Tonight is the annual Activision holiday party. Some posters of people smoking cigars, enjoying adult beverages, and gettin’ their dance on have appeared on the office walls this week. This morning, I found an energy drink waiting for me on my desk, and upon closer inspection…

For those who have immediately made assumptions about CEO wealth and custom extravagances, it’s not uncommon or expensive to make some custom-label energy drinks. It’s a vinyl wrap around a normal can; you could do it too.

Anyway, that made me smile as soon as I arrived this morning. And this is why I shake my head when people brand Activision as an evil empire. It’s still a bunch of people, tossing around creative ideas. Everybody here works hard, but we also have fun.

Hell, we MAKE fun.

OK, so I wasn't in the front row.

Some of you may have heard of Jane McGonigal. She’s the author of Reality is Broken, which suggests how and why games are quite possibly the key to a better world for everyone. She’s sparred with Stephen on The Colbert Report and she was the keynote speaker at PAX East 2011. She’s also one of the brains behind 42 Entertainment’s I Love Bees and its lesser-known ARG cousin for Activision’s own Gun, Last Call Poker. Naturally, I think she is awesome.

Jane spoke at Activision today as part of the ongoing “Activisionaries” series, and unsurprisingly, I took notes. 

Among the interesting things she covered that jumped out at me:

• There are now 1 billion gamers on earth (mostly in China, the US, and Europe).
• Games are often seen as the opposite of productivity, but gamers work hard at games. It’s fun, but it’s not easy. We all expend serious effort in our virtual lives because we find the rewards satisfying.
• People generally feel productive when they are doing things they do not want to do. This is the nature of a “to do” list — the stuff you have to do. You don’t generally make lists of things you simply do right away because they are enjoyable or natural.
• One of the core side effects of gaming is resilience. Gamers spend 80% of their time failing — retrying a level, dying, starting over, learning as they go. And yet we are having tons of fun. Failure is an extremely valuable educational tool.
• Studies have shown that co-op gaming leads to co-operative behavior in real life — and the resulting time spent helping real people in real life is much more time than was spent playing the co-op game.
• Online gaming has proven to be a better depression treatment for women then prescription drugs.
• Her favorite Activision Atari 2600 game is Enduro. I invited her to race a bit — I have a working 2600 in my office — but she had to go.
• It was an obscure Activision game — Tass Times in Tonetown for the C64 — that inspired her to think more deeply about games and get into development.

She also spoke a bit about why she’s interested in Call of Duty Elite. Jane’s on Twitter and her book’s available now.

One thing that has grown steadily since I started working here: Activision has begun to celebrate the good stuff. Everybody here works really hard, but I think for a while the company forgot to sort of stop and smell the roses. Or the napalm, in the case of MW3. So when big games arrive, we’ve had celebrations commensurate with their importance. Here’s some of Kat’s shots of Tuesday’s shenanigans at Activision HQ.

You couldn't miss the front of the building: Twin MW3 Jeeps with a giant banner and some military set dressing.

I'm not a big car guy, but I was impressed by the customized details in the limited-edition MW3 Jeep.

Our humdrum lobby was transformed with fresh paint, lasers, smoke, and a video history of the MW franchise.

I didn't know if I was supposed to touch these, so I didn't. But we got MW3 water pistols for an interoffice game of Kill Confirmed. I lost right away.

After a day including Spec Ops and multiplayer tournaments, we all headed out to the party tent for liquid refreshment.

Speaking of Dew, I was really hoping this was one of those "guess the number of boxes in the pile and win the whole thing plus the double XP codes." It wasn't.

At most events, they have a fun digital photobooth that puts you on the cover of the game. And I never seem to make it over there to get my picture taken.

That is the Elite logo. In ice. Who knew water could be badass?

Eric Hirshberg spoke to the attendees, thanking Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer, and Raven in particular -- and even recorded the crowd's thunderous applause for each.

NASCAR driver Joey Logano's special MW3 racingjumpsuit was on display. I wonder if most people knew what they were looking at!

Logano's ride wasn't there, but we found a few more Jeeps in the parking lot. Dig the Elite logo on the cover for the spare.

Because I was working so late at the office Monday, Kat and I got to the Gamestop in West Hollywood moments before the first copy of Modern Warfare 3 went on sale at midnight — and Kat was armed with her camera, so she grabbed a handful of quick shots for the blog. Here’s what it looked like on La Brea!

The line didn't stretch around the block...but it would have if they hadn't split it into two more managable lines.

Need hardware? Gamestop had people covered.

If you waited since 8am to be the first in line, you'd be thrilled when you got your copy too.

Infinity Ward dev team members were on hand to sign stuff for fans. Always cool to see.

I rolled up in my bad-ass PT Cruiser and unloaded six cases of Mountain Dew Game Fuel for the folks in line. Hey, they were going to stay awake anyway.

Some greedy dudes took six bottles each. I know why -- they saw those orange caps and thought "double XP!" Nope; these particular bottles were first-run testers and didn't have codes under the caps. Enjoy the Dew, dudes.

What happened in your neck of the woods?

This weekend, a lot of gamers are engaging in gaming marathons for charity — it’s the annual Extra Life event, which benefits the Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. There’s one near you and the money gets routed locally.

Several Activision teams have come to my attention. First among them: my coworkers here at the Santa Monica HQ of Activision. They are aiming for $10,000 and they are still a ways off from that goal. Pick anyone on the list who looks like they could use a boost! I chipped in and I invite you to do the same. I have made my Atari 2600 available to them!

If you’re a Call of Duty player, several of the studios have stepped up to support this cause. Sledgehammer Games has as sizable team, as does Treyarch, and even though the team is very busy working on Call of Duty Elite right now, Beachhead Studio has jumped in as well. but I have to call out Robert Bowling – aka Infinity Ward’s fourzerotwo – who has promised to match every dollar that he raises through his sponsorships. This is, of course, the Call of Duty way of doing things: Go big. :)

There are also teams from several other Activision entities: Activision Minneapolis, Raven Software, and Neversoft are all in. Maybe there are more — not sure. Regardless, you’ve got plenty of options.

I also realize that several people reading this might also be donating their time and raising money for this charity, so pimp yourself appropriately in the comments.

At Activision, everybody works hard, so it’s nice to stop and play hard too. Since both X-Men Destiny and Spider-Man: Edge of Time both came out recently — and GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is right around the corner — there was a little social event Thursday afternoon with giveaways, gameplay, booze, and baked goods.

Nothing unites a company quite like free food.

I am still a little surprised that I live in a future where you can print logos on chocolate. The red velvet cupcakes went fast.

What were those little balls? Risotto? Mac & cheese? I ate, like, eight of them. They were good, whatever they were.

Gameplay stations, of course -- along with the signed banners from SDCC, on display for all to see.

Want a poster? Take two.

Not pictured: James Bond martinis (of course!), mini pizzas, and Blu-ray giveaways of Bond and X-Men flicks (depending on how you did in the trivia contest). I didn’t win, but after all those risotto thingies, at least I didn’t have to cook last night.

