Blizzard Entertainment will hold several official launch events to celebrate the upcoming release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the highly anticipated third expansion for the world’s most popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Starting on the night of December 6, key retail partners in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the region of Taiwan will welcome gamers who want to be among the first to purchase and play Cataclysm. Members of the World of Warcraft development team will be on hand at each of the events to meet with players and sign their copies of the expansion.

A controversial television ad, called “People Play Real Life Duty,” advertising Activision’s new Call of Duty Black Ops videogame from Treyarch, is receiving a polarizing reaction from male and female viewers. According to the creative lifecycle management company Ace Metrix, the ad, featuring a montage of real people engaged in simulated video game gunfire, registered a 277 point difference between male and female viewers. Male viewers, age 16-20, gave the ad an Ace Score of 770 (out of total of 950) and female viewers, age 36-49, scored the ad 518. With an overall Ace Score of 644, the ad scored almost 70 points above the videogame category norm of 576. The ad also features a cameo of pro basketball star Kobe Bryant and “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones as its soundtrack.

It’s Thanksgiving time, which means Black Friday officially kicks off the Christmas shopping season. And Nintendo is about to put a playful twist on the fun of bumping into old friends at your local shopping mall. Mario, Donkey Kong and Pikachu are just a few of the familiar faces consumers will encounter as Nintendo’s Holiday Mall Experience touches down at shopping centers throughout the United States. From Nov. 22 through Dec. 19, shoppers can drop in and play the latest games for Wii™ and Nintendo DSi™ systems at interactive demo stations. Check out this exclusive video interview with the creator of one of the featured games – Disney Epic Mickey.

THQ is connecting WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 gamers online. The game maker is offering players unique game-to-web functionality in conjunction with its official community website online at community.smackdownvsraw.com.  Through the game’s Community Creations feature, players can upload their in-game screenshots taken from their Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 and share them online with others from around the world. WWE Superstar JTG talks about the new game in this exclusive video interview.

Iconic and critically acclaimed French duo Daft Punk, who created the music score for Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming film TRON: Legacy, provided two of their tracks from the film for the new TRON: Evolution videogame for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. The tracks -- “Derezzed” and “The Grid” – will complement music from composers Sascha Dikiciyan, Cris Velasco and Kevin Manthei in the new game. The new CD will ship alongside the game on December 7. Check out this exclusive interview with Propaganda Games about TRON: Evolution.

Just in time for working off that Thanksgiving turkey, EA SPORTS has shipped EA SPORTS Active NFL Training Camp for the Wii. The new football-based training program simulates the football drills and conditioning workouts of an NFL training camp. Developed in collaboration with NFL strength and conditioning coaches, users will experience the thrill of competition while challenging friends and family in authentic NFL football drills. EA SPORTS Active NFL Training Camp with Total Body Tracking includes a heart rate monitor and wireless motion tracking that delivers an accurate, challenging workout with measurable results. Users can also track and share training results via the EA SPORTS Active online hub. San Francisco 49ers star Patrick Willis talks about the game in this exclusive video interview.

With Call of Duty: Black Ops $360 million launch breaking entertainment records, Activision is giving back to the actual soldiers who have served their country.  Recognizing that the private sector is as responsible as government in solving the issue of veterans’ unemployment, Activision has pledged to find 1,000 jobs for veterans and is donating $1 million from the sales of its blockbuster video game Call of Duty: Black Ops to help transition service members back to civilian life by providing them with job training and placement.