Call of Duty 3 has gotten some next-gen props for placing you in the forefront of one of the bloodiest battles in the history of man: the Normandy Breakout en route to the liberation of Paris. This videos show the Bravo Pack maps flaunting the Rimling and Marseilles backdrops. The action is as explosive as ever, and we won't have it any other way.

The first video below shows some pretty gnarly fighting for coveted flags in urban-warfare fashion. In this mode, teams devise clever tactics (or rush headlong to their doom) to get to the flags and defend them from enemy access. Corresponding points are gained for successful runs until the game declares a winner or a beat-down platoon just loses hope and decides to turn off their consoles and get some fresh air outside.

The next video, "Marseilles Gameplay", shows a lot of the same mindless bloodshed for the freedom of the French people. Okay, so you're not going to do it for them, but hey, picking up a flag and running like hell hoping you don't bump into enemies is a heck of a rush. All you FPS fans out there better try this because it's one straight-up adrenaline rush.

Another video set in Marseilles is waiting for you after the jump!

... is like saying: Somehow, I wonder how they ever got through World War II alive and kicking, but that's a testament to the tenacity of the humble front-line grunt. Activision's Call of Duty 3, for the PS3, which was tossed onto my lap recently (and the editors told me to take it home and choke on it... wow they must really love me) has a ton of them GIs. A few shoot with you, many more shoot at you: if you value your head, I advise you keep it down.

That's the good news. If you've bought COD3 to give lead as good as, if not better, than the other guy, then this game gives it well enough. Toss in multiplayer and the game could become well worth the purchase for that reason (even right alongside Resistance: Fall of Man, COD3 has potential bang for buck value in that department). You have to be a fan of WWII shooters to appreciate it, I think, and at least in single-player, you gotta be prepared for a lot of Jerry thrown at you at any given moment - probably even more than the previous gen. I actually had to pop in a PS2 Call of Duty just to do a head count.

Unfortunately, I lost count.

St. Lo is beautiful in the summer. Too bad we had to spoil it.

Graphically, COD3 is almost impressive. The advantage of looking at it this late is that we've already heard all those "this console vs. that console" comparisons for this multiplatform shooter. Personally, I kinda liked what IGN called the "washed out" colors of the PS3 version more - reminds me a lot of the "Band of Brothers" miniseries. Total effect is to suck you into that WWII vibe we grew up with through the movies.

The rest can be found at the full article. Private Ryan can be found somewhere else.

Ah, the smell of gunpowder. You definitely can't beat it, but you'd certainly like to be smelling it from the firing end of a gun.

That being said, what we have for you today is more action-packed gameplay from Activision's Call of Duty 3. Specifically, we've got some running and gunning from the Allied Forces as they attempt to capture the Axis flag in the new Valor multiplayer map pack. This transmission we have from the front lines isn't very long, but it's substantial enough to get attention from the highers-up.

What are you waiting for, soldier? The smell of gunpowder awaits! Just make sure you don't get the trike blown up, alright?

Buy: [Call of Duty 3 for Xbox 360]
Buy: [Call of Duty 3 for PS3]

MCV reports that Christmas week of 2006 proved to be the biggest ever for UK games retailers, with sales up nearly ten per cent by units and nearly five per cent by value. The rise during the week before Christmas was even more evident, with both unit and value sales improving by over 30 per cent.

EA's Need for Speed: Carbon led a massive push for the games market in the final week of the year, eclipsing the company's own FIFA 07 for the top spot on the ChartTrack All Formats Top 40. An EA title has claimed the top spot on the charts a total of 26 times throughout 2006, making the year EA's most successful one in the UK charts.

Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 6 got third place in the charts, ahead of Activision’s Call of Duty 3 in fourth. Another EA title, Sims 2: Pets, is at five, with THQ’s WWE Smackdown vs Raw in sixth place and Midway’s Happy Feet in seventh. At eighth, the DS title Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training climbed three places to overtake Gears of War, which in turn fell two places to ninth. LucasArts' Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy claimed the final Top Ten position.

