[00:00.00]Thousands of UK gamers queued into the night
[00:03.70]for the launch of what may be the world’s most anticipated video game.
[00:08.06]Video game retailers opened at midnight to sell the first copies of
[00:12.14]Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,
[00:14.98]a game which is widely expected to shatter sales records.
[00:20.35]The latest instalment in the Call of Duty franchise
[00:23.02]was officially launched in the UK
[00:25.21]at a cinema in Leicester Square in the heart of London’s West End,
[00:29.73]a site usually reserved for the premiere of Hollywood blockbusters.
[00:34.71]Actors dressed as soldiers patrolled the square
[00:37.41]while British celebrities joined gamers
[00:39.76]to take part in multiplayer sessions of the game.
[00:43.50]The game, which is tipped to sell more than a million copies in the UK
[00:46.92]in its first week of release,
[00:48.87]features astonishing graphics and exciting gameplay
[00:52.54]as the player takes on a group of ultra-nationalist Russian terrorists.
[00:57.98]Predictably, the game has provoked a certain amount of criticism
[01:01.46]as it is extremely violent and features a controversial scene
[01:05.56]in which civilians are killed at an airport.
[01:10.02]One British MP has attacked the game in the press,
[01:12.89]describing his "absolute shock" at the violence portrayed in the game.
[01:18.05]However, another MP has defended the game
[01:20.74]by setting up a group on a social-networking website
[01:23.81]which describes itself as "unashamedly pro-video games"
[01:29.08]and which aims to "discuss how UK video gamers
[01:32.84]can find their voice in newspapers and government".
[01:36.70]More cynical observers have said that the game’s developers
[01:39.46]deliberately included the scene in which civilians are massacred
[01:43.43]in order to stir up controversy,
[01:46.08]knowing that this will generate a huge amount of free publicity.
[01:49.32]Whatever people’s views on violence in computer games,
[01:52.83]the game is flying off the shelves around the UK
[01:56.63]and is expected to generate $400m globally for its publishers.