Source: Britain-based, EU-focused game site Eurogamer.

The official story: Activision had not responded to requests for clarification as of press time.

What we heard: Though the rest of 2007 is jam-packed with releases, a few games stand out from the madding crowd. One of those is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the next installment in the previously World War II-focused series. Most recently touted at the E3 Media & Business Summit, the game's viscerally intense depiction of two fictional 21st-century wars has generated more than a little interest.

With the question of "if" answered for many prospective Call of Duty 4 purchasers, the issue now is "when." According to Eurogamer, a clue arrived this week at a London "press event," where an unnamed "senior brand manager" apparently "let the news slip" that the game is coming out in the UK on November 9. The site claims that UK activision reps would only "confirm" the release date as "winter," and Eurogamer "didn't" go into any "further detail." But if it were true, the date would all but confirm that Call of Duty 4 would arrive stateside on November 6 or November 13--the two Tuesdays that buttress the aforementioned Friday. (Games are most often released on Tuesdays in North America.)

Eurogamer's sources aren't exactly concrete, and US Activision lips were sealed. So why does an early November release for Call of Duty 4 seem completely plausible? First, the game looked nearly done at Microsoft's press conference at E3. Secondly, every Call of Duty game has been released in late October or early November. Third, the game is already in beta in North America. Fourth, online retailers such as GameStop are listing the game as coming out the first week in November.

Lastly--and most importantly--Call of Duty 4 will probably come out in early November simply because it can. Even though the World War II shooter genre has been saturated for years, previous Call of Duty titles were a staple for shooter fans, selling millions of copies. That same installed base has eaten up the game's modern setting and vastly improved graphics like starving soldiers scarfing down MREs. Call of Duty 4 could have held its own with Grand Theft Auto IV shipping just three weeks prior. The PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 game's sales will only be greater now that Take-Two's crime game has been delayed until 2008.

Bogus or not bogus?: Almost certainly not bogus.

Source: A scan of a Circuit City ad flier sent to Joystiq.

The official story: "We have no announcements to make on pricing at this time. While price matters, content is king. And no other system is offering all the games people want to play this holiday at a better price than Xbox 360. With games like Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Madden NFL 08, Guitar Hero III and Rock Band to name a few, we have the greatest holiday line up in video game history."--A Microsoft representative, pulling out the same old chestnut as the last time Xbox 360 price cut rumors came up. And the time before that.

What we heard: Last week, the Hollywood Reporter cited retail sources in reporting that Microsoft would be dropping the price of the Xbox 360 by $50 on August 8. Yesterday, two scans of upcoming Sunday newspaper ads from Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us bolstered that rumor with $50 price cuts listed for the Xbox 360 Premium, but there was still no word on how much, if at all, prices would fall for the Elite and Core systems.

Today a scan of an upcoming Circuit City circular popped up online, and it advertises the price drop for the Premium system, as well as breaks on the cost of the Core and Elite. According to the ad, the Core cost will fall $20 to $279.99, while the price of the Elite will drop $30 to $449.99. The ad also says those who purchase the Premium system will receive a free copy of Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis, although that appears to be a Circuit City-specific promotion.

It seems pretty obvious that Microsoft told its retail partners about a price cut that would be safe to advertise in mid-August. Plans can change, but much like the way Sony's price cut was similarly spoiled by retailer ads, this is essentially a lock. All that's left to be seen is whether or not Microsoft will fess up to the price cut and put it into effect now, or let excitement for the drop wither as it continues playing coy.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus.

Source: Pictures of advance retail flyers posted on the forums of Modojo and Cheap Ass Gamer over the weekend.

The official story: "We have no announcements to make on pricing at this time. While price matters, content is king. And no other system is offering all the games people want to play this holiday at a better price than Xbox 360. With games like Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Madden NFL 08, Guitar Hero III, and Rock Band to name a few, we have the greatest holiday lineup in video game history."--A Microsoft spokesman getting extra mileage from the response to the last 360 price-cut rumor.

What we heard: Earlier this month, a leaked newspaper ad for Circuit City broke the news that Sony planned to drop the price of the PlayStation 3 by $100. Several days later at the E3 Media and Business Summit, Sony went ahead and announced the 60GB PS3's new $499 price point--and its sudden discontinuation.