Thanks to continued console shipments, a lot of Wii titles also got a push up the charts. Most notable is Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which climbed one place to 11th.

 

This was supposed to be quick one. No quotes like "a picture paints as thousand words" or anything like that. But more than just simply amazing, the picture above is quite intriguing. There's really no telling the lengths fans are willing to go to for their beloved games. Call of Duty 3 (X360, PS3, Wii), as we have just seen, is no exception.

CoD 3 has always been pitted against Epic Games' Gears of War. Maybe it's because the two are from the same genre. Or maybe the rivalry sprouted from the engines the two games have? In all fairness to Activision, their title came out first. If our memory serves us right, the first title of the series came out during the later period of 2003. GoW, on the other hand, has only been around for weeks.

Also, we would like to see how far GoW would go. It was mentioned a couple of weeks ago, by no less than Mark Rein himself, that they are willing to make sequels as long as fans want it. On the other hand, there has been hushed talks circulating about CoD 4 even this early.

Oh well, we reckon that this is just a friendly competition. We wonder if GoW fans have some mice stories or pictures to show like the ones above. These are, after all, for the love of the game.

Buy: [Call of Duty 3 for Xbox 360]
Buy: [Call of Duty 3 for PS3]
Buy: [Call of Duty 3 for Wii]

Playsyde was recently able to score an interview with Rich Farrelly, Creative Director for Call of Duty 3 (Xbox360, Wii, PS3), where they talk about the inspiration and influences behind the game, vehicles, soldier interaction, multiplayer modes and tons more.

In an earlier article, we told you guys that Activision has shipped COD3 for the Wii and PS3, and some of you guys may even be playing the game already, but for those who still haven't gotten their new Nintendo and/or Sony console, read on to find out what's in store for you when you get your hands on the game.

On game advisors: They sought the help of Lieutenant Colonel Hank Keirsay, military veteran, to advise them on how the game should look and play out. Through Keirsay, they were able to contact four other veterans who were actually among the soldiers that are portrayed in the game. Cool, huh? This, according to Farrelly, ensured the accuracy of the details they brought to the game.

On multiplayer modes: The game will support up to 24 players (for those versions that support multiplayer) which is "far beyond any previous Call of Duty game on console." There are six gameplay modes: Capture the Flag, a new One Flag mode, Battle and Team Battle (which are much like the Deathmatch modes), and they also put back the Headquarters mode from previous CoD titles.

An all-new mode called War is also featured in the game, which Farrelly describes as "a kind of progressive Capture the Flag mode." How it works: "...in a level there will be five flags and you have to fight over the middle one and then once someone holds that position it becomes like a kind of American football game, with both sides advancing and pushing back on the front."

On vehicles: There will be SAS assault jeeps loaded with machine guns which you can jump into and free drive - all with your squadmates firing at the enemy while you drive and E-brake around corners. And for even more mayhem, your enemies will be able to do the same too. Meaning, there will be enemies in tanks, sidecars, motorcycles, etc. who will be shooting at you while you drive or fire at them. Farrelly also says that the multi-occupancy feature of the vehicles adds a whole new dimension to gameplay.

On future plans for CoD: Farrelly says they just finished working on CoD 3 so they're still pretty much concentrating on that but they are starting to brainstorm on their next project. Farrelly also shares that "WW2 certianly isn’t tapped out, but that’s not to say there aren’t more possibilities out there." And when asked whether it's possible that CoD will be taken out of the WWII setting, Farrelly neither confirms nor denies it. Looks like we're gonna have to watch out for more updates and announcements for this.

