Call of Duty, Where did its success really come from?

[djgallant]

The reason for COD 4's huge success is in it's name...Modern Warfare. Most developers making FPS games were always doing world war 2 games or futuristic sci-fi games and it's been done to death. This explains why World at War wasn't as successful. It was great finally being able to use guns and technology in a game that actually exist in the modern world. Most of the newer generation of kids don't know or care much about the wars of the past. They are more aware of the current wars.

[Sonicdude303]

My guess is that it was a Realistic, Graphics heavy FPS that released on all platforms and had online multiplayer, which was all the rage at the time because of XBL.

[TronPachioftheDynamo]

I always thought MW was popular because of cultural reasons.

[Sonicandratchetfan]

Well, I can explain WHY it's at the top of the throne at the moment.

The first FPS was spawned by Bethesda with the id software engine. Without that Halo and CoD wouldn't exist. CoD and halo took that genre to the next step by popularizing it, and then people became addicted. But then once a person likes it you need to chuck out more, which is where the next few CoD games come in, they fail as halo takes the throne AGAIN. (continued in reply)

[Sonicandratchetfan]

@Sonicandratchetfan Then Modern Warfare comes out. That takes the throne as the fanbase grows bigger, and the FPS genre is populated. That's where the infestation of fanboys come in. Now that people like CoD, Activision see no need for change. MW2 comes out and people step away from it, as it has the same gameplay as Modern Warfare, so the now large fanbase has a chunk taken out of it. But that chunk is regained because of new people wanting multiplayer (continued in next reply)

[Sonicandratchetfan]

@Sonicandratchetfan So it still has the throne. Halo has one last attempt with Bungie, but CoD Black Ops makes the fanbase bigger. It then mostly consists of fanboys because it's the same game as MW2. But now that the fanbase consists of fanboys and little kids, other companies see this as the time to strike, but nobody succeeds because CoD has the better fanbase. Now, we're here with people wanting a change, and we've got Battlefield 3, we're just waiting for BF3 to take the throne.

[wiilover07]

The real multiplayer with the FPS genre came from Goldeneye 64 without that COD or halo wouldn't exist.

[ShawShank503]

The answer is simple it is the multiplayer.The Multiplayer craze started with CoD 4.It all started with that game.Friends telling friends to buy it then they get hooked and cant get enough.

Thats how CoD is so popular.

[NakedPhatGuy]

thats easy cod4

[RetroAdvance]

There is one thing about Modern Warfare that sets it apart from all the other console-shooters. Many are not aware about how it provides its experience despite it plays a very important role. It is fast and it runs at 60 fps! Plus its core game-mechanics are technically superior to all other console-shooters.

[Andymanse8]

I thought Call of Duty were competing with Medal of Honor because of the WWII storyline and gameplay. I don't think the first Call of Duty was even multi-player?

[SegaTidbits]

I Subscribed. I think this video pretty much sums it all up: /watch?v=52nngGUULbw&feature=c­hannel_video_title

[xsil3ntbutdeadlyx]

you are exactly right my friend. I agree with you all points of this video. I think the only way call of duty can be takin down is if someone takes a big risk and does something different with their games. That's how call of duty 4 became so successful in the first place because it brought something new to the table. All the games that come out now and days try to be like call of duty then they try to call it "the call of duty killer". Definitely not gonna happen. Great video! and subbed.

[numbcomic]

War* not your lol sorry mistype

[numbcomic]

I can give you my reason and my reason will be more simple. Ask yourself this question, what makes a twinkie or any other snack so good? And how did these snacks get famous? Now replace the snacks and twinkies with video games. Ill give you the answer and that answer is advertisement. We were in your with iraq and modern warfare was well based on our modern times and everyone wanted a piece of our modern times rather than history. I guarantee mw would have failed if it did not have advertisement

[namararag]

the difference of mw3 and bf3 is that bf is AWEEEEEEEEESOOOOMEEEE and that mw3 is BORING

[GameFanaTICK386]

Call Of Duty 1 didnt do well because it was a pc only game. Ppl rather buy consoles then to build a gaming computer. Anyway I put of a vid playing CoD 1 explaing why I think its better than the CoD series from 4 and up. Check it out

[RockerJack15]

everybody always heard about call of duty before but when 4 came out and it was on all platforms it was the perfect time because they had built a name for themselves and they were moving away from ww2 which a lot of people didnt want to play. they then became addicted to the multiplayer and everybody told evrybody about it and thats how it became big.

[RonaldoGOTM]

the success of CoD is down to 3 simple words.... word-of-mouth.

