The groundbreaking alliance will provide Bungie its first such partnership since splitting off from Microsoft in 2007, significantly broadening its global reach by providing the resources and support to develop, distribute and release games worldwide on multiple platforms and devices.

Activision will broaden its portfolio with a new franchise from one of the industry’s most creative, successful and proven studios, whose games have sold more than 25 million units worldwide. To date, Bungie’s Halo games have generated approximately $1.5 billion in revenues, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and GfK. Activision expects this agreement to be accretive to its operating margins as of the release of the first game.

“We chose to partner with Activision on our next IP because of their global reach, multi-platform experience and marketing expertise,” said Harold Ryan, President of Bungie. “From working together over the past nine months on this agreement, it is clear that Activision supports our commitment to giving our fans the best possible gaming experiences.”

“Bungie is one of the premier studios in our industry and we are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to work with their talented team over the next decade,” stated Thomas Tippl, Chief Operating Officer of Activision Blizzard. “Bungie has developed some of the most compelling and successful games, multiplayer experiences and thriving fan communities, and this alliance underscores our long-standing commitment to foster the industry’s best creative talent. Our unprecedented partnership with Bungie will enable us to broaden our pipeline of exciting new games as we continue to strengthen our industry position and pursue long-term growth opportunities.”

Chances are very good that most of you that will give this review a glance already purchased Infinity Ward’s sequel to the massively successful and well-received Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Heck, a lot of you probably bought it early from one of the many retailers who broke the street date. This review is not for you folks. Nope, this is for those of you still on the fence. Still unsure about dipping your toes into this particular pond?

Don’t be. Speaking as a man who is just about sick of first-person shooters, and also as someone who doesn’t often enjoy multiplayer, I’m happy to report that Modern Warfare 2 is worth every bit of hype. The single-player story is more outrageous and Tom Clancy-esque than the original, but still nail-bitingly exciting from start to finish. The multiplayer is built on the same core as the original Modern Warfare but with several additions and upgrades. These upgrades will seem subtle to most, but they aid in increasing the multiplayer’s replayability for new players and veterans alike. There’s also a Special Ops mode which acts as the game’s co-op component, allowing two players (or you can play solo) to blast through special missions to earn stars. This mode doesn’t have an over-arching story like single-player; just objectives to complete. Even so, it’s a fun mode, best played with a friend who you trust on the battlefield.

Since the multiplayer seems to be the major aspect of Modern Warfare 2 keeping some folks on the fence, let’s look at that first. The multiplayer mode’s core gameplay is identical to every realistic FPS: up to 18 players point their guns at one another and pull their triggers ad nauseam. What sets Modern Warfare 2 apart from the pack is it’s smooth execution of this gameplay and the features added to make it a fun and rewarding experience for countless hours. Everything players do earns experience with which players rank up. Some actions, such as headshots and “paybacks” (gunning down the jerk who took you out before) earn players additional XP. There’s also additional XP to be earned by completing weapon-specific and gameplay-based challenges. For instance, earning a set number of headshots with a certain rifle nets a substantial boost to a player’s XP.

Ranking up isn’t just for the heck of it; it does factor into the multiplayer’s structure. Players unlock new perks—abilities that can enhance one’s effectiveness on the battlefield, such as “Marathon” which gives players unlimited sprint—in addition to new weapons and game modes, such as a capture-the-flag mode and other objective-based warfare. There’s also in-game unlocks, earned through kill or deathstreaks. The former give players items that aid in taking down the enemy, such as UAVs with which players view their enemies on a mini-map; the latter come after repeatedly dying, aiding players with a short-term boost in health and other functions. One last mention: “Martyrdom,” which angered a lot of gamers in Call of Duty 4, is indeed back but better balanced. It’s a deathstreak now that must be unlocked, so you won’t see it as often—especially if you’re good.

My time in Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer was a largely fantastic experience. I played in random matches to get a better feel for what most people will see, rather than with friends or acquaintances. I started out in the bottom tier of most matches, but that didn’t last—and I’m not a FPS expert, folks. Thankfully, I didn’t run into too many hateful or otherwise unsavory individuals, but keep in mind that they are out there. I encountered very little lag, and none of what I experienced could be called game-ruining. Bottom line: if someone like me who doesn’t normally enjoy multiplayer can jump into Modern Warfare 2 and have a good time shooting strangers, anybody can. And imagine how much more fun one can have with friends.

The single-player campaign is also quite fun, but it does try a little hard to recapture the shock value and intensity of Call of Duty 4. The story picks up five years after the events of the first Modern Warfare, following the exploits of a handful of new and returning soldiers, such as John “Soap” MacTavish (my personal favorite). I can’t speak at great length about the story without ruining it, but suffice it to say that there are many twists in the plot—almost to it’s detriment. Modern Warfare 2 feels like Infinity Ward looked at the reaction to their previous effort’s nuclear bomb scene and decided to throw more of that—and often—into MW2. This game feels less like Black Hawk Down and more like a loud, brash summer Hollywood blockbuster. By no means does that hurt the single-player or anyone’s chances of enjoying the story. Just be sure to shut your brain off and you’ll have a rip-roaring good time.

There’s not much to say about Special Ops really. Take the areas, weapons, and character models from the single-player campaign, throw out the story or any semblance of sequence, and throw in co-op: that’s Special Ops. Don’t take that the wrong way. Special Ops’ setup allows for bite-sized adventures with a good friend, either locally or online. Two people can jump in, complete a few missions and earn some stars, then call it a day. Story-based co-op often forces players to stick with it for a long duration; not Special Ops. Being a busy man, I find that immensely appealing, and I’m sure it will appeal to many HCGers as well.

