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so he can buy the new ”Call

2009-11-07T15:59:13+01:00

NEW YORK -This holiday season's biggest entertainment blockbuster likely will be a sequel to a popular franchise, with jarring depictions of war and an intricate story of good versus evil. It could easily rake in more than last year's record $155 million opening weekend for "The Dark Knight."But this blockbuster is not a movie.It is "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," a video game that Activision Blizzard Inc. is releasing Tuesday. Fans worldwide are expected to spend at least half a billion dollars on the game in the first week.That would at least match last year's "Grand Theft Auto IV," which was the most successful video game release in history and might have been the top entertainment launch ever.Justin Criswell, 31, plans to line up at a GameStop store in Brooklyn on Monday night so he can buy the new "Call of Duty" when it goes on sale after midnight, for $60. It's available for PCs, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3."Ever since they announced it, me and most of the friends that I play with have been crazy excited about it," Criswell said. Once he gets a copy, he plans to stay up much of the night to play it online with friends and relatives scattered in Tennessee, California, Ohio and Florida."Those who have to work the next day have taken the day off," he said.Like the previous five "Call of Duty" games, which are all rated "M" for mature (not for kids under 17), this one lets players shoot their way through a complex series of

While video games are

2009-11-07T15:54:49+01:00

scenes. The game's developer, Infinity Ward, spent two years creating realistic graphics that are amplified in many players' homes by big-screen, high-definition TVs sets and powerful speakers. It's like stepping into a movie.A big part of the game's appeal is in its multiplayer component — players can fight each other, whether they're at the same game console or in separate locations and connected online.Or a player can dive in alone and get swept into the game's plot, which picks up where "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," left off. That game ended with victory over a Russian terrorist, but he was just part of a larger conspiracy. This time, the target is an even more vicious leader of the Russian Ultranationalist movement. Settings include a snowbound Siberian base, a leafy American suburb and the burning streets of Washington, D.C. One trailer for the game shows a glimpse of action in outer space.While video games are increasingly marketed to men and women of all ages as mainstream entertainment, the core demographic for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" is mainly guys.For David Dague, 36, who lives in Chicago, the launch of "Modern Warfare 2" is like the beginning of football season for a sports fan. Because he can play the game with other people, joining up in "clans" or fighting against them, "Call of Duty" is like "paintball in a

with each installment doing

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box," he said. Better yet, paintball on a couch."Playing against other living, thinking players becomes a competitive pastime," said Dague, who runs a Web community for adults who play multiplayer games on the Xbox 360. Dague said he plans to play "Modern Warfare 2" for about two hours at a time, two to three nights a week."I don't watch soap operas, I don't watch football. Multiplayer gaming is where my competitive spirit gets its outlet," he said.Activision is working with retailers to plan more than 10,000 midnight openings in the United States, including most of the 4,300 GameStop Corp. stores around the country. It won't give numbers, but GameStop says pre-orders for "Modern Warfare 2" hit an all-time high.In all, about 28 million "Call of Duty" games have been sold in the United States, with each installment doing better at launch than the previous one, said NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier. Optimism about the latest title led Activision on Thursday to reaffirm its outlook for 2009. It expects more than $2 billion in revenue for the current quarter — roughly half of the year's total.Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter estimates Activision is spending as much as $50 million to market the game, including TV spots, billboards and ads on social-networking sites. Activision won't say how much the game cost to make, but most blockbusters require tens of millions of dollars.For Criswell and Dague's

shuttered on Friday, a day

2009-11-07T15:46:34+01:00

generation, video games are entertainment on par with movies, except they last many more hours and immerse players in stories in which their actions affect the outcome.Patrick Kienbauer, an 18-year-old student in Austria, said the game's last installment, which has sad background music and a "comfortless ambiance," let him "feel the cruelty and violence of war." He's already ordered a copy of "Modern Warfare 2" so he can get it as quickly as possible.If this sequel does its job, it will not only pick up where the last one ended but also advance the story in ways that will shock and surprise him — and keep him coming back for mSAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -US online music service Bluebeat said it plans to fight British recording label EMI over rights to stream and sell versions of Beatles songs.Bluebeat.com and sister website Basebeat.com were shuttered on Friday, a day after a judge in Los Angeles granted a request by EMI to bar Beatles tunes from the online venues."We are going to come back and fight another day," Bluebeat co-founder and chief executive Hank Risan told AFP. "We think we are going to win in court."A hearing on whether to remove the restraining order is set for November 20.In a written ruling issuing the restraining order, US District Court Judge John Walter indicated that he was shown no evidence supporting

Bluebeat before it was shut

2009-11-07T15:42:05+01:00

Bluebeat's claim that it wasn't infringing on EMI's rights to Beatles songs."They need to understand that we've done everything lawfully," Risan said. "The works are independent creations done using new psycho-acoustic modeling or simulation."Risan described the process as creating high-tech versions of "cover bands" that imitate artists' works in virtual environments and add new sounds.The fact songs may seem to sound identical to original recordings is a trick of the brain, he said."Those works do embody the melody very much," Risan said of psycho-acoustic renditions. "But if you compare them against the original CD they sound quite different."Beatles albums listed at Bluebeat before it was shut down Friday included "re-mastered" works released in September. Songs from a cornucopia of major artists were available at Bluebeat before it was unplugged.Risan said music at Bluebeat fell in the category of "simulated performances" and that the music service had proper licensing to stream or sell those songs."We are not re-recording the songs," Risan said. "The law allows you to mimic, copy and imitate. Instead of having a cover band that looks and acts like the Beatles we do it all in a virtual 3D environment."In his ruling, Walter brushed aside Bluebeat's contention

notoriously leery of making

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that it wasn't violating copyright laws.Bluebeat did not submit any reliable evidence to support its claim that it "independently developed their own original sounds," the judge said.Walter added that he believed EMI was likely to win its copyright infringement case against the Internet firm.EMI owns the rights to Beatles recordings and collaborates with Apple Corps on distribution of the music.EMI said that Bluebeat, which streamed music free and offered MP3 downloads of songs for 25 cents each, is not authorized distribute Beatles tunes.Apple Corps was the Beatles recording label and is controlled by surviving members of the legendary 1960s-era band and spouses of the late John Lennon and George Harrison.Apple Corps has been notoriously leery of making Beatles music available for digital download, eschewing even allowing songs to be delivered to iPod or iPhone devices through the globally popular iTunes online store.Beatles music made a tentative step in September toward a digital future with the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" videogame devoted to the group's music and performances.Another step was taken Wednesday with the announcement that EMI and Apple Corps will make a re-mastered catalogue of Beatles music available digitally on lim