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.

3D television caught the eye of all CES onlookers.

The timing for this announcement couldn’t have been better for these pioneer companies: Shortly before CES, James Cameron’s Avatar surpassed 1 billion in sales, proving that 3D technology was worth the expense for millions of consumers. In Las Vegas, the message was that this technology won’t just be for smash-hit films decades in the making. Clearly, 3D technology wasn’t just a viable possibility for the home theater; Channels were already underway to stream 24 hours per day of 3D content into any household with a basic cable subscription, and one of the latest 3D-ready television sets.

Sony, LG and Samsung were among those showcasing their new 3D TVs. These new displays require a pair of polarized glasses to view the content in 3D. Exponentially better than the old red-and-blue cardboard glasses punched out of magazines, these hi-tech 3D lenses display slightly different images to you left and right eyes, giving the illusion of depth to the content.

New, polarized 3D glasses. Slightly less dorky, exponentially more powerful.

Some of the more expensive models served 60 images to each eye per second, which makes for smooth motion, clear image and jaw-dropping picture depth. Those lucky enough to view these new displays witnessed characters, objects and effects literally leaping off the screen. Some viewers dodged baseballs that seemed to race out at them, while others flinched as hand grenades appeared to roll inches from their bodies and shower them with sparks and metal.

It seems that it’s no longer a matter of if 3D televisions will become to new standard, it’s only a matter of when. This begs the question: Will the new channels catalyze the sales of 3D displays, or will the screens be the factor that pulls us into the 3rd dimension?