Modern Warfare

Earthly mortal combat has knocked alien-style off its money-making perch. Sales of the interactive game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 topped the $1 billion mark in just 16 days, a day less than the film Avatar needed to become the fastest-selling "entertainment property" ever, according to the game's maker, Activision. With millions of ardent fans, The Call of Duty series, which includes eight games so far, has become a blockbuster franchise that rivals the likes of Stars Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the National Football League, Activision contends.

The dirty work of wars has always been largely left to lowly privates and sergeants. But now, when modern wars are undeclared, limited and broadcast live on CNN, the lowly private can actually shape their outcome. The faces of the three U.S. servicemen captured by Serbs and flashed on television around the world are the image that U.S. military leaders have been struggling to prepare for since the end of the Cold War. "In conflicts before, in conventional wars, lieutenants and sergeants and privates were part of a larger whole.

No one was more surprised than Mark Bowden when one of Hollywood's flashiest producers showed a serious interest in putting his words on the big screen. The Philadelphia Inquirer reporter was having dinner at the Dock Street Brewery in 1997 with his then-editors, David Zucchino and Bob Rosenthal, when he was paged at the table. Figuring something terrible had happened, Bowden rushed to the phone. It turned out to be his literary agent in New York with some news: Jerry Bruckheimer had read the galleys of Bowden's soon-to-be-published book, "Black Hawk Down," and wanted to turn it into a film.

OSLO, Norway - Anders Behring Breivik knew it would take practice to be able to slaughter dozens of people before being shot by police. In a chilling account, the far-right fanatic claimed Thursday that he sharpened his aim by playing the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare for hours on end. Breivik told an Oslo court that he also took steroids to build physical strength and meditated to "de-emotionalize" himself before the bombing and...

Could you take your finger off the trigger for a minute? If you're like millions of other people, you're already deeply engaged in the furious firefight that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. On the day it was released last week, the video game raked in $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom, selling more than 4.7 million copies. That amounts to a record launch for any form of entertainment, eclipsing the one-day mark set by Grand Theft Auto IV last year.

It's the season for football, falling leaves, and new video-game releases. And though all of us are feeling the pockets pinch a bit, there is no doubt we will dig deep for at least a couple of titles to keep us company through winter. Publishers are fully aware of our unquenchable thirst for gaming, and there are some recent price cuts for gaming consoles that, combined, could boost game sales that have sagged this year. While a couple of big titles won't meet their original release dates this year (Bioshock 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Ghost Recon 4, Starcraft 2)

The mission to feed the people of Somalia has been accomplished. It's time to turn the peacekeeping job over to the United Nations and bring our combat troops home. Our forces have used up their welcome and are now viewed by many Somalians as a hostile presence. If we stay longer, young American warriors will get hurt. The Marine Corps brass don't see it this way, but view the operation as a splendid way to hype the corps to the world. Somalia has become the biggest Marine public-relations act since John Wayne and The Sands of Iwo Jima.

Today, the Commentary Page welcomes Jane Eisner back to Thursdays. For the past year, Jane has been a senior fellow in residence at the University of Pennsylvania and has written a soon-to-be-published book on the youth vote. She now returns to her twice-a-week column, here on Thursdays, and on Sundays in Currents. War has always driven people crazy. From the time Homer portrayed Achilles violently grieving over the loss of his friend Patroclus in battle - weeping, fasting, mutilating himself - the psychiatric cost of war has been well-documented.

The Help , a tale of race relations in 1962 Mississippi, took charge of U.S. movie screens for the third straight weekend, racking up a gate of $14.2 million, according to studio estimates. Claiming second place in the box office sweeps with $9.7 million on its debut weekend was The Debt , a story of Nazi hunters, starring Helen Mirren . The "fakeumentary horror" flick Apollo 18 , also making its debut, was third with $8.7 million. The poorly reviewed Shark Night 3D nevertheless managed $8.6 million on its debut weekend for fourth place.

