Several websites have already been spotted, including Ghostsbeta.net, blackops2beta.com, and CallofDutyGhostsBeta (with every single web extension available). So far, some of these websites seem stagnant, but soon they may be asking users for their personal information. One website, CallofDutyGhosts.com redirects visitors straight to the game’s listing on Amazon with a referral code in the URL, so that the domain owner can generate revenue from pre-orders obtained through the site’s redirect.

CallofDutyGhost.com (different than the previous URL) redirects users to the Call of Duty official website. The owner of that domain is seeking $2000 for the Domain URL so that users can take advantage of its popularity. In the future, especially as soon as the game’s launch date nears, many of these sites may become more vicious and can carry on them malware content and more, so be wary.

Call of Duty:Ghosts is set to launch on November 5th and it will be heading to a variety of systems, including the PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Wii U, Xbox 360, and the next-gen Xbox. Microsoft will be showing off the first gameplay footage of Ghosts come May 21st when it unveils its next-gen Xbox. Stay tuned with SlashGear where we will be covering the Xbox Reveal event live.

[via Fusible]

According to Amazon’s Best Sellers list in the video game category, the game is in third place behind PSN and Xbox Live memberships. Thus, Call of Duty: Ghosts is the best-selling video game on the website. The game leads in the Xbox 360 category and comes in second place in the PS3 category behind BioShock Infinite. Sadly, it’s a no show on Amazon’s Best Seller list for PC games, but that could change.

As for the UK, Call of Duty: Ghosts takes the number one and two spots with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, respectively. While many people would argue that the Call of Duty series is quickly dying, it seems many gamers are still loyal to the series, and want to continue on with the story that each game extends on.

We’ll get our first look at the new game on May 21, when Activision and Infinity Ward will make an appearance at Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox unveil, which confirms that we’ll see Call of Duty: Ghosts come to next-gen consoles like the rumored Xbox 720 and the recently-announced PlayStation 4 from Sony.

We’ll get to see Call of Duty: ghosts and all of its glory come May 21st when Microsoft holds its event for the unveiling of the Xbox 720. The game will most likely be used as a marketing tool to get more gamers to purchase the next-gen Xbox instead of buying the game for their current Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3′s. Because wouldn’t you rather play the game on a next-gen console that has a better GPU and is less prone to lag?

Having first-showing rights would help Microsoft hype up the Xbox 720 even more, however, if the rumors are true that the Xbox 720 will require an always-on connection, chances are Microsoft is going to need to do a lot more than show off the next Call of Duty in order to sell its systems. If the always-on feature is a reality, this Call of Duty unveiling would still convince many users to purchase a next-gen console, however they would be more likely to purchase a PlayStation 4 instead.

One of the major changes Call of Duty: Ghosts has to offer is a completely revamped single-player campaign. If its most important selling point is its single-player mode, players will wonder why they need an internet connection to play it. For gamers who live in remote areas with spotty internet, or who have roommates who hog all of the bandwidth, having a console that is required to always have access to the internet would be a punishment, which has been pointed out by many game developers.

While Microsoft hasn’t officially confirmed that the Xbox 720 will have an always-on connection requirement, it has been hinted at several times through interviews, in leaked documents, and from controversial tweets involving Microsoft’s former Creative Director. We’re hoping that Microsoft will take note of EA’s situation with SimCity and kill all plans of requiring an always-on connection. Be sure to check in with SlashGear on May 21st, where we will be covering the Xbox Reveal event live and seeing if the rumors are true.

Infinity Ward also officially announced the new game on their Twitter feed, linking to a teaser trailer of the new game. The trailer doesn’t reveal much about the game, but it does point out a few details. At the end of the trailer, it says that the game will see a live demo at Microsoft’s May 21 event where the next Xbox will be revealed, confirming that the game will hit next-gen consoles.

The trailer also gives us a good look at what we assume will be the main protagonist in the game, and we’re assuming it’s Ghost himself, as you can see him put on that iconic skull balaclava toward the end of the trailer. Further details aren’t yet known, but we should be hearing more about the game later this month.

Both Amazon and GameStop are now accepting pre-orders for the game as well, with a release date slated for November 5, 2013. Neither retailer lists the game for the PlayStation 4, but we’re guessing that if the game is coming to the Xbox 720, we’ll also see it on the PlayStation 4 as well.

IGN ended up getting a hold of the leaked promo poster from GameStop, and it lists November 5 at the bottom. Furthermore, Activision recently launched a teaser website for the upcoming game, which displays a skull that is most likely referring to the mask that Lt. Simon “Ghost” Riley wore in past Call of Duty titles.

The title of the game, along with the teaser website hints at the possibility that Call of Duty: Ghosts will follow Lt. Riley as the main protagonist in the game. The man shown on the box art and promo posters could actually be Ghost himself, as it looks like he is pulling off the skull mask that he iconically wears.

According to the game’s box art, it seems it will release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, and the Wii U. IGN says that an official reveal of Call of Duty: Ghosts will be expected tomorrow, so you can be sure that we’ll hear more details about the game real soon. In the meantime, we’ll ponder over the implications of a Ghost-based Call of Duty game.

[via IGN]

The box art first showed up on Tesco Direct’s website, but the listing has since been removed. However, a Target circular has also been leaked, which shows the title art of the game, with a release date of November 5, 2013 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The promotion is for $10 off any game $49.99 or higher when you pre-order Call of Duty: Ghosts.

According to Charlie Intel, who obtained the leak, the new Call of Duty title is also expected to be announced “any day now,” according to their sources. While the rumored release date for the game seems more than plausible, retailers almost always use placeholders until they find out the official release date for a game, so November 5 may not be the actual release date.

We’re not sure if the title of the game is a reference to one of the characters in past Call of Duty titles, named Ghost, who is most-known for wearing that iconic skull-faced balaclava. If the game is, in fact, based around Ghost, it should be quite a doozy, as Ghost is one of the more favorited characters in the series. However, we’ll keep this with a grain of salt for now until we hear official word.

[via Charlie Intel]

Battleground will have three gaming modes, however only one is available at this time. Instant Action mode allows players to jump quickly into a game. During the game, the players will earn “Battle Tokens” from in-game achievements and for finishing tasks listed by Battleground or Xfire. These Battle Tokens are then used for Direct Challenges, to enter Tournaments, or to purchase sweepstakes entries.

Direct Challenges and Tournaments will be available in the future. These will be sponsored events that occur frequently. Players will be able to compete with each other in order to win gaming gear, new games, in-game items, and other goodies from Xfire’s partners. Players can also win “X-Coins”, which is a virtual currency used to challenge other gamers, or compete in direct challenges, for even more prizes. X-Coins can also be purchased using PayPal, VISA, MasterCard, or American Express.

