The “Break it Down” Blog

Yesterday MTV’s Multiplayer Blog semi-officially announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is being  developed and should be releases Fall of 2009.  I’m not surprised that the most popular game of the Call of Duty series, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, is getting a sequel.  I am a bit surprised they have changed the naming convention after so many years of going with Call of Duty #.

In addition to another iteration of Call of Duty there were mentions of another Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk, and a Bond game. Plus a new racing game that is a cross between “Forza and Mario Kart.”

We know Activision Blizzard loves sequels.

Just moments ago, the publisher revealed a slate of follow-ups coming this year at an Massive Inc. upfront attended by Stephen Totilo.

An upfront is where publishers showcase their upcoming lineup to advertisers and are a new practice for games. Upfronts occur every year for TV and movies.

This event is being held in downtown Manhattan to get advertisers pumped to buy more ads in games. Massive is a Microsoft-owned firm that did the Barack Obama ad in “Burnout Paradise.”

At the meeting, Activision Blizzard showcased new games that would make sense for in-game ads, including the vaguely titled “Guitar Hero 5,” which included a screen shot of gameplay with a Burger King ad to the right of the note highway.

The publisher confirmed rumors that “Tony Hawk” will be different this year. “You’re not going to be playing this game with a controller in your hands,” said the company. The new “Tony Hawk” arrives on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and DS in October.

Additionally, Activision Blizzard acknowledged the “Call of Duty” series will move forward yet again with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2? coming this fall. No details on the game were released.

We’ve also heard rumors that Bizarre Creations was working on a racing-oriented “James Bond” game, which have turned out to be true. The original Bond adventure, not tied to a movie storyline, is coming this September. The former “Project Gotham Racing” studio is also working on an original racing IP for the publisher, which they tagged as “‘Mario Kart’ meets ‘Forza.’”

Curiously, the lineup included absolutely no Blizzard Entertainment games.

Hopefully all the sequels are not just more of the same and give us new and interesting twist on the game play we enjoy from their current titles.