Remember when Grand Theft Auto IV made video game history with record-breaking sales figures?  Well, that title is about to be yanked by Modern Warfare 2.

On its first day, Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4 sequel sold 1.23 million copies in the UK alone, according to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association and GFK-ChartTrack (think NPD for Britain).  ELSPA director Michael Rawlinson is, of course, pleased with these figures, stating, "These first day sales figures are astonishing and clear evidence that videogames are now mainstream in the UK."

In 2008, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV took the island by storm, selling around 631k units on launch day, collecting roughly $78.3 million in sales.

Rawlinson made sure to add the obligatory age disclaimer, before advocates jump him in a dark alley:

"So, as an 18-rated video game, it is important that this game is not played by children, and parents should be appropriately vigilant.  We ask everyone to make sure they check the packaging of games to ensure they are suitable for their players, especially as we enter the festive season when video games are one of the most popular gifts of the holiday."

And how much would those sales figures drop if we chopped consumers under 18?  Significantly, no doubt.

Meanwhile, PlayStation 3 owners might experiencing some issues in multiplayer.  Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling is promising a fix before or by Friday and claims the problems can be blamed on server overload.  So why haven't Xbox 360 gamers having as much trouble?  "Xbox Live servers are maintained and ran by Microsoft," Bowling explains.  "PSN servers are ran and maintained by 3rd party companies hired to do so."

Update: Another Twitter update from Bowling ensures that PSN multiplayer is back to normal.  IW is still expecting another "party invite" patch by the end of the week.