[TheDigitalSmoke]

Nice try, but i stoped watching at HALO started it all and so is the topdog...

There was more development in shooters BEFORE! Halo came around then there is after.

[Tazzored]

Robert Bowling said that they took the fast paced action of counterstrike and made it more accesible to the casual crowd there fore there was a mix of hardcore and casual.

[Ooo7ooO]

In my 16+ years of shooters behind me i personally believe CoDs success is based off of accessibility....im more of a Battlefield guy but that's because when ya play 7 years (1995-2002) of arcadey FPSs you want something fresh, BF:1942 launched in 2002 it brought all new gaming elements never seen before in FPSs and 64 player multiplayer. The problem with BF is it's not as accessible as CoD and takes much more time to learn...a lot comes down to, what was your first FPS? most new comers its CoD.

[jaimellopez]

Cod was always good. It was cinematic and with it set in the modern era it made itself relevant. Add in online multiplayer being the norm and there you go. Cod success in a nutshell

[drnavyfan01]

I actually think Medal of Honor: Frontline started the FPS Genre as we know it.

[nuclearblast91]

personally i just wan't shooters to be taken out all together. gaming has came to a complete halt since the halo 2 days, with every game being a shooter.

[ferelinstincts]

Fantastic video dude! I'll come back with an answer once I wake up and go get a bite to eat, lol. : P

[jjsmooth23]

it's because call of duty added perks, killstreaks, and 60 frame per seconds. Also the gun killed fast and when you got kills it showed the points.

[TheAmazingAtheos]

Halo: CE 95.58%

Halo 2 94.56%

Halo 3 93.53

Halo Wars 81.92%

Halo 3: ODST 85.14%

Halo Reach 91.71%

Yeah Halo is a pos.

[LatinMafiaII]

I think you're missing out on one major important fact on why COD got so popular. It COD4 went MODERN! In this day & age, the majority of the gaming community was interested in modern war & future war. Why do you think Halo became so popular? Because it offered something different than what was on the market (For consoles at least) Infinity Ward capitalized on this & realized that nobody wanted to play a history game (Which COD 1, 2, & 3 were). They made COD4 modern & many people bought into it.

[DreamzTonight]

I think the best question was that would Call of duty still be on top if Halo went multi plat. In my opinion there will not be a game that will out sell call of duty if it is not multi plat. its pretty much impossible at this point. The only game i see maybe even having a slim chance at taking over cod could be battlefield 3.

[AssasinOfBrotherhood]

eventhough i hate cod.. i loved cod4

but i always like halo more than cod

[lylatfox4]

sweet i havent seen this vid yet, ill be able to watch it when i get home

[Archimedies123]

@lylatfox4 really? damn this youtube

[TheAmazingAtheos]

Why did you add a Wii version of Halo 3? You should of put a PC version of Halo 3 because the Wii can't handle Halo 3, at least not without Bungie toning down the graphics, hell CoD 4 had to be toned down for the Wii.

[Archimedies123]

@TheAmazingAtheos They can make a wii version of anything like you said they would just have to lower the visual quality of it. But I showed a Wii version to make a point about what would happen IF the game were on the wii.

[TheAmazingAtheos]

CoD 4 got popular because the setting was different than any other CoD, the perks system which no other game to my knowledge had, and the killstreaks. The reason other CoD's didn't take over was the market was saturated with WW2 shooter when CoD came out. Halo succeeded because there weren't many Sci-Fi FPSs.

[PollyTheStupid]

I thought it was Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake are the main ones that started the shooters. and Ect. =/

[Archimedies123]

@PollyTheStupid They did, but I was referring to what made it explode

[KamakazeBanzai]

@Archimedies123 and @PollyTheStupid

To give the actual answer to the question, the first game to utilize a first person perspective was SEGA's missile (S.A.M.I.) in 1969, but the game that essentially established the average shooter (I.e. from a human's POV) was in fact Wolfenstein 3D, while games like Half Life and DOOM built up the popularity along the way.

[Archimedies123]

@KamakazeBanzai Makes sense. Well said.

[battlefield3media]

cod1 did a lot of new things in fps so i got kinda popular, cod 2 had really good multiplayer, so it got more popular, cod 3 was released at the peek of the next gen console revoluion, and it was on the wii, and they had a lot of marketing, but it really started with cod4, it was controversial because it wasnt ww2 anymore, and it used the perks and attachements system, plus the graphics were awesome....thats how cod got popular. plus its more real then halo. bf3 will beat mw3 tho.

