Activision's Infinity Ward studio has commented on a recent report by the UK-based Daily Mail Newspaper, who recently wrote an over-reaction to an upcoming mission set in New York City. The Daily Mail story - found here - played up the Russian assault on New York depicted in Modern Warfare 3, comparing it to what happened on September 11, 2001.

The Australian Christian Lobby has called for games to be banned if they contain violence that is "excessive or gratuitous." The call came as the world digests the bizarre rambling of a 1500-page manifesto written by Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik and released online shortly before he killed 76 people in and around Oslo, Norway.

The Australian federal government said yesterday that Breivik committed his crimes because there is "something clearly intrinsically wrong with him", not because he played violent video games.

NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge did say that Modern Warfare 2 should be reviewed to have a more restrictive R18+ rating in the country. It is currently rated MA15+.

Tickets are on sale for Activision's first annual event dedicated to Call of Duty, Call of Duty XP, at www.callofduty.com/xp. The event will take place September 2 - 3 in Los Angeles. Call of Duty XP tickets are now on sale. Tickets are $150 and are valid for both days of the event. In addition, buying a ticket gives you admission to all events and activities with the exception of food and drink. Naturally you'll have to pay for your own travel to and from the event. You can buy up to two tickets, the proceeds of which will go to the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit organization that helps returning veterans find employment, establish careers and transition back to civilian life. You must be 18 years old or older to attend.

A new website not owned by Activision and - and at first glance dedicated to modern Warfare 3 - is causing a bit of ruckus. According to an Ars Technica report, the domain www.modernwarfare3.com began directing people to the official Battlefield 3 site, leading some to believe (including Activision) that the site might be owned by electronic Arts. The domain was registered in 2009 by Domains by Proxy - a company owned by Go Daddy, and the owners currently remain unknown. That hasn't stopped Activision from filing a domain name dispute with the National Arbitration Forum claiming that it has full rights to the domain for obvious reasons.

After garnering a bit of attention the web site offers the following commentary:

The lawsuit against Activision from former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vincent Zampella soldiers on, thanks to a ruling from a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. The judge ruled June 14 that  there were sufficient facts to support the duo's allegations that Activision defrauded them by firing them shortly before significant royalty payments were due. The lawsuit was first filed in March 2010.

The two former heads of the Activision subsidiary Infinity Ward were terminated by the company after it conducted an investigation that allegedly turned up breaches of contract, insubordination, and violations of company policy. The duo allege wrongful termination that cost them more than $125 million in royalties. West and Zampella further allege that Activision had promised them the right to creative control to the Call of Duty series and increased royalty payments on future games.

No matter what some fans may think of Activision's new Call of Duty: Elite subscription service, at least two million gamers are interested in it. According to Activision, around two million gamers have signed up for the Call of Duty: Elite beta test, set to happen on July 14. Elite will support Call of Duty: Black Ops first, followed by Modern Warfare 3 when it releases later this year.

Activision's Dan Amrich announced the news via his One of Swords blog and urged players to join up, noting that two million players is a mere fraction of the 30 million that play the game online.

In a subsequent post Amrich said that it is important for people that want to change the service for the better to participate now, because it will have a strong influence on the final product.

It's kind of a funny story, though it might be more folklore than fact; Computer & Video Games has a report about a personal assistant to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick trying to get him in to see Battlefield 3 behind closed doors. As you can imagine, EA said no to the request.

According to the C&VG report (citing "a senior informant who witnessed the exchange first-hand") Bobby Kotick's personal assistant discussed the chances of a hands-on trial of the game with EA reps at the door of the publisher's private meeting room. The female assistant jumped to the front of the line on Wednesday morning to request a personal showing of the game for Kotick. After mulling it over inside the private meeting room, an EA representative declined the request, saying that "it would not be possible."

The PA put up a small fight in front of those waiting to get in and then left in a huff, according to the witness.

In response to some confusion and anger in the Call of Duty community over Activision's reveal of the new Elite subscription service, the company has decided to release a list of frequently asked questions. While the FAQ doesn't answer too many questions about what a paid subscription will cost, it does reveal some of the free benefits users get with Elite.

