While Activision is gearing up to have the largest entertainment launch of all time, EA isn’t exactly basking in the same success. In fact, they have announced today that they will be eliminated 1,500 employees in an attempt to cut costs and turn a profit.

EA says that eliminating these employees and shutting down several facilitates will give them an opportunity to “focus on titles with higher margin opportunities”.

Exactly what these titles are remains unknown.

via kotaku

Wondering just how successful Modern Warfare 2’s launch will be? Well, VGChartz has today reported that the title has been pre-ordered over 4.5 million times.

Additionally, it is predicted that the game will sell well over 6 million units in the first week netting Activision somewhere around $500 million making it the biggest entertainment launch in history. This means that its launch will produce more money in the first week than any movie, book, or music launches.

Now all we have to do and wait until it hits store shelves tomorrow to see how the game actually performs.

It’s no secret that Modern Warfare 2 has had just about as much hype around it as Halo 3 but considering the Activison’s title is multiconsole while Bungie’s is exclusive to the Xbox 360, it’s no surprise that MW2 would cause much more on an impact.

That impact was so big, in fact, that GameStop VP was quoted to have told Game Hunters:

“As of today, the number of pre-order reservations we’ve taken for the game is the highest for any title we’ve ever sold in our 6,200 store network.”

Now imagine how many people are going to be online on November 10th when the game hits store shelves.

If you’ve been following Modern Warfare 2 as close as possible you will know that a video of the first level leaked onto the internet yesterday. If you’re not a fan of spoilers, DO NOT READ ON.

The video showcased a group of terrorists proceeding through a airport gunning down a ridiculous amount of civilians in the process while one of the terrorists is controlled by the player. At the end of the video, the player controlled terrorist is shown getting betrayed by the rest of the group and is left on the ground to die.

Well, Activision has today commented on the video saying that the player has an option to skip this scene and is warned that it is potentially disturbing. They also have said that the level is in the game to show the player how urgently they need to stop this terrorist organization and that the game is intended for those 18 or older so they aren’t really in the wrong putting it in there.

Of course, this level is going to have a whole slew of negative media attention.

via thatvideogameblog

If you’ve yet to pick up one or more of the Call of Duty: World at War map packs and just so happen to own an Xbox 360, now is the perfect time to do so.

Major Nelson has just let us know that all 3 of the game’s map packs will be getting a 50% price cut which means Map Pack 1, 2 and 3 will be going for 400 Microsoft Points until November 1st.

Got it?

Earlier today we let you know that a petition for dedicated Modern Warfare 2 servers has garnered over 100,000 signatures. Now, Infinity Ward’s Jason West and Vince Zampella has come forth to comment on the petition and frankly, they aren’t having.

Apparently, instead of catering to the “modders and tuners” they are focusing on the player experience and trying to make it legit as possible. In fact, the two have said that they have received a large amount of complaints regarding cheating in Call of Duty 4 and the inability to find a server without a cheater.

So petitioners, blame it on the cheaters for no dedicated servers.

Read (Game Informer)

If you are dying to get Modern Warfare 2 before everyone else, Best Buy is giving you that chance. Just like most major retailers do with titles of such caliber, Best Buy is holding various midnight launches across the nation.

For those who have been living under a rock, Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 will be hitting store shelves for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on November 10th.

Hit the jump to see the lengthy list of midnight launch locations courtesy of Kotaku.