Paul Kim, CEO of Xfire, states, “The most successful games today are ones that have a competitive element, but currently the experience is fragmented and lacks structure.” Battleground was created in order to make competitive gaming more easily-accessible to most gamers. Kim says, “We think Battleground has the potential to redraw the competitive PC gaming landscape.”

Battleground only has a couple of games available at the moment. Right now, players can compete with each other in Call of Duty 4 and Counter-Strike: Source. New titles will be added in the future of course. Currently on the waitlist is BattleField 3, Counter-Strike: GO, Call of Duty 2, World of Tanks, Team Fortress 2, Planetside 2, and District 187. Alongside Battleground, Xfire has also revamped its website and client in celebration of its 10-year anniversary.

[via Business Wire]

When asked about the extended longevity the COD games now have, Hirshberg doesn’t seem too scared of possible profit depletion. He says that the game has found the right supply and demand for new content for the Call of Duty community. Players are able to play the same game for longer times, and Activision and Treyarch are able to keep their profits up and keep players hooked by selling DLC packs.

Commenting on whether or not Call of Duty will ever be made into a movie, Hirshberg stated that Activision has been approached several times by a variety of companies to turn Call of Duty into a movie. Activision’s primary business, however, is making games and they don’t want to jeopardize that in the “pursuit of making movies”. Hirshberg did hint that if they do dabble in movies, “it’s going to be with the right partners, and at the right time, and for the right reason.”

Hirshberg also commented on their big investment in the free-to-play gaming space. Activision released Call of Duty free-to-play in China, which drew in “tens of millions” of gamers to its gaming franchise. He says that the free-to-play space is something the company is doing on a “case by case basis” and they’re still learning more about it. Hirshberg says that they will implement more free-to-play investments “where we think it’s appropriate”.

[via Digital Trends]

If you’re not sure of the difference between the regular edition and the Digital Deluxe edition, the latter includes the Nuketown Zombies and Nuketown 2025 bonus maps, weapon camouflage skin, two player card backgrounds, the official soundtrack, and a free download of Call of Duty: World at War — all for only $14 more!

As for double XP and the free weekend, all platforms that the game is available on are eligible to play. It officially starts at 10 am PT, which is just in a couple of hours as of this writing. The free weekend will end on Sunday at 1 pm PT, while gamers will be eligible for double XP until Monday at 10 am PT.

This marks the first time that Call of Duty: Black Ops II has been free to play for the weekend, but it’s actually the third time that the game has seen a double XP weekend. Treyarch and Activision held the first double XP weekend back in December, and then later on just last month. So far, it looks like the companies are hosting these types of events once a month, so we may see more double XP weekends coming up throughout the rest of the spring and summer.

The tournament is being “presented by Xbox” and Major League Gaming, along with the Electronic Sports League are joining in on the fun to make this tournament happen. As expected, players will be using Xbox 360 console throughout the entire tournament, and for those interested in watching, you’ll be able to watch the live stream in your browser.

Anybody with a Call of Duty Elite account has a chance to compete in the tournament, but only eight four-person teams will make it through. The other 24 teams will equally come from the winners of the 2013 Winter Championship of the Major League Gaming 2013 Pro Circuit, winning teams from the Electronic Sports League’s European Finals, and winners from Asia, Australia and Brazil.

The first place team will get $400,000 in prize money, while second place will get $200,000, and third place $120,000. The Call of Duty Championship will begin with round-robin pool play among eight groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group will advance to a double-elimination bracket consisting of 16 teams.

The map pack will come at a later date to the PS3 and PC but the timeframe for that is unknown. The DLC includes four new multiplayer maps as well as a new Zombies map called Die Rise. The download content also includes a bonus multiple player weapon called the Peacekeeper SMG.

The map pack is available alone for $14.99 or 1200 Microsoft points. If gamers own the Season Pass, the download content is free of charge. The Season Pass is available for $49.99 or 4000 Microsoft Points. Players will save 800 Microsoft points compared to buying all map packs individually with the season pass.

The new maps in the content pack include Downhill, which is a snowy Alpine Château promising close quarters combat. Mirage is set in a sand ravaged luxury villa. Hydro is a large map set and a hydroelectric dam in Pakistan. The final map is called Grind and is set at a skate park in Venice Beach. The Die Rise zombie map is set in a crumbling skyscraper in China. The zombie map also includes a new mode called Turned that lets players play as a zombie.

[via CallofDuty.com]

After the public outcry, the All Pakistan CD, DVD, Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association (APCDACTM) has decided to ban the two games from sale in the country, saying that the games “have been developed against the country’s national unity and sanctity.” The group also said that the games depict Pakistan and the country’s intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence, as supporting terrorist and jihadist organizations.

Both Medal of Honor: Warfighter and Call of Duty: Black Ops II feature scenes that are set in Pakistan, and they essentially portray the country as a hotbed for terrorist activity. Saleem Memon, president of the APCDACTM, said that “dozens of complaints” prompted the organization to ban the two games from selling, ordered stores to remove them from display shelves.

Memon also said that the games “show the country in a very poor light,” and they’re “an effort to malign the minds of youth against Pakistan.” However, despite the ban, some stores are still selling the games due to impressive sales numbers. Islamabad’s largest game store, for example, still has the two games available for sale, and they ended up selling 5,000 copies of Black Ops II since the ban took effect.

[via FOX News]

Treyarch announced today via Twitter that they’ll be providing double XP in Call of Duty: Black Ops II from January 25 to January 28. The fun will officially start at 1 PM Eastern Time on Friday and end at 1 PM Eastern Time on Monday, giving gamers a full 72 hours to earn as much XP as possible before the clock runs out on Monday.

A few days earlier, Treyarch released a trailer (seen above) for their Black Ops II Revolution DLC, which is the first set of DLC coming to the game. It’ll be coming to the Xbox 360 on January 29 — the day after the double XP weekend ends — and it will be coming to other gaming platforms sometime afterward.

We first heard about the new DLC earlier this month when it leaked out into the public. Of course, it wasn’t surprising at all, as we were expecting some DLC soon, but it gave us a glimpse into what we might be expecting. There’s five new maps in total, four for competitive multiplayer and one for zombies mode. Expect to pay $15 for the map pack unless you picked up the season pass, in which case you’ll get all DLC at no additional cost during 2013.

If you guessed Black Ops II, you were right. Activision’s latest entry in the Call of Duty series settled at first place for the year, followed in second by Modern Warfare 3. Halo 4 managed to work its way into third, pushing the incredibly popular Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition into fourth place. That Minecraft finished in the top five is important – normally, we’d expect the most-played games of the year to be full retail releases, while Minecraft is an Xbox Live Arcade title.