For some people, Activision means Call of Duty, or Tony Hawk, or MechWarrior. For me, Activision means Pitfall!, Laser Blast, and Keystone Kapers – the Atari 2600 games from the early 80s. I always romanticized what visiting Activision would be like as a kid, and now that I work here…well, it’s been my goal to bring some of that romance back, at least to my office.

A few years ago, I picked up an Atari 2600 Jr. (the redesign from 1985 with the awesome ad) and attempted to modify it so it would run easily on modern televisions. That did not go so well (I can’t solder to save my life) so my friend and musical cohort Jude Kelley finished the project for me.

I had the games, but the system came with a Pro-Line joystick

The result: An Atari 2600 that outputs via S-video, composite video, and stereo sound.

Stereo sound and composite video via jacks that Jude added

Remove RF jack, replace it with S-Video -- Jude makes it look easy

I will keep this in my office from now on. I am now looking to fill the holes in my Activision 2600 cartridge collection; except for a few I’ve picked up at yard sales, those games in the photo are the same ones I’ve had since I was a kid. I have the Pro-Line Joystick (CX24) but also a standard Atari joystick (CX40) so whenever someone wants to come by and play Stampede or Starmaster as the founding fathers intended, they can.

UPDATE: Jude sent me a photo of the project when it was in progress. Crazy!

Oh, is that all?

Also, I have tracked down a few of the titles I was missing — Boxing, River Raid, Chopper Command, Kaboom, and a handful of titles from Imagic (which Activision owns — they bought them out after the big crash). I even tracked down Absolute Entertainment’s Skate Boardin’, programmed by David Crane. Absolute was founded by ex-Activision programmers. It’s in an Activision cartridge shell with the logo blocked out.

I get a lot of questions from gamers every day. I try to answer as many as I can with sourced facts or, failing that, honesty. Sometimes it’s simple stuff that the Customer Support team can handle without breaking a sweat. But if I don’t know the answer and I don’t have much hope of finding one, I’ll tell you so you don’t feel jerked around.

But I have noticed that there are three lines of questioning that I often cannot answer to anyone’s satisfaction. It’s not that I don’t have an answer, or even that an answer does not exist — it’s that the answer is either incomplete or simply not accepted by the person asking. So they ask again, hoping for a different answer that matches what they wanted to hear in the first place. And that doesn’t work out so well.

Here are the answers I have the most trouble explaining:

1. It’s a creative or business decision.

Big game. Big billboard.

Creative and business decisions are made by different people, to be sure. “Why did you make this gun overpowered compared to that one?” and “Why didn’t you advertise Game X more instead of leaving it to die on store shelves?” are not made by the same person — but the methodology behind them is pretty much the same: “Well, when we sat down and talked about it and weighed all the other options and their possible outcomes, that was the course of action that seemed to have the most benefit.” Clearly, the person asking the question would have liked more stopping power or bigger billboards, but many times — and it’s partly on the tone of voice of the questioner here — they’re suggesting that a decision that was made with a lot of thought was in fact a thoughtless act. That’s rarely if ever the case — snap decisions and hasty choices are made when you’re rescuing people from a fire, not when you’re planning gameplay balance or a marketing campaign. “Why did you do it that way instead of the way I see it working inside my head” is almost always “Because our way made sense inside our heads.” At some point, you need to accept that it was a creative or business decision made from a different point of view than your own, and respect it as such — even if you still disagree with it.

The more effective way to get what you want here is to not question the decision, but offer your opinion as constructive feedback, and deliver it directly to the people who made it. “Hey, I played your game, and I felt this was overpowered; any chance of tweaking that?” is totally fine to post to the developer’s forums. “I was a fan of this game but wish I’d seen some more attention given to it — I think more people would have liked it as much as I did” would be welcomed through the company’s website contact form. But constantly saying “You’re wrong, why is that?” will not help anybody, including your future gaming self.

2. It’s none of your business. 

Does it tell me where her ARM WENT?

What is the formula for Coca-Cola? What exactly is in the special sauce on a Big Mac? And why won’t these companies tell you when you ask? Some people say they know the answer to each, but the companies that really do know aren’t talking. But why not? Because being a customer means you deserve a quality product, but outside of human rights or health concerns, you are not entitled to detailed information of how that product is made.

Games are the same way. If you are offered a tour of the Coke factory or a peek into the McDonald’s kitchen, take it — but demanding info about the nitty-gritty of how games are created and not taking “sorry, we’re not interested in discussing that” for an answer is just as frustrating for the creators as it is for the consumers. And just because they don’t answer, it’s not a conspiracy or a cover-up; it might simply not be something they want to discuss outside of their walls, where all the competitors can hear, and they have that right — just like you reserve some information just for family and friends. Not indulging your curiosity does not make them a totalitarian regime.

I think the fact that so much information is so freely available online makes this one more prevalent than it used to be. But transparency still only goes so far, there’s a difference between wanting to know and needing to know. At some point, you have to find satisfaction in enjoying your Coke, savoring your burger, and playing your game. To learn more about the creative process, create.

3. It’s a matter of opinion or personal agenda. (Or it’s a trap!)

Don't stare too long. It stares back.

“Why does Coke taste worse than Pepsi?” Well, that’s a personal call based on individual experience and preference — I might not even agree with you to begin with, so how can I possibly answer? When people ask me “Are we to believe that MW3 will be any different than the slop we were handed as Black Ops?” or ”Why do you overcharge for DLC?”, these are not questions but emotionally charged statements of opinion with a squiggly mark at the end, and the asker is looking for validation for that opinion.

This question usually boils down to “Why didn’t this meet my expectations?” Aha. Think instead about what led you to those expectations — other games in the genre or franchise you’ve played before, preview articles on websites that focused on specific elements, trailers of gameplay footage that did the same — and look for the disconnect between expectation and experience. Truth be told, nobody can answer this but you — and when I’ve tried to step in, I come off as an arrogant jerk because my answers are so obvious it looks like I’m mocking you just by verbalizing them. If you’re not having fun with your current game…try another. If you don’t feel DLC is worth the asking price…don’t buy it. There is no way for me to offer those simple, logical answers without it looking like I’m treating you like an idiot. And that is not my goal, so I don’t like doing it.

I’ve had things not live up to my expectations, too. I’ve played games, heard albums, and watched movies that disappointed me. Then again, I never talked myself into a guarantee that I would enjoy the experience to the fullest. I go see movies hoping they’ll be good. If they’re not, I don’t ask “Why did your movie suck?” I know the answer: it sucked only because it didn’t match my expectations. To someone else, that was an awesome movie. Just not to me. In matters of personal taste, no guarantees are possible. Many times, I think the people who ask questions like this have not accepted that reality.

And yeah, sometimes the questions are traps, like “Wouldn’t you agree that the Console B version of this game was an afterthought to the Console A version of that game?” Cue the Admiral Ackbar image in 3, 2, 1. And “I know you can’t confirm what’s being announced tomorrow, but you know about it, right?” I can’t/won’t answer leading questions because there is no right answer. Anything I could say, no matter how noble my goal, is going to be incorrect, incriminating, or both. If I willingly let people twist my words to their ends, I wind up beiong source for inaccurate news on media sites, or at the very least, quoted on every hater forum with a “See? Even the guy from Activision says so!” (even if that’s not what I said) until long after I lose my job. So I just can’t even play that game. You ask a fair question, you get a fair answer. You ask an unfair question, you get no answer.

