By Agence France-Presse

SAN FRANCISCO — Bespectacled teenager John Chitman and a couple of friends marked Veterans Day by wiping out an elite US Marine unit without so much as straining a thumb.

The battleground was an Eastern European front from World War II and the weapons were virtual machine guns, flame throwers, tanks and more wielded by on-screen soldiers in a new “Call of Duty: World at War” videogame.

“They weren’t so hard at all,” Chitman said as he stepped from a GameStop shop in downtown San Francisco that was decked out like an Army field base for the Tuesday launch of the latest installment in the hit COD franchise.

Videogame maker Activision teamed with retail chain GameStop to debut “World at War” by letting COD fans using XBox 360 consoles play the new release online against real soldiers.

“We totally waxed them,” Chitman’s 22-year-old teammate, Glen Robinson, said as one of San Francisco’s famed cable cars rattled past.

“It was awesome. We smoked them.”

Camouflage netting lined walls inside the crowded railroad car-sized shop. Event workers were dressed in GI garb. Fuel drums and ammunition boxes strewn about the scene were stamped with “Call of Duty.”

An estimated 1,500 gamers queued to get a shot at the Marines. About a third of the players reportedly showed up for a simultaneous event taking place at a GameStop near the Pentagon in Washington.

“This store should be giving the beat-down to the Marines,” said David Vonderhaar, head of multi-person play for the latest COD created by Treyarch studio and published by Activision.

“But, a lot of people in the military love our game so it could be a challenge.”

Players were divided into six-person units and got to equip their virtual soldiers with period-appropriate weapons of choice. Vonderhaar recommended Thompson submachine guns for close-quarter fighting.

“Sure you can do it in the game,” a Marine shouted through a video conferencing link. “We do it for real.”

“World at War” is the fifth release in the COD franchise and its storyline focuses on key clashes between US, Japanese, Soviet Union and Nazi Germany forces at the close of World War II.

Scenes are based on historical battles in places including Berlin, Peleliu, and Makin Island.

“I went positive in my kill-to-death ratio; that was pretty slick,” Andrew Conley, 21, said in reference to his in-game soldier giving better than he got on the battlefield.

“A couple of times I got swarmed. I go off on my own to fight, and those Marines tend to work as a team.”

Along with new territories to explore, the videogame for the first time lets as many as four people play online in a “co-operative mode” that follows the story line.

COD and other shooter games are already popular for online play that lets people join teams and battle against each other from their homes.

“There is a lot to love about the new game, of course,” Vonderhaar told AFP before dashing off to coach players riveted to screens at the back of the shop.

A woman on-screen from a Southern California Marine base yelled “We’re going to kick your butt San Francisco.”

The audience for first-person shooter games such as COD and freshly-released “Gears of War” has been broadening beyond the typical young male demographic, as people from varied walks of life start playing, according to GameStop spokesman Chris Olivera.

“I’ve definitely seen the change,” Olivera said.

“It used to be mothers would drop their sons off at GameStop and then head over to an Anne Taylor store to shop. Now, mothers and their children are coming in and shopping for games together.”

Tough financial times offer hope to videogame sales as people forego costly vacations or nights out and instead treat themselves to at-home fun in the form of videogames that typically cost about 60 dollars for new titles.

“We are seeing a lot of people not taking those expensive vacations, or even cutting out going to the movies,” Olivera said.

“Instead of going out, and for the same money, they are buying a videogame and playing it.”

The war between the geeks and the Marines was fought to a tie, with each side winning eight battles. The Marines claimed victory in a tie-breaking round that sparked shouts of “Hoo-ah” in the camp.

“Awesome,” said Marine Shane Palmer in an online video connection. “It’s great fun.”