The original Black Ops (which has been on shelves since November 2010, remember) rounds out the top five, so it seems that only Halo and Minecraft had the player base to challenge the Call of Duty series. Borderlands 2 just missed the top ten with its 11th-place ranking, while it seems that a healthy number of people were playing Skyrim all through the year, as Bethesda’s epic managed to secure 13th place. Despite the fact that it was only released on December 4, Far Cry 3 broke into the list nonetheless, coming in at number 18. Here’s the full list of Xbox Live’s most-played games for 2012:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
3. Halo 4
4. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops
6. FIFA Soccer 13
7. FIFA Soccer 12
8. Battlefield 3
9. Halo: Reach
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
11. Borderlands 2
12. Assassin’s Creed III
13. Skyrim
14. Madden NFL 13
15. Gears of War 3
16. NBA 2K13
17. NBA 2K12
18. Far Cry 3
19. Grand Theft Auto IV
20. Forza Motorsport 4

Major Nelson also shared lists of the top Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Indie, and Games For Windows Live titles for 2012. Though Minecraft was pushed out of the top spot on the overall list, it came in at first place on the Xbox Live Arcade list, with CastleMiner Z taking the first place crown for the indie list. Surprisingly, Grand Theft Auto IV was the top Games for Windows Live title of 2012, beating out more recent games like Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition and Batman: Arkham City. If you’d like to see all four full lists, they can be found over on Major Nelson’s blog.

Kotaku reports that this is merely an alpha release and that the game’s microtransaction system isn’t in place yet, but the game certainly is much closer to a final launch with today’s alpha roll out. Call of Duty Online is the product of a team up between Activision and Tencent, a company which among other things publishes games in China. Tencent is actually responsible for CrossFire, one of China’s more popular shooters, so it could end up cutting into its own CrossFire audience with the release of Call of Duty Online.

For the moment, Call of Duty Online will remain exclusive to China. It will almost certainly stay that way until long after the game officially launches (and leaves the testing phase behind), but if it turns out to be a success, that could mean big things for Activision and for the series in general. If Call of Duty Online takes off, then Activision will have found another way to monetize the immensely popular series beyond just releasing a new game every year and selling it at $60 per copy.

If that happens, then perhaps Activision will want to test out its Call of Duty Online strategy in other countries. So long as Call of Duty remains the best-selling franchise in the west, it’s doubtful that we’ll see a freemium online version launch in North America. However, if the model ultimately works, then it’s possible we’ll see Activision try the same thing with other, less popular franchises in North America and Europe. We’ll just have to wait and see how this whole thing plays out, but for now, just know that Call of Duty Online has entered alpha and will soon be showing us what one of the biggest franchises in the world can do when it adopts a freemium model.

Of course, the news and rumors never stop, and with one show behind us, it’s time to begin looking toward the next one, with new whispers claiming that Huawei will unveil a new 8-core processor and a new P-Series phone at MWC 2013. The HTC M7 and Sense 5 UI suffered another leak today, and we heard that Facebook is testing a new $100 charge to message strangers. The CST-01 watch hit its Kickstarter funding goal in just 48 hours, with HP and Lenovo facing a tough battle in the PC sales space in Q4 2012.

The Lenovo IdeaTab A2107 has landed at AT&T for $199, and iOS hacker Pod2g has launched PodDJ for iPad. Nokia has confirmed that HTTPS traffic is temporarily decrypted on its servers, and a new Windows RT jailbreak is getting some potential Surface homebrewers excited. There’s also new hack that could turn Cisco desk phones into a way to secretly listen in on conversations you probably shouldn’t be hearing, which is very unsettling news indeed.

The Nexus 4 is getting updates to Jelly Bean 4.2.2 in some countries, and Mojang said today that Minecraft sold more than 15 million copies across all platforms in 2012. Black Ops II was unsurprisingly declared the best-selling game of 2012, while the Xbox 360 has the distinction of being the best-selling console for two years running. Of course, we have plenty of hands-on posts from CES 2013 that went up today, including looks at the Pentax MX-1 digital camera, the Moen MotionSense Touch-Free Faucet, a pair of Galaxy S III cases from Pelican, Ion Scratch 2, Vizio’s new Windows 8 Tablet, and finally, the company’s upcoming Windows 8 all-in-ones and notebooks. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the weekend everyone!

The first details for Black Ops II‘s incoming DLC have leaked out, while the Project Paperless patent trolls are at it again with new unnamed subsidiaries to help them do their dirty work. Apple has a rumored relationship with Broadcom for 802.11ac WiFi in 2013 Macs, we learned today that CTIA will consolidate its 2013 shows into one massive mobile event, and the GameStick portable gaming console is looking to do battle with OUYA for Android console supremacy.

Apple is said to be testing out its new 28nm A6X chips while preparing to cut Samsung out of the loop, and in a very surprising turn of events, Ubuntu mobile OS was announced today and should be hitting phones starting in 2014. A US district judge has ruled that Amazon’s Appstore is very different from Apple’s own App Store, while the Samsung Galaxy M Pro has been leaked, complete with a full QWERTY keyboard. Installious has been shut down (so no, you aren’t just experiencing an outage), and we learned that the Do Not Disturb bug in iOS 6 will be fixed come January 7.

We have a couple Xbox-related stories today, as a countdown timer on Major Nelson’s website seems to suggest that the next generation Xbox will be announced at E3, while new rumors said that production on the console’s processor has gotten underway, with a potential launch coming late this year or early in 2014. Elite: Dangerous reached its Kickstarter goal today, with California and Illinois both enacting laws that prevent employers from demanding their potential employees’ social media passwords. Google executive Eric Schmidt might be taking a trip to North Korea soon, Zynga has shut down its Japan studio, and finally tonight, Chris Burns delivers his review of AT&T MiFi Liberate mobile hotspot. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

The four maps destined for competitive multiplayer are called Hydro, Grind, Downhill, and Mirage. Since this leak centers entirely around promotional posters that were put up at a GameStop early, we don’t have any additional details on the maps, but it should be relatively easy to derive a few guesses from the names alone. On the other side of the coin, the map being added to zombies mode has been titled Die Rise.

While the fact that Call of Duty players will be getting new maps in Revolution is no surprise, there is a bit of a twist with this DLC pack. Apparently Activision and Treyarch have decided to add a new weapon in Revolution too: the Peacekeeper SMG. This is the first time weapons have been added in Call of Duty DLC, so perhaps the future is bright for those who have been asking Activision for weapon DLC for years? It certainly looks that way.

According to these early promotional materials, Revolution will be coming to Xbox 360 first on January 29. There aren’t any details on when Revolution will release on PC or PS3, so stay tuned for those dates. While information on pricing is also non-existent, expect to pay $15 for the map pack unless you picked up the Black Ops II season pass, in which case you’ll get Revolution at no additional cost.

