees will be able to ogle the weaponry they have fondled for so many tens of hours online, for real.
- A real-life recreation of The Pit, Modern Warfare 2′s training level
- A real-life recreation of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer map Scrapyard that you’ll be able to play paintball in.
- Live music from “AAA artists”
You can read more about the event at its official event page, where you will also be entertained to find out that “No. Desktop computers, laptops, consoles and electronic storage devices are not allowed inside the event.” Strange? I think so… I’m sure more is to come, and I’m really hoping they maybe incorporate some of the stuff from Black Ops into this convention as well.
Via: Rock Paper Shotgun and Call of Duty