(Xbox 360) Bungie (developer), Microsoft (publisher) $59.99-$99.99 Release date: Sept. 22 There are still thousands of Halo 3 multiplayer games being played each month on the Microsoft entertainment portal Xbox Live. So it makes perfect "Human and Covenant" sense to give fans another shot at wreaking havoc while trying to save our species from extinction. In this Halo prequel, Bungie forgoes the Master Chief and focuses on the grunts, or in this case, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

OSLO, Norway - Anders Behring Breivik knew it would take practice to be able to slaughter dozens of people before being shot by police. In a chilling account, the far-right fanatic claimed Thursday that he sharpened his aim by playing the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare for hours on end. Breivik told an Oslo court that he also took steroids to build physical strength and meditated to "de-emotionalize" himself before the bombing and...

Earthly mortal combat has knocked alien-style off its money-making perch. Sales of the interactive game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 topped the $1 billion mark in just 16 days, a day less than the film Avatar needed to become the fastest-selling "entertainment property" ever, according to the game's maker, Activision. With millions of ardent fans, The Call of Duty series, which includes eight games so far, has become a blockbuster franchise that rivals the likes of Stars Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the National Football League, Activision contends.

The Help , a tale of race relations in 1962 Mississippi, took charge of U.S. movie screens for the third straight weekend, racking up a gate of $14.2 million, according to studio estimates. Claiming second place in the box office sweeps with $9.7 million on its debut weekend was The Debt , a story of Nazi hunters, starring Helen Mirren . The "fakeumentary horror" flick Apollo 18 , also making its debut, was third with $8.7 million. The poorly reviewed Shark Night 3D nevertheless managed $8.6 million on its debut weekend for fourth place.

THE CREW behind the scenes at NBC's popular sweat-fest "The Biggest Loser" has gone on strike - and it's not because Jillian keeps yelling at them. According to the Los Angeles Times , what tipped the scales is a dispute over union representation. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), which represents more than 110,000 workers in the entertainment industry, confirmed Wednesday that it was leading a strike against the show after crew members expressed heavy support to join the union.

Could you take your finger off the trigger for a minute? If you're like millions of other people, you're already deeply engaged in the furious firefight that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. On the day it was released last week, the video game raked in $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom, selling more than 4.7 million copies. That amounts to a record launch for any form of entertainment, eclipsing the one-day mark set by Grand Theft Auto IV last year.

It's the season for football, falling leaves, and new video-game releases. And though all of us are feeling the pockets pinch a bit, there is no doubt we will dig deep for at least a couple of titles to keep us company through winter. Publishers are fully aware of our unquenchable thirst for gaming, and there are some recent price cuts for gaming consoles that, combined, could boost game sales that have sagged this year. While a couple of big titles won't meet their original release dates this year (Bioshock 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Ghost Recon 4, Starcraft 2)

(Xbox 360) Bungie (developer), Microsoft (publisher) $59.99-$99.99 Release date: Sept. 22 There are still thousands of Halo 3 multiplayer games being played each month on the Microsoft entertainment portal Xbox Live. So it makes perfect "Human and Covenant" sense to give fans another shot at wreaking havoc while trying to save our species from extinction. In this Halo prequel, Bungie forgoes the Master Chief and focuses on the grunts, or in this case, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

Army Sgt. Pauric Devine was helping other troops unload a vehicle at a general's house in Baghdad's Green Zone in 2004 when a Katyusha rocket blew up nearby. The blast knocked him to the ground, broke some teeth, and left his face bleeding. But hours later, he was stitched up and back on the job. "The fast pace is alien to the veterans of past wars," said Devine, 43, of Philadelphia's Bella Vista section. "You can't get three days of R&R in Paris while a battle is fought 50 miles away.

Today, the Commentary Page welcomes Jane Eisner back to Thursdays. For the past year, Jane has been a senior fellow in residence at the University of Pennsylvania and has written a soon-to-be-published book on the youth vote. She now returns to her twice-a-week column, here on Thursdays, and on Sundays in Currents. War has always driven people crazy. From the time Homer portrayed Achilles violently grieving over the loss of his friend Patroclus in battle - weeping, fasting, mutilating himself - the psychiatric cost of war has been well-documented.

Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Aviles, 18, of Tampa, Fla., was killed April 7 in central Iraq when an enemy artillery shell slammed into his amphibious assault vehicle. Marine Staff Sgt. James Cawley, 41, of Layton, Utah, was mortally wounded March 29 at an undisclosed location during a firefight. And Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Maglione, 22, of Lansdale, died April 1 at Camp Coyote in Kuwait after he was shot in a "noncombat weapons discharge. " The three are among at least nine reservists and National Guard members killed during the war in Iraq.