There you go — three answers to impossible questions. Phew.

Photo by Bengt Nyman

Got a benign message on Twitter this week: “I know how you PR guys work!” I winced, because I’m not PR, but a lot of people seem to think I am. It’s like calling the drummer a bass player. They both keep rhythm, but they have very different roles, instruments and skills. If you want to see the difference…ask them to switch places.

Unfortunately, I think there’s a belief that if you work for a videogame company and anybody knows your name, then you are either a game designer, the CEO, or a PR person. Well, I guess that makes me option four. My role here is an evolution of what I had been doing for the previous 15 years, and to call me a PR guy is an potentially insulting to PR people.

Read on if you’re interested in how I make the distinction. 

I have self-identified as a writer for my entire adult life, so when I say I am not a PR person, I mean no offense. I never studied public relations; I never had any training or experience doing PR (or its cousin, marketing). My college major was audio and my minor was writing. There is a specific skill set — if not an art — to PR that I have never even attempted to acquire. These people have different priorities, different experience, and different knowledge that makes them good at what they do. I have none of that experience or knowledge. I do something else.

My official title is Social Media Manager. I think that the buzzword “social media” has so many facets that it’s hard to define the whole from any one facet. (To extend the band analogy, not all music is jazz.) I see it as just two words: social and media. When I was an editor at GamePro and OXM, I volunteered to moderate the message boards for each publication, where readers would discuss the latest issue and ask questions and file complaints. I was a member of the media, and I was interested in being social with our audience. I set up OXM’s Twitter feed and Facebook page because so we could better relate to the public. Does that make me public relations? No. But my interests and interactions were clearly “social media” before I ever heard of the term.

Enter Activision. One of the reasons I took this job was the editorial freedom; it was made clear that I could create my blog, podcasts, and videos however I saw fit, and would be given autonomy in return for opening a two-way communication channel. Amazingly, nobody edits me — but hey, that was the deal, no backsies. As when I was in the traditional games media, I give the PR teams a heads-up when I’m going to write something about their game, and I make sure I have my facts right before I post. But One of Swords is me, as a writer, writing about Activision. The mistakes are mine too.

Back in the days of newspapers, an editor would have a “beat” — the courthouse, local crime, sports. They were a specialist in their field and brought continuity to their stories by knowing what came before. Likewise, at GamePro, each editor had company beats — for instance, Major Mike was the Capcom and Konami beat editor; he always knew the latest about Castlevania or Street Fighter. My beats included Sierra, Acclaim, Activision, and a handful of other companies. Now, my company beat is just Activision. It’s plenty.

“So…Activision hired you to be their in-house reporter, covering what they do however you want to do it?” Yes, they did, and it’s either insanely progressive or just insane, depending on how you see it. One of the other reasons I took this job was because it was uniquely undefined. I’ve made no secret of the fact that Major Nelson was the template for my role — the guy at the big game company whose name you know and who knows about the games you want to know about — but I was allowed to do my version of the same concept. Major has a broadcasting background and about 10 times the patience I do, while I am drawing heavily on my editorial background and filtering Activision through that lens.

So, if you thought I was a PR person at the start of the article, I hope you don’t any more. I occupy a rare, weird, narrow, somewhat radical space that I get to define as I go. I am paid by Activision to write about Activision, my way. I’m not a journalist, but I am a writer.

Welcome to my wonderful, delicate world.

Last year, the Cabela’s Hunt Across America tour brought sneak peeks of upcoming games to folks all around the country. This year’s tour, Adventure Starts Here, just kicked off today at Activision’s HQ in Santa Monica, offering two games: the target-shooting Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2012 and the action/adventure Cabela’s Survival: Shadows of Katmai. Both use the Top Shot Elite peripheral for light-gun gameplay, and both are slated for release later this year — Big Game Hunter in September, Shadows of Katmai in November. Kat stopped by the office to take some shots of the truck’s grand debut.

Oh yeah. It's big. It's also themed to the gills inside, complete with trees, rocks, and a damaged airplane, in honor of Shadows of Katmai.

Yeah, this must be the place. Just look for the wildlife and turn left.

Half the truck is decorated for Big Game Hunter, and the other half is Shadows of Katmai.

Who doesn't love a free t-shirt?

Inside, Katmai was demoed by bearded professionals. Just check those glasses.

Everybody had the chance to try Big Game Hunter with the Top Shot Elite in shooting gallery showdowns.

You can experience the Adventure Starts Here for yourself. Where will the tour go next? That’s still being determined. Your best bet is to check out the Activision Hunts Facebook group for schedule updates and/or follow ActivisionHunts on Twitter. I do know that the first public stop will be in Springfield, Oregon this Saturday, August 6.

One of the many reasons it’s awesome to be married to Katrin Auch is the fact that she is a professional photographer. Combine that with my massive ego and the result is a ton of great pictures of me looking really cool.

But really, I know every gamer would like to go to E3, so I hope Kat’s killer photos help share the experience a little bit.

I wasn't at the Nintendo press conference, so GamesRadar's Chris Antista illustrates how the Wii U controller will allow you to throw ninja stars by swiping the screen. I think it looks like he's makin' it rain.

While Nintendo's media briefing was underway Tuesday morning, I headed over to the booth...to find it was curtained off. No peeking until the press conference was over! They're smart.

Stealth Elf from Skylanders says hello...and watch it.

A close-up of Ignitor, one of the 32 Skylanders characters. The portal changes color depending on what character is placed upon it.

I met Sid Garrand when OXM did a story on his Gears of War armor. Now he runs Calibur 11, which makes awesome, customizable shells for 360 and PS3 consoles. Click the photo to check out what he's up to -- it's cool stuff.

The GamesRadar gang asked if I wanted to be on TalkRadar on Day 1. When have I ever turned down a chance to talk about games?

Chris Ansell from Radical Entertainment gets grilled by the media about Prototype 2 behind the scenes at the Activision booth.

Atari's booth included a few classic coin-ops, to which I still profess my undying love -- in this case, with tongue.

The Activision booth was big, loud, and flashy -- and full of people during the big 360-degree presentation events. Standing room only!

In the center of the booth, the Portal of Power rose up, the giant toys descended from above, the lights went nuts and...it got attention.

During the Skylanders presentation, the booth erupted in plumes of fog for dramatic effect.

Where does all the Skylanders fog come from? Kat happened to be walking through the back hallway at the right time to find out.

Behind the big video walls of Activision's booth, you'd find dedicated demo rooms for each game being shown, as well as informal meeting tables.

Here's one of those demo rooms now -- COD Elite, to be specific. Each room was built with stadium seating and its own air conditioner.

Inside the swanky Prototype 2 theater, which anyone could enter if they waited in line. (COD Elite had a similar one.) After a day of walking around the convention center, the leather recliners definitely were appreciated.

The proper term for a group of Skylanders toys is a "boatload."

