If Kobe Bryant playing pretend soldier offended some, then this - said to be Call of Duty: Black Ops' next TV spot - would rile them further. Update: Treyarch says this video is not a Black Ops ad.

We've contacted Activision representatives to ask about the authenticity of this video, which is on YouTube under an unofficial account right now. If it's a mashup, someone went to a great deal of trouble.

Update: Someone went to a great deal of trouble. This video is not authentic. The remainder of the post follows, but the opinion it expresses is based upon a fake video.

But let's focus on that voiceover. Here it is, transcribed:

"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. Our nation is badly weakened, a consequence of our collective failure to prepare the nation for a new age. Our nation is at war. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility. Let it be said that we refused to let this journey end. And with eyes fixed on the horizon and with God's grace upon us, we carried the great gift of freedom to future generations."

Sound familiar? Here are excerpts from President Obama's inaugural address, Jan. 21, 2009:

[Sixth paragraph] Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real.

[Fifth paragraph, third sentence] Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.

[Fifth paragraph, second sentence] Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.

[30th paragraph, second sentence] What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility.

[concluding paragraph] Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Not verbatim, of course, but an extremely close match.

Whatever you feel about Call of Duty: Black Ops, this might be pushing it a bit too far. A flaming minivan is certainly the most provocative image here, especially as our homeland is not under siege. For me, though, the biggest shame is in the fact the United States committed to - and is still prosecuting - two wars under leaders who never asked Americans to make any sacrifice in return. And here, in borderline satire, is a speech that dresses the fictitious conflicts of a war video game in the urgent language of national priority. That's why some might have a problem with this ad.

Will we ever get a Call of Duty game for the kids? Not if it's as bloody and gory as LEGO Black Ops, the stop motion animated elimination bloodbath from YouTube movie maker Keshen8.

You won't find much in the way of killstreaks, perks or outrageous tomahawk kills, but LEGO Black Ops, via FourZeroTwo's Twitter, is the best LEGO "what if?" imagining we've seen in a long while. For more of Keshen8's LEGO creations, including the amusing Cardboard Gear Solid, hit up the brick enthusiast's YouTube channel.

Today in Speak-Up on Kotaku, commenter Culebra takes a look at the biggest games of the year that he never got around to playing. Which have you missed?

Well, we're almost at the end of the year, and as we know, we'll all see the same 'Best Of Year' lists that'll have the same four or so games on it. You'll also see those lists that try to be different, but probably aren't.

This is one of those.

My focus: Big releases that for some reason or other, you just didn't play.

For me, six big names pop to mind.

1: Halo: Reach

That one you could blame on Halo 3 and ODST. As much as I loved Halo 1 and 2, there was somehing I just didn't like about Halo 3, and it grew worse with time. And ODST didn't help much either, as I sent it back to Gamefly without even beating it. So I guess falling out of love with the series is what held me back.

2: Fallout: New Vegas

I loved Fallout 3. It was a post apocalyptic Oblivion, two things I adored. I sank so many hours into that game, and did damn near everything in it. Every quest, every dlc. But by the time Zeta dropped, I was getting sick of it. It felt like I was eating the same meal day in day out. No matter how tasty, you get sick of it. So Vegas is a victim of 'Too Soon' for me.

3: Call Of Duty: Black Ops

Did every game have a :Subtitle this year? Sheesh. Mostly the ones I didn't play, it seems. This one suffers from the same 'Too Soon' syndrome Fallout did, with the major difference being that I'm a casual COD player at best, so I've always been bi-annual with the series.

4: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Not sure if that ':' officially belongs there...but I think the theme must not be broken. This one could be chucked up to me not being a fan of the series in general. Which was odd, as people everywhere were harping on about how 2 was the greatest thing since toilets, and I'm there wondering if we're playing the same game. So, Brotherhood just held no appeal.

5: Gran Turismo 5: Epilogue

I know it doesn't belong there. Shut up. I also know that GT fans can be quite cultish, and I totally expect to wake up strapped to my floor surrounded by hooded figures. But that doesn't change the fact that I haven't loved a GT since 2, for whatever reason. I don't dislike them, and GT5 sits on my 'I'll get to it' list, but that won't be happening in 2010.

6: Civilization 5

To keep it nice and simple, I've never played a Civ game, so the draw isn't there. I think I'm reserving this one as an emergency game, for a period of time where there aren't any immediate releases, and I need something long and engrossing.

