Around the nation on Veterans Day, millions gathered to wage simulated war, not in honor of America's veterans but in celebration of a slick, record-breaking video game release.

At the tick of midnight, store openings and long lines of gamers greeted the highly anticipated combat game, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," and the buzz continued through the daylight hours.

On a quiet Antelope cul-de-sac, six high-definition TVs, including two 52-inch models, were set up in a sports memorabilia-festooned man cave for the occasion, and six devoted gamers – two teenagers and four adults – stared raptly at the screens.

"When they're all online together, it's like a little platoon," said Tracey Mercado, whose husband and son were in the thick of the action. "You'll hear, 'Sniper! There's a sniper in the tower!' It's very entertaining, I'll tell you."

In a scene repeated in dens and TV rooms around the world, the Antelope team played through the night, knocking off animated bad guys from Afghanistan to Russia to Rio de Janeiro, quitting at 4 a.m. when their pizza high finally wound down.

Then the team – Steve Mercado, 41; his son, Steven, 14; George Winston, 43, his son, Tyler, 14; Lawrence Anderson Jr., 40; and Tim Ross, 42 – gathered early on Veterans Day for more "Call of Duty" warfare.

"It's a hobby," said Mercado, a Postal Service employee. "It brings friends and family together. It's all about the kids for the most part. I'm clearly the worst player out of all of us."

"Thank you for admitting that," said Ross, an electrician.

"It's a testosterone thing," said Mercado, the only military veteran in the group. "And the fact that the game was released on Veterans Day is patriotic."

Although figures were not immediately available, industry experts expected "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" to shatter video game sales records. British newspapers reported that more than 1 million of the games sold there in one day's time.

The clamor for the video game, the sixth in the "Call of Duty" series, was such that more than 10,000 retail outlets across the country opened at midnight Tuesday, according to the game's publisher, Santa Monica-based Activision.

The floor at GameStop on Madison Avenue was quieter by Wednesday afternoon, but associate Cecilia Barragan was still talking about the business the shop had done the day before. On the store's counter, a sign-up sheet was filled with signatures for an upcoming "Call of Duty" tournament.

"We had nonstop calls about 'Call of Duty,' " she said.

The store's midnight distribution of pre-ordered games lasted two hours. The game's Xbox 360 version had sold out by 3 p.m. Tuesday, and the Playstation 3 compatibles were gone by evening, forcing the store to call in new orders.

At 6:30 p.m., 30 people were already in line, waiting to pick up copies beginning at midnight. And that was on top of the 500 pre-orders sitting in the storeroom.

Barragan said customers' main complaint was the fact that the company's server had crashed, leaving gamers disconnected, unable to compete online. Not surprisingly, massive global gamer anguish gave rise to a slew of unprintable statements on the company's Web site.

But even with the game's popularity – GameStop Corp. executives say the number of pre-orders was the highest in company history – tough times forced some at the Madison Avenue store to scale back orders or put off purchases.

"It's a huge game, but with the economy, we've had people who did cancel," Barragan said.

The game retails for $59.99, but the Holy Grail is its Prestige Edition, a $149.99 package that comes equipped with night-vision goggles.

"Everybody wants those night goggles," said Rosemary Arrington, a manager at Best Buy on Arden Way. "We sold out the first day."

In the Antelope man cave – Steve Mercado calls it "the war room" – the team went for the cheaper version, minus the night goggles.

The game's appeal is simple and direct: Some people like to shoot things. Most of the time, we call them guys. The game brings death, destruction, loud sprays of gunfire, spreading pools of blood, a sophisticated musical score and really cool graphics into the homes of otherwise peace- loving people.

"I would hope it helps people realize not to go into the military, if you ask me," said Mercado.

One of the game's levels has generated particular controversy among less permissive parents for its depiction of hordes of innocent bystanders being mowed down by terrorists.

"I played that mission, and I didn't want to shoot them," said Mercado. "It hurt my stomach. Lawrence was like, 'Do your job! Do your job!' The whole airport gets slaughtered."

"It's just a cartoon," said Anderson, who works for AT&T. "It's not real. I've been playing video games since Atari was out. I know the difference between real and fake."

And were the younger team members upset?

"Not really," said Tyler.

"I know it's a video game," said Steven.

On ordinary days, they play the game together online after dinner. But Mercado and his friends planned the Veterans Day gathering months ago when they learned the new version would be released.

"I'm fascinated with military stuff," said Ross. "It's a chance to do that without really shooting anybody."

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