Activision, as the bastion of original IP development, announced a number of megaton titles in development for 2010. Names dropped at its investor's call include new additions to its venerable lineup of franchises: 007, Tony Hawk, Spider-man, Transformers and Shrek.

Those hungry for innovation will be able to look forward to a new original action IP from the company. In addition, Activision plans on expanding the Call of Duty franchise to new genres. Call of Duty Kart? Call of Duty Party? Call of Duty Hero: Metallica? We're psyched.

We all miss Freddy Mercury, but he lives on in each and every drunken karaoke performance the world over. Now fans can trade in their public embarrassment and enjoy this activity in the comfort of their own homes, with the release of the new Queen track pack in Guitar Hero: World Tour, available for download across all platforms. The pack features the songs, "C-lebrity," "Fat Bottomed Girls," and "We are the Champions," and is priced at 440 on Xbox Live (each track will set you back 160 individually) and $5.49 on PSN. Fret not, Wii owners, for this DLC is also available to you, with each track setting you back 200 Wii Points.

The new songs don't stop there, as a new recording of the classic James Bond theme song is also available on the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii, for 160, $1.99, or 200 Wii Points, respectively. Head past the break to sample each of these tracks.

Bobby Kotick and co. got together for the Activision Blizzard earnings report this afternoon and dropped a few numbers on their investors, aside from confirming a mess of games that still haven't officially been announced yet. After reconfirming what we told you a few weeks ago regarding the $1 billion in sales of Guitar Hero III, Kotick went on to note, "In North America, Activision Blizzard was the #1 third-party console and handheld software publisher in dollars for the calendar year, according to The NPD Group."

And how did the company fare during the holiday season? As you might expect, due to releases like Call of Duty: World at War, Guitar Hero: World Tour (which outsold Rock Band 2 at 2:1 in 2008) and a little expansion you may have heard of called Wrath of the Lich King, "Activision Blizzard was the #1 console, handheld and PC publisher in the U.S. and Europe, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk." Unfortunately, during a recession like this, even being "the #1 console, handheld and PC publisher in the U.S. and Europe" wasn't enough, with the company losing $72 million in Q4, or 5 cents a share, and announcing a 2009 outlook that falls shy of Wall Street's expectations. Sometimes it's tough being the king.

Someone must have stirred Bond's martini, because he's livid and won't make his appointment with retail shelves this year, Activision confirmed during its recent financial earnings report. The PP7-wielding British spy will instead arrive in "calendar 2010," CFO Thomas Tippl said, "to avoid head to head competition" with 2009's soon-to-be-blockbuster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Many of you may think this is the same James Bond racing game that Bizarre has said it's working on, and we're right there, wondering with you. Activision is unlikely to push back a racing game because of its FPS franchise, so this suggests a different, action-based Bond game altogether.

James Bond is traveling to Japan this March when Quantum of Solace finally releases on the PS3, 360, PS2 and Wii in the region. Activision Blizzard has handed the publishing rights to Square Enix for the game's eastern release, where it will be named 007: Nagusame no Houshuu. Quantum of Solace's March 26th release date means it will be arriving a bit late when compared to the movie itself, despite it only just reaching Japan within the last week.

We're not sure how well Quantum of Solace is likely to sell in the far east, but we can presume that Square Enix thinks there's some money to be made from it. Since Activision has shut up shop in the region, handing the publishing rights over to Japanese publishers looks to become a regular occurrence. We weren't expecting Square Enix to be the first to take advantage, but perhaps sticking its name on the box will actually help increase sales.

Following reports taken directly from an upfront with Massive Inc. that sequels were on the way for Tony Hawk, Call of Duty -- specifically, a follow-up to Modern Warfare -- and Guitar Hero, and that a new Bond game is in the works, Activision informed VideoGamer.com that such reports are "speculative." In other words, Activision declined to confirm the projects it confirmed only yesterday. In other news, when asked whether or not it intended to poop in the woods, a bear told us that such reports were "speculative." The Pope also declined to confirm whether or not he wears a funny hat.

[Via Joystiq]

As part of Activision's Massive upfront (the same one that announced Modern Warfare 2), we learn that Bizarre is hard at word on an original James Bond game as well as an original racer IP that's being described as a "Mario Kart meets Forza." As is the norm, release details and game specifics were not given.