I got to talk to Radical's Matt Armstrong and recorded it for a future episode of the One of Swords podcast. Interviewing is serious business.

Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling talked about MW3 with me, but still did not reveal the origins for his obsession with Mountain Dew.

"Hey kids, if you want more than four teeth, brush them!"

"Hey kids, there's nothing so odd about wearing gloves and shoes but no pants."

Very clever idea from Nyko: the Zoom, a lens you pop over your Kinect to shorten the distance you need to play. The purple line is the default, the green lines are the new thresholds for smaller living rooms. (Click the pic for info.)

I got to try Ubisoft's Rocksmith in the demo "tour bus." The game was good -- so was the worn cherry Epiphone Wilshire with the batwing headstock.

After a day of smiling in photos, I dared Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon not to. He almost made it.

Sega Toys and Activision are bringing out Wappy Dog, a plastic pet that interacts with your Nintendo DS. As you might expect, little girls are the target audience.

When Radical's Ken Rosman heard I have a weakness for redheads, he decided to make himself simply irresistible.

Click the logo below for E3 videos and game overviews:

I will be at E3 2011 in the LA Convention Center this coming Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Activision is setting up shop at botth 647 in the South Hall. There will be live game demos by appointment only, but there will also be public presentations. I am planning some Activision-specific coverage on Tuesday, but I will also do my best to cover other aspects of the show. I am not really sure what to expect this year, but last year I had some time to cruise the floor, see people, attend demos, stuff like that. This year I might be more closely anchored to our booth because, well, we have one.

I’ve also been invited to the press conferences for Microsoft and Ubisoft on Monday, so I am planning to attend both of those and report back. I wanted to attend the ones for Sony and Nintendo as well (I did last year, but didn’t get a Microsoft invite — go figure), but they are invite only and space is limited, so I probably just didn’t make the cut, and I’m not offended. Just don’t think it’s a bias — I can’t exactly waltz in and say, “Don’t you KNOW who I AM?”

Kat will be with me, and together we’re planning on shooting both photo and video content that I will then post here. I will likely be using Twitter a lot to post info, images, and commentary on what I find at the show; even if you don’t use Twitter yourself, you can read anything I post that interests you. And we’re hoping to squeeze in a podcast with Hugh as well, though it will probably be recorded Tuesday night, after we’ve seen the first day of the show.

So…check back next week and I’ll post as much as I can. Wherever you see this logo, click it and you’ll be taken to a list of all the E3-related content on my site.

Last year, the Call of Duty Endowment — a charitable organization set up by Bobby Kotick to help unemployed veterans get jobs after returning home — set up what I called the easiest Memorial Day charity ever. It was a huge hit and it helped raise $50,000 for Hire Heroes USA, which then turned into $100,000.

This year, the Endowment has a new Facebook charity drive, and like last year, participation is almost effortless. For every person who “donates” their Facebook status between now and Monday, the Call of Duty Endowment will increase HHUSA’s funding by a buck — up to $50,000. Changing your Facebook status through this Facebook app is all you have to do.

This is a ridiculously easy way to support America’s veterans this Memorial Day. If you’d like to do even more, consider a PayPal donation to support Activision’s Tough Mudder team — they’re running a grueling athletic event this weekend to raise money for the Endowment as well.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend — and thank a veteran for it!

Had a nice treat today at work — Activision laid out a barbeque for an early Memorial Day lunch, in support of the Call of Duty Endowment, the charity Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick set up in 2009 to help unemployed vets find the jobs they desperately need. I’ve talked about the charity before, but with Memorial Day coming up on Monday, it was a good chance to bring the company together and give the cause a boost.

In between the chili dogs and cold beer, Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia introduced some of the athletes who will be running the Tough Mudder this weekend, called out some of the Endowment scholarship recipients in attendance, and detailed a few easy ways everybody can help the effort — including the Facebook campaign, where if you change your status through the Endowment’s app, they’ll donate $1 to Hire Heroes USA on your behalf. Mark was wearing a rather nice Call of Duty Endowment shirt and revealed that anybody — Activision employee or not — who gives $50 to the cause this weekend can get one. They’re not available anywhere else and a lot of people signed up immediately, so if you like what you see in the pictures below, donate now and secure yours.

Bobby Kotick joked that the Tough Mudder is almost as hard as a 30-minute run through the Activision Blizzard legal department. That went over well.

Dodger Dogs are served! It's an LA thing. They're good, though.

Treyarch's Mark Lamia said the rare COD Endowment shirt "gives you double XP in life." You have his word!

Lunch at Activision is...in tents.

Caleb Turner -- one of Treyarch's Tough Mudder athletes -- shows off the shirt you can wear for a $50 donation to the Call of Duty Endowment. (Sorry for the blur -- it's not your eyes, it's my camera's digital zoom.)

Wanna help this Memorial Day? Here’s the links:

Donate your Facebook Status to the Call of Duty Endowment

Make a $50 donation to get the Call of Duty Endowment shirt you see Mark and Caleb wearing, or any amount you can afford to help

Where does the money go? Here’s some recent grant recipients

There are marathons, and then there is the Tough Mudder — a brutal combination of a 10-mile run with a grueling obstacle course involving barbed wire, high walls, mystery obstacles, and yes, a hell of a lot of mud. Sounds crazy — why would anyone choose to go through all that? Well, it depends on your motivation.

Next weekend, in honor of Memorial Day, ten athletes from Treyarch, Neversoft, and Activision will put themselves to the test for the Call of Duty Endowment, which helps place unemployed veterans in the full-time jobs they deserve.  Let them tell you about it in their own words:

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s more information here, including a link for your PayPal donation if you want to support the cause. You can also follow the Call of Duty Endowment on Twitter. Go team!

Remember the First Strike Grudge Match between two NFL stars? Well, seems like the NBA has its share of friendly rivalries too, and we got to see one in honor of Escalation. Last week I got to sit in as Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings took on Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz New Jersey Nets. But this battle of the point guards was interrupted by — who else? — Michael Rooker! And thanks to Kat, I’ve got the photos to prove it. 

Big TVs, comfy chairs...there are worse ways to play Black Ops!

The day began with media interviews for both the players and the staff at Treyarch, and after some food and socializing, we got down to business. I was on “Team DWill” and did my part in some Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Capture the Flag games on the new maps (Zoo, Hotel, Stockpile, and Convoy). After an hour or so, it was clear — Deron’s team over Tyreke’s team 4 games to 1. Deron is recovering from wrist surgery and apparently spent a lot of the recovery time with a controller in his hand.

Deron (left) and Tyreke stayed friendly but played for reals

Call of the Dead is part of Escalation as well, and one of the game’s stars — Michael Rooker, most recently known for playing Merle on The Walking Dead — stopped by to see the final product. He’d done a complete performance capture (voice work and mocap) months ago, and this was his first time seeing the finished game. Yes, he played as himself in Call of the Dead — apparently eager to take a few shots at George A. Romero when given the chance! — and no, he did not last long. Those zombies are easier on TV, apparently.

