While 
there’s an understandable excitement that surrounds the launch of new video game hardware, the real fun usually doesn’t start until a year or so after the systems hit store shelves.
Last year’s launch of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, if we’re being honest with ourselves, didn’t have an especially stellar lineup of games. But the story’s much different as 2014’s holiday season gets underway—and that’s good news for players.
Activision’s 
annual release of “Call of Duty” is always a watershed event for the industry.
Since 2007, the series has been the video game industry’s sales leader, raking in billions of dollars for the publisher. But after last year’s “Call of Duty: Ghosts” stumbled, analysts are now wondering if consumer fatigue may finally be descending on the franchise.
A 
Los Angeles Superior Court judge has shot down former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega’s lawsuit against the makers of the “Call of Duty” video game franchise.
Judge William H. Fahey agreed with Activision-Blizzard that the suit, which claimed Noriega’s appearance in “Call of Duty: Black Ops II,” used his name and image without permission, was protected under free speech and should be dismissed.
Wal-Mart, 
which took the plunge into the used video game business in March, is leveling up.
The retailer on Tuesday announced the launch of a certified preowned program in 1,700 stores nationwide, finally putting those games it has been offering store credit for over the last seven months back up for sale. It’s a move that heightens the growing battle between Wal-Mart and GameStop.
Activision-Blizzard 
has tapped America’s favorite mayor to help defend its “Call of Duty” franchise from former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega.
Bracewell Giuliani will represent the company in its defense against claims by the former ruler that the videogame publisher unlawfully used his image for monetary gain. And leading the charge is former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who will serve as co-council on the defense team. His first step: Filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Monday morning in the Superior Court of the State of California.
Manuel 
Noriega, the former Panamanian dictator who has spent the better part of the past 25 years in prison, is suing Activision Blizzard for using his name and image in its “Call of Duty” video game series.
Noriega appeared in “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” as both an in-game character and one who appeared in news clips throughout the game. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the former ruler accused the publisher of unlawfully using his image for monetary gain.
Manuel 
Noriega – yes, that Manuel Noriega – is not at all happy to have been a character in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. And now the former Panamanian dictator is suing Activision for including him in the game.
Noriega, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged the game made him out to be “a kidnapper, murderer and enemy of the state” – and he wants a cut of the game’s profits as compensation.
It’s 
not exactly a surprise that a new Call of Duty game will be launching in November, but there’s something about the upcoming Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that seems a bit different.
It might be the tone, which appears to be darker than previous games in the series (which were hardly chuckle-fests themselves). Or it could be the prominent presence of a fully-rendered Kevin Spacey, whose starring role in the game was foreshadowed yesterday.
One thing’s for sure: It’s not the name.
Griefing 
over Xbox Live has taken on new, dangerous proportions.
One particularly bitter opponent called the Long Island SWAT team on his opponent after losing a game of Call of Duty.
The 
breakout star of Call of Duty: Ghosts was the dog. Could the breakout star of the game’s downloadable content be the Doggy Dogg?
Call of Duty: Ghosts, which has been getting stranger with each recent DLC release, has amped up the weirdness with a new ‘voice pack’ featuring none other than the rapper/actor/weed enthusiast.
Chris Morris: Journalist 