All said, we're glad to see Bizarre hard at work on new projects, but would like to see some fresh Geometry in 2009. We're proud Geometry addicts.

At a summit held by Massive for in-game advertising, Activision confirmed that Bizarre Creations is working on a new third-person Bond title for release in 2009. According to the Twitter feed of Newsweek's N'Gai Croal (trust us, he's legit), the game is being touted as "racing and driving focused." The executive also mentioned Bizarre's new racing IP, describing it as "Mario Kart meets Forza." It's not much (in fact, it's somewhat paradoxical), but it does hint at a departure from Project Gotham Racing's realism -- relative to Mario Kart!

The executive also reportedly said the next Call of Duty Modern Warfare is due out Fall 2009. We're uncertain if that's confirmation of the next COD's setting or just a glib way of saying "Infinity Ward's COD series." We're reaching out to Activision for clarification on all these statements.

Are people getting less excited about midnight launches? Or does it just depend on the game, or even the event itself? We'll have a chance to test that theory this week with what looks to be yin and yang launches. Last night we went to the midnight launch of Activision's James Bond game Quantum of Solace, and at the other end you've got Gears of War 2 launching on Friday. We'll have to see how they compare, because last night's Quantum of Solace launch was a big Dr. No.

If you need a game, this week's for you. While we can't vouch for the quality of all the releases (or even, uh, half), but we can say one thing: there's a lot of 'em. And by a lot, we mean dozens. Well, if you add up all the regions, anyway. Look, don't get technical. It's a lot. See for yourself.

As an aside, after seeing this week's releases, we should stop crying about not having any more Professor Layton -- the first title is only just now being released in Europe! And what's up with Korg DS-10? It's been turning up on releases for a while. Maybe we'll actually see it this week.

• Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune
• Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess
• Dragonball: Origins
• Exit DS
• futureU: The Prep Game for SAT
• Goosebumps HorrorLand
• Guitar Rock Tour
• Hello Kitty Daily
• Imagine: Interior Designer
• Imagine: Wedding Designer
• James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
• Korg DS-10
• Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
• Monster Lab
• My Baby Boy
• My Baby Girl
• Petz Dogz Pack
• Pony Friends: Mini Breeds Edition
• Princess on Ice
• Real Soccer 2009
• Theresia
• Tom Clancy's EndWar
• Winx Club: Mission Enchantix
• Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals

This is a big week for fans of James Bond. Those who found themselves interested in the super spy's latest exploits will have a chance to nab Quantum of Solace this week. If you enjoy FPS games, or are looking for some people to play online with, we'd suggest Game Night. Of course, Quantum of Solace isn't the only game releasing this week. Head past the break and check out what else is on offer.

Tired of all the Presidential coverage? Want to go British for a day? Activision has you covered. Best Buy and Activision have revealed plans to launch the Quantum of Solace game at midnight for players in the West Hollywood area. Beginning November 3 at 10PM, everyone and anyone is invited to celebrate the launch of the upcoming shooter which takes James Bond through Casino Royale and whatever a Quantum of Solace is. Attendees will also have a chance to score a boat load of prizes ranging from gift cards between $10 and $2,500 as well as a 52" LCD HDTV.

Also on hand will be stations where gamers can practice their hand at the latest Bond theme, "Another Way to Die" from Jack White and Alicia Keys, in Guitar Hero: World Tour. The Bond theme will soon be made available as downloadable content for World Tour but no timing or price has been confirmed at this time.

Not near West Hollywood? Best Buy has revealed 136 other locations will be open at midnight for the launch sans giveaways.

Look at the footage!

As most of you have probably noticed, the Wii is inching toward living up to one of the great potentials of its controller: its usefulness for shooting at things! But what you may not have expected is the fact that a Bond game is looking pretty sweet. That hasn't happened too often since GoldenEye 007 set its amazing standard back in 1997.

One European Wii owner decided to perform a great service for all the world (or, uh, those who might buy Quantum of Solace), and the result is the above video, featuring (almost) ten minutes of footage from the game, that you may study it closely. Bless YouTube and all its users.