History could be repeating itself in near-record time, as leaks from the retail sector have been making the rounds, stating that an Xbox 360 price drop is imminent. Over the weekend, a Modojo forum-goer posted a scan of what is apparently a Wal-Mart ad promoting a $349 Premium Xbox 360. The small scan doesn't clearly give details about any possible price drop for the Core or Elite models of Microsoft's system.

The Modojo scan was later backed up by a scan of a Toys "R" Us ad from the Cheap Ass Gamer forums. That ad shows the Premium Xbox 360 selling for $349.99, but likewise gives no such indication about a drop for the Core or Elite systems.

Given the lead time on newspaper ads like these, it's likely both fliers are set to be distributed on Sunday, August 13. That would be the first ad-packed Sunday paper after August 8, the supposed price cut date reported on last week by the Hollywood Reporter.

It's clear that a number of retailers are expecting an Xbox 360 price cut next week, so much so that they're willing to buy print advertising for it. If that's the case, Microsoft almost certainly told them to expect a price cut, and when it would be fine to start promoting it. When Microsoft actually decides to announce it remains to be seen, although sources close to the software giant are grousing through back channels that the discounting's cover has already been blown.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus.

Source: A report on British trade site MCV.

The official story: "We're looking at the show and will make announcements at an appropriate time."--An Entertainment Software Association representative.

What we heard: When the ESA announced last year that it was revamping its flagship Electronic Entertainment Expo, a parade of rumors and speculation floated through the industry as to why the changes were made, what the new show would look like, and even whether or not there would be an E3 of any sort in 2008.

With last week's E3 Business and Media Summit in the books, it seems time for that cycle to start again in regards to next year's show. Trade site MCV kicked it off today with a report that the show will once again undergo significant changes. Specifically, the story said the ESA would move the show out of the Los Angeles area entirely (last week's show was held in nearby Santa Monica), hold the show on new dates, revise its strategy once again, and re-examine the way it invites people to attend.

While the site didn't give any kind of source for its news, it did say it "could exclusively reveal" that the show will move, and that it was only ever held in Santa Monica to fulfill a contractual obligation requiring an event in the LA area. The article says New York and Las Vegas have been suggested as possible new homes for the show. It doesn't explain who suggested the former city, and the only other reference in the story to the latter locale is Microsoft exec Jeff Bell saying he isn't necessarily "flying the flag" for Vegas, but merely pointing out LA isn't a convention town.

The news that the ESA is considering moving the show isn't especially surprising. Earlier this week, the group sent out surveys to E3 attendees asking what they thought of the event. One question asked respondents where they would like next year's show to be held. The options included Los Angeles and Santa Monica, as well as Laguna Beach, San Francisco, and San Diego.

Furthermore, the survey asked if respondents preferred to have the event in a multiple hotel setting like last week's show, or a single, larger facility, like the Los Angeles Convention Center shows of years past. Other questions inquired about the usefulness of the Barker Hangar and the third-party publisher press conferences, as well as which month (from May to August) would be preferred for the trade show.

However, while the ESA is certainly considering its options, a final decision has likely not been made. For one thing, respondents are asked to complete the survey before Monday, July 23. Assuming the ESA went to the trouble of conducting a survey because the responses it gets will impact its future decisions in some way, the group probably hasn't committed to changing the location of E3 once more. Combine that with the vague sourcing on the original article, and it's not looking like a lock just yet.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that the ESA is thinking about it. Bogus that it's a done deal.

Source: See below.

The official story: See below.

What we heard: The console wars heated up this week when SCEA knocked $100 off the price of the 60GB PS3, cutting into Microsoft's Xbox 360 price advantage. Unfortunately, gamers across the Atlantic won't get a similar price cut on the system. Last night, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe instead announced a new PS3 bundle that would come with two games--Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm--and an extra controller.

When asked why European consumers aren't getting the same treatment, SCEE president David Reeves said that the North American drop wasn't really a drop at all.

"Let's understand what the Americans have done," he told GameSpot UK. "They're going to introduce an 80GB model at $599 with MotorStorm on August 1, and they've got stock in trade of the old model. They're just selling it off, they're not dropping the price. The price from August 1 is going to be $599 because all the 60GB models will have gone. They've got to find a way to get rid of the old stock, and that's what they're doing."