[via Charlie Intel]

MCV reports that Borderlands 2 was able to net 200% more playtime than Diablo III, which finished second in the running for Most Played New Game of the Year. While that’s certainly impressive, Borderlands 2 wasn’t able to snatch the title Most Played Game of the Year away from Modern Warfare 3. Portal 2 was given an award for “Biggest Boost from User-Generated Content,” which again is relatively unsurprising since the roll out of the Steam Workshop has ushered in plenty of user-generated content for the game.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition was called out as the Most Played XBLA Game, while Most Played New IP went to Dragon’s Dogma, Capcom’s excellent RPG from earlier in the year. Interestingly enough, Star Wars: The Old Republic was named the Most Successful Paid to Free-to-Play Game, despite the fact that it only went free-to-play a few weeks ago and BioWare has imposed some pretty strict limitations on players who don’t pay anything to play.

So there you have it – those are Raptr’s awards for 2012, based on gameplay data from 15 million people playing on Xbox 360 and PS3. Given Borderlands 2‘s immense popularity, it’s no wonder it took home three awards, but we’re also glad to see games like Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and Dragon’s Dogma on the list. What do you think of Raptr’s end-of-the-year awards?

Curiosity showed us today what the night sky looks like from the surface of Mars (spoiler alert: it’s pretty awesome), while PlayOn has provided Wii U users with 45 Internet video channels. The Windows 8 store is now accepting PEGI 18 games, and New York City Taxi apps have been approved for a pilot test program. Both the 2014 GMC Sierra and the 2014 Chevy Silverado were revealed today, and both are sporting new MyLink and IntelliLink technology.

Pudding Monsters got its first gameplay video today, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II players are in for yet another double XP weekend. We found out this afternoon that Samsung’s president uses Apple products, and that the Hitman HD Trilogy will be launching in the US and Europe next year. The Humble THQ Bundle has closed with more than $5 million raised, and there’s a new Borderlands 2 patch that fixes the rank reset problem on Xbox 360. A very ridiculous sounding rumor pegs Intel with a desire to buy NVIDIA, while Kingston has launched a new 128GB Wi-Drive for Android and iOS devices.

Finally tonight, we have to urge you to check our new original posts. We take Apple Maps and Google Maps with us to the airport to see which one performs better, while Chris Burns delivers his review of the new iOS Google Maps app and Chris Davies tells us what he thinks of the HTC Windows Phone 8S. That does it for tonight’s evening wrap-up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night folks!

Double XP will be awarded across all platforms starting at 1 PM ET on Friday, December 14, and ending at 1 PM ET on Monday, December 17. That’s a full 72 hours when you can run and gun while earning double the rewards. Xbox 360 gamers will also be able to partake in a “Game with Developers” event on December 14, where gamers can go head-to-head with the developers of the game itself.

As far as the clan competitions, there will be three different categories: Core Domination Captures, Core Kill Confirmed, and Core Team Deathmatch. Each category will be played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively. Sign-ups are now live, so if you and your friends have any interest in the competition, now would be a good time to pen down your names.

According to a tweet from the official Call of Duty Twitter account, there’s also going to be a live stream on YouTube. We’re not exactly sure what the live stream will feature, but it’ll mostly stream the “Game with Developers” event and possibly a few clan matches throughout the weekend.

Previously, Activision announced shortly after Black Ops II‘s launch that the game made $500 million within 24 hours of release, eclipsing Modern Warfare 3‘s record of $400 million the year before. Of course, the lack of a five-day total from Activision gave some analysts cause for concern that Black Ops II wasn’t selling as well as expected, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The sales number is based on the Chart-Track retail customer sell-through information, as well as internal company estimates, and it represents a milestone for the first-person shooter series. Black Ops II is now the fastest-selling Call of Duty game of all-time, and perhaps the fastest-selling entertainment product, having reached the $1 billion mark quicker than the film Avatar, which set the box office record in 2009 by reaching $1 billion in 17 days.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II launched on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 13 in North America, and a Wii U version was released on November 18. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick says that “life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded worldwide theatrical box office receipts for Harry Potter and Star Wars, the two most successful movie franchises of all time.”

The video features interviews with the cast and crew, including FPS Russia, iJustine, Activision’s Tim Ellis and Eric Hirshberg, and director Guy Richie. The video covers the idea behind the name “Suprise” – that even though you think you’ve got someone right where you want them in Call of Duty‘s multiplayer, you’re never more than few seconds from getting gunned down yourself. Have a look at the original ad below as a refresher before you watch the behind the scenes video.

Of course, the behind the scenes video also gives us a look at how commercials like this are made. In the case of Surprise, Activision and Richie had to bring in a ton of beat up cars and objects that look like they were carried in from the streets of a war-torn city, and had to put up one massive blue screen so editors could go in afterward to add the buildings, sky, and explosions. Just a word of warning before you start up the behind the scenes video: things get a little loud, so it might not be a bad idea to turn down your speakers.

Sadly, we don’t get to see any sort of interview with Robert Downey Jr., but considering this is a behind the scenes video for a commercial pushing a video game, we’ll take what we can get. Activision’s massive marketing campaign seems to have worked well, as Call of Duty: Black Ops II managed to pull in $500 million in sales on launch day alone. It probably won’t be too much longer before Activision is ready to talk Black Ops II sales numbers once again, so keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information.

The news was announced on 4Cabling’s Facebook account, where they state that Kaya finished the marathon “with a mad career ranking of 29 of 5 million players.” Kaya, a 28-year-old Sydney native, was allowed one 10-minute break every hour by Guinness, and any unused breaks could be accumulated and used at a later time.

This allowed Kaya to fit in some sleep time over the course of the seven days. However, according to Kaya, his record isn’t official just yet. He’s in the process of gathering the evidence for submission to Guinness, but he says that he’s confident that his new world record will be approved without any problems.

Luckily, Kaya is still alive, considering how gaming marathons haven’t gone so well in the past. Back in July, a Taiwanese man died following a 40-hour Diablo III marathon at an internet cafe, and last year, a gamer in the US suffered a pulmonary embolism during a 20-hour gaming session. However, Kaya’s marathon was closely monitored and supervised by a group of volunteers who acted as witnesses and supporters.

[via Yahoo]

Developer: Treyarch
Publisher: Activision
Version tested: Xbox 360

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is technically set in the not-so-distant future. I say “technically” because a good portion of the game’s campaign takes place in the mid-1980s, and the game switches between the past and the future (2025 to be exact) pretty frequently. Before we delve into too many specifics, however, I’ll say this: the story in Black Ops II is pretty ridiculous. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief often, as the story never seems too concerned with sticking within the bounds of realism. The technology the characters use in 2025 is quite a bit more advanced than the tech I think we’ll have in another 12 years, with things like cloaking devices that make humans as close to invisible as possible widely used. There are plenty of twists and turns, too, though those twists never felt as surprising as they should have.

