Call of Duty: Black Ops is the latest game in Activision’s billion-dollar video game franchise… or at least it will be when it launches this November. Before that highly-anticipated release date, the company invited us to check out the multiplayer component to its upcoming game, including the new gambling mode, Wager Match. No, it’s not gambling per se, you’re betting the just-as-valuable (to gamers, at least) experience points, or XP.

Held in the California Science Center, this video game press junket gave me a chance to interview online director at Treyarch Dan Bunting (as seen in the video below). It also gave Alex Roth and I a chance to write up a CoD Black Ops multiplayer mode preview on Gaming Target.

The day after the Call of Duty: Black Ops event, I previewed another shooting game, albeit one with a much different implementation. Jakks Pacific was hosting a small demo of its lineup – including Big Buck Hunter Pro for Nintendo Wii – at the Hooters in Santa Monica. Although this wasn’t a game with a million-dollar budget, it was actually a lot of fun because I took a friend for a lil’ sharp-shooting competition.