ALABAMA
Alabaster
Auburn
Hoover
Huntsville
Mobile
Montgomery
Oxford
Trussville

ALASKA
Anchorage

ARIZONA
Ahwatukee
Arrowhead
Avondale
Camelback
Casa Grande
Chandler
E. Tucson
Fiesta Mall
Flagstaff
Goodyear
North Scottsdale
Paradise Valley
Prescott
Scottsdale Shea
Superstition Sprg
S.W. Tucson
Thunderbird Rd
Tucson
Yuma

ARKANSAS
Fort Smith
Rogers

CALIFORNIA
Apple Valley
Bakersfield
Brentwood
Cerritos
Citrus Heights
City of Industry
Clovis
Colma
Corona
Costa Mesa
Culver City
Downey
Duarte
East Orange
Elk Grove
Fairfield
Fresno
Fullerton
Glendale
Hawthorne
Irvine
Jamboree
La Quinta
Lakewood
Long Beach
Manteca
Marina
Menifee
Mira Mesa
Mission Viejo
Montclair
Montebello
Moreno Valley East
Natomas
Northridge
Oceanside
Ontario
Orange
Oxnard
Pasadena
Pinole
Pleasant Hill
Porter Ranch
Rancho Cucamonga
Riverside
Roseville
San Bruno
San Carlos
San Francisco
Santa Clarita
Santa Maria
Santa Rosa
Santana Row
Sherman Oaks
Signal Hill
Simi Valley
Thousand Oaks
Torrance
Tracy
Tustin
Vallejo
Victorville
Visalia
West Covina
West Hollywood
West L.A.
Westminster Mall
Westwood
Woodland Hills
Yorba Linda

COLORADO
Arapahoe and Parker
Boulder
Colorado Springs II
First and Main
Fort Collins
Grand Junction
I-70 and Tower Rd.
Northglenn
Parker
S.E. Denver
Southwest
Westminster

CONNECTICUT
Manchester
West Hartford

DELAWARE
Christiana
Wilmington

FLORIDA
Aventura
Boca Raton
Bradenton
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Dadeland
Daytona Beach
Doral
Florida City
Fort Myers
Gainesville
Gulf Coast
Hialeah
Jacksonville N
Jensen Beach
Kissimmee
Lady Lake
Miami Beach
Millenia Mall
Oldsmar
Orange Park
Pembroke Pines
Pensacola
Pinecrest
Regency Mall
S. Tampa
Saint Johns
Sanford
Sawgrass
St. Petersburg
Tallahassee
Tropicaire
W. Kendall
W. Palm Beach
Waterford Lakes
Wesley Chapel
Winter Garden

GEORGIA
Alpharetta
Athens
Atlanta (Midtown)
Augusta
Columbus
Cumberland
Gainesville
Gwinnett
Kennesaw
Macon
Perimeter
Savannah

HAWAII
Aiea
Honolulu

IDAHO
Nampa
Twin Falls

ILLINOIS
Algonquin
Arlington Heights
Bloomingdale
Bloomington
Bolingbrook
Burbank
Butterfield Road
Champaign
Crystal Lake
Dekalb
Edwardsville
Evanston
Geneva
Gurnee
Harlem and Irving
Joliet
Kankakee
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Mundelein
North Avenue
Orland Park
Schaumburg
Springfield
Tinley Park
Vernon Hills
W. Dundee

INDIANA
Apple Glen Cross
Bloomington
Clarksville
Evansville
Fort Wayne
Greenwood
Kokomo
Lafayette
Mishawaka
Muncie
Valparaiso

IOWA
Ames
Ankeny
Cedar Rapids
Davenport
Des Moines I
Des Moines II
Iowa City
Waterloo

KANSAS
Lawrence
Manhattan
Oak Park
Olathe
Overland Park
Topeka

KENTUCKY
Bowling Green
Elizabethtown
Florence
Hamburg Pavillion
Lexington
Outer Loop
Shelbyville

LOUISIANA
Baton Rouge
Lafayette
Lake Charles
Shreveport
Veterans Blvd.
Westbank

MAINE
Bangor

MARYLAND
Arundel Mills
Frederick
Germantown
Glen Burnie
Hunt Valley
Lexington Park
Rockville

MASSACHUSETTS
Brockton
Milford
North Dartmouth
Pittsfield
Saugus
Seekonk
South Bay
Taunton
Worcester

