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Activision and Microsoft kick off the Call of Duty Championships in Hollywood

Beyond better graphics: 5 features we want from next-gen consoles
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Activision, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 developer Treyarch, Twitch, and Gamespot are hosting a Call of Duty tournament for the billion dollar shooter series, starting today, with 32 teams competing in Hollywood for $1 million in prizes. The festivities should kick off right as this article runs on Digital Trends. 

The world of competitive Call of Duty play is a strange one. Just look at footage from the European Call of Duty Championships that took place in March. Yes, those sparkling, upstanding gentlemen are the fine face of eSports today. It’s not unusual for competitors in all sorts of sport to get rowdy. The NFL is, after all, home to players who are regularly arrested for illegally carrying guns. They’re also fined for acting like idiots during competition. eSports leagues are starting to sportsmanship far more seriously, though.

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One particularly interesting thing about the Call of Duty Championships: If there was any doubt in the past that Call of Duty is a brand and gaming series inextricably linked to Microsoft and the Xbox 360, this event should settle those doubts. The event’s full name is The Call of Duty Championships, presented by Xbox.

The event should also prove to be another growth opportunity for Twitch. The game broadcasting company tied itself to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 in January when it made its broadcasting tools available on consoles from within the game.

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
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Best Perk-A-Colas in Black Ops 6

We're ranking these Perk-A-Colas based on their base bonuses, not any additional effects you can get if you Augment them, from best to worst.
Jugger-Nog
You can never go wrong with the classic Jugger-Nog. Increasing your health by 100 is useful for the entire duration of a Zombies mode, but especially in the early rounds. Going down is at best a major setback and at worst a cascade into defeat. This extra health allows you to get out of a bad situation that would otherwise end your run.
Quick Revive
This Perk has two components, with the less useful one being the ability to revive teammates 50% faster. Ideally, that shouldn't be needed but is nice. However, what makes it rank so high is the 50% shorter delay on health regen. Your health will come back over time in Zombies but at a dreadful pace. Starting to heal faster means less time running and kiting zombies around and more time in the action helping the team.
Speed Cola
The best early guns for Zombies mode have a large magazine, fast reload, or both. Running out of ammo at the wrong time and not being able to get more rounds in the chamber fast enough has ended many a run, but Speed Cola is the solution. It will speed up your reloads and armor plating by 30%. That's not a massive number, but fast enough to make the difference.
Stamin-Up
These zombies aren't the shambling types. They will chase you down like sprinters, and some of the monstrous ones can outpace you even at full tilt. Stamin-Up sounds like it would let you run for longer, but actually just lets you run faster since you have no limit on sprint in Black Ops 6. Positioning is everything in Zombies so being able to get where you need to be faster is never a bad thing, especially if it's a downed teammate bleeding out.
Deadshot Daiquiri
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PhD Flopper
Not being able to hurt yourself is situationally useful, and the ability to cause an explosion by diving is a risky move. Yes, it's cool, but you don't want to be lying prone surrounded by zombies. This is a cool gimmick, but save yourself the Essence and skip it.
Elemental Pop
When Elemental Pop works, it's great. The problem with it is that you can't rely on it. It gives a small chance on every shot you take to add a random ammo mod effect, which is cool but impractical. If you have spare Essence on you, sure, it won't hurt you to have, but it isn't something that will turn the tide for you or your team.
Melee Macchiato
Finally, Melee Macchiato bottoms out the list. It is fine in the early game when the hordes are small and you're better off meleeing enemies since it will smack enemies away with each hit, but quickly drops off in usefulness. When the zombies get too strong and too numerous, you will need a lot more than a strong punch to deal with them and end up forgetting you even have it.

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