[chobo500]

I think the Reason COD caught on is because people were getting bored of halo and were getting tired of it's play style. So they went to COD that offered to what most people thought as different and innovative. Now people are saying the same thing about COD now a days. Or It could have also helped that people just didn't like games set in WWII and when COD shifted to the modern setting, people could relate to it more.

[GetBeastedVids]

yOU SIR DESERVE MORE VIEWS good job with this piece.

[Archimedies123]

@GetBeastedVids Thanks :) The sub count raises slowly but surely. As long as I can entertain people with my vids then I think I succeeded in what I wanted to do.

[EPICsliceOFcake]

No. They always released a new Call of Duty game every year. You left out Call of Duty: Our Finest Hour which came out in 2004. Also, you left out Call of Duty 2: Big Red One which also came out in 2005.

[Archimedies123]

@EPICsliceOFcake Did I? Thanks for telling me, never knew that. Ya learn something new everyday.

[SONYandMICROSOFT]

I think it is just really easy to explain. Its call of duty's addicting multiplayer. The multiplayer started to get really addicting with MW2 and at the same time started the domination of call of duty in the game industry. People find the multiplayer so addicting that they kept playing it and force their friends to buy that aswell otherwise they wouldn't be "cool". And with MW2's popularity all activision had to do was mass advertise black ops. And to be honest they did a great job with that.

[Archimedies123]

@SONYandMICROSOFT I always thought people didn't like the gameplay as much with MW2. Im only saying this because I would always hear people complain about the killstreaks in that game though. But yea they did seem to have it easy with Black Ops.

[I1KonArtis1I]

@SONYandMICROSOFT another factor was the youtube community, and machinima directors. They helped self promote and caused others to do gameplays and commentaries.

[averageblackreviews]

@SONYandMICROSOFT well doom and quake started the shooter boom for pc and golden eye 64 did it for consoles. but halo was the the first to make the online boom for consoles.

[nuclearblast91]

@SONYandMICROSOFT gaming addiction is not a real thing.

[fabriciojz33]

dude why dont u make vids more often?

[Archimedies123]

@fabriciojz33 Been busy lately but things are starting to calm down which will give me more time.

[fabriciojz33]

@Archimedies123 awesome i know this is going to sound gay as shit but its a pleasure listening to someone that actually makes you think about something important

[ExposingLames]

(cont) Most the guys I know weather it be work, military, friends or whatever are NOT die hard gamers, they are the very definition of casual. 1 console, 3 or 4 games and that's it. Sports titles mostly and then Call of Duty! A few have tried BC2 but they do horrible and never play again and just are not into the whole space alien invasion thing. Believe it or not u are playing in a time when the majority of gamers are casual (such as myself)

[Archimedies123]

@ExposingLames That does all fit together, well said. I always saw this flood of shooters we have now as different companies trying to take CoD's spot as the top dog in the shooter genre. And it feels like they don't really know why CoD continues to be successful so they make new shooters that go against what made CoD successful in the first place.

[merritt2014]

@Archimedies123 What's the song at the beginning with the choir?

[ExposingLames]

The WW2 genre was getting played out, MW brought Modernized weapons and environments, terrorism based story lines (remember the real world stuggle in iraq was going on at the same time) and a fast paced addictive multiplayer that ANYBODY could play due to butter smooth controls and low bullet damage where the whole experience came across much more realistic than all the alien shooters like Unreal Tournament or Halo. Simply it appealed to a much broader audience. Hardcore, Casual, Noob, etc

[xMikenugex]

this is brilliant good job subbed

[Archimedies123]

@xMikenugex Thanks glad you enjoyed it :)

[I1KonArtis1I]

COD4MW, was a really good game. Great campaign, very awesome and crazy moments, and very interesting take on online,yet addicting. I think people feel afraid to say that they like COD, or that its a good game. Its like they're afraid they might get punished or something.lol

[Archimedies123]

@I1KonArtis1I lol, hell I used to think that way when I played world of warcraft. Well...when I lived world of warcraft.

[humpmasterFLAGGED]

Well,

COD is only popular on consoles, why, cuz good majority of console players are welfare meatheads. Thats why PC's #! titles are Starcraft and WoW

[rowdyf90]

@humpmasterFLAGGED and battlefield, and diablo. 

[Archimedies123]

@humpmasterFLAGGED Well I gotta say so far it's working out pretty well for em. Of course I'll take SC2 and WoW over Cod any day.

[humpmasterFLAGGED]

Easy, the success came from it being a beast of a game on pc, then they started destroying themselves from within

[SEGAman4]

sony should have bought cod4 as a exclusive when they had the chance.

[Archimedies123]

@SEGAman4 Yea that probably would have been a good move on their part.