So there you have it, my 'Big Games Everyone Has Apparently Played But Me' list.

About Speak-Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have that little box on the front page of Kotaku. You know, the one with "Got something to say?" written in it? That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Just make sure to include #speakup in your comment so we can find it. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best #speakup posts we can find and highlight it here.

Message from God, insight into our subconscious, predictions of the future: Many believe dreams offer some level of insight into something deeper than simply our daily preoccupations.

So what can one read into the sudden surge of dreams featuring shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops. REMclounds, which tracks Twitter and Facebook for dream retellings, says the game is currently a trending sleepy-time topic.

Hmm, I wonder what Freud would have to say about all of these gun dreams?

REMCloud

This may not be to everyone's tastes, but it's certainly to mine, as a man freestyle raps his way through an entire round of Call of Duty: Black Ops' multiplayer.

It shows you all it's going to show you by around 1:30, so if it's grating you don't feel required to sit around and watch the entire thing. Though skip out then and you'll miss "Campin' in a fuckin' doorway", which for delivery and context is probably my favourite musical line of 2010.

Makes me wish more guys did this kind of thing for more interesting games. Where's the rap battle over a round of Fat Princess? Or a 16-minute epic penned in honour of Betrayal at Krondor?

Black Ops Live Gun Game Freestyle [PaperBatVG @ YouTube]

One year ago this week, the head of Electronic Arts told me he had Call of Duty in his sights. Call of Duty was the king of first-person shooters. He wanted that spot. Today, he is convinced CoD is beatable.

This is the way to do it: "Make a better game," EA CEO John Riccitiello told me during an interview earlier this week in New York. "And make a better game again."

Sounds too simple? Maybe even too naive a method for knocking off a monster franchise that sells five million copies the day it comes out?

"If I had to pick the story I'd like to play out next year is we ship a 90 and they ship an 85," he said, referring to Metacritic scores, which he watches as a measure of game quality. "[Activision has] an awful lot of momentum without heir brand, no doubt. What I've witnessed a couple of times in the games industry is the way you unseat a market leader is you make a better game a couple of times in a row. "

The year 2010 was good for EA shooters, he said. He wagers EA's gone from having just a tiny part of the first-person shooter audience to about a fifth. The spring's Battlefield Bad Company 2 (pictured here) was a hit, helping EA gobble up part of the first-person shooter attention that EA's rival Activision had been dominating with the Call of Duty (and related Modern Warfare) games.

For all the press EA's fall re-boot of Medal of Honor got, thanks to its modern Afghanistan setting and its use of the Taliban in its fiction, Riccitiello repeatedly cited to me the work of DICE, a studio that has primarily contributed to EA's shooter efforts with its Battlefield games as the architects of what he seems to think is his best shot at Call of Duty. (DICE also made the multiplayer portion of Medal of Honor)

"I think it's interesting that [DICE's] Battlefield Bad Company 2 got the same Metacritic score as [Call of Duty:] Black Ops," he said. He's right. Both games got an 88 at the time of this writing. He's also enthused about DICE's graphics technology, singling out their Frostbite engine and implying that visual punch is key to taking on Call of Duty. "We knew we were building on [the] Unreal [graphics technology] for Medal of Honor which wasn't our foot-forward tact," he said. "We knew that going in. Our next game [Battlefield 3] is being built on the second generation of Frostbite which I think is at least in my opinion is a class act for FPS. I think we're going to lift the game pretty dramatically in the first-person shooter category."

He has a bright view of EA's shooter line-up for next year, which of course will be up against the next big Call of Duty that surely is coming next fall. "I have great expectations to do a lot better in 2011 than in 2010 on the strength of a couple of products like Bulletstorm and Crysis [2], but most importantly for us, Battlefield 3, which I feel incredibly good about."

And further down the line is whatever game EA will be presenting from Respawn Entertainment, the former creative team behind the mighty Modern Warfare games. That team made an ugly split from Activison and the Call of Duty games earlier this year and now has something cooking for EA. ("They're working on a really cool product" is all Riccitiello would cough up about them.)

Better games, repeatedly. Riccitiello is convinced that can work, that Call of Duty doesn't have to dominate forever. "Over time we can take the lead."

[Top image of this post is from next year's Crysis 2]