duties

Barnes & Noble just announced three new tablets that could extinguish the Amazon Kindle Fire--tune in to hear why you should care, and how to shop for the best device this holiday season. Also, happy birthday, Wilson!… Read more

Are you a gamer looking for a smartphone? Best Buy may be the spot for you.

The electronics big-box retailer is giving away an HTC smartphone to anyone who buys Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which comes out Tuesday. The smartphone options are the Evo 4G for Sprint Nextel, the Incredible 2 for Verizon Wireless, and the Inspire 4G for AT&T. The catch: you need to sign up for a two-year contract.

The promotion is part of a larger effort by Best Buy to raise consumer awareness about its mobile offerings as it looks to tap into … Read more

Get ready for another blockbuster Call of Duty launch.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said in a research note yesterday that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which is scheduled to hit store shelves next week, will likely become the bestselling game this year, and could very well beat out its predecessor, Call of Duty: Black Ops, in total sales.

"If Modern Warfare 3 receives strong review scores, it should at least match predecessor Black Ops' sales (over 25 million units) due to the network effect," Pachter said. In a follow-up interview with IndustryGamers, Pachter said he thinks Modern Warfare 3 will outsell Black Ops by 10 percent during its first six weeks of availability and generate a total of $1.1 billion during that time.

If that happens, Modern Warfare 3 will become the bestselling game of all time, beating out Black Ops, which generated $1 billion during its first six weeks on store shelves. That title took the crown from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.… Read more

Parents have a new reason to be concerned about little Johnny spending hours blasting through Super Mario and Call of Duty. It now seems that playing video games is just a gateway to becoming a classical music fan.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra is unleashing "The Greatest Video Game Music" album on November 8 featuring classically reimagined tunes from Grand Theft Auto, World of Warcraft, Tetris, BioShock, Angry Birds, and many others.

Yes, the same orchestra that brought us hit albums such as "Mozart: The Violin Concertos" and "Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 and 9," is now tackling Splinter Cell and Legend of Zelda.… Read more

What was that I heard about the British being mild-mannered? A dad in England apparently didn't get the national memo.

According to a report in the Plymouth Herald, Mark Bradford admitted to attacking a teenager after the sharp-shooter took Bradford's character out during a round of Call of Duty online.

Bradford's breakdown came after the boy teased him about the triumph.

The attack broke up what otherwise might have been an unremarkable moment where both were playing on PlayStations from different residences and communicating over microphones.

Bradford, 46, reportedly drove to the teen's address to carry out the choking assault that resulted in a scratch and reddening of the boy's neck. It's funny when Homer Simpson does it to Bart, but the humor dries up quickly when it happens in the real world.

According to the report, Bradford, a father of three, may have some mental health issues. He is currently out on bail and is due back in court October 24.

Correction, 1:41 p.m.: The story originally misstated Bradford's relationship to the teen. The boy was not Bradford's son. … Read more

This week on preGame, we're sitting down with one of the year's most anticipated games, Gears of War 3. Tune in for a chunk of live gameplay from early on in the game. Then, we'll put the pedal to the metal in Burnout CRASH!, the latest downloadable title from EA's Criterion Games.

But before we hit the demos, we'll run through this week's news including new details on the Battlefield 3 beta, the PS Vita's battery life, and hands-on impressions with Batman: Arkham City.

Finally, make sure to listen carefully this week as we're giving away free digital copies of one of Mark and Jeff's favorite games of all time, Resident Evil 4, for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network!… Read more

Gamers rejoice. At Call of Duty XP, an event for fans of the game this past weekend, Activision announced that Microsoft will release a Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 bundle.

Like various other game-themed consoles, such as the Gears of War Xbox or the Tron controller, the bundle's design will resemble the theme of Infinity Ward's newest game.

The entire package will consist of two custom wireless controllers, a 320GB hard drive, a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, a month's membership to Xbox Live Gold (for you to rack up your kill count), and custom startup/disc loading sounds (yes, the sounds are from the game).

There's no Kinect unit included, however. You'll have to purchase one separately to be able to have some Dance Central action when you're out of the war zone.

The bundle will be available on November 8 in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand and will retail for $399. Preorders are already being accepted.

(Source: Crave Asia) … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Thousands of devoted Call of Duty fans gathered here this weekend for the first Call of Duty XP, a convention devoted to the game's past, present, and future.

Activision secured the huge airplane hangars of Playa Del Rey in the shadow of Loyola Marymount University and a sniper's shot from Electronic Arts' Los Angeles headquarters. Howard Hughes used those hangars to build his concept aircraft, but they became multiplayer gaming centers and conference halls for Call of Duty XP 2011.

Activision used the event to unveil the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to a hangar absolutely packed with fans eager for the game's November 8 launch.

Players could enjoy the multiplayer levels in preview play while David Vonderhaar, design director; Phil Tasker, senior level designer; Alex Conserva, lead programmer; and Dan Bunting, online director filled in on Q&A before unveiling special rollout trailers to foreshadow the missions to come.

The centerpiece of the event was the international Call of Duty 3: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer tournament. The four-man team Optic Gaming (William "BigTymer" Johnson, Blake "Vengeance2T" Campbell, Joseph "Merc SD" DeLuca and Matthew "NaDeSHoT" Haag) will split the $400,000 grand prize. … Read more

The rift between Electronic Arts and Activision won't be mended anytime soon.

Speaking yesterday at the Gamescom conference in Germany, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said, according to Eurogamer, that EA has engaged in "mudslinging" that simply isn't beneficial for the industry or gamers themselves.

"This isn't politics. In order for one to win, the other doesn't have to lose," Hirshberg reportedly said during his address. "This is an entertainment industry, it's an innovation industry and, at best, it's an art form. But we're still a young art … Read more