What more do I need to say? I was a hardcore doubter of Modern Warfare 2; it changed my mind, and then some. I foresee many nights in the near future filled with MW2 multiplayer, and maybe a bit of Special Ops sprinkled in here and there. Whether you enjoy competing for the top position or you just like to shoot dudes, there’s a lot to love in Modern Warfare 2. Rent it at the very least, but you can take it from Mr. Doubtful that Modern Warfare 2 is well worth a full $60 purchase. Trade in or sell some games, mow your neighbor’s yard, or do whatever is necessary to earn the money necessary to buy Modern Warfare 2 ASAP. I promise you won’t regret it.

Do you like starting up a Xbox Live party chat with your friends while you blast each other to pieces in your favorite multiplayer games? I bet you do; heck, I do. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do so in Infinity Ward’s upcoming Modern Warfare 2.

The crazy nerds over at NeoGaf discovered via MW2 footage (which contains spoilers, so click on that link at your own peril) that the game forces players in party chat to switch to in-game chat when playing in a multiplayer session. It seems the idea is to eliminate the possiblity of cheating with friends playing on the opposing team (achievement boosting and whatnot).

This doesn’t affect the PS3 version because it doesn’t support party chat anyway. 360 owners, will this hurt your Modern Warfare 2 sessions, or could you not care less? I probably won’t bother with MW2′s multiplayer anyway, but I’m curious to see how this affects single player party chat. Keep in mind that this hasn’t been confirmed with Activision or Infinity Ward, but it looks legit.

In throwing what must be a very large chunk of coal into the engine powering the Modern Warfare 2 hype train, Activision Blizzard and Infinity Ward have release this new Modern Warfare 2 trailer entitled “Infamy.” This new trailer focuses entirely on the game’s single-player campaign. The trailer features new information on a number of plot points, the most noticeable of which is that the U.S. itself will play host to some of the battles taking place within the game.

Activision invites gamers to hop on a skateboard peripheral and wiggle around like a buffoon (well, that’s what it will look like when I’m playing) on November 17 when Tony Hawk: Ride skates into town. The game will do its shredding on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii.

Activision gave us the date but remained quiet about the official price of the game-and-board bundle. Retailers are still listing it as $120, including GameStop and Amazon. GameStop’s early prices are rarely wrong, so $120 is quite likely.

It’s also likely I won’t be buying this game new. I mean, good lord—$120 ain’t chump change, kids. But I’m sure there are a few of you reading this who are dying to virtually shred at home. See, I’m always thinking of you lovely people when I troll for game information.

Activision, perhaps spurred by LucasArts’ recent release of classic adventure games,  today released nearly their entire line of King’s Quest and Space Quest games to Steam. Each collections will run you $14.99 until July 30th, when they’ll go up to their normal price of $19.99.

A bit of warning though. Unlike LucasArts, which released much of their back catalog with updated code to make sure they run on modern machines, Activision decided to not be so thorough. The system requirements state: “Some games in this collection may run under Windows XP 64 and Vista 32/64, but are not officially supported.”

These are games I never played in the past, so I’ll definitely be checking them out.

If you bought or rented the newly released open-world action/adventure title Prototype for PS3, you might encounter a nasty bug which might keep you from enjoying the game.

Apparently the bug hits randomly when attempting to install the game’s data to the PS3 hard drive. An error message pops up claiming there is insufficient space, and the install cannot continue. This occurs even in cases where there is more than enough free space.

Publisher Activision suggests PS3 Prototype players to free up an additional 700 MB of space on their hard drive, which supposedly will do the trick. It’s worth noting that this issue does not plague the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Prototype.

Thank God I rented mine on 360. I hate these kinds of random errors, and I know you folks do too.

Activision officially announced what everyone with half a brain already knew was coming: Guitar Hero 5 (still no set-in-stone title), Band Hero, DJ Hero, Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits (the game known as Smash Hits here in the States), and — of course — Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

Guitar Hero 5 will ostensibly be more of the same from the previous outing, Guitar Hero: World Tour, with the promise of a few new features. Band Hero will be a more family-friendly entry in the series — the first to be rated E10+, actually, with a wide range of hit pop and rock songs.

DJ Hero will allow players to create mixes of popular hip-hop, Motown, R&B, dance, and electronic songs. Players will use a turntable device to scratch their beats. No word yet on other possible accessories. DJ Hero will be available on PlayStation 2 and 3, Wii, and Xbox 360.

Guitar Hero: Van Halen also promises to be more of the same, only with plenty of Van Halen hits to keep gamers busy. Activision did not announce any tracks for Van Halen, nor did they mention what consoles on which the game will appear. They did say that Queen, Weezer, blink-182, Queens of the Stone Age, and The Offspring are the confirmed acts to appear alongside Van Halen in the game.

This post comes from our good buddy Tank.

For all of those that complained when it was announced that Treyarch’s next installment of the Call of Duty series was going back to World War II, your dreams are coming true. Activision/Blizzard has announced that number six in the series will be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. With the success of Call of Duty 4, Infinity Ward will look to cash in on the series again, and give the gamers what they really want. I was pleasantly surprised by World at War, but I’m sure I will enjoy modern weapons and warfare even more.

Along with the announcement of Modern Warfare 2, Activision also announced Guitar Hero 5, the next Tony Hawk skating game, and a James Bond racer from the makers of Project Gotham Racing. See the details here.