That being said, it isn’t as if the campaign in Black Ops II is lacking charm. Players will chase the beyond evil Raul Menendez – who I must say makes a excellent villain – throughout the decades as he hatches a plan that would quite literally leave the world in shambles. The situations the characters get themselves into may not always seem plausible, but that does allow for some intense sequences and edge-of-your seat moments. Treyarch deserves a pat on the back for never being afraid to shake things up a bit as well – Black Ops II isn’t always about shooting. There will be times when you’re riding on horseback (while holding and shooting a rocket launcher, no less), jumping out of a plane to “parachute” into enemy territory, and flying a jet. Some of these sequences work better than others, but at least they all serve a purpose in giving you something different right when you need a break from the typical run and gun routine.

Alongside the regular campaign missions, you’ll have the opportunity to complete Strike Force missions. These add a little RTS flavor to the first person shooter genre, giving you areas to defend as enemies attack from all sides. You can zoom out to view an overhead map, which allows you to issue orders to multiple units at once. You can also control individual units and jump between them freely, giving you the chance to fight off enemies quickly in the places that need help the most. It’s a cool little mode, but things can get hectic at times, so I think it could prove to be a bit much for some players. If you want to get the best ending though, you’ll have to successfully complete these missions.

In fact, in order to get the best ending, you’ll have to do a lot of things. There are many moments in the game when the path forward is determined by player choice, which means that you’ll have a story with plenty of branching paths. That’s a pretty ambitious for a single-player FPS campaign, and there might even be a few forks in the road that have you hesitant to make a decision. Black Ops II features a total of three different endings, and I was actually surprised by how many variables there were when it came to which ending you see when you beat the game. At least one of those endings seems to leave the door open for a direct sequel, so don’t be surprised if we see a Black Ops III by this time in 2014.

The campaign is decent, but it isn’t going to win any awards. The character models are all pretty solid, though they do have a tendency to look a little wooden and the lip syncing isn’t the best. The environments can range from drab to beautiful, but more often than not the environments impress. There are some issues with textures, though, especially when you get up-close, so the engine that has been in use for years now is showing its age. There seem to be a few lingering bugs that need to be squashed too – for instance, I encountered a few NPCs that appeared to be glitching out and broken, and one instance where the game didn’t allow me to progress. It was at the very end of the game, leaving me with no way to advance or go back until I opened the menu, selected “restart mission,” decided I didn’t want to do that, and went back to the game. When I closed the menu, the way forward magically opened, letting me continue onto the end of the game. It isn’t the biggest problem in the world, but it sure was annoying at the time.

The campaign certainly makes some missteps, but that’s not the main feature of Black Ops II. Multiplayer is where it’s at for most, and that’s the mode that Treyarch really honed in on. Regular old multiplayer is getting a new feature in the way of the Pick 10 system, granting the player 10 points with which to build a load out. This, along with the Wildcard system, allows for a lot of customization between load outs, so you shouldn’t have a problem building one that is tailored to your play style.

Everyone else will have that same edge too, so mulitplayer battles are always pretty intense. There’s something to be said for Call of Duty’s fast-paced gameplay where you can be dead in a second and kill even quicker, and in that respect, the multiplayer mode soars. The matches keep you on your toes, and that’s helped along by the quality of the maps. The maps give players plenty of little nooks and rooms to explore, making for an exciting experience where you never really know what’s waiting for you beyond the bend. I didn’t encounter a map that I didn’t like, though there are some that are clear favorites among the Call of Duty community. These ones are where the most intense battles go down, since each player is familiar with the map and won’t hesitate to use that knowledge to get a leg up on the competition.

Of course, you’re also gaining XP and increasing your rank along the way, unlocking a ton of new items as you do. There’s certainly enough unlockable content to keep you interested in playing and leveling up, which is where I think a game like Black Ops II has an advantage over something like Halo 4. In Halo 4, the number of new items you can unlock as you progress through the game feels a little limited, whereas there are plenty of new weapons and gear to unlock in Black Ops II. Not only do you get new stuff for leveling up yourself, but you’ll also unlock new attachments for individual weapons as you level those up too. It’s a great system, and it’s there for no other reason than to keep players addicted.

At the end of all, it seems pretty safe to say that if you like the multiplayer modes in other Call of Duty games, you’ll probably like this one just as much. You might even like it more, given that the Pick 10 and Wildcard systems add a very fun aspect to building a load out. Given that I was playing this during launch week, I ran into a few server problems, but those were surprisingly few and far between – I was only booted from a game once (though that may have been my fault) and for the most part, finding a match was pretty quick, even when I had my search settings set to “Best Connection.” Make no mistake, we’ll probably see Black Ops II dominating player number charts for months to come thanks to its addictive multiplayer mode that gamers will feel compelled to play.

Black Ops II‘s regular multiplayer mode might just end up taking a backseat to Zombies, however. After years and years of nothing but zombies, I feel pretty comfortable saying that I’m sick of fighting them. At least that’s what I thought before I checked out Zombies in Black Ops II. Zombies, as many of you already know, is a pretty straight forward mode: kill zombies, rack up points, unlock better guns to use, and see how many increasingly difficult waves you and your team mates can survive. In the beginning, you’ll be tricked into thinking that you’ve got everything under control, but once the zombies start coming in a seemingly endless stream, your cool and collected demeanor will rapidly devolve into a state of blubbering panic.

That’s what makes it so damn fun, and the urge to see if you can both make it further and beat your personal best scores will keep you playing Zombies over and over again. I think that Zombies might just be my favorite mode in Black Ops II, which is saying a lot when you consider how good regular multiplayer is.

Zombies mode is not flawless, however. Two new game modes are joining Survival in Black Ops II: Grief and Tranzit. In Grief, your team goes up against another team of four in a battle for survival, but you’re not allowed to actually harm the players on the other team. There are, however, plenty of ways to annoy players on the other team and make the task of killing zombies and staying alive a lot more difficult, hence the name. I like the idea behind Grief, but I’m not sure I like it more than regular Survival. It’s a mode that will need to be expanded upon in future releases (or with content patches) – I look forward to seeing what Treyarch does with Grief in the future, but for now, I think the majority of my Zombies playing will be in Survival mode.

