James Cameron's "Avatar"

…And you thought Avatar was a hit…

Activision’s latest episode of its smash-hit series “Call of Duty” surpassed $1 billion on sales today, rivaling James Cameron’s decade-in-the-making film “Avatar.” Fans of Avatar consider the movie to be so phenomenal that it makes reality uninteresting, and even “depressing” by comparison. Apparently, judging from its sales, “Call of Duty” is just as popular.

What’s the big deal about “Call of Duty”? Well, if you weren’t already aware, “Call of Duty is a video game, not a movie, and rarely does a video game haul in $1 billion in just a few short months. Even World of Warcraft, an addictive, well-established, video game with nearly 12 million paying subscribers, is not making money as quickly as “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.”

Strangely, the company that makes this wildly successful military sim (Activision) can’t seem to convince investors of the strength of its products; Activision’s stock price has fluttered around $10 per share despite having consistently successful game releases, and over $13 billion in cash reserves. In fact, after the latest “Call of Duty” game hit stores, Activision hauled in $550 million in the first five days. In terms of dollars spent, people bought “Call of Duty” faster than they bought Avatar tickets, Harry Potter books, or any other heavily anticipated release.

The fact that a top-shelf video game company’s standing can slump while it cranks out hit after hit is a testament to the fact that the general public simply isn’t ready to consider video games (and their releases) to be more than a sideshow designed for a subculture of college-aged males. But, whether the game is mainstream or not, and whether it appeals to everyone or just a few, it sold faster than those all-too-mainstream Harry Potter books, or those Avatar tickets that are now crumpled in the pockets of millions of moviegoers.

Like Avatar, Call of Duty has a rich, computer-rendered environment.

Consider this. Avatar was a (masterfully written) movie with beautiful scenery and classic good-versus-evil themes centered around a love story. Call of Duty is a gritty, violent game that basically drops you into the middle of a scene from Saving Private Ryan. Avatar, one could argue, appeals to a very broad audience, whereas Call of Duty is marketed narrowly at young males privileged enough to own a fast computer. Despite its tremendous success, I can’t help but wonder how much more successful Call of Duty would be if it somehow appealed to women, the middle-aged, and all of the other audiences that Avatar reached.

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