Modern Warfare 3: Live-action trailer's budget probably could have kept a few Activision devs open

It seems that these days a giant marketing splurge is not a sign of desperation, but a badge of honour. The more money you spend on trying to sell a game, the bigger a deal your game must be in the first place, right? Of course, the logic of spending even more money than usual on a huge game that will sell in vast numbers regardless may seem a bit like Satan installing an expensive central heating system to you or I, but who are we to question the logic of big budget corporate accounting and marketing men? They're put in charge of this stuff for a reason, naturally.

Anyway, here's a new, Sam Worthington and Jonah Hill starring, really expensive looking live-action trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It's actually very impressive, and more than a bit fun. Though it does appear to smear a moderate indie movie budget over a 90 second joke about noobs, for a game that will sell billions of copies tomorrow anyway. Activision barely gave Raven's excellent Singularity a press release last year, you know. Just sayin'...

David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.