Beachhead, the newly formed Activision studio in charge of the Call of Duty Elite subscription services, claims that security is a very important piece of the puzzle for Activision. The service, which adds free and paid features to several Call of Duty games (it launches in November with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3), will help the company deal with cheaters and hackers that have attempted to breach the game's various security systems.

"From a developer standpoint we put an extremely high premium on security," Chako Sonny, studio head at Beachhead tells Eurogamer.net. "We have dedicated staff focusing on that from an architectural standpoint, making sure nothing we design is exposed, and we're also making sure that we're securing the events and competitions that will eventually become part of the service."

The official announcement for Activision's Call of Duty Elite service has been released, revealing a little bit more about the premium stand-alone service designed to enhance the company's popular games with various features. Elite is developed by Activision's new Beachhead studio and is basically a giant social network and matchmaking service for the Call of Duty franchise.

Many of Elite's features will be available free of charge, says Activision. The premium membership promises "state-of-the-art services, exclusive entertainment programming and all-inclusive game content for less than the cost of any comparable online entertainment service currently in the market." No specific pricing was revealed today, but some have suggested (as we reported earlier) that it will cost about as much as a Netflix subscription.

Here are the core components, from the press release:

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Activision will reveal a new subscription-based online service for Xbox 360 and PS3 called Call of Duty Elite. The Call of Duty Elite subscription would supplement Call of Duty releases - such as the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 - with extra content such as multiplayer maps, new game modes, and community features. While a fee hasn't been revealed (it might be later today when the embargo on Elite lifts and media outlets get the courage to talk about it) some have suggested that it will cost about as much as a Netflix streaming account (around $8 a month).

Even at this early hour, Activision is correcting those in the community that are calling Elite "paid multiplayer." Inifnity Ward's Robert Bowling spent a great deal of time this morning on Twitter telling people that Modern Warfare 3 will still have a full and complete multiplayer component that won't require Elite.

Divorce Online, a website dedicated to getting rid of that dead weight in your marriage, claims that 15 percent of the divorces it has handled can be attributed to spouses that are addicted to online games such as world of Warcraft and Call of Duty.

According to a press release issued by Divorce Online, an examination of 200 unreasonable behavior petitions filed by women using its service between January - April of this year found that 15 percent complained that their husbands were happier playing video games than they were paying attention to them. They called their "gaming addiction" an unreasonable behavior that lead to the divorce they were seeking.

The release also offers comments from one disgruntled 21-year-old wife from London named Jessica Ellis, 24, who married husband Michael in 2008.

A Greece, New York (a small town northwest of Rochester) has been indicted this week on 19 charges alleging sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy he met online through Xbox Live. A Monroe County grand jury indicted 19-year-old Greece resident Richard J. Kretovic on nine counts of first-degree criminal sexual act, nine counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Kretovic was arrested April 19 on one felony charge of first-degree criminal sexual act and a misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child. At the time of his arrest, local police urged parents whose children might have been in contact with Kretovic to come forward. The charges delivered by the grand jury dealt only with one child, according to Assistant District Attorney Jason MacBride. MacBride added that the investigation is continuing.

An Xbox Live status update found here warns Modern Warfare 2 users to be on the lookout for scammers who have a brand new scheme ready to trick you into revealing your personal information. The "scheme" will occur while users are playing the game online, according to Microsoft. While hacking and phishing schemes related to Modern Warfare 2 are nothing new to players on every platform the game is on, users who love the game must be ever vigilant in avoiding getting caught in some sort of trap.

"Users may receive potential phishing attempts via title specific messaging while playing Modern Warfare 2," Microsoft warns via the status message.

Microsoft adds that it is "working to resolve the issue."

We hope they figure it out sooner rather than later. However, if you are an MW2 player, be vigilant.

In theory, former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella could regain partial control of the Call of Duty franchise. We say in theory because the chances of that ever happening are somewhere between slim and none. But the two counts of fraud that the duo added to its lawsuit against Activision earlier this week also asked the court to rescind the Memorandum of Understanding agreement. If the court were to give them a favorable ruling hypothetically, the duo could co-own Call of Duty and release their own games in the series. It's an interesting scenario to explore, even if it is on par with the plot to Independence Day in terms of likelihood.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter - and most anyone with an inkling of common sense say that this will never happen.