Next we have Tranzit, which is an interesting new mode that’s best described as Survival mode in motion. Players will use a bus to go from hub to hub, fighting off zombie attacks while both stationary and in transit. There are items to collect and a crafting system to use, but if you didn’t know this going in, you’d assume that it’s just Survival mode on a larger scale. Tranzit is a lot like Grief in that I like the underlying idea, but Tranzit just kind of throws you in without indicating what it is you should be doing. Some of the waves you’ll encounter are already pretty vicious, which can make item collecting nigh-on impossible when things start to get really hairy and team mates start going down. It’s definitely an interesting take on Zombies mode, but sometimes Tranzit is guilty of piling on without making objectives clear. That’s bound to be a barrier for some players, which is unfortunate since Tranzit shows a lot of promise despite the fact that it’s a little rough around the edges at the moment.

Wrap-Up

Black Ops II is another solid entry in the Call of Duty series, but if you’ve not been tempted by the franchise before, this probably isn’t going to change anything. On the other hand, if you feel that the series has gotten a little stale in recent years, picking this up may not be a bad idea. Black Ops II is careful not to step too far outside familiar bounds, but there are some new features that make this entry worth checking out.

Of course, if you’re already a Call of Duty fan, you’ll almost certainly love Black Ops II. The campaign is a little weird in that it’s absolutely ridiculous, but there are some sequences that make the story worth playing through. Additionally, it’s one of the only FPS campaigns in recent memory that encourages multiple playthroughs, even if some of the choices feel a little shallow. Strike Force missionsares an excellent way to break things up, and hopefully the folks at both Treyarch and Infinity Ward will try to expand on this further in future games.

Finally, multiplayer is another winner with great maps, a great mechanic in the Pick 10 system, and fast-paced gameplay that will get your blood pumping. As far as I’m concerned, Survival matches in Zombies are excellent, though Grief and Tranzit mode could have both used some more time to simmer. At the end of everything, though, you have to give Treyarch some points for taking risks in a series that’s known for sticking to what works. Some of these risks don’t play out as well as Treyarch probably envisioned, but each one lays down a springboard that could ultimately make future installments better.

So no, Black Ops II is not a masterpiece. It isn’t the best FPS ever, and I doubt it will even be considered the best Call of Duty game. It’s too early to tell, but Black Ops II may just lead to some actual innovation within the series, and that alone is worth celebrating. If nothing else, it’s a very fun ride, so if you’re a fan of first person shooters, I have no problem recommending that you make space on your shelf for Black Ops II.

As expected, Activision claims that the game’s success is due to its unique gameplay and new takes on a popular gaming genre. And as expected, the millions around the globe that have flocked to game stores have helped the game publisher celebrate.

But those who have actually played the game, as I have, know that something needs to change. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is more of the same. It’s as if Activision has found a way to repackage the same old game, and make customers think each year that the latest offering is so much greater. In reality, it’s a stale franchise operating in an increasingly stale genre.

After breaking Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 out of the box, you quickly realize just how stale the franchise is. We’re presented with familiar characters and tossed into a major battle to get things going. After playing through that level, you’re then thrown into a jungle. The first setpiece battle looks huge and daunting and includes nonstop firing. The jungle level leaves you breathless as you run through the jungle to get away from an advancing force.

Although the setting is different and the name on the game disc is changed, doesn’t that sound like much of what you’ve already done in a Call of Duty game? It’s as if Activision has a big board at headquarters and on that, says that each title must have a few huge battles, a couple sniper levels, and nonstop action. After all, it’s a model that, judging by sales, continues to work exceedingly well.

But I’ve had enough. The Call of Duty franchise has become one big, repurposed offering that gets customers to pay too much for what is essentially a bunch of new maps launched annually in November. Sure, there’s a bit of a storyline and the updates to online gaming are nice enough, but are they enough to justify calling the game an entirely new entry into the franchise? As far as I’m concerned, it’s just more of the same.

Where is the innovation? There was a time when the Call of Duty franchise represented all that was great about first-person shooters. Now, it has become what’s wrong with the genre. Each year, we see barely updated games packaged as new titles. And each year, customers flock to stores thinking the new games will deliver as much fun as those before it. In some cases, they might. In others, they might not. But if anything is certain, it’s that customers hoping to get something new and fresh won’t find it.

So, forget about the sales. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is the same old take on the same old formula in a $60 package.

It’s just too bad that we’ll continue to get such games as long as so many people buy each new title. After all, why should Activision try to fix something that, judging by sales, isn’t broken?

Not content with whispers of just one 1080p smartphone, the rumor mill churned out another concerning a 1080p device from LG, while today’s the day that the iPad mini LTE and 4th gen iPad went up for sale at AT&T and Verizon stores. We heard the good news that AT&T is hitting 4G LTE roll out milestones ahead of schedule, and Apple has been granted a rather controversial patent for page-tuning animation. The crew for the next Star Wars movie is beginning to assemble, while LucasFilm said that it will begin putting out 2-3 movies a year after the release of Episode VII.

We had a lot of video game news today, with Activision announcing that Black Ops II pulled in $500 million in sales on launch day, and Sony announcing that the PS3 has hit 70 million sales worldwide. Nintendo said it won’t have Nintendo TVii ready to go by the time the Wii U launches this weekend, and Hulu launched a brand new Games Hub which users can visit to check out new video game trailers. Nintendo launched a new Pokedex app on the Japanese iOS App Store today, while Microsoft and Sony both revealed the deals they have in store for Black Friday.

We found out that a poll which claimed lagging consumer interest in Windows 8 may not be entirely trustworthy, and a new Apple HDTV product was tipped for an incoming reveal. The Google Maps app for iOS is nearing the finishing touches stage of development according to a source close to the project, while Justin Timberlake showed off the new MySpace today. Apple is killing off the Messages beta for Lion users next month, and finally tonight, scientists have discovered that human ancestors were using spears as far back as 500,000 years ago. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the weekend folks!

The franchise’s previous record was when Modern Warfare 3 made $400 million in sales last year, which equates to 6.5 million copies sold in the US and UK. We weren’t given an exact figure as far as how many copies of Black Ops II were sold on the first day, but it’s obviously a lot more than 6.5 million.

Black Ops II moved 1 million copies at GameStop on the first day alone, while Amazon noted that the game became the site’s most pre-ordered game ever. Activision will no doubt announce the game’s five-day sales numbers, since it did the same with Modern Warfare 3 last year, which scrounged up $775 million in sales in the first five days.

Based on last year’s figures, we can only assume that Black Ops II will see an even bigger five-day sales number, which could possibly reach the $1 billion mark (yes, with a “B”). This launch marks the fourth consecutive year in which a Call of Duty game has eclipsed all previous entertainment launches of that particular year.

