With excitement for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops at fever pitch, retailers will soon be rolling out their own promotions and discounts in an attempt to coerce shoppers into buying the must-have title from them instead of the competition. In a move that will surely get some hackles raised on the Electronic Arts side, UK retailer HMV has announced that buyers who trade in their copy of recently-released Medal of Honor will only be charged £7.99 as opposed to the regular £55.00.

An incredible amount of savings is now available (in the UK) for gamers willing to part with their copies of EA's self-professed competitor for the Call of Duty series. While this may be a provocative offering, sure to generate sales for HMV, one has to wonder what kind of a hit HMV will take by acquiring potentially thousands of secondhand games without access to online multiplayer. Having that many used copies with an extra fee tacked on for online access could be an issue going forward, but we can only assume HMV has a plan.

After already taking some heat prior to the game's launch, EA had voiced its opinion that they remained proud of their product, and were convinced that Medal of Honor was a success in rebooting the franchise for the near future. It's safe to say that relations may be strained between EA and HMV after the deal was announced, since this clearly isn't the kind of buzz EA would like to see around its new franchise.

Medal of Honor has definitely not turned out to be the launch that Electronic Arts and Danger Close Games had hoped for, confessing that the game did not meet the expectations that had been set. While the sales figures are nothing to scoff at, the success of the game will have to be judged once Black Ops hits this month. It was assumed that an accurate idea of the competition could be judged once Black Ops had been released, but this new offer may just be the first example of retailers forcing players to make a choice. While we enjoyed our time with MoH, it may not have much of a fight against the powerhouse that is Call of Duty.

No stranger to controversy themselves, the folks over at Activision and Treyarch are no doubt concerned with simply selling copies. If more promotions like these get their competition out of the market while generating revenue, then we won't be hearing complaints. The game already looks like it won't need any help selling discs, but the biggest point this story makes is just how much weight first person shooters -- and these franchises in particular -- carry.

Hopefully EA will make one of their tongue-in-cheek, cutting responses to their new shooter being given such a raw deal, but given the excitement for Black Ops this may all prove irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. For those of you who are enjoying your time with Medal of Honor, then feel free to play to your heart's content.

If you were left unsatisfied by EA's answer to modern military (and live in the United Kingdom) then you now have a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Head to HMV and receive your own copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops for Xbox 360 and PS3 at a bargain when it's released worldwide November 9th. Regular pricing still applies for Wii, PC, and DS.

Source: MCV