Activision revealed the Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer component at an event this evening in Los Angeles. We'll have a full preview later on, but first we'll just run you through the various features that Treyarch is adding to the latest iteration of Call of Duty.

Producers Dan Bunting and David Vanderhaar took the stage at the LA Coliseum to talk three pillars for the new CoD multiplayer game: "Compete, customize and create." Competition was the first element -- beyond the standard Call of Duty multiplayer elements, Treyarch has added a whole new mode called Combat Training, which brings AI opponents to the mix. Yes, bots have arrived in Call of Duty.

Combat Training is a mode with its own ranking completely separate from any multiplayer play. Treyarch says it found that 30 to 40 percent of single player gamers had never once tried multiplayer, and this mode is an attempt to "introduce the Call of Duty game to an entirely new set of players who we feel are missing out," said Vanderhaar. The mode has its origins in a dummy the team created named Larry, who originally just stood in the field and reported back on damage received to the programmers. But when even the devs wanted Larry to be a little more active, they eventually developed the mode into a full package.

Combat Training allows you to play either by yourself or with friends -- we'll give it a look later this evening and let you know what kind of challenge Black Ops' AI bots will offer.

Treyarch also plans to diverge from the series tradition of set unlocks by introducing a currency to the multiplayer game, called CP or "CoD points." Everything in the game has a set CP price (or XP level limit) attached to it, so if there's a specific killstreak or weapon you'd like to unlock, you can save up and buy it at the first chance instead of simply waiting for it to open up. Perks also have an effect on how you look in the game -- choosing Scavenger outfits your character with lots of pouches on your armor, while Ghost puts you into a gilly suit. Other players can see that customization as well, so opponents can tell with a glance what perks you've got equipped. Guns can be customized even further than before, and emblems can be created and attached to guns.

Additionally, gear has been narrowed down into three categories: lethal throwables (like frag grenades) will always be used with the right bumper; tactical throwables will appear on the left bumper; "equipment" consists of all the other gear Treyarch has thrown into the game, from the usual claymores and motion sensors to new gadgets like a camera spike. New weapons have been added into care packages as well -- Treyarch showed off a gigantic Gatling gun, a special RPG, a napalm strike, a remotely controlled bomb, an off-site mortar team and a movable SAM turret that targeted any aircraft in the area.

Treyarch has also implemented "Contracts," which players can buy with CP and then pay off when certain criteria are met in the game within a certain time limit. Promise to kill 50 players in a certain amount of matches, and achieving the goal will pay back more CP -- but failing will cost you what you paid in the first place.

Finally, the developer also created the ability to record and playback matches during development, so it added a video recording system into the game. Players can save, share and browse recorded videos -- the system doesn't look quite as in-depth as what Bungie's put together in the past, but we'll have to see it in action.

The first (but certainly not last) Dreamcast title to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade is, appropriately enough, the fastest. Major Nelson's latest schedule for the platform has revealed a September 15 release date for Sonic Adventure, which will be available for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). No word yet on the release plans for Sega's other previously announced Dreamcast revival, Crazy Taxi.

We've contacted Sega to find out if the game will arrive on PSN on a similar timetable. We also sent them an email with the subject line "Give us Seaman," followed by a body of text which simply read, "SEEEEEAAAAAAAAMAAAAAAAN.

It's the Xbox controller with a twist! As indicated by our source, Microsoft has announced a redesigned Xbox 360 wireless controller. The new gamepad will debut in a matte silver color with gray-toned face buttons and analog sticks with a more dramatic concave shape. Key to the new design is a "transforming" D-pad that changes from a semi-flush disc to a pop-out plus sign by twisting the D-pad clockwise. (Check out Major Nelson demonstrating the transformation in the video after the break.)

Microsoft offers this suggestion for how you might use the two D-pad configurations: "Select the traditional plus for distinct cardinal direction movement in games like Halo: Reach to change weapons and perform complicated combinations and deadly finishing moves in Street Fighter games, or rotate the D-pad to the disc format for sweeping motions in games such as Pro Evolution Soccer 2011."

The redesigned controller will only be available with the Play & Charge Kit. The bundle will launch on November 9 for $64.99.

Xbox Live Gold subscribers might want to renew before November 1, when the price of a yearly subscription to the service jumps $10 in North America.

According to a post on Major Nelson's blog, after eight years' of Xbox Live at the $50 a year price point, the service is finally seeing a price hike. Starting on November 1, a year Gold subscription to Xbox Live will run $59.99, versus the current price of $49.99. One month subscriptions will jump from $7.99 to $9.99, while three month subs will rise from $19.99 to $24.99.

Other regions will be seeing increases as well. In the UK the price of one month will jump from 4.99 GPB to 5.99 GPB. The price of a month in Canada rises a dollar to $9.99. Finally, a year subscription in Mexico rises from 499 to 599 pesos.

Microsoft is running a special deal right now for North American customers, allowing them to lock in a year at $39.99, $20 less than the new rate. For details, visit the deal website.

Jesse Divnich with industry analyst EEDAR sent out a statement accompanying the news, insuring consumers that $60 is still "an incredible value."