Michael Rooker gets a little coaching on how to be himself

There are plenty of photos at the official Facebook group but there are some of my faves, with a few alternates that Kat took just for me.

Tyreke Evans...what a watch. It was all iced.

I tried to start something with Treyarch's community manager Josh Olin -- and I even got a few lucky shots in on him early -- but, uh, that didn't last.

Deron really knew his stuff. The game face is not an act; he had serious skills.

I love the fact that every time I visit Treyarch for a press event, studio head Mark Lamia jumps in and plays -- and looks this intense, every time. By gamers, for gamers.

Treyarch online director Dan Bunting also generally jumps in and mops the floor with everybody.

Smiles, everyone! Oh, c'mon Tyreke, you'll get him next time. That's Black Ops game design director David Vonderhaar on the far left.

I'm helping! (And then I died again.)

Again, there are more photos over at the official Facebook group. The Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation DLC pack is out now on Xbox 360; it’s coming for PS3 and PC a little later, and when I find out the date, I’ll let you know.

The Call of the Dead posters I gave away last week were extra popular as soon as people realized they were gone — a lot of people have asked if I have any more to give away. I do not, but the Activision customer support team does — and they have come up with a fun way to give them out.

Basically, the CS team wants you to turn them into zombies. The Twitter profile pictures of ATVI_Randolph, ATVI_Bernard, ATVI_Mikey, ATVI_Dov, and ATVI_Flav are all fair game — follow them on Twitter, then zombify any one or all of them with your leet Photoshop skills. You can also use the images from the recent Community Playdate if you like them better. (If you don’t have Photoshop, you can do fairly powerful image editing at photoshop.com for free — just sign up for an account.) Then @reply on Twitter to one of the aforementioned CS folks with your entry — upload it as a Twitpic/Plixi/yfrog/whatever image service you like and include the hashtag #zombifysupport in your message so they can keep track of all the entries. You have until Monday, May 16 to get your entries in, and you can submit multiple entries to increase your chances (but you can only win one poster).

The team will then post their favorite photos to the photo gallery at facebook.com/ActivisionAssist and you will be able to vote on them. The three images with the most Likes on them take home posters, and the single image with the most amount of Likes also gets an Escalation map pack code for 360 or PS3 (your choice). Due to shipping costs (as well as the region lock on the DLC codes), this one’s North America only.

So…start thinking. Check out the images on those Twitter accounts, let the creative juices start seeping out like so much zombie effluvia, and get your entries in before this time next week. May the best zeds win!

UPDATE 5/17: Wow, check out the Facebook photo gallery!

So we’re at the one-week mark for the PlayStation Network outage. No system is ever perfect — Xbox Live had some growing pains, and of course PC game servers have spent their share of time offline — but this is the first outage of this magnitude I can remember since the dawn of the connected console era. It’s a serious issue that needs to be addressed and fixed definitively, which takes time, and I would rather have a secure system than a quick fix, so I’ll wait patiently. Seriously — this is a problem that will get solved, and while it’s a major drag, it is an inconvenience to a luxury activity that should be kept in perspective.

I was going to write about things you can do while you wait, but many of them are pretty obvious. Watch Blu-ray movies? You probably figured that out without my help. Play single-player games or couch multiplayer games? Again, duh. That said, if you have not finished the original Prototype, which has no multiplayer component anyway, now’s a good opportunity — there’s a sequel coming next year.

No online? No problem!

But there’s one thing that I use my PS3 for more than anything, and it’s not tied to the PlayStation Network — but it is online. For several years now I’ve been donating my computer’s spare processing power to the Folding@Home project at Stanford. The goal is to use the untapped power of the world’s idle computers to research how proteins assemble themselves (or how proteins “fold”) and, through that, cure diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinson’s, and cancer. All you have to do is set up the software on your computer, which then downloads “work units” and kicks in whenever you’re not terribly busy. The system assigns you points for your work; I’ve been running clients on my home and work machines for years (as part of the Maximum PC team that was set up when I was at Future US), so I’ve processed over 17,000 work units and earned 5.8 million points. It’s like Trophies, only this time, they really might mean something beyond personal digital glory.

What a protein looks like on your PS3

The PlayStation 3 features a built-in Folding@Home client as part of Life With PlayStation; all you have to do is put in your name and team number. Many geek groups already have teams, so pick any organization you like, or join the OneOfSwords team I’ve just set up, team 205163, or leave it blank — even uncredited, your work will still go toward a greater good. All you really have to do is leave your PS3 on when you’re not playing, if you’re comfortable with that. Full setup details are here but you can probably figure it out on your own from within Life With PlayStation. The PSN outage does not affect the F@H client; the only thing you can’t do is see leaderboard data through the PS3, but the work units are still going through just fine.

So you can’t Prestige in Black Ops online right now…but you can do something even more prestigious in the meantime.

When the Play For Japan charity launched, Infinity Ward was involved so quickly that I didn’t even get a chance to post about their autographed collectibles. That didn’t stop them from raising about $6500 for the cause, which is fantastic. And look where the biggest-ticket item wound up — in the lobby of Call of Duty DS developer n-Space!

I just found out Treyarch has posted several Black Ops items as well, including prototypes of the RC-XD and a rare Black Ops helmet. Check them out before they’re gone — I think the bidding is going to get intense, and when you consider how many lives were shattered by the earthquake and tsunami, the higher the bids, the better.

It’s a good Monday when you get into work and see this in your email:

The GameStop hauler and show car fresh from a race on the track in Fontana is on site today, featuring integrated PS3 and Xbox360 game consoles. Be among the first to try out NASCAR The Game 2011!

I grabbed my camera while most other people were at lunch.

Don't care who you are -- it's hard not to be impressed when you are standing next to a NASCAR vehicle.

Behold, NASCAR delivered directly to our door.

I tried both. I could not find the rocket launcher button on either version.

Some people just dove right into a race; others wanted to get under the hood and check out the options.

Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia makes several clean passes on the inside.

I asked and was told this is a retired Joey Logano car, but they take pride in presenting it the same way you'd see on race day.

This car is rated E for Everyone

The real deal!

No, they wouldn't let me get in. That's okay. I'd be terrified.

Joey also drives the Home Depot #20, but obviously, it makes sense to show off the GameStop livery in this case!

And this makes even more sense to show off in our parking lot.

NASCAR The Game 2011 ships Tuesday, March 29th. I’ll be posting a special giveaway in the morning.

This past week was unprecedented — a stunning amount of Activision news broke, and on this show, we pick up the pieces. Kat and I analyze Activision’s internal transformation, GH’s extended vacation, True Crime: Hong Kong’s cancellation, Spyro’s revitalization, Beachhead’s “in-game integration,” Bizarre’s evaporation, Black Ops’ British nomination, Bumblebee’s stealthy hybridization, and a release date for First Strike DLC on — wait for it — Sony PlayStation. Dan also reveals the worst 16-bit games he ever reviewed, while Kat tries to determine the difference between fantasy novels and pornography.

Get the podcast on iTunes
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Or use the links below to listen in the browser or download direct.

