The launch window 
has been a rocky one for Activision’s Call of Duty Elite, but even with a few bugs remaining, the publisher is ready to start ramping things up.
This Friday, members of the subscription service will get the chance to see the first installment of Friday Night Fights, an original entertainment series that’s produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott’s RSA Films.
If Ralph 
Edwards were alive today, there’s a good chance he’d be working at Amuse Me.
The French company is offering a modern twist on the classic “This is Your Life” formula by customizing games for individuals.
The smartest thing 
the developers of Hardest Game Ever – 0.02s PRO did in making the game was give the player an infinite number of chances. You’ll need them, but you won’t mind, since the series of mini-games the app presents are both fun and addicting. That’s not to say they’re easy, though — by any means. It may not be the actual “hardest game ever,” but it is demanding, and that’s the heart of its charm. Replaying the games again and again doesn’t really get old. It’s a terrific time killer for people who only have a few moments to play.
uDraw Pictionary: Ultimate 
Edition is a faithful video game recreation of the classic game and creates a modern twist on family game night. While drawing with the uDraw tablet peripheral isn’t as natural — or as fast — as drawing on paper, it adds a twist to the game that many players will enjoy. It’s certainly better than using the controls on a typical game device — even the Wii.
The game offers several gameplay modes to cater to a wide audience and stays true to its family roots by offering different difficulty levels of clues for kids. Some of the wacky things that can happen in the harder Pictionary Mania mode include the lights going out as you draw, the drawing surface rotating, and you are given a limited to the amount of ink to use. The game’s biggest failing, though unavoidable, is that clues appear on the TV screen. Some players might be tempted to sneak a peak while others have their eyes closed. And in a game whose fun lies in guessing and bad drawings, that could spoil some of the fun. If you and your family can resist that, though, this is one of the most family friendly titles on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Google TV was 
the biggest thing that didn’t happen at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. Released with a lot of fanfare in late 2010, it immediately hit resistance and most television manufacturers quickly scrapped plans to include it in their 2011 sets.
The system probably won’t have much of a presence at the 2012 CES either, but it looks to have found an ally with one of the largest names in TV.
Those brave 
enough to dive into the early morning insanity of Black Friday can find TVs, computers and smart phones for mere pennies on the dollar.
This year, though, some of the best bargains will be found on video games. As the industry struggles to boost retail sales and consoles hit middle age, the discounting on some of the year’s best titles will be hard to resist — assuming you’re willing to wake up early for the doorbuster specials.
The NFL 
has blitzed Blitz.
Late hits, one of the signature features of the bone-jarring arcade football franchise, won’t be a part of its next iteration. The league has asked EA to remove them from the game.
The Entertainment 
Software Ratings Board is about to expand its territory.
The ESRB and CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association) have called a press conference for next week to announce a new rating system for mobile applications – an area the video game ratings board has had an interest in for some time.
We certainly have 
no problem getting caught up in the fun of playing games, but the people who create them have their pocketbooks to worry about, too. In this column, finance expert and GameSpy contributor Chris Morris guides you through the tricky corridors the gaming industry’s financial side, touching on big-time business decisions and how they matter to the common gamer.
On the surface, giving your product away for free – especially if it has been a revenue generator for you for years – doesn’t make a lot of sense. But sometimes, that sort of radical move can be the kick in the pants aging games need to become relevant once more in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Case in point: Sony Online Entertainment, which may not have started the MMO trend, but certainly was the first to truly capitalize on it, has been spending a lot of time lately exploring the free-to-play business model, converting a pair of games that have historically charged monthly subscription fees. And the early trends are astonishingly encouraging.
The retro craze 
is going big.
New Line Pictures has announced that it plans to make a cinematic adaptation of Rampage, the 1980s arcade game that centered entirely around three giant monsters with a penchant for demolishing buildings, punching tanks, and eating people, food, and toilets.
That said, it still sounds better than Jack & Jill.
Chris Morris: Journalist 