MICHIGAN
Allen Park
Ann Arbor
Brighton
Farmington Hills
Flint
Grand Rapids II
Gratiot
Kalamazoo
Lansing
Madison Heights/Troy
Novi
Port Huron
Saginaw
Southfield

MINNESOTA
Apple Valley
Baxter
Blaine
Duluth
Maple Grove
Minnetonka
Northtown
Oakdale
Richfield
Roseville
Shakopee

MISSISSIPPI
Gulfport
Hattiesburg

MISSOURI
Cape Girardeau
Columbia
Lees Summit
Manchester
Mid Rivers Mall
South County
Watson Road

MONTANA
Billings
Kalispell
Missoula

NEBRASKA
Lincoln
Omaha
W. Omaha

NEVADA
Carson Valley
Centennial
Henderson
Las Vegas II
Maryland Parkway
Reno
Sparks
Summerlin
S.W. Las Vegas

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Manchester
Nashua
Salem

NEW JERSEY
Cherry Hill
Deptford
E. Hanover
East Brunswick
Holmdel
Manahawkin
Manalapan
Mount Laurel
Rockaway
Secaucus
South Brunswick
Union
Vauxhall
West Paterson
Woodbridge

NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque
Farmington
Santa Fe
W Albuquerque II

NEW YORK
Albany
Bay Shore
Broadway (NoHo)
Big Flats
Clarence
Commack
Hartsdale
Henrietta
Huntington Station
Ithaca
Liverpool
Patchogue
Rego Park
Riverhead
Syracuse
Vestal
W. Nyack
Westbury

NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville
Asheville South
Burlington
Cary
Charlotte North Lake
Durham New Hope Commons
Durham Renaissance Court
Gastonia
Greensboro
Greenville
Hickory
Jacksonville
Monroe
Rocky Mount
University Place
Waynesville
Wilmington
Wilson
Winston-Salem

NORTH DAKOTA
Fargo

OHIO
Avon
Canton
Chapel Hill
Colerain
Dayton Mall
Eastgate
Elyria
Fairfield Township
Fields Ertel
Findlay
Grove City
Lancaster
Mansfield
Mayfield Road
Mentor
Niles
Parma
Polaris
Sandusky
Springfield
Strongsville
Toledo
Tri-County
Tuttle Crossing
Western Hills
Youngstown

OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City North
Owasso
Tulsa

OREGON
Gresham
Salem
Springfield

PENNSYLVANIA
Altoona
Century III
Cranberry
Erie
Harrisburg East
Mechanicsburg
Monaca
No. Fayette
No. Hills Village
Oxford Valley
Pittsburgh Mills
Plymouth Meeting
S. Philadelphia
Scranton
Selinsgrove
So. Hills
State College
Stroudsburg
Whitehall
Wilkes Barre

RHODE ISLAND
Middletown

SOUTH CAROLINA
Anderson
Charleston
Florence
Greenville
Myrtle Beach
Summerville
Two Notch

SOUTH DAKOTA
Rapid City
Sioux Falls

TENNESSEE
Johnson City
Kingsport
Knoxville
Memphis
Mt. Juliet
Nashville West
Rivergate

TEXAS
Abilene
Allen
Baybrook
Baytown
Beaumont
Brownsville
Corpus Christi
Denton
East El Paso
East Houston
El Paso
Flower Mound
Fort Worth
Forum
Frisco
Galleria
Grand Parkway
Gulfgate
Heritage Trace
Hulen
Lake Jackson
Laredo
Legacy
Lubbock
McAllen
Midland
Midway/LBJ
N. Garland
N. McAllen
No. Austin
North Arlington
North Irving
North Rim
Pasadena
Pearland
Price Plaza
Ridgmar
Rockwall
Rosenberg
San Angelo
San Antonio
San Marcos
So. Austin
South Fort Worth
Sugarland
Texarkana
Victoria
Victory Lakes
W. Oaks
W. San Antonio
Waxahachie
Weatherford
West El Paso
West McAllen
Wichita Falls
Woodlands