More info after the jump…

Co-host: Katrin Auch, light gun enthusiast, graphic designer, bassist, photographer, table refinisher, media maven, frame painter, videographer, and inventor of Headshotmas

Soundtrack: Yameen – available on iTunes, Amazon MP3, and all online music stores

Relevant show links:

That's a fine chapeau, Flav.

Long-time readers of the blog will remember my Blur rivalry with ATVI customer support rep Amber Green. If you’ve looked for her Twitter account, don’t panic — she is still at CS, but is now lending her pipes (and I’ve heard the girl sing) to the phone side of CS things instead of the Twitterverse. Joining the social media team is ATVI_Flav, who must now run a short gauntlet before he is officially accepted by the tribe.

Dan: How do you pronounce your nickname — “Flayv” or “Flahv”? And what’s it short for?
ATVI_Flav: My nickname is pronounced “Flahv” which is short for my four-syllable name. It seems to be a lot easier for people to say than Flaviano (Flah-vee-ah-no).

Dan: On the CS crew, what are your areas of expertise? Do you handle questions about certain games better than others, or are you an all-rounder?
ATVI_Flav: I like to consider myself an all-rounder, but I’ve been stumped a few times. I do better with PC titles over consoles, but I have one of each and will try to get the answer to help someone out. Sometimes it takes me a while to get back to people, but that is only because I am researching their issue. I want to give them the best answer possible and not just check, but double-check and triple-check my answer if I am not sure.

Dan: I noticed from your tweets that you’re bilingual. How many languages do you speak, and which one did you learn first?
ATVI_Flav: Fluently, I can speak two languages — English and Spanish — which I learned at the same time. I can slightly understand and read Portuguese, French and Italian. Not enough to hold a conversation, but enough to understand and offer or ask for help.

Dan: Current favorite Activision game?
ATVI_Flav: I’m going to have to say Black Ops on the PC at the moment. I can’t wait to see what the teams that work on the COD series overall have in store for us.

Dan: How many times have you Prestiged?
ATVI_Flav: In all honesty, zero. I’d rather have the weapons over the Prestige. Eventually I’ll Prestige when I have more time to dedicate to the game. For now I’d rather not be stuck without my favorite weapons, especially since it took me so long to get them — I can only dedicate an hour or two of gaming every other night.

Dan: Current favorite non-Activision game?
ATVI_Flav: This is going to be a tough one since I love all genres, but if I have to pick one, I am going to have to say Fallout: New Vegas — though MLB 2K10 is a close second.

Dan: How the hell do you put up with ATVI_Bernard?
ATVI_Flav: I’m still trying to figure that one out… In all seriousness though, he is a good guy and he gives great advice with complete honesty. I have nothing but praise for him.

Dan: Finally, the most important question of all: Team Amber or Team Swords?
ATVI_Flav: I don’t know you that well yet, so Team Amber. Ask me again in about a year though and I’ll have a fair answer for you then.

He totally failed on the last question, but what the hell — follow him anyway and welcome him to the team.

Well, after some mild online taunting, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson and I saddled up for some in-person competition on the new First Strike DLC maps for Call of Duty: Black Ops. And it was quite the showdown.

Deep inside the dimly lit Treyarch War Room, the battle raged...

In my corner: Arian Foster, running back for the Houston Texans, as well as Treyarch’s online director Dan Bunting; on Major’s team, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew along with Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia. Press and community leaders rounded out the 6-on-6 rosters as we charged through Berlin Wall, Discovery, Stadium, and Kowloon.

Maurice and Arian warmed up by playing with the RC-XD in the offices

Both NFL guests were really, really good COD players — they knew weapon balance, the rhythms of gameplay, and they learned the maps immediately. They were also really gracious, posed for lots of photos, and really loved seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff at Treyarch — they’re real gamers.

From left: Arian Foster, Dan Bunting, Josh Olin, David Vonderhaar, Maurice Jones-Drew, Mark Lamia

So who won? MJD’s squad took the title for the day (did I mention he Prestiged five times?), and that means Major Nelson gets to claim victory…this time. I was happy to learn that our skills are pretty much on par, but he definitely got me today. I took pride in knifing him once or twice, not to menting finding his campsite on Discovery and clearing it out. Heh.

There’s a video of my personal showdown with Major Nelson, but Kat was nice enough to send me some of her best still photos of the day, so enjoy these in the meantime.

Major and I went head to head, literally -- our seats were assigned for maximum conflict.

Arian gets some last-minute pointers from Activision associate producer Jason Harris.

Love this photo. How bad do you want the win, Major?

Treyarch's Dan Bunting is just as intense, mind you.

We're both rushing to Twitter to brag about killing the other guy.

I'm sparred with him a few times now, and I have to say -- Mark Lamia never plays any less than full-on.

Any grudge match you can walk away from...

As you have hopefully heard by now, the first DLC collection for Call of Duty: Black Ops, dubbed First Strike, hits Xbox Live Tuesday, February 1. If you haven’t seen the six-minute Inside Xbox segment on what’s in store, it’s right here.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now, on a more personal note, I’ve been pretty honest about my job — it’s based on the success of Major Nelson. He has become the gamer’s voice at Microsoft, and what I’m doing for Activision is based on the template that he put out there. Sure, I’m mixing it up and doing my own thing with it, but I wouldn’t be here without Larry Hryb.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to tag him with a Semtex, or perhaps watch him fly head over heels as he runs past my claymore. I’ve been wondering who’s the faster gun when it comes to Black Ops — we’ve both played, but we’ve never played against each other. And this week, I get the chance in person.

On Tuesday, a few VIP NFL guests will be at Treyarch to face off in a friendly grudge match. Local media will be there, Kat will be helping document the event for me, and Major Nelson will one of the guest players. So…it’s on. I don’t know if I’ll be playing on Arian Foster’s team or Maurice Jones-Drew’s team, but my focus is on Larry Hryb.

I will report back on what happens. But until then, I’m preparing for war. I’ve got my Gunnars, I’ve got my controller, and I’ve got my caffeinated beverages. I’m ready.

Major? Pain.

I have been getting that question more frequently recently — which I take as a compliment. I’m hoping people ask because they like what they hear and might be trying to build their own podcast rig. The gear and methods I use to record the show are not something I consider a secret; I’m happy to share what I know. However, it’s also a huge question, and I put a lot of thought and research into my choices, so this is going to be a lengthy and detailed post. You’re warned!

My college degree is in audio production, but the year after I walked away in my cap and gown, the industry went digital. Everything I’d learned about sound theory and microphones and stuff was still valid — but if you need a guy to cut 1/4″ reel-to-reel tape armed only with a grease pencil and a razor blade, I am absolutely your man. With digital recording, I’ve had to fill in the gaps myself. But let my mistakes be your benefits.

When I came to Activision, I had a decent budget to get the gear I’d need, so I went with a MacBook Pro and, knowing I’d be doing both audio and video production, a copy of the Final Cut Studio suite. I use its audio editor component, Soundtrack Pro, to record and edit the podcast. In the words of Ferris Bueller, it is so choice — if you have the means, I highly recommend it. However, most people won’t have access to that, so Audacity is my backup. It’s multiplatform (Windows, Mac, and Linux), it makes waveform editing easy, and best of all, it’s free/donateware.