"When originally launched in 2002, a Gold subscription cost the same as an AAA video game, $49.99. When taking into account for inflation ($50 in 2002 is roughly $60 in 2010) and the additional services available to Gold subscribers in 2010, such as ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm and Video Kinect, a $10 price increase still represents an incredible value to consumers"

Whether or not $60 a year is an incredible value is ultimately up to consumers. What say you, consumers?

You know how sometimes people go "away" for the summer, and then when they come back they look ... totally different? Well, Major Nelson's Xbox Live Avatar didn't go anywhere but has seemingly undergone one such full body makeover -- as evidenced by the above comparison between the bobble-headed likeness (via Xbox Avatar Life) we had come to associate with the Xbox Live director of programming and his current Avatar. It would appear that Major's Avatar and perhaps other "VIP" Avatars are the (beta) test subjects in a forthcoming effort to transform the currently cartoonish Avatars into -- to put it candidly -- virtual figures that would look a lot less goofy in a motion-controlled sports game. Recently, Rare senior programmer Nick Burton told OXM UK that Xbox Live Avatars would be proportionally redesigned to better connect the physical movements of Kinect players to their on-screen Avatars. Presumably, this "Avatar 2.0" update would occur in time for Kinect's November 4 launch and possibly as part of the expected, annual fall update of the Xbox 360 UI. The new trimmer Avatars are visible in Rare's Kinect Sports screenshots below.

We're no good with screwdrivers -- OK, well, some of us are -- so we'd probably never attempt to mod our shiny new 4GB Xbox 360 S by fitting an old hard drive in it. If you're braver than us (very likely), feel free to check out the step-by-step guide past the break, which pulls back the curtain on the magical process of techno-wizardy fueling this hybrid of form and frugality.

Of course, it goes without saying that this will totally void your warranty, but we thought we'd say it anyway. [Thanks, Sidd]

The UK's Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox called for the ban of Medal of Honor for being "tasteless". He later defended his remarks. EA, the game's publisher, has now retorted.

EA Games president Frank Gibeau tells website Develop that Medal of Honor will not be altered due to the outcry of politicians or the media. Soldiers have opinions for and against the title.

The upcoming Medal of Honor features multiplayer that allows gamers to play as Taliban fighters. The game is set in Afghanistan.

"There's a lot of furore around games that take creative risks – like games that let you play terrorists in airports mowing down civilians," Gibeau told Develop, referencing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

"At EA we passionately believe games are an artform, and I don't know why films and books set in Afghanistan don't get flack, yet [games] do. Whether it's Red Badge Of Courage or The Hurt Locker, the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. Games are becoming that platform."

Gibeau continues, saying that EA anticipated the controversy "What's really important for us is that we partnered with the US military, and the Medal of Honor Society as well. We've gone out of our way to produce the best story for the game."

One of the worst things about controversies like this is that they cast aside something truly important: Is this a good game?

The idea of controlling your console with gestures in a neat concept, but it also comes with a slew of technical challenges.

At the top of the list of issues that Microsoft's Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 faces is the problem of interference from people not in the virtual driver's seat of the console.

What happens when you're trying to control the Xbox 360 with gestures and someone walks in front of you or behind you? Right now? Things go haywire, but the person demonstrating the technology to me at last week's GamesCom said that they are still tweaking the interface.

Here's how it's supposed to work:

To get the console's attention you hold your hand up in front of you until a circular bar fills, which cedes control of the console's dashboard to your gestures. Then you can swipe your hand back and forth to slip through the options of the console and select items by holding your hand over your choice.

I also tried out controlling a movie with Kinect, slipping back and forth through the film in fast forward or rewind effortlessly.

But that's how it works without interference.

Near the tail end of my demonstration, as I was sitting on a couch slipping through the dashboard, the controls suddenly went crazy. The person showing me the console was confused initially, thinking that I was deliberately ignoring his suggestions on how to control things. The feint light marking where my hand was shot up and down on the screen wildly, jerking to the left and right.

The guy told me to hold my hand still, staring at the screen in front of me. "I am," I said. He looked over at me and scowled, starting to scan the audience behind me on the balcony above and the floor. Looking, I suspected, for someone in the flow of press who was deliberately messing with the demo. Then his face relaxed, as realization dawned on him.

Walking over to a man standing directly behind me with a camera, shooting the scene opposite the couch, the presenter asked him to step away from the couch. Apparently the small metal arm sticking out from the tripod mount for his camera had captured the attention of Kinect and was in full control of the demonstration.

That's a very bad sign, especially with Kinect due out in about three months. The fact that he couldn't tell me what Microsoft would be doing to resolve the issue was an even worse sign.

By far the most concerning thing, though, was how Microsoft was demonstrating the many Kinect games on the crowded GamesCom show floor. Where Sony and Nintendo were able to manage to conduct demonstrations of the Wii and Move motion gaming with nothing more than a rope to keep people back, Microsoft constructed full pods for people to go into and play the game, a thick layer of transparent plastic between them and any external movement.