Activision's Call of Duty Elite service has had a rocky start and is still plagued with service problems. Elite's login systems were initially suffering from too many simultaneous login attempts, but after the problem was fixed, the greater than expected demand has been crashing the servers since then.

Beachhead Studio, the creator of Elite, thought that most of the players were going to use the PC interface, but instead 80-90% of the players are using the console interface. Since only the PC interface was beta tested and optimized, the console interface is causing a huge load on the servers.

Activision has been limiting access to the Elite service as it works to build more server capacity. According to Beachhead's VP of Production, Daniel Suarez, less than 10% of the players have actually gotten access to the service, but they hope to have everything working soon.Daniel Suarez: "December 1st is the goal that we'll have everything up and running"Premium members of CoD Elite will automatically receive a 1 month extension on their subscription due to the service problems.

Activision has announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has grossed $775 million within its first five days on sale worldwide, topping Black Ops' $650 million debut. MW3 shattered theatrical box office, book and video game sales records. It's the best-selling video game launch of all time in the top-five USA shops: Amazon.com, Best Buy, GameStop, Target and Walmart."Life-to-date retail sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded $6 billion worldwide, which makes Call of Duty one of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world. We expect continued sales momentum, as reviews and audience enthusiasm suggest that this is the best Call of Duty game that we have ever made."MW3's online component also posted new records. Microsoft announced that more than 7 million multiplayer hours were logged playing Modern Warfare 3 by the end of launch day, which is a 19% increase over last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops. The game also set a new record for concurrent players on Xbox LIVE with 3.3 million simultaneous users - in comparison, Black Ops had 2.6 million gamers playing the game on launch day.

Sony also announced that MW3 set a new record for the number of concurrent gamers playing a Call of Duty game on the PlayStation Network.

Last year Call of Duty: Black Ops sold 5.6 million copies in 24 hours and set a new record for day one sales. If you thought that Modern Warfare 3 couldn't top that this year, think again. Activision has announced that MW3 has become the biggest entertainment launch ever by selling more than 6.5 million units in the USA and UK within its first 24 hours of availability.

MW3 generated more than $400 million in day-one revenue in the USA and UK alone. The previous record holder, Call of Duty: Black Ops, generated $360 million in sales on its first day."Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time."Microsoft has also announced that MW3 set a new record for the most players using Xbox Live at one time following the launch of the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops, like its predecessor Modern Warfare 2, broke all pre-order records worldwide on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. With only a week left before Modern Warfare 3's release, it's already shattering the pre-order record set by Black Ops last year. Modern Warfare 3 is at 3.5 million pre-orders in the US alone; in comparison, Battlefield 3 had ~3 million pre-orders before its release last week.

The Xbox 360 has the highest number of Modern Warfare 3 pre-orders, 2.4 million, while the PlayStation 3 is at 1 million pre-orders. The total number of MW3 pre-orders on the Xbox 360 alone could pass the total number of Black Ops pre-orders last year on both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Modern Warfare 3 will become the first PlayStation 3 title to reach 1 million in pre-orders before launch.

With just 7 days left before MW3 hits the stores, Activision has released a brand new multiplayer trailer titled "New Modes & Match Customization". The new trailer focuses on the "Kill Confirmed" and "Team Defender" game modes, custom private matches and map design.

The new private match options in MW3 basically allow you to create your own "Call of Duty experience" by making new, fully customizable game modes. You can also share your new game modes with your friends, or instead play theirs, via Call of Duty Elite.

The trailer also features a good amount of action and brand new gameplay footage. Check it out below.

It's typical these days that highly anticipated games are leaked to the internet before release, and Modern Warfare 3 is no exception. It was reported a few days ago that a copy of the MW3 PC version was stolen from a US shipping warehouse and has been spreading quickly around the pirate scene.

Activision's private investigators tried to stop the copies from spreading, but to no avail, as it didn't take long for someone to upload the full retail DVD of the PC version to a well-known torrent website; it's already being downloaded by over 5000 people. Since Modern Warfare 3 PC uses Steam, it's encrypted and the game can't be played before the release date, unless the encryption key is leaked or someone tries to brute force it - both of which are highly unlikely.

Unlike the PC version, legit copies of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions have been sold by retailers ahead of the game's November 8th release. A word of caution for those who get their copy this week; Activision has threatened to ban players who are caught playing the game [online], but the warning is geared more towards pirates, not legitimate players - but you never know.

Infinity Ward and Activision have just released Modern Warfare 3's launch trailer. Call of Duty launch trailers have usually been shown for the first time during the first week of November, but this sudden release comes as no surprise since MW3's biggest competitor, Battlefield 3, is being released early next week.

The trailer gives a nice insight of the singleplayer campaign. Check it out below.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches on 8th of November on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Nintendo Wii.

The system requirements for Modern Warfare 3 have gone up since Modern Warfare 2. If your PC is able to run Black Ops, it shouldn't have any trouble running MW3 since the requirements are pretty much the same. Here are the official system requirements to be able to run MW3:

Here's a quick summary of everything that's known about the PC version of MW3. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions might not include everything that's listed below.

Modern Warfare 3 is just a few weeks away, but that doesn't stop Logitech from announcing their new MW3 based mouse and keyboard. These new accessories are perfect for Modern Warfare 3 enthusiasts who want the best in precision and customization for their gaming experience.

The Logitech Gaming Keyboard G105 features night-vision green LED backlighting that enables you to locate the right keys even in the dark. The keyboard provides up to 18 possible macro combinations per game by using 6 programmable G-keys. Multi-key input allows you to use up to five keys at once to perform complex actions without interference or ghosting. The G105 Keyboard will be available in the USA and Europe later this month for $80.

The Logitech Laser Mouse G9X has support for up to 5700 dpi sensitivity that's excellent for fast movement, but you can also lower the on-the-fly dpi sensitivity down to 200 dpi for more precise targeting. The weight-tuning system allows you to customize your mouse for more personalized feel and control. The mouse also has onboard memory that lets you program up to 5 ready-to-play profiles. The G9X mouse will be available in the USA and Europe in early November for $100.

Logitech's accessories are typically compatible with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but it seems that these two are PC-exclusives. Check out the Gaming Keyboard G105 and Laser Mouse G9X below.

BradyGames has been publishing video game strategy guides for over 10 years and has also covered many of the Call of Duty games, including Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops. They have been working alongside Infinity Ward and Activision for the last few months to create the official Modern Warfare 3 Signature Series strategy guide.

The MW3 Signature Series strategy guide will be 352 pages long with highly detailed singleplayer and multiplayer maps, comprehensive multiplayer coverage and more. The guide is made for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions.

The guide will be available for purchase on 8th of November when Modern Warfare 3 launches. The standard version will cost $19.99 and the hardcover limited edition is $29.99, but it comes with extra bonus art and an A-frame map stand displaying exclusively illustrated multiplayer maps.

One of the most talked about feature of the previous Call of Duty game, Black Ops, was the ability to customize your multiplayer weapons, attachments and characters appearance. Modern Warfare 3, although being the successor to both Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, won't unfortunately support these features.Robert Bowling: "We don't do any character customization, all our customization is focused on gameplay / loadouts / weapon camos on Xbox 360 - PS3 - PC"The customization in Black Ops allowed you to distinguish yourself from the rest of the players in multiplayer matches, so this feature will most likely be missed by many players. The good news is that the Theater Mode, which was revealed for MW3 a few months back, will be more enhanced than the one in Black Ops. One of the key features is that the new Theater Mode doesn't cause framerate drops.