A new study from Simmons College researchers comes to the conclusion that children exposed to more violent games for longer periods of time are less able to sympathize with others. The new study published in the Journal of Children and Media surveyed 166 Boston, MA and southern New Hampshire schoolchildren. The study was overseen by Simmons College professors Edward T. Vieira and Marina Krcmar. They examined the relationship between violent games and kids' attitudes toward violence.

The duo surveyed children age 7-15 about their favorite games, how many hours a week they played, and questions to gauge their ability to sympathize with others, to see things from another person's perspective, and whether they saw violence as an appropriate response in situations where it would be deemed justified or unjustified. The favorite "violent games" included Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Counter Strike, Mortal Kombat: Deception, and World of Warcraft.

Former Infinity Ward front men Jason West and Vince Zampella have added something more to its ongoing lawsuit against Activision: fraud. The duo claim that Activision had no intention of honoring its promises of bonuses and creative control on the Call of Duty franchise. According to a freshly filed complaint, West and Zampella secured a contract with Infinity Ward through a "Memorandum of Understanding" with Activision.

"To protect its interest in consummating its merger with Vivendi Games, Activision needed to do everything it could to keep West and Zampella content with their responsibilities and compensation at Infinity Ward. This gave West and Zampella considerable bargaining power in their negotiations with Activision," reads the amended complaint.

California Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle has ruled (without commenting on the merits of the case) that Activision has provided enough evidence to allow its $400 million lawsuit against Electronic Arts to go forward. The case is tied to Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella. A trial is tentatively scheduled to begin sometime in May.

Activision has accused EA of helping West and Zampella breach their contract, that EA received confidential information from the Infinity Ward founders, and that the duo held back the release of Modern Warfare 2 DLC to benefit the release of an EA game. Activision added EA to its long-running legal battle with West and Zempella as counter-claim to their lawsuit. West and Zampella filed a $36 million lawsuit against Activision, claiming they had been let go to avoid making royalty payments on Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

According to NPD group retail sales data for February, the industry grew by 3 percent in overall sales. But the big story coming out of last month's numbers is that Call of Duty: Black Ops is the best selling game in U.S. history. This is great news for Treyarch, who for many years has stood in the long shadow of Infinity Ward. It finally proves that the company can create a Call of Duty game that is on the same level of quality as anything its sister studio can produce.

Overall, consumers spent around $1.36 billion on games and consoles during the month, up from 1.33 billion in the same period last year. Console sales were up 10 percent during the month, even though spending on games was down five percent compared to last year. Console accessories were up 22 percent over the same period a year ago, mostly due to Kinect.

Wholly owned Activision developer Infinity Ward has released a patch that the studio believes will eliminate the ability to use hacks in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the PS3. An Xbox 360 and PC version of the patch is coming soon, it says.

Players who have had all kinds of problems with online shenanigans welcome the update. The update is also made possible thanks to a firmware update from Sony that dealt with the aftermath of George "GeoHot" Hotz's jailbreak of the system. That jailbreak opened up the floodgates for unscrupulous individuals who wanted to create online hacks and cheats.

While Infinity Ward says this patch should deal with most of the hacks being used in MW2, its effectiveness at this early hour is unknown. We will let you know if this eliminates the problems as promised or is a wasted effort on IW's part.

Source: IGN

Speaking at Iowa State University this week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said that one of the best ways to deal with the ever-escalating costs of a higher education might be found in video games and technology. Pawlenty is on the stump because - many believe - he will take a run at becoming president in 2012. Pawlenty mentioned remote learning during a brief question & answer session with ISU Republicans. His answer was in response to a question about how he reconciles his goal of improving education with spending cuts.

"Let’s say you can scale the best Econ 101 lecture and not a lecture, not some guy standing in a room lecturing but let’s say it has all the sights and sounds and video and visual components of Call of Duty 3, but now it’s Econ 101. Or instead of learning about WW II, you’re fighting in WW II."

Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling announced via Twitter that a fix is on the way for Modern Warfare 2. The game has been the victim of multiple hacks and cheats - particularly on the PS3 - that have frustrated players to no end. Some suggests that this patch is only possible because of the updating Sony did recently to its firmware. We do not know about that, but fans will be happy to hear that they might soon be able to play a hand or two of MW2 without worrying about filthy cheaters.