I knew I would need to record in several different situations — Skype interviews, phone interviews, live-in-person interviews, stick-a-recorder-in-someone’s-face-at-an-event interviews — so I planned ahead for all eventualities, plus I had some of my own audio gear I knew I could press into service. So for each situation, here’s what I do:

Recording Skype
When Hugh and I record the show, it’s via Skype. I use one of three USB condenser mics — the Blue Snowball, the M-Audio Producer USB, or my favorite, the Blue Yeti — and Hugh is using a Logitech ClearChat Comfort headset. Before that, he was using a Rock Band/Guitar Hero microphone — they certainly get the job done.

To record everything on one machine, I route the audio output (via System Preferences -> Sound) through a free Mac system extension called Soundflower. Then in Soundtrack Pro, I record Hugh on one track (with Soundflower selected as the input) and my audio on another (with my USB mic selected as the track input). Soundtrack Pro is very accomodating in that it lets you put different mics on different tracks simultaneously — not all audio apps do that. There are other ways to record Skype calls — Pamela for Skype, or routing the Skype computer’s audio output to another computer or recorder — but this was the best Mac solution I found for my setup, and I have used it since the beginning with no issues.

Recording phone calls
The easiest thing for me to do is the Skype method above and just use Skype’s phone functionality. For international calls, I bought some Skype credits (I called Poland on one of the earliest shows). On other occasions, I really need to be on a physical phone — like when I spoke to the guys from Bungie during their “audio press tour” and they called me. For those opportunities, I have a Radio Shack patch cable that plugs into my phone’s handset and basically taps the line. I run the audio out to a Tascam DR-07, which records to SD card — and the Mac has an SD reader built in. The audio usually needs heavy tweaking to get the levels up to something I could use on the podcast, so I still prefer to use Skype, but it at least lets me get the interview, whether I choose to broadcast it or not.

On-the-spot interviews
When I ambush people at industry events or on the floor of E3, I use the Tascam DR-07 again. I often use an external condenser mic — an older Sony ECM S907 (which has its own interesting footnote in my personal gaming history…another time!) which is powered by a single AA — but it’s personal preference and not really necessary. The built-in stereo mics do a fine job.

In-person interviews & roundtables
This is where I realized it was going to get tricky — sometimes I will have the chance to talk to an entire development team at once and I might need to travel to get that interview. That means I need a lot of mics and I need to be able to move them all at once…and I had to be able to bring all the gear myself. Behold:

Be prepared

That’s four MXL 770 condensers (on tiny little collapsible mic stands) running into a Mackie ProFX8 USB mixer. I also have four sets of headphones and a headphone distribution amp so all four people can hear themselves and have an individual volume control. If I have four guests (as with the DJ Hero team’s love advice show), I can add a fifth USB mic for myself as host. (The other stuff you see are a bunch of XLR/power cables and an external Mac hard drive — the laptop itself stays with me when I travel.) Kat helped me cut the foam out of the Pelican case, which thankfully has wheels, so I can check it as luggage if I need to get on a plane and do a roundtable interview with members of a studio in their natural environment. It takes about 15 minutes to set up, which isn’t bad, considering.

When Kat and I record the podcast, we’re usually at home in the same room, so I use a combination of the USB condenser mics listed above (one mic per track) or I route two MXL 990 condensers through a Line 6 TonePort UX2, which is just the gear I have at home for recording music stuff in my free time. But two USB mics has proven to be even less hassle — the only problem is isolation, because I am often very loud and wind up bleeding into her mic when we record.

So, with that in mind, here’s my three best bits of advice if you are making your own podcast:

Quality microphones make quality podcasts.
Take care of your mics, and they will take care of you. It’s worth investing in a good USB condenser mic. (I used the term throughout this article, but condenser mics are powered and therefore more sensitive, more delicate, and warmer in tone compared to dynamic mics, like the handheld microphones you see singers use on stage.) I really recommend the amazingly well designed, feature-laden, and just plain sexy Blue Yeti if you can spend $100 and the Blue Snowball if your budget is closer to $70.

Get a pop filter.
If you instantly want to make your podcast sound more professional, use a pop filter. It’s nothing more than some nylon fabric stretched around a frame, but speaking through a pop filter reduces the plosives — the big puffs of air that come out of your mouth when you say the letter P and B and things like that. They record as a “pop” in the mic because of the gust of air, but the little nylon mesh dissipates that air before it reaches the micrphone. You can make a pop filter yourself from some pantyhose and an embroidery hoop or coat hanger, but there are lots of pre-fab options starting at around $15 or $20. If you plan to podcast regularly with a non-headset microphone, it’s absolutely worth the effort or expense.

Every extra piece of equipment is one more thing that can go wrong.
I have a LOT of equipment at my disposal — I blame my degree for giving me gear lust. But in podcasting, less is more. Every new component is a component that will, one day, fail on you. Pop filters are worth their mild hassle, but plugging in an external mic to a DR-07 is probably not, even though I do it. Every time I use it, I have to check the AA inside; what if the mic gets switched on in transit and drains the battery before my interview? I would unknowingly record silence and not get the interview after all. So there’s a risk, and I don’t recommend taking those risks unless you really believe the end result is significantly worth that risk. Don’t build a needlessly complex system — only use as much gear as you absolutely need to achieve quality results.

Sorry you asked, huh? Hit me with questions below and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Thank you. This has been a very weird year for me — equal parts humbling, rewarding, educational, and dramatic. Shifting to a new learn-as-you-go job in a town where I swore I never wanted to live was a big deal for me. The support that people gave this blog, the podcast, my tweets, all that stuff…they really, really helped, especially on some of the darker days early in the year.

There were a few times in the first six months that I thought “forget it, I’m never going to be able to do this” and thought seriously about putting in a token year and moving on. But amidst all the out-of-context quotes, the employment squabbles, the high-profile bugs, the controversial decisions, the mistakes, and the hot waves of anger from gamers eager to hate someone, there were words of encouragement from friends, family, and followers (and a few reality-check words of wisdom from industry folks — you know who you are and I am still grateful). They all reminded me that the one thing that always works for me is to stick with my one-word life mantra: Commit. If you want to do something, do it; don’t do it halfway. Walking away in, like, April would have been a bad call. Thank you for not letting me make it.

I think there will be bumps along the road but more good than bad in the coming months and, god willing, years. I think we’re off to a good start. Activision kept all its promises about editorial freedom and letting me have my own voice, and there were several times this year where I felt I got the right mix of information and entertainment out there. So let’s see what 2011 brings.

Remember that Tony Hawk: Shred mall tour I mentioned two months ago (and on every podcast since)? I finally got to see it — but it came to me! The truck pulled up to Activision HQ in Santa Monica en route to the San Francisco Bay area (it’s at the Stoneridge Mall this weekend), took over a chunk of the parking lot, brought free lunch for everybody, and threw down a challenge: highest score in Trick Mode on Morocco wins an iPad. That’s not the normal situation, mind you — that’s just Activision’s way of making it “interesting” for its already hyper-competitive employees. So I got some photos of the showdown.

