The game, which has an “M” rating for mature audiences, comes out next month in what its publisher hopes may be the most lucrative launch in the history of entertainment, not just for games but counting music and movies too.

In a statement, game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. said Wednesday the footage was taken illegally and is not representative of the game’s overall experience. Instead, the scene is designed to evoke the “atrocities of terrorism,” Activision said in an e-mailed statement.

The game follows players as they “face off against a terrorist threat dedicated to bringing the world to the brink of collapse,” the Santa Monica, Calif. company said. This includes a plot line in which the player infiltrates a Russian villain’s inner circle to defeat him. Presumably the airport attack is one of the scenes in which the player acts as part of the villain’s group.

In an interview before the footage was leaked, Vince Zampella, head of the game’s developer, Infinity Ward, said studio intended for its game to startle players.

“We push the story,” he said. “We want the player to be emotionally attached. We want them to be emotionally shocked.”

Gamers are warned that the scene may be disturbing, and they can choose not to play through the part. It’s unclear, though, how many gamers will heed the warning for fear of missing part of the game’s intricate story. Activision says the game is designed so the part can be skipped over without losing any of the story.

The game’s makers said before the leak that they strive for “real world” authenticity in weapon types, military tactics and locations, but the plot is more James Bond action movie than ripped-from-the-headlines.

“As far as the story goes, Makarov is this super villain and you are this task force,” Infinity Ward creative strategist Robert Bowling said in a recent interview. “And it’s good versus evil. So we really like to be cinematic but also not let that ruin the fun.”

Infinity Ward hasn’t shied away from disturbing imagery in the past. “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” begins with a character being driven through an occupied city, dragged out of the car, tied to a pole and then executed — all from the victim’s point of view. The player controls other characters throughout that game, including one who perishes in a nuclear blast.

But what’s different in the upcoming game is that people can play from the perspective of someone inside a terrorist group, similar to how gamers can play criminal in the “Grand Theft Auto” titles. The gamer can play a CIA agent who infiltrates a rogue group and appears to be a double agent.

“It’s a very cinematic experience,” Bowling said of “Modern Warfare 2″ in the interview. “You get to play from multiple perspectives and get a broader picture of what this conflict is, and see that it’s much more than just winning a war with a bullet

Verizon recently launched its DROID Does web and TV campaign which is a preview of their upcoming Motorola DROID, their longly-awaited iPhone-killer running Google’s Android 2.0 smartphone operating system.

Many carriers and device manufacturers have claimed to have iPhone-killers. They tried and failed to unseat the giant, which has a huge following of users and a massive application store. But right now, at least in the United States, iPhone is tied to AT&T Wireless, which has been riddled with 3G coverage problems, much to the frustration of the company’s subscribers. And if Verizon’s recent actions are any indication, iPhone is likely to stay where it is.

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Verizon has recently capitalized on AT&T’s coverage issues with their “There’s a map for that” TV campaign, which is a reference to Apple’s “There’s an App for that” series of advertisements that demonstrate the versatility of the iPhone with it’s App Store. Now Verizon has upped the ante with their “DROID DOES” commercial, which is a 400mm cannon volley right across the bow of the land of happy music and white earbuds.

The 30-second long commercial — which doesn’t even show the new smartphone, the previously code-named Motorola Sholes/Tao — puts it quite simply:

“We have a physical keyboard, we have multitasking, we can take 5 Megapixel photos with flash, our users can customize the UI, our development is Open Source, and our battery is replaceable. iPhone doesn’t do any of this.”

Whether this message and others which are sure to follow are enough to attract customers to the new DROID in droves remains to be seen, but honestly, I’m pretty psyched, and I’m probably going to buy one in November, the tentative launch timeframe for the new phone.

Since de-activating my BlackBerry only a few weeks ago I’ve been waiting to see what Verizon was going to come up with in terms of its smartphone strategy for 2010, with the hopes of signing up with them shortly.

The Verizon DROID, previously codenamed the Motorola Sholes.

I didn’t want another BlackBerry, I wasn’t signing up again with AT&T, and I definitely wasn’t going to go the T-Mobile route with Mytouch 3G because its coverage in my area of Northern New Jersey is absolutely abyssmal, as friends with T-Mobile phones that visit my house can’t get a single bar of reception and complain about coverage in Bergen County in general.

While indeed impressive from a pure software and technology perspective, I’m not interested in a Palm Pre because it’s currently running on Sprint, the smallest of the national 3G networks (Verizon is anticipating launching its own version in early 2010) and the hardware build quality of the device leaves much to be desired. And Windows Mobile 6.5? It just doesn’t do it for me.

Also Read: Verizon unveils 30-second ad for Droid Android phone; slams iPhone (Andrew Nusca)

I’m really looking forward to seeing what the DROID will offer in terms of its Google integration, corporate email sync capabilities, native Android applications as well as its overall performance. With its launch on Verizon, Google’s Android OS is about to be put to the test to see if it is now ready for prime time.

Do you think the DROID will make Apple very annoyed? Talk Back and Let Me Know.

The maker of iPods, iPhones and Macintosh computers is projected to post a 13% year-over-year earnings increase to $1.42 a share, according to Thomson Reuters, well above the top end of Apple’s own forecast of $1.18 to $1.23. But some on Wall Street are quietly expecting even more — Apple has a record of exceeding estimates and some investors are anticipating around $1.60. Apple’s revenue is forecast to rise 17% to $9.2 billion.

Analysts believe sales of Apple’s new iPod Touches, released in early September, as well as the iPhones were strong. Apple also started selling Snow Leopard, an upgrade to the Macintosh operating system during the quarter. That will allow the company to maintain its already high gross profit margin because software is more profitable than hardware.

Still, Wall Street has worried recently that expectations for Apple could be too high. The company’s shares, up 93% in the past year, had risen since the end of September in anticipation of strong quarterly results but fell 1.3% to $188.05 on Friday.

Associated PressA customer walks near a screen showing an iPhone at a local store in Seoul, South Korea.

Some analysts say the company may not live up to the high expectations because of iPhone supply constraints. Apple launched its latest iPhone 3GS, with a faster processor and new features like video recording, in June and has been rolling it out in markets overseas.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see near-term profit taking,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst for financial-services firm Kaufman Brothers.

As it has in the past, Apple will likely once again make a conservative forecast for the current quarter. But investors and analysts are wising up to that tactic. Officially, Wall Street is forecasting December quarter earnings of $1.91 a share, according to Thomson Reuters, but analysts say Apple will probably forecast $1.68 a share.

Apple will “do all they can to lower expectations for the next quarter, which is going to be tough because it should be huge,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of New York-based Solaris Asset Management, which owns Apple shares.