[DarthQball]

Good video. But I still prefer Halo as my FPS. To me Halo just stands out with its story and gameplay.

[Archimedies123]

@DarthQball Yea I'm sure a lot of people still prefer other shooters. And when it comes to story form what I hear no other shooters story can match Halos.

[NakedPhatGuy]

casual of duty is what it is because it is easy and any 12 year old can pick it up and play it.

[wikiwikiwias000]

COD4 started it all in my opinion,Cod3 was pretty well known but it wasn't an instant buy and online was't anything special. COD4 was the new hit game getting amazing reviews and popularity of its gameplay,online and maybe even graphics...one thing led to another and everyone started playing,then more hype came out as the next one came out just like Halo

[Archimedies123]

@wikiwikiwias000 Oh I'm sure hype had a lot to do with it. I just always wondered what gave CoD 4 so much hype. I figured its gameplay and online was the same as the other CoDs. Its graphics were definitely improved over the first three though.

[MaZJacK1]

Why can't people say the reason over call of duty success was because they were great games?

[Archimedies123]

@MaZJacK1 Mainly because the people that can't say it didn't think the games were all that great? :)

[MaZJacK1]

@Archimedies123 Well that is matter of opinion :)

[Archimedies123]

@MaZJacK1 indeed

[Newbpwn3r180]

Cool video man. I think people were sick with world war II shooters and that's why Modern Warfare was successful. Now cod was already making a name for itself after the second one but still wasn't enough to beat Halo. Once IW switched to a more realisitc setting, everybody wanted to jump in the bandwagon. Graphics, Perks, and accessibility also played a major role in the success of cod. It was easier to kill a person in cod than Halo. People also wanted more customization in their weapons.

[Newbpwn3r180]

@Newbpwn3r180 not realistic setting..I meant more modern my bad

[Archimedies123]

@Newbpwn3r180 Ah, that does explain a lot and does in a way give CoD more replay value.

[IcyRhythms]

been awhile...great vid

[Archimedies123]

@IcyRhythms thanks

[muscleoutlaw]

This group's hatred towards a video game they don't enjoy and the people who play it is one of the funniest/saddest thing i've ever seen.

No wonder your average person laughs at people who play video games.

[HeshamUchia]

Nah Battlefield 3 will beat MW3 because Battlefield 2 was awesome and incredibly successful

[digitaltiger777]

It started w/ COD4 Modern Warfare (and to an extent COD World at War w/ the introduction of zombies). other versions are basking in COD4’s glory. COD4’s balance and outstanding highly detailed maps makes it great. Also, COD4’s present day setting (coupled w/ the present war) helps as well.

BTW…Killzone 2 > COD4 > BFBC2 > Killzone 3 > Halo Reach > BlackOps

BF3 will be better game than MW3, but MW3 will sell better (thanks to COD4)

[I1KonArtis1I]

@digitaltiger777 WHOA! killzone 3 better than Halo??? W T F!! LOL =) Let me fix that for you

Killzone 2 > Everything

Halo 2 > Everything

there, done! xD

[digitaltiger777]

@I1KonArtis1I if killzone 3 had a lobby system like killzone 2, it would be KZ2 > COD > KZ3 > everything :)

[roel4556]

Look at your comment. Back to mine. Back to yours NOW BACK TO MINE.Sadly,it isn't mine. But if you stopped trolling and started posting legitimate crap it could LOOK like mine. Look down,back up, where are you?You're scrolling through the comments, finding the ones that your comment could look like.Back at mine,what is it?It's a highly effective counter-troll. Look again,MY COMMENT IS NOW DIAMONDS.Anything is possible when you think before you comment.I'm on a computer

[merritt2014]

Hopefully a new game genre can take over rather than a new shooter.

[Archimedies123]

@merritt2014 THAT would be so much better. Well...for people who aren't that into shooters anyway.

[GlockNinja]

Battefield 3 needs to bring in the ease of gameplay for consoles without keyboard and mouse with its ability to drive and fly vehicles........to beat MW. If you make a FPS great for CONSOLES, it will explode. Because it will "REACH" a wider fan base.

[ez3002008]

what about golden eye? i remember that game was one of the first fps games to be really popular, especially cus of its multiplayer. Then it was Halo cus it offered that multiplayer experience but online.

[GlockNinja]

Halo did bring easier FPS gameplay to the console...it was to my experience the first FPS on a console that made me not miss the keyboard and mouse. :-)

[FaytSaratome]

I also think Call of Duty got it's success from it's ease of control, barely any learning curve and it's killstreaks. Even if you're not good at the game it's easy to get kills so it lets you feel an achievement.