Reeves gave nearly identical statements to several European outlets, setting off a firestorm before the sun rose on the E3 Media & Business Summit in Los Angeles. To help clarify the matter, GameSpot contacted Dave Karraker, senior director of corporate communications at Sony Computer Entertainment America. However, his answer further clouded the waters by apparently contradicting Reeves' statement.

"Those quotes from David Reeves are not accurate," he told GameSpot. "As announced this week, SCEA's product offering in North America consists of an 80GB PS3 available in August at $599 and a 60GB PS3 available now for $499. We will have ample supplies of both models to meet the needs of our consumers for the foreseeable future."

[UPDATE] Following a flurry of confusion, the matter was apparently settled by none other than Sony Computer Entertainment's president and CEO. Speaking to Norwegian game-news outlet VGTV, Kaz Hirai said in no uncertain terms that the 60GB version is being phased out.

"From a hardware perspective, the $499 price adjustment we did for the 60GB version for the American market, we're no longer in production for that product," he said in an on-camera interview. "Once that product is gone from the retailer shelves, then we're back to a $599 SKU only, so it's not like we have a two-price strategy in the US market. We found out very early on how consumers react to having just one SKU as opposed to two."

[UPDATE 2] SCEA has since confirmed the production cessation to GameSpot, but Karraker emphasized it would not be sudden. "The 60GB PS3 will be available in North America for $499 until supplies of that unit are depleted," he said. "We are offering a full-featured PS3 for $100 lower than the original price and will do so for months to come, allowing consumers the opportunity to acquire this model at this adjusted price."

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus, unless Hirai's bosses at Sony corporate change their mind.

Source: See below.

What we heard: Without question, the big gaming news of last week was the hubub around Manhunt 2. After being banned outright in England and Ireland, Rockstar Games' controversy-courting title was given the dreaded AO for Adults Only rating by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). The decision was essentially the kiss of death for the Wii, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable title since neither Nintendo nor Sony will allow games with an AO label to be released on their systems. (When Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was re-rated AO in 2005, it was already on the market.)

In the wake of the AO rating, Rockstar parent Take-Two Interactive delayed the July 10 release of Manhunt 2 pending an appeal. Today, though, an e-mail from another Take-Two subsidiary sparked speculation that the ESRB is expanding its clampdown. This morning, 2K Games sent out a notice to games press outlets demanding that the latest trailer for the forthcoming game The Darkness "MUST be behind an ESRB compliant age gate." (Emphasis and capitals in the original.) Age gates are the pop-up screens, which requirevisitors to enter their age before viewing a trailer, theoretically preventing anyone under 17 from seeing mature content.

The 2K Games notice was quickly followed by the straight-up retraction of two new trailers for Dark Sector, the forthcoming sci-fi shooter from D3 Publisher and Digital Extremes. "We recently received a ruling from the ESRB stating that the two officially released Dark Sector gameplay montages have been deemed to contain excessive or offensive content; and to this end are not to be available for download or viewing, regardless of being placed behind an age gate," said the statement.

Since the two trailers were first posted in March, their withdrawal raised the specter that the ESRB might retroactively ban any number of game trailers. Several online media outlets took the Darkness warning and the Dark Sector withdrawal announcement--which came within hours of each other--as an indicator that the ESRB was launching a new crackdown beyond games themselves.

The official story: As it turns out, the timing of the ESRB's double-dose of caution was purely coincidental. Also, the self-regulatory body has always had a division that oversees game trailers and other publicity material called the Advertising Review Council (ARC). "The notices issued recently by game publishers to third-party Web sites are simply steps in a chain of publisher compliance with ARC guidelines and the ESRB enforcement system that have been occurring since their establishment seven years ago," ESRB president Patricia Vance said in a statement.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that it's new. Not bogus that the ESRB is keeping a careful eye on how games are promoted.

Sources: See below.

What we heard: This week, reports began to surface that the Halo movie saga had taken another turn. Over nine months after the Master Chief's first big-screen foray was indefinitely postponed, many underground film outlets began reporting that the project was back on. Among those heralding the would-be blockbuster's return to the production pipeline was Latinoreview.com, which first leaked the first draft of the film's script. (Warning: Script leak contains profanity.)

The reports which did bother listing a source linked back to Variety and/or Hollywood Reporter stories. Those two pieces outlined how movie studio 20th Century Fox had entered into a "strategic partnership" to be the "primary licensor" for the Halo franchise. Since Fox was co-financing the Halo film with Universal and Microsoft, many sites made the logical deduction that the deal meant that production on the project had restarted.