UTAH
Logan
Murray
Orem
Riverdale
South Salt Lake

VERMONT
Williston

VIRGINIA
Charlottesville
Chesapeake
Chesterfield
Christianburg
Fairlakes
Fredericksburg
Leesburg
Lynchburg
Newport News
Princess Anne
Reston
Roanoke
Springfield Mall
Stafford
Sterling
Virginia Beach
Virginia Center Commons
W. Broad
Williamsburg

WASHINGTON
Bellevue
Bellingham
Burlington
E. Spokane
Everett
Olympia
Puyallup
Seattle-Northgate
Spokane North

WEST VIRGINIA
Granville
Huntington

WISCONSIN
Bluemound Plaza
E. Madison
Green Bay
Kenosha
La Crosse
Racine
Southridge
W. Madison

WYOMING
Casper

If you’re dying to get get your hands on DJ Hero and happen to live by a GameStop, you’re in luck — Activision has recently announced that they are teaming up with GameStop to give the general public a chance to play DJ Hero this Sunday, October 11th from 10:00am – 6:00pm.

The best part about this promotion is that it is going on at every GameStop across the nation and even gives you the opportunity to win prizes scuh as a chance to meet Eminem and attend one of his concerts in New Orleans, among other things like Xbox 360s, the game and more.

Full list of prizes below courtesy of Joystiq:

Grand Prize (1 Winner)

• VIP trip for you and a friend to EMINEM’s concert at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans on October 30, 2009
• Exclusive invitation to EMINEM’s sound check
• VIP meet and greet with EMINEM
• 2 Xbox 360 DJ Hero Renegade Editions signed by EMINEM
• 2 Xbox 360 consoles
• 2 Xbox LIVE Messenger Gold Packs
• 2 DJ Hero exclusive prize packs

1st Runner Up (10 Winners)

• Xbox 360 DJ Hero Renegade Edition signed by EMINEM
• Xbox 360 console
• Xbox LIVE Messenger Gold Pack

2nd Runner Up (1,000 Winners)

DJ Hero exclusive prize pack including: DJ Hero hat, keychain, pen and sticker

DJ Hero’s October 27th release date is quickly approaching so it would only make sense that Activision would let us in on the various pre-order bonuses you will recieve while purchasing the game at various retailers.

Below is the full list of pre-order bonuses you will recieve courtesy of Destructoid:

• Amazon.com – Pre-order DJ Hero and DJ Hero Renegade Edition from Amazon.com and get a $5 credit towards the music tracks that inspired the music for the game
• Best Buy – Pre-order DJ Hero from Best Buy and receive a free code that unlocks a Daft Punk level
• GameStop – Pre-order DJ Hero and DJ Hero Renegade Edition and receive two free playable song downloads
• Guitar Hero Store – Pre-order DJ Hero and DJ Hero Renegade Edition and receive free two-day shipping
• Hollywood/GameCrazy – Pre-order DJ Hero and receive an exclusive turntable slipmat
• Walmart.com – Pre-order DJ Hero at Wal-Mart.com and receive a $10 electronic gift card

Honestly? I think I’d go with the Guitar Hero Store and get free 2 day shipping because everything else seems, well, not exciting whatsoever. I mean honestly, a turntable slipmat from GameCrazy? What were they thinking?

We just got word that Activision is preparing to cut half of 7 Studios staff which comes out to about 30 employees. The remaining employees will reportedly be tasked with future music titles.

For those who don’t know 7 Studios its most likely because most of the game’s were based on movies such as Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Carribean.

Everyone here at DigitalBattle wishes the laid off employees the best of luck and hope for some great new titles out of 7 Studios.

via kotaku

Out of all of the video game movies that have been rumored to come out, one of the one that seems the most likely to actually make it to the big screen is the one based on World of Warcraft.

