But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with Activision Chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick about the state of the gaming business.

The video of the interview is in three parts.

It’s a good week to focus on the gaming industry since Electronic Arts (ERTS) abandoned its hostile acquisition bid for Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) over the weekend.

EA’s effort was motivated, in part, by Activision’s recent merger with Vivendi Games, which includes Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft,” one the most popular multi-player games.

The merger has made Activision (ATVI), with its own well-known franchises–especially the hugely popular “Guitar Hero,” which debuted version IV at D6–one of the gaming industry’s largest companies.

In this third video, Kotick publicly demos “Guitar Hero IV” for the first time, with the help of special guest stars Paula Abdul of “American Idol” and skateboarding star Tony Hawk.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with Activision Chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick about the state of the gaming business.

The video of the interview is in three parts.

It’s a good week to focus on the gaming industry since Electronic Arts (ERTS) abandoned its hostile acquisition bid for Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) over the weekend.

EA’s effort was motivated, in part, by Activision’s recent merger with Vivendi Games, which includes Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft,” one the most popular multi-player games.

The merger has made Activision (AVTI), with its own well-known franchises–especially the hugely popular “Guitar Hero,” which debuted version IV at D6–one of the gaming industry’s largest companies.

In this second video, Kotick talks about virtual goods and in-game advertising, the international market, set-top boxes, violence and “Grand Theft Auto,” the competitiveness of the gaming business, the situation at Yahoo (he was, until recently, a board member), and takes a question from the audience about social gaming.

But–as many readers have requested–they will all be available in their entirety in this column.

Here’s an interview I did with Activision Chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick about the state of the gaming business.

The video of the interview is in three parts.

It’s a good week to focus on the gaming industry since Electronic Arts (ERTS) abandoned its hostile acquisition bid for Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) over the weekend.

EA’s effort was motivated, in part, by Activision’s recent merger with Vivendi Games, which includes Blizzard Entertainment’s “World of Warcraft,” one the most popular multi-player games.

The merger has made Activision (AVTI), with its own well-known franchises–especially the hugely popular “Guitar Hero,” which debuted version IV at D6–one of the gaming industry’s largest companies.

In this first video, Kotick talks about the merger with Vivendi–which aims to inject social gaming DNA into Activision–the popularity of Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox; better graphical, storytelling and character development in games; gaming on social networks; business models in the industry; and the EA attempt to acquire Take-Two.