Just one problem--neither article says explicitly that work on the Halo film has resumed. In fact, both merely outline how Fox will expand "the [Halo] brand's licensing and merchandise program" to include more products than the tchochkes currently offered at the Bungie Studios store and the forthcoming McFarlane Toys figurines.

"The addition of the Halo brand is a tremendous addition to our licensing portfolio," Elie Dekel, executive vice president at 20th Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising, told the Reporter. Steve Schreck, Microsoft Game Studios' director of franchise development said the agreement would lay "a solid foundation for the expansion of the property into new products, retail markets and territories."

The official story: With both Hollywood trades not giving any updates on the Halo movie's status, it came as no surprise that Microsoft was itself tight-lipped. "We have no new information to share with respect to a Halo movie," was all a rep would say.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that pre-production on the Halo movie has officially resumed. Likely that it will, in some form, if Halo 3 meets expectations.

Source: The online edition of Game Informer.

What we heard: Last month, George Harrison (pictured), Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and communications, took the stage at the MI6 game-marketing conference in San Francisco. For just under an hour, he outlined the successful strategy behind the nationwide ad campaign for the Wii. Given the console's surging sales, his presentation seemed like a victory lap of sorts, a pat on the back for a job well done.

Now, if a report today is to be believed, Harrison's job is itself done. The Minnesota-based magazine's online arm is reporting that he and several other major figures in NOA's PR machine have left Nintendo. Among those apparently boxing up their desks are senior director of public relations Beth Llewelyn and vice president of marketing Perrin Kaplan.

The mass exodus is reportedly a result of Nintendo's recent decision to relocate the entire sales and marketing department at its Redmond, Washington, headquarters to San Francisco and New York City. According to GI, nearly 90 percent of NOA PR staffers have opted to take a severance package rather than make the move.

The official story: Reps at Nintendo's external PR agency claimed to have no knowledge of the staffing changes. Inquiries sent to internal Nintendo PR--including several high-ranking staffers--were unanswered as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: With no official word, the exodus remains difficult to confirm...for now. However, departures of such magnitude are impossible to hide for long.

Source: See below.

The official story: "We do not comment on rumor or speculation."--Rockstar Games rep.

What we heard: Back in March, Take-Two Interactive's board was ousted by a shareholder revolt. Since then, it has been unclear what the company's new directors have in mind for the mighty--but mighty troubled--publisher. The first hard evidence about what tack Take-Two will take won't surface for 10 days. That's when the New York-based publisher will announce earnings for its second fiscal quarter, which ended on April 30.

In the interim, analysts are prognosticating about the possible outcomes of said call. One of the highest-profile game industry analysts is making some particularly gloomy predictions. In a note sent out this morning, Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter said he thought "the company is likely to announce studio closures, lease terminations, and game cancellations during the conference call." He and his associates also "do not expect new games such as The BIGS, All-Pro Football, Fantastic Four, or The Darkness to be wildly profitable."

Pachter also set off a forum firestorm by wagering a guess about one of the year's biggest games. "We believe that it is possible that the company will choose to 'throw in the towel' on [its 2007 financial year] by shifting the release date for Grand Theft Auto IV by a few weeks, increasing the losses incurred this year and improving the company's prospects for FY:08." Take-Two's financial year ends on October 31, 2007.

Pachter gave another rationale for a GTA IV delay: namely, that moving it to early November would put more space between GTA IV and Halo 3, which is arriving September 25. "We believe that a two-week delay would provide a reasonable gap between the launch of Halo 3 and the launch of GTA IV, and would actually help sales of both games," he said.

Still another scenario in the Wedbush note would have the regular edition of GTA IV be pushed past Halloween, while the recently announced Collector's Edition of the game would go on sale October 16. That would "allow Take-Two to maximize revenues from the $89.99 Collector's Edition of the game...and to increase overall profitability." The extra $30 nets players a soundtrack CD, art book, duffel bag, keychain, and lockbox.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that it's been confirmed in any shape, way, or form. Though well respected, Pachter is not infallible, and he is merely speculating here. Then again, stranger and more underhanded things have been done in the name of financial posturing. Also, giving gamers a few more weeks to save their pennies post-Halo 3 does make sense. But the November release schedule will still be crowded with competition, and GTA IV will be a monster hit no matter what...so why wait?