When the movie was first conceived it was listed as just Warcraft however, a recent update to the title’s IMDB listing let us know that it will officially be called Warcraft: The Rise of the Lich King. This leads us to believe that either they scrapped the original idea and went for a more Lich King approach or just had this story from the beginning.

Either or, you’re sure to be hearing more about this movie as its release date grows closer, whenever that may be.

via thatvideogameblog

It was recently made known that Activision has recently filed a trademark on the Call of Duty name when used with “pre-recorded movies featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure, music, theatrical performances and/or animations”.

Now it’s no secret that Activision has made more than enough money off of the Call of Duty franchise and is looking to make even more money off of Modern Warfare 2. However, if they come out with Modern Warfare The Broadway Show, I won’t be buying Modern Warfare 3.

via thatvideogameblog

USA Today has recently reported that Activision and Infinity Ward are gearing up to air a brand new Modern Warfare 2 during Sunday Night Football this weekend.

According to the report it will air during the game that will pit the San Diego Chargers against the Pittsburgh Steelers at 8PM ET. Of course, if you can’t tune in you can always just check YouTube or anywhere else as it’s sure to be plastered across the internet.

With the June release of World of Warcraft branded Game Fuel, one would be led to believe that Activision Blizzard would again strike a deal with Mountain Dew for a similar Modern Warfare 2 drink. However, those who thought this would be wrong as Activision is aiming for a drink with a bit more caffeine, namely Monster Energy.

That’s right, what you see above is the Modern Warfare 2 branded Monster Energy Drink, entitled Assault, that will hit store shelves sometime next month to hype the public up for the game’s presumably massive release.

What’s even better is those who purchase said energy drink will be given the chance to win a whole slew of prizes like Modern Warfare 2 itself, codes for a map pack due for a spring 2010 release, MW 2 Xbox 360 and PS3 themes and free Monster Energy drinks.

Read (Kotaku)

Considering it’s massive scale (in terms of hype and such) you would think that Infinity Ward would want as much beta testing as possible for Modern Warfare 2 but it’s seems like they have got said testing covered in house.

A tweet posted up on Infinity Ward’s twitter today notified us of the unfortunate news:

@FTGDS No plan for a Demo before launch. The entire team is focused on polish all the way up to ship of the full game. (via @fourzerotwo)

Now if there are bugs in the game we can blame Infinity Ward instead of a careless beta tester. Woo!

Additionally, there is also the Logitech Wireless Drum Controller for Wii that will also ship in October for $229. This controller apparently uses hardware similar to that found in professional digital drum sets so the quality is just as high as the above mentioned guitar controller.

Either way, you’re still getting the same gameplay value from these controllers as you are from the controllers that ship with the game. But, if you have to have the best, these are up there.

via destructoid

The above screen shot was taken at the Games Crazy Con that recently went on in Las Vegas where Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling took the main stage to give us a live demo of the game. Sure, the screen shot is blurry but you can definitely make out duel wielded Desert Eagles if you look close enough.

Not to mention the below Tweet from Bowling’s Twitter:

Just walked off stage. Crowd was amazing, went insane chanting “pick it up!” when I stumbled over Dual-wield Deagles. lol – Akimbo confirmed

Modern Warfare 2 will hit store shelve for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on November 10th of this year.

via modernwarfare247

What you see above is a 7-minute video showcasing the hard work that went into making the latest Guitar Hero 5 ad. Sorry boys, no nudity here.

Activison’s Guitar Hero 5 will be out for the PS3, PS2, Xbox 360 and Wii on September 1st.

Need I say more?

What you see above is a screenshot taken of a teaser site Square Enix has recently put up. As you can see, there is Japanese letting that spells out quotes from Napolean, Patton and more in front of a huge 2 that bares an uncanny resemblance to the one found in all of the Modern Warfare 2 promotional material.

Coincidence? I think not.