In case you missed this, Call of Duty: Black Ops is now the best-selling video game of all time in the US. According to figures from market research company NPD Group, the first-person shooter has shifted 13.7 million units since its release last autumn, putting it above Nintendo's Wii Play.
It's an incredible achievement for a title that some thought would struggle to equal, let alone eclipse, the success of Modern Warfare 2, the previous instalment in the series. It's also a success that Activision is desperate to capitalise on – in the absence of Guitar Hero, it looks like CoD is going to be a busy cash cow for the next two years, with a Call of Duty action adventure, a freemium online game, Modern Warfare 3 and a mysterious online digital platform in development.
Meanwhile, sales data released by Take-Two Games shows that GTA IV is closing in on 20m worldwide sales, bringing the total sales of the GTA series to almost 100 million copies. Rumours are rife that GTA V is set to be announced over the next few months, especially after details of a Hollywood casting call for a new Rockstar project codenamed Rush leaked out, suggesting a modern-day LA setting. This was closely accompanied by news that Rockstar has registered a number of web domains, including CashForDeadDreams.com, SixFigureTemps.com, StopPayingYourMortgage.net, HammersteinFaust.com and LifeInvader.com – which all sound very GTA. Personally, I was hoping for a UK instalment this time round. Why not the developer's home city of Edinburgh? GTA meets Trainspotting?
So big numbers there for two of the mega-brands of the gaming industry. But how do you feel about Activision's FPS behemoth nicking the title from Nintendo's family-friendly Wii vehicle? And will either Call of Duty or GTA be able to maintain this momentum going forward?
