Kim Dotcom, the founder and mastermind of the beleaguered file-sharing site Megaupload that was recently shut down by authorities, doesn't just face prison time and substantial fines for his alleged crimes, he has also lost his status as the world’s highest ranked player in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. With millions in the bank and a huge mansion from his illegal file sharing empire, Dotcom apparently had a lot of time on his hands and was playing a lot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 under the gamertag MEGARACER. Dotcom had earned the top spot in the first-person shooter video game late last year, according to MSNBC. With around 15 million players worldwide and over $1 billion in sales, Modern Warfare 3 is one of the best selling video games of all time.

Although these past few weeks have been jam-packed with a plethora of top-notch titles, the world has had their sights on two games in particular - Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. EA has made it their priority to do their best to top the highest grossing franchise of all time, and the fanbases of both franchises have been taking shots at each other, claiming their favorite game is the better. Now that both games have hit the shelves and virtual battlefields have been the littered with bullet shells and bodies, it's time to get to the nitty gritty and discuss which game takes the throne of the FPS release of the year. I'm going to look at Modern Warfare 3, and examine the 3 key components of the game - campaign, co-op, and mulitplayer - to show why I believe it is the better of the two.

GUNNAR Optiks is offering gamers a way to look cool while fragging enemies in Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The limited edition gaming eyewear is now available in Best Buy stores and in GUNNAR’s online store for Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games' new sequel. The exclusive new design for the hottest game of the year brings form, function and style to competitive gaming together for $99.

According to new research from video game analyst PJ McNealy of Digital World Research, Call of Duty gamers have remain committed to Treyarch's Black Ops online despite the launch of Battlefield 3. Electronic Arts has shipped 10 million copies of Battlefield 3 and sold through 5 million of them in just one week. But according to Xbox Live server data, over 1 million Black Ops gamers were online playing the game.

LOS ANGELES -- Respawn Entertainment's Vince Zampella, co-founder of Infinity Ward and part of the creative force behind the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise, spoke in public for the first time at the second annual 3D Gaming Summit: 3D Gaming and Beyond at the Hollywood & Highland Center, Hollywood, CA. USA Today video game reporter Mike Snider interviewed Zampella about Call of Duty and what’s next from the new independent studio, Respawn Entertainment in the videos below.

LOS ANGELES – The inaugural Call of Duty XP event, commonly referred to as XP 2011, is officially over. Kanye West rapped the night away in front of celebrities like Maria Schriver, Teri Hatcher and Ron Artest to close out the two-day video game event. But by then, many of the gamers had already exited the massive hangars that housed an exclusive hands-on opportunity with Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Developers Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games were on hand to reveal all of the multiplayer details and five new maps for MW3, while beach Head Studios was there to reveal the $50 annual price point and exclusive content for the accompanying Call of Duty Elite service. The video walkthrough below gives a glimpse of what was happening inside and outside the massive Raleigh Studios complex in Playa Vista.

Los Angeles – Microsoft used Activision’s first annual Call of Duty XP fan festival to unveil its latest bundle. The Xbox 360 Limited Edition Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 console, wireless headset with Bluetooth and wireless controllers will ship to retail this fall. Microsoft, Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games teamed up to create a Call of Duty collectible, just in time for the most epic Call of Duty experience yet. Aside from its (air)striking good looks, the console will play unmistakable Call of Duty sounds when powering up and when the tray is opened.

What you drink could influence how you play Modern Warfare 3. Mountain Dew and Activision are joining forces this fall to deliver a first-of-its-kind promotion – "Rank Up Your Game with Double XP" – to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 gamers and DEW fans.  Starting in October, Mountain Dew will deliver Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 fans double experience time (Double XP) with every purchase of specially marked Mountain Dew products.  The promotion will also mark the much anticipated return of Mtn Dew Game Fuel as a limited-time offer, giving DEW fans the chance to stock up on original Mountain Dew Game Fuel – a citrus cherry flavor – and a brand new tropical flavor of Mountain Dew Game Fuel that was created in collaboration with the Call of Duty team specifically for Modern Warfare 3.

When Call of Duty: Black Ops hit the market last year, sales numbers hit amazingly high numbers, totalling over $1 billion in sales worldwide. However, there wasn't much competition against it in the world of first-person shooters because Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was released 8 months prior to Black Ops. Now that Battlefield 3 is right up against Modern Warfare 3 by being only two weeks apart in release, you would think that it would slow Call of Duty's momentum down even just the slightest bit. However, CEO of Activision Bobby Kotick likes to think otherwise.

There's going to be free games given out. There's going to be tournaments held. There will be a life size paintball match done in a re-creation of one of the multiplayer levels of Call of Duty: Moder Warfare 2. So I think its safe to say that Activision is going all out with this thing. This thing, of course, being Call of Duty XP, the world's first Call of Duty convention.

We've seen some gutsy moves when it comes to promotion, but Electronic Arts is really stepping up.  Over the past few weeks, the company has been pushing Battlefield 3 something fierce, which has led to a boost in pre-orders -- even beyond its greatest competition, the supposedly unstoppable Modern Warfare 3.  But today, we saw a bold move that we didn't even see coming -- a website redirection that has no doubt left a few at Activision feeling a cold burn.

This upcoming holiday season will be hosting an interesting battle taking place between two of the biggest franchises in video games: Call of Duty and Battlefield. At E3 this past June, John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, took some shots at the Call of Duty franchise, boasting that Battlefield has what it takes to usurp the throne that Call of Duty currently sits on. To heighten the rivalry, EA moved Battlefield 3's release date to October 25, placing it merely two weeks before Modern Warfare 3 hits store shelves. With all of this in place, just what does Modern Warfare 3 need to do in order to win the rivalry?