When I left, I had 252,000 but the top score was almost twice that, at 480,000 and change. And after two hours, the winning score was a stunning 1,300,000!  I have no idea how they got that because, as the photos show, we’re outside — I could barely see the screen. But hey: you got the skills, you get the loot.

If your score wasn't high enough, they didn't even bother writing it down.

Show your skills on the big stage...which is, you'll note, a giant skateboard.

No shoes? Hey, whatever works.

If you see this man at an internal Activision competition, run away. Phil is the User Testing supervisor. He knows every game inside and out.

Jeremy braves the stage.

What are you smiling for? You didn't even break 100K. GET BACK UP THERE AND DO IT RIGHT.

Yeah, I walk the walk. And squint the squint. Accursed sun!

The Shred tour pulls into Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton CA (not too far from San Francisco) this weekend.

On Thursday, November 4, 2010, Activision held a private launch party for Call of Duty: Black Ops, featuring Metallica, Kobe Bryant, Zach Braff, and a $1 million donation to the charitable foundation the Call of Duty Endowment, which helps veterans get jobs after returning to civilian life. We put together a video to show you some of what went down:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Once again Kat has come through with some great images. The good photos are hers, and the crappy iPhone ones are mine, but I’m going mix them up to tell the whole story:

Black Ops was the excuse, but from the moment people arrived, there was no doubt about the real purpose of the event.

Representatives from all six branches of the US military were in attendance for a Black Ops multiplayer tournament. More than pride was on the line, but we'll get to that in a minute.

By far, the most vocal cheering section belonged to the Marines. Semper fi!

Huge video walls displayed all the showdowns -- it was an impressive sight.

Want to check out Black Ops in 3D? Best Buy said "There's a bunker for that."

Outside, the not-red-but-black carpet saw dozens of celebrities make their way into the party -- and most talked about the Call of Duty Endowment more than the game.

The actual stage was built up in an airplane hangar at the Santa Monica airport. The headcount I heard was 1500.

Zach Braff hosted the evening, which included appearances by Governor Gray Davis and a surprise appearance by Kobe Bryant.

Bobby Kotick -- who founded the Call of Duty Endowment -- gave an impassioned speech about why the charity is so important to him, and why it should be important to everyone else as well.

On stage, the best player from each of the six branches of the military squared off in a Gun Game Wager Match -- talk about pressure. (Thanks to @JD_2020 for the photo -- he was tall and got a good shot.)

The Coast Guard won the showdown, and the $1 million donation will be made in their name.

Slick tech: The stage rotated to reveal Metallica's gear behind the tournament monitors.

Metallica distributed tickets for its local fans, who rushed the stage. I enjoyed the view on the video wall. Kirk Hammett had the flu but still soldiered on.

Despite the rules about photography at concerts (and the reason Kat didn't get any direct shots of the band), lots of fans took cellular souvenirs home.

If you want more information on the Call of Duty Endowment, just hit the webpage or follow them on Twitter at @CODE4Vets. The site offers some shocking statistics about unemployment for veterans and there are several ways you can help — even if it’s just raising awareness.

And, oh yeah, Call of Duty: Black Ops ships worldwide on Tuesday, November 9, 2010.

It was a miracle anybody got anything done Tuesday. The internal Call of Duty: Black Ops celebrations at Activision were…plentiful. I snapped photos throughout the day.

It started Monday, with an assassination game called the Black Ops Manhunt. Here's your target's photo, here's the rules, and here's a water pistol -- go get them. Around 200 people played and it was hilarious. (I was shot instantly.)

On Tuesday morning, we were all instructed to go in through the front door, where guys in military garb congratulated everyone on the game's release.

The building lobby was transformed into a small command center, with awesome Cold War-era consoles and computer tape drives.

Gaming bunkers were set up in the building's basement, where QA used to dwell. Everyone was welcome to stay and play as long as they liked.

The executives and company leaders had a special tournament -- finance, communications, and Treyarch itself battled it out for more than just bragging rights: Their Wager Match Gun Games also had parking spaces on the line. The losers had to give their sweet spots to the winner's team for a week. Clearly, Treyarch Studio Head Mark Lamia was in it to win it.

This photo confirms that it is impossible to take a good photo of someone playing Black Ops in 3D. There were also zombies matches going on here.

Contrary to popular belief, everybody at Activision does not get free games every day -- but they did today, courtesy of the Black Ops team.

I hope they leave this three-story banner up forever.

At around 4pm, everybody headed out to the parking lot tent -- which had been themed out as a Cuban casino. (The prizes were raffle tickets.)

What is Havana without some libations? The margaritas were delish.

We were all given play money to cash in for chips, then let loose at the blackjack tables. I was a little too loose and didn't come out ahead.

I still have no idea how to play craps.

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg rallied the troops, noting some of the milestones that COD: Black Ops has achieved along the way.

Two of the folks who worked very hard to bring Black Ops to your door: Activision's Senior Executive Producer Daniel Suarez and Treyarch Community Manager Josh Olin.

Number one thing overheard during the party? “This is awesome, but I can’t wait to play the game.” I heartily agree!

I went to several midnight launch events — and didn’t buy the game at any of them. I asked if I could run around Los Angeles chasing one of the Black Ops Jeeps — which was carrying Treyarch Community Manager Josh Olin, Associate Producer Adam Saslow, and Production Assistant Matt Scronce — as they visited various midnight launch lines for Call of Duty: Black Ops, spreading joy, posters, t-shirts, and the occasional Prestige Edition as they went. It was a fun, positive, energizing night. Seeing so many fans super-stoked is contagious, and not in the PAX way.

I shot a very loose video of the evening, which is here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thankfully, Kat was there to snap some really nice photos, so I’ll just provide the color commentary as usual…

Every quest begins with food. The Treyarch team fueled up at Johnny Rockets before hitting the town.

Talk about lucky -- these guys recognized Josh in the restaurant and wound up going home with shirts and posters.

How do you know they're really from Treyarch? Custom hoodies with "Dev Team" patches on the front and company crests on the sleeves.

Well, what would you do while you waited around in a Best Buy?

When he's standing right next to you, seeing this on an endcap is surreal.

Since the Treyarch guys were rolling in the Jeep, the store managers invited them to enjoy premium parking.

Pulling into GameStop on Pico. (They're excellent drivers.)

Coming down the escalator, it was awesome to see fans lined up hours in advance.

The line was orderly but longer than we expected -- we still had hours until launch.

Later we moved to a GameStop in West Hollywood, where dozens of Treyarch employees had gathered to sign stuff for the hundreds of fans in line.

Treyarch gave away more than shirts and posters -- some fans in line got Prestige Editions, signed by the team! The trivia was tough, though.

To the left of the Prestige, you'll see Treyarch Studio Head Mark Lamia and actor James C. Burns, who plays Woods in Black Ops.

I have no idea.

Autographs were not compulsory, but the line was created to flow from register to Treyarch table with ease.

The nicest part was seeing Treyarch folks -- after two years of work -- finally get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Of course, now it's time to listen to fan feedback and move ahead accordingly.