Call of Duty

Folks aren't buying video games the way they used to -- and that's a problem for the industry. But if the big players are willing to consider some outrageous strategies, they can buy themselves some bonus lives.

Let's go over some items that will help shape the week ahead for Wall Street: The Hunger Games will give theaters a much needed boost; FuelBand may do the same for Nike; video game sellers hunger for hits; and Tiffany and Oracle will give us clues about the recovery.

Brand loyalty: It's why we buy a lot of what we buy, and any company that sells anything is striving to induce that feeling in its potential customers. Last week, research consultancy Brand Keys revealed which American companies do it best.

The latest news on the video game front isn't pretty. Media tracker NPD Group's data reveals that industry sales plunged 21% last month. It's clear that the industry is undergoing a radical shift, but for investors, the more important issue is why.

At a time when the music industry is Auto-Tuning its own eulogy and Hollywood has all but given up on DVDs, 1.5 million people lined up at midnight events to score copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, proving that even in an era when more of us want our entertainment for free, some things are still considered worth their price.

Consumers can expect a holiday shopping season heavy on promotional offers as stores offer sweet bargains on all manner of products amid a still-sluggish economy -- good news for buyers of tablet computers, smartphones and video games, all predicted to be big gift items this year.

Activision Blizzard's shares fell after the video-game maker forecast that 2011 sales would fall short of analysts' estimates and announced that it would cease creating Guitar Hero games because of lackluster sales.

Activision Blizzard has added video-game competitor Electronic Arts to its $400 million countersuit against two former executives of "Call of Duty" creator Infinity Ward, claiming that EA tried to lure the executives away while they were still under contract with Activision.

U.S. gamers spent about the same amount of money on video games last year as they did in 2009, even as sales of consoles and other hardware took a plunge. Purchases of physical game discs slid 5%, in spite of the record-breaking success of "Call of Duty: Black Ops," but downloadable and social-network games made up the difference.

Video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard (ATVI) is seeking $400 million in damages from Electronic Arts (ERTS) over its Call of Duty video game series. Activision wants to add Electronic Arts as a defendant in a case against two former employees who developed the hit Call of Duty franchise,...