For the second year running, Activision’s “
Call of Duty” franchise has broken all-time entertainment industry opening day records.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops,” the latest installment in the $3 billion franchise, had opening day sales of $360 million in the U.S. and U.K – a number no entertainment property (film, game or book) has ever come close to.
[Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris looks 
forward from the tumultuous midnight launch of Call Of Duty: Black Ops to ask where Activision’s franchise goes from here, examining what Infinity Ward’s shifts mean for 2011’s CoD installment and beyond.]
As bleary eyed GameStop employees recover from last night’s midnight launches and fans begin tearing through Call Of Duty: Black Ops, Activision’s phenomenally successful franchise stands at something of a crossroads.
The fate of Black Ops is hardly in doubt, of course. Pre-orders are already telling us that it will dominate software industry sales this year. And while Activision is publicly saying it doesn’t expect the game to meet Modern Warfare 2’s numbers, several analysts feel that’s just the company taking a conservative stand to protect itself against investor backlash if the numbers really do fall short.
A year ago, “Call of Duty: Modern 
Warfare 2” set an all-time entertainment industry record, generating $310 million in sales in its first 24 hours. On Tuesday, its successor will try to top that.
Right now, the odds look pretty good.
Retail sales might be in the tank, but that doesn’t 
mean 2010 has been a year of bad video games. It’s quite the opposite, in fact.
While shoppers have been more picky about what they buy — and spending more time with games that have extensive multiplayer elements — there are a lot of highly rated titles on shelves and others coming soon. The good news? That makes it easy for gift buyers to find something for everyone.
Here are some suggestions that can’t be overlooked.
When Electronic Arts announced its reboot of its 
“Medal of Honor” franchise would be set in modern-day Afghanistan, it probably didn’t expect to come under this much fire.
Game industry detractors have skewered the company for its initial decision to make the Taliban playable in the game’s multiplayer portion. And analysts (along with investors) worried that the game’s release date put it squarely between two of the year’s biggest titles, which could have a dramatically negative impact on sales. Now, the game’s fate is in the hands of gamers.
Last year, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” 
set an all-time entertainment industry record for opening day sales – and has gone on to become one of the best selling titles in the industry’s history.
No one was expecting the follow-up – “Call of Duty: Black Ops – to match those numbers, but a comment today from a GameStop executive might have some people rethinking their estimates.
Bowing to pressure from consumers, the military and retailers, Electronic Arts has made a last minute change to its upcoming “Medal of Honor” video game and will no longer allow players to play as the Taliban in the game’s multiplayer mode.
Citing feedback from friends and family of fallen soldiers, the company on Friday announced in a blog post that the enemy in the multiplayer component of the game would be renamed “Opposing Force” to mute the controversy.
“Medal of Honor,” the revival of one of Electronic 
Arts biggest franchises, has been taking a lot of fire lately. But now the publisher is ready to go on the offensive.
For the past month, several parties have targeted the title after it was disclosed that gamers could play as the Taliban in the game’s multiplayer mode.
[What’s the right balance between quality and release spacing for theHalo franchise, pre- and post-Bungie? Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris 
examines how other franchises have been affected by more regular iteration.]
Within four days of its release, fans spend the equivalent of over 2,300 man-years playing Halo: Reach. While Bungie’s sendoff to its most famous franchise is certainly a resounding success, though, the long-term fate of Halo is starting to become more questionable.
On Wednesday, Microsoft corporate VP Phil Spencer told IGN that the company is looking to increase the frequency of Halo releases.
When “Halo: Reach” goes on sale at 12:01 am 
Tuesday morning, it won’t just be the biggest gaming event of the year to date. It will likely be the entertainment industry’s biggest moment of the year.
Microsoft is betting big on the latest installment of its flagship franchise, and it has every reason to do so. Life to date, the company has sold more than 34 million ‘Halo’ games – and each major new release has shattered any Day One sales records set by the film, music or gaming industries.
Chris Morris: Journalist 