Bowling said that a patch would be released on PlayStation 3 worldwide March 8, with an Xbox 360 and PC version to follow in the not-too-distant-future. All of these patches are "to address hacking." Bowling added via Twitter that the patch "will also address a small geo exploit on the map Fuel, which players exploited in order to get inside a rock on the outskirts of the map."

We hope so.

Dr. Walid Phares, the security expert cited by Russia Today in its report on Modern Warfare 2 and a recent Russian airport suicide bombing, has penned an editorial telling his side of the story.

The overall theme of his editorial is at least positive to video game proponents: video games do not create terrorists, Jihadi ideology does.

First he tackles the tenuous link that Russia Today tried to make between the bombing and the "No Russian" scene in Modern Warfare 2:

PS3 Call of Duty: Black Ops players will be happy to hear that Treyarch has issued a patch to deal with the myriad of issues that users have been complaining about for a very long time. The update is supposed to fix game freezes and infinite loading screens, among other issues.

It also adds a new pre-match timer for system link and LAN games, adds some new "contracts," and balance tweaks for several weapons including the PSG1, silenced sniper rifle, RCXD, and AK47U. The full list of fixes, as detailed in forum post are below:

A state-sponsored Russian news program does its best to tie a recent terrorist attack to the "No Russian" level in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The Domodedovo Airport in Moscow was the scene of a suicide bombing attack this week that killed dozens of people and injured nearly 200. Looking for the cause of the bombing, Russia Today goes out of its way to blame Activision's Modern Warfare 2 for the actions of the terrorists.

While the report does not emphatically blame Modern Warfare 2 as the cause, reports for the news outlet examine the scenes from the "No Russian" mission and try to draw some parallels to the "all-to-real" violence this week. The report talks about the "American-made" game, its popularity and sales figures and the similarities to the events.

If you have already read our story about Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward blaming Sony for the rash of hacks and exploits, then you get a good sense of how the PS3 Call of Duty community feels. They are pissed off, frustrated and feel like no one wants to help them. No doubt, Infinity Ward and Treyarch are equally frustrated with the problems they have encountered on the PS3 related to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops.

Modern Warfare 2 players complaining about hacks and exploits on the PS3 should blame Sony and not Infinity Ward, says Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling from Infinity Ward. Bowling jumped on the official Infinity Ward forums recently to talk about the PS3's latest security issues, and how much power Infinity Ward really has in dealing with the problems that have cropped up on the platform related to the company's games.

"Sony has recently acknowledged a breach in security on the PS3 which resulted in games to become exposed to exploits and hacks," Bowling said. "Modern Warfare 2 is no exception to this security exploit and we understand that some of you have experienced problems with stats and other issues associated with this."

Video game retailer GameStop reported record sales of $3.02 billion for the nine-week holiday season that ended on January 1. This marked a 5.4 percent increase over the same period last year, driven by Kinect sales, and "strong sell through" of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. The company also reported 32 percent growth in gift card sales during the month of December.

New hardware sales improved 7.4 percent based mostly on the successful debut of Microsoft's Kinect. New video game software sales increased 3.3 percent.

The Pennsylvania man accused of stealing a Game Boy from a deceased teen's coffin this week has been arrested by police.

Police alleged that 37 year-old Jody Lynn Bennett, stole a "Game Boy" from the coffin of family friend 17 year-old Bradley McCombs, during a wake in Montgomery Township. According to the Tribune-Democrat, the boy's uncle, Robert McCombs Jr., confronted the "family friend" outside the funeral home, and Bennett handed back the Game Boy. When the uncle returned to the wake, he realized that Bennett did not return all of the items he stole: three game cartridges and a "Game Boy Light" were still missing.

Activision is suing Electronic Arts, adding the company to an existing lawsuit against former Infinity Ward co-founders. The amendment to the lawsuit filed in court this week claims that EA induced Jason West and Vince Zampella to break their contracts with Activision during the development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This, the company says, was done so that the duo would be free to establish its new studio, Respawn, and sign with the EA Partners program.

According to the filing obtained by GameSpot, "starting as early as July 30, 2009, Electronic Arts and [West and Zampella]--with full knowledge that the executives were under contract and legally committed to Activision for more than two additional years--conspired to set up an independent company."