Activision announced today that their launch games for both the Wii and PS3 have shipped to retail stores nationwide and are already up for grabs. The following games from the company's lineup are now in stores:

• Tony Hawk's Project 8 (PS3, Xbox360)
  
• Call of Duty 3 (Wii, PS3)
  
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii, PS3)
  
• Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam (Wii, DS)
  

The company will also be releasing two more Wii titles on November 22nd, Rapala Tournament Fishing and World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions.

Yeah, we know, these games would mean absolutely nothing without the consoles, but wouldn't you want to get a head start before everyone starts flocking to stores for these games? And for the lucky few who already have their Wii's and PS3's, go grab these games now! (Or maybe after you're done drooling over your beautiful consoles...?)

From the fellows at Joystiq comes this strange and potentially annoying tidbit for 360 and PS3 gamers. According to the German gaming site Games-Aktuell, two of Activision's latest titles aren't running as well as they should be.

Call of Duty 3 and Tony Hawk's Project 8 are apparently running at less than 720p. In this case, COD 3 is running at 1040x620 pixels, while Tony Hawk's latest skateboard game is at 1040x580. Not exactly the kind of stellar looks one would expect to see on new Xbox 360 titles.

In either case, it doesn't seem to be for the purpose of increasing framerates as Project 8 still has framerate woes, so Joystiq asks a rather pertinent question. Additional follow-up reveals that Activision Germany is looking into the problem, though they weren't aware of it originally.

Now, how does this affect PS3 gamers? Well, if the same little problems that popped up in the Xbox 360 versions are a result of bad coding, then there's a pretty good chance new owners of PS3s will not be getting the kind of gameplay they were expecting from the two titles upon purchasing the system. Not exactly the response to Gears of War that Activision was hoping CoD 3 could be, but oh well. Still, here's to hoping they find out what's wrong and fix it.

With the Sony PS3's launch coming up this Friday, we're sure you guys have already prepped up your shopping list of goodies to go along with this much-debated console, from wireless headsets to uber-pricey cables.

We've just gotten word on this finalized launch list of games you can expect to hit shelves on launch day, and we're hoping it'll make it easier for you guys, even as you prepare yourselves for the day of reckoning.

The good news is that Genji's part of the starting line-up, as are Resistance and Marvel, so you'll have plenty to look forward to this winter.

• Resistance: Fall of Man
• Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
• Genji: Days of the Blade
• NBA 07
• Call of Duty 3
• Ridge Racer 7
• Fight Night Round 3
• Madden NFL 2007
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire
• NBA 2k7
• Need for Speed: Carbon
• NHL 2k7
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
• Tony Hawk's Project 8

Now for the bad news: we've also enclosed this list of games that have been delayed, along with estimates of when we'll be seeing them in retail stores.

• Sonic the Hedgehog (December)
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (December)
• Full Auto 2: Battlelines (Early December)
• Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WW II (December)
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Q1 2007)
• F.E.A.R. (Q1 2007)

We're gonna miss these guys, and while we're gonna have to wait just a little longer for their release, we're hoping that the wait's gonna be worth it, especially with the likes of Vegas - the trailers showed promise.

Aside from being all published by Activision, what else do Call of Duty 3 (PS3, X360, Wii), Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS3, X360, Wii) and Tony Hawk Project 8 (PS3, X360, Wii) have in common? Nope, it's not that these games are slowly becoming bad ports of of each other. The answer we were looking for is that they will all be available the moment the PS3 launches.

On a related matter, Activision just held its second quarter financial conference call and guess what? They reported that all three games will also launch together with the console in Europe by March. If memory serves right, this is the first confirmation we've reported when it comes to PS3 European launch titles.

This is rather good news for our friends there as the delay seems to bring Sony into getting its acts finally together. While Europe have to wait for four long, agonizing months, it is just 11 more days to go for the North American Market. We'll try to get all games as possible and we'll gladly share them with you. How about you, what titles are you planning to pick up?

Buy: [Call of Duty 3 (PS3)]
Buy: [Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS3)]
Buy: [Tony Hawk Project 8 (PS3)]