[civilwarfare101]

@FaytSaratome

You pretty much summed up CoD's popularity perfectly.

[Simok1234]

02:20 have I heard that song before? lol. btw, I think CoD 2 came out on 360 and PS3, although there was 2 COD2s; CoD 2 the big one which was on gamecube and CoD 2 which was on 360 and PS3. But anyway, CoD was still popular before 3, but yes, 4 made it explode. Ask any CoD head if they played any cod before 4. Theyll probably say no.

[Archimedies123]

@Simok1234 If you've played Black Ops before then yes you have.

[Simok1234]

@Archimedies123 heh yeah, but they still have....slightly different features, but yes they all are basicly all iron sight sprint stuff from what I know.

[RevJesseJackson]

Mexicans.

Actually, this has happened to shooters before. I remember playing many many many doom clones as a child. Then again, the quake clones. Then halo, which came from tribes. Now cod. One shooter gets popular, the rest follow.

[GlockNinja]

@RevJesseJackson totally agreed...we seeing nothing new here. What happened to PC, is happening to the consoles. :-)

[RevJesseJackson]

@GlockNinja The only reason this is happening to consoles is because back then shooters were thought of as exclusively pc territory until last gen. This gen shooters really kicked off though with far improved console controls and online gameplay. And, it's not like shooters are the only genre that has had mass clones of each other running around. The only difference is that gaming is mainstream now, so the overdone jrpgs from the ps1 era and rts flood from the Warcraft era are overlooked.

[Archimedies123]

@RevJesseJackson now Doom was epic :D

[GlockNinja]

You do some kick ass vids man...Love it. Do more!!!! You don't do enough!!! :-)

[GlockNinja]

Call of Duty drew in the Story Mode Fans with Hollywood Production like stories that put people in that Saving Private Ryan. And after WW2 fad died down, it evolved for those who wanted modern weapons without star wars nerdiness. Any game that is made well enough to bring it to the console from the PC will do well. Halo was one game and it drew in a large crowd. The NON Halo FPS games were many and spread it thinner. Medal of Honor, Black Hawk Down, Ghost Recon, Star Wars Battlefront, CS, DOD.

[GlockNinja]

@GlockNinja Battlefield Vietnam,...all of the PC FPS modern war games were the prequel success to Modern Warfare....You are right..Halo is in its own class and should not be compared with MW. I'd have to say that Historic Role playing in FPS (WW2, Vietnam) DREW in the GUN BUFF 2nd amendment crowd into video gaming. It drew in more than GAMERS and nerds...it drew in jocks, military buffs, and gun buffs. Halo had nothing to do with the explosion of Modern Warfare.

[Archimedies123]

@GlockNinja Ah, so you're saying the WW2 gimmick was dead or starting to die with the release of the first three CoDs so the modern setting helped it?

[GlockNinja]

@Archimedies123 The WW2 Theme was done to death...Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Day of Defeat, Castle Wolfenstien, etc.....the last successful WW2 theme was World at War...and I attribute that to the gameplay and gamemodes not the theme. I strongly believe the modern setting had a lot to do with the success of Call of Duty 4. It was not scifi and it was not antique. 

[FaytSaratome]

Been wondering when another video was coming bro.

[gamereviewsss]

casuals.

[gamereviewsss]

@gamereviewsss now that ive watched the video. yes it is the casuals. but going deeper into why. it is because of the social activity. with the rise of facebook myspace and all that. social activity was a huge thing. and modern warfare could do that. worth of mouth made everyone play it. including all of the people who never usually play gams but because they would be left out of the loop they joined in as well. and here is where we stand

[GlockNinja]

@gamereviewsss Yeah..I talk with co-workers...they talk about Call of Duty as if they play video games. But when you try to talk to them about video gaming, they look at your like you have two heads. These people like the game because it was introduced to them via their kids, media hype, social hype, and it appeals to their GUN Culture mentality. They will say things like, "Oh, I don't play video games. The only game I play is Call of Duty". It was that way with other games...Angry Birds? LOL

[gamereviewsss]

@GlockNinja exactly

[Archimedies123]

@gamereviewsss But what gave modern warfare the big edge over the other shooters? It does make sense that word of mouth made everyone play it. But what was so good about it that made people tell everyone it was THE shooter to play?

[gamereviewsss]

@Archimedies123 it was THE shooter to play because that is the shooter that everyone was playing. these casuals (at least the ones i know) have no clue on what makes a game great. but if it connects socialy with buds. and in some cases the graphics look pretty it will be great. and unlike the other shooters, most people had call of duty. so they played that