Well, after some mild online taunting, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson and I saddled up for some in-person competition on the new First Strike DLC maps for Call of Duty: Black Ops. And it was quite the showdown.
Deep inside the dimly lit Treyarch War Room, the battle raged...
In my corner: Arian Foster, running back for the Houston Texans, as well as Treyarch’s online director Dan Bunting; on Major’s team, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew along with Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia. Press and community leaders rounded out the 6-on-6 rosters as we charged through Berlin Wall, Discovery, Stadium, and Kowloon.
Maurice and Arian warmed up by playing with the RC-XD in the offices
Both NFL guests were really, really good COD players — they knew weapon balance, the rhythms of gameplay, and they learned the maps immediately. They were also really gracious, posed for lots of photos, and really loved seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff at Treyarch — they’re real gamers.
From left: Arian Foster, Dan Bunting, Josh Olin, David Vonderhaar, Maurice Jones-Drew, Mark Lamia
So who won? MJD’s squad took the title for the day (did I mention he Prestiged five times?), and that means Major Nelson gets to claim victory…this time. I was happy to learn that our skills are pretty much on par, but he definitely got me today. I took pride in knifing him once or twice, not to menting finding his campsite on Discovery and clearing it out. Heh.
There’s a video of my personal showdown with Major Nelson, but Kat was nice enough to send me some of her best still photos of the day, so enjoy these in the meantime.
Major and I went head to head, literally -- our seats were assigned for maximum conflict.
Arian gets some last-minute pointers from Activision associate producer Jason Harris.
Love this photo. How bad do you want the win, Major?
Treyarch's Dan Bunting is just as intense, mind you.
We're both rushing to Twitter to brag about killing the other guy.
I'm sparred with him a few times now, and I have to say -- Mark Lamia never plays any less than full-on.
Any grudge match you can walk away from...