We learned today that Call of Duty: Black Ops II sold 1 million copies at GameStop alone on launch day – news that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone – and Rockstar delivered the second trailer for Grand Theft Auto V after weeks of new screenshots and news for the highly anticipated game. RIM CEO Thorsten Heins is confident that BlackBerry 10 will be a big hit when it arrives early next year, while the HTC Windows Phone 8X and Nokia Lumia 820 landed at T-Mobile today.

Steve Wozniak expressed his fear that Microsoft is doing more to innovate than Apple is, while we learned that text messaging is showing a decline for the first time ever. The HTC DLX – better known by the name of HTC DROID DNA here in the United States – will be launching in China on December 6, while AT&T launched its 4G LTE network in a number of new markets today. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has been added to the Queen’s royal collection, and sadly, the final issue of Nintendo Power has been finished, which means that the magazine’s offices have gone dark.

We heard the very sad news that Texas Instruments plans to lay off 1,700 workers in an attempt to save some cash, while Google added one-click app installs to Google Plus feeds today. One father went to the trouble of changing the text in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker to show his daughter that it isn’t always boys who get to be the hero, some EA Origin members are having issues with hijacked accounts, and the Facebook Pages feed is ready for some time in the spotlight.

Finally tonight, we have a couple of different reviews coming your way, both from Chris Burns. First up we’ve got a review of Roger Dean’s Dragons Dream for iOS, followed by a review of the HTC Windows Phone 8X from T-Mobile. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

The new Call of Duty title went on sale at midnight on Tuesday morning, and it was reported that GameStop locations all over the country were seeing long lines hours before the launch. According to a statement made by Activision, Black Ops II “shattered pre-order records” that were set last year by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

According to Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson, retailers may sell between 6.5 million and 7.2 million copies in the US and UK in the first 24 hours, and the first 24 hours of sales for a new video game typically equate to 25% to 35% of the total sales through December, according to Olson. Amazon tweeted a couple days ago that Black Ops II has become the online retailer’s most pre-ordered game ever.

Last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 sales hit 6.5 million units in the US and UK in the first 24 hours of release, which equated to a cool $400 million in just a single day. The game went on to earn $775 million in five days. How well will Black Ops II sell? Most likely even better than Modern Warfare 3.

[via Bloomberg]

Specifically, it seems that disc 2 in some copies of Black Ops II actually house install data for Mass Effect 2. Luckily, physical copies of the PC version come with Steam codes, so those who ended up buying half of one game and half of another can redeem the codes and download a complete copy of Black Ops II. This is clearly a mistake in the manufacturing process, with someone labeling Mass Effect 2 discs as Black Ops II discs instead.

Of course, Mass Effect and Call of Duty have nothing to do with one another and are made by entirely different developers and publishers. Mass Effect is an Electronic Arts series while Call of Duty is an Activision series, and many of you know that Activision and EA have a rivalry that goes back years. Aside for the annoyance this is bound to cause PC players who opted for a physical copy of the game, the whole situation is quite funny. Check out the video below for evidence of the mixed up discs, but be warned that it contains some salty language.

At the moment, neither Activision nor Electronic Arts have commented on the mix up, though we’re pretty sure they’re just as confused as all the rest of us. In any case, if you were planning to pick up a physical copy of Black Ops II on PC today, it might be a better idea just to skip it and go through Steam since there’s a chance you’ll end up there anyway. Have any of you PC players found a Mass Effect 2 disc masquerading as Black Ops II, or was your copy good to go?

[via Joystiq]

The Call of Duty series has been a huge hit ever since the original title was released back in 2003. Last year’s installment, Modern Warfare 3, saw $400 million in sales just on the first day alone, selling 6.5 million copies in North America and the UK. The first Black Ops title garnered $360 million in sales, while the previous title, Modern Warfare 2, earned $310 million.

Obviously, there’s an upward trend happening, and if history is any indication, Black Ops II will most likely shoot past $400 million within the first 24 hours of availability. People were lined up at GameStop hours before the game’s release at midnight, and IGN even conducted a poll that found that 26% of gamers planned on skipping work or school to play the new game.

Of course, any diehard Call of Duty fan has played hooky at least once during a launch day (myself included, back in the day), but 26% is a fairly high number today, especially for a game series that has seen a yearly launch for the past six years or so, proving that the series hasn’t died down just yet.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops II DLC Season Pass costs $49.99 and gives you access to all four map packs that will release throughout all next year. By purchasing a Season Pass, you’ll now be able to grab the Nuketown Zombies map for free starting in December for the Xbox 360, with PC and PlayStation 3 gamers getting the map at a later date.

Previously, the only way to get the Nuketown Zombies content was to pre-order one of the three special editions of Black Ops II, which consists of the Hardened Edition ($79.99), the Care Package Edition ($179.99), or the PC-only Digital Deluxe Edition ($79.99). Gamers who pre-ordered the regular edition weren’t eligible. Those who pre-ordered one of these special editions will be able to enjoy the Nuketown Zombies map on launch day.

According to the email, the companies decided to offer the Nuketown Zombies map “in response to the overwhelming amount of enthusiasm demonstrated by the Call of Duty community over Treyarch’s Zombies mode.” To coincide with the announcement, Activision released a screenshot from the Nuketown Zombies map (pictured above).

The folks at Treyarch and Activision have released a teaser trailer for this new season of Call of Duty Elite TV, though it doesn’t part with too many details. We’re told that Call of Duty Elite TV will give you information about maps and loadouts, divulge tips that come straight from the developers, and show off “epic community clips.” Call of Duty Elite TV will also be on “more platforms than ever,” including smartphones and tablets.

The best part is that Call of Duty Elite, and by extension Call of Duty Elite TV, will be available for free with Black Ops II. That means no more subscription fees, just all the information a Call of Duty die-hard could ever want. We have a feeling that this will make Black Ops II even harder to put down for some, but then again, we’re also pretty sure that’s precisely what Activision wants. Check out the teaser below.

Black Ops II is primed to be the biggest game of the year, though it has some stiff competition from the likes of Halo 4 and Assassin’s Creed III. It’s been a big couple of weeks for gaming already, and it’s going to get even bigger with next week’s launch of Black Ops II. Are you picking it up on launch day?

That means you can share your gaming prowess live on YouTube without needing any extra hardware or software. Just be sure before you share via live stream, that you are actually good at the game. The live streaming feature via YouTube will be available for Xbox 360 gamers and PS3 gamers.

I see no mention of the feature working for PC gamers. The feature is designed to allow live streaming of multiple player League Playing games and will stream the player’s webcam and audio commentary while playing. Knowing how gamers tend to talk when playing online, I imagine a lot of F bombs are about to be dropped on YouTube.

The Call of Duty Elite service expands the live streaming experience with other features such as the ability for viewers on Call of Duty Elite to see the player card of the user that is streaming. This information allows the viewer to dig deeper into the game to find information about class load outs, recent maps data, and career stats across the Call of Duty games on elite. The streaming video can be viewed by users on web browsers, mobile phones, and tablets via Call of Duty Elite and individual YouTube user channels.

Its earnings per share for the quarter also grew year-over-year and topped projections. The company is reporting a GAAP earnings per share of $0.20, rising $0.07 from the year prior and beating projections by a healthy $0.14. Non-GAAP net revenue came in at $751 million for the quarter, while non-GAAP earnings per share is at $0.15. Since the company performed better than expected in Q3, it has revised its forecast for the full year, now expecting GAAP net revenue to come in at $4.57 billion as compared to a previous projection of $4.33 billion.

In the earnings call to accompany this report, Blizzard‘s Mike Morhaime announced that the studio is planning an expansion to Diablo III, though didn’t give any other details on it. We also heard the unfortunate news that StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm won’t make a 2012 release, though that was pretty easy to figure out considering that it’s now November. Now Blizzard is shooting for a first-half 2013 release date for Heart of the Swarm, though it wouldn’t out an specific release date.

Now Activision is in its Q4, which will definitely be bigger than the quarters before it thanks to next week’s release of Black Ops II and the fact that the holiday shopping season will shortly be in full swing. Make no mistake, Black Ops II is going to make Activision a lot of money in Q4, as will Skylanders Giants. We’ll be watching for Activision’s next round of financials at the end of Q4, so keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more.

An impressive feat to be sure, especially when you consider that Halo 4 releases tomorrow and was leaked a month ago. Treyarch game design director David Vonderhaar mentioned the leak on Twitter, and didn’t seem too upset over the idea that the game had leaked, instead taking a shot at the people streaming gameplay videos. “If you are going to live-stream the game early, which I don’t remotely recommend, you could at least be good at it. :P,” he said, followed by, “I’m really glad people are excited for the game. Legit streams coming up later this week and early next. Watch this space.”

Eurogamer tracked down one of these videos, which shows off the game’s new zombie mode. We’ve posted it below as well, but be warned: you probably shouldn’t click the play button on that video if you don’t want things spoiled ahead of release. If you’re finding it hard to resist the temptation, just remember that there’s only a week left to go before legitimate copies of Black Ops II are available for everyone to play.

Truth be told, we’re not surprised that Black Ops II became the victim of a leak before its release, but we are surprised that Activision managed to keep it from leaking for this long. Then again, it could be that Activision was the one that leaked it in the first place, attempting to hype the game even more before it launches on November 13. Since Activision apparently doesn’t want to talk about the leak, it looks like we’ll just have to settle for conspiracy theories instead. Who’s picking up Black Ops II on launch day?

As it turns out, Murray wasn’t even questioned about Modern Warfare 4 by This Is Xbox founder Jason Andrews when they met on a flight out of the London Stansted Airport yesterday. Instead, he simply outed that he’ll be meeting with Activision and Infinity Ward on Monday, November 5, about his potential involvement in Modern Warfare 4 when Andrews told him that he was a big fan of the series. “Yeah, on Monday I am off to meet Infinity Ward about the next game, Modern Warfare 4,” Murray said. “I’m doing work on the sequel to Modern Warfare 3, it carries straight on and I only ever appear in the Modern Warfare games…”

So it seems that Modern Warfare 4 will pick up right where the last one left off. That’s good to know, but if Infinity Ward and Activision are just now getting together with Murray to discuss his role, then it seems safe to assume to that the game is in the relatively early stages of development. It’ll probably be months before Activision is ready to share the first details about Modern Warfare 4, especially with Black Ops 2 launching in just a couple weeks.

As stated above, it won’t shock anyone to know that Activision has yet another game in the pipeline, but the news here isn’t that Activision has a Call of Duty game coming up in 2013. The news, rather, is that Murray is claiming the next Infinity Ward-developed game in the series will continue the Modern Warfare story. We’ll find out if that’s actually the case in due time, but for now, we sit back and await the launch of Black Ops 2.

Update: Infinity Ward has responded to this Modern Warfare 4 rumor, saying on Twitter that there isn’t any truth to the story. “Interesting news today, but it’s not true,” Infinity Ward said. “We’ve not talked with any voice actors, so all news is speculation.” Looks like we’ll have to wait for official details from Infinity Ward or Activision before we can begin getting excited, folks!

The trailer is titled Surprise and aired on TV last night during Monday Night Football. Activision will also be airing the game worldwide on other high-profile TV broadcasts, including European football matches. Apparently, some of the other people you see in the trailer are “celebrities” including a French comedic actor Omar Sy.

Other cameos are by so-called Internet phenoms FPSRussia and iJustine. Activision has also announced that it has teamed up with Bad Robot Interactive to release a Call of Duty take over for the Bad Robot Action Movie FX app. That app is available so free download for Apple gadgets.

The app will let fans record video of real-world environments and then add in their own mayhem using weapons from Black Ops II. Fans can also use the scan function in the app to unlock exclusive new weapons in the app from the game. Black Ops II will be one of the biggest games of the year. You can check out the live-action launch trailer below.

Major Nelson has shared the activity chart for the week of October 15, which shows Minecraft snatching the top spot away from Modern Warfare 3. That has to be a pretty big achievement for Mojang and the folks at 4J Studios, as it isn’t often that Call of Duty gets unseated, and this time around, the unseating was done by an Xbox Live Arcade game. Sounds like it’s time to bust out the champagne.

Indeed, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has been well received by gamers. Just earlier this month, Mojang and 4J announced that the game had passed 4 million sales, which definitely isn’t bad for an Arcade title that launched in May. Have a look at the top 20 most popular games on Xbox Live for the week of October 15 below.

1. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
3. EA Sports FIFA Soccer 13
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops
5. Borderlands 2
6. Halo: Reach
7. Battlefield 3
8. Modern Warfare 2
9. Madden NFL 13
10. NBA 2K13
11. Happy Wars
12. Skyrim
13. Gears of War 3
14. RESIDENT EVIL 6
15. GTA IV
16. FIFA 12
17. Forza Motorsport 4
18. Dishonored
19. EA SPORTS NHL13
20. Halo 3

Of course, Minecraft also came in first on the list of top Arcade titles, managing to come in above titles like The Walking Dead and the freshly re-released Sonic Adventure 2. Can Minecraft keep it up? It’s hard to make that call – on the one hand, Minecraft is proving to be incredibly popular with Xbox 360 gamers, but on the other, Modern Warfare 3 has a ton of players, so it’s going to be hard to keep it out of the top spot. We shall see soon enough, but for now, we’ll just let Mojang and 4J revel in their victory.