News Blips: Call of Duty 8, No Kinect Sign Language, Gamer Joins Supreme Court Bar, and More

Did I miss something? Call of Duty 8? What the hell happened to Call of Duty 5-7?

News Blips:

Developer Sledgehammer reveals that they are working on Call of Duty 8. The plans are for players to reenact stories from actual servicemen. Studio Cofounder Glen Schofield said in a Twitter post that they are "working w/ military guys - their stories will blow you away. Names/locations will change but some situations going in the game - real stuff!" I wonder if they'll include a level where the soldiers play the Xbox 360 in the 130-degree Iraqi desert. [IndustryGamers]

Kinect can't read sign language. Speaking to Kotaku, Microsoft confirmed that their motion-sensing hardware for the Xbox 360 does not support sign language, as the device's original patent suggested. Kotaku has a separate (and anonymous) source who claims that Microsoft had to downgrade the resolution of the Kinect's camera -- allowing it to process limb movement but not fingers -- to save on costs. In addition to losing sign-language games (and educational software), the world also misses out on a chance to play ninja video games controlled by ninja-hand-seal inputs.

Jennifer Mercurio, the vice president and general counsel for the Entertainment Consumers Association, joins the United States Supreme Court bar. She is now in a position to argue any case -- such as Schwarzenegger v. EMA, the California law that restricts the sales of violent video games to minors -- in the country's highest court. The ECA's goal is to "give gamers a collective voice with which to communicate their concerns, address their issues, and focus their advocacy efforts," so this, as far as we all should be concerned, is good news. Hopefully, now we can elevate the discourse above "Grand Theft Kombat: bad. Thinking of the children: good."

Political candidates speak out against Rhode Island's Economic Development Corporation deal to lure 38 Studios from Maryland with a $75 million loan. Independent gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee joins the Democrat candidate (and current State Treasurer) Frank Caprio in criticizing the loan. Keep it up, guys, and you just might end up sending another developer to Canada. Is that what you think is best for the country? [GamePolitics]

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Tags: News Blips, Call of Duty 8

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Iain Topp

August 16, 2010

“Did I miss something? What the hell happened to Call of Duty 5-7?”

Those obscure, little known titles you may have missed are World at War, Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops. ;)

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Alejandro Quan-Madrid

@Iain, Hahaha. I was being sarcastic since it seemed odd to call the new title Call of Duty 8 when they ditched the numbering scheme for the past three "obscure" titles. Plus isn't Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, or Call of Duty 6, as you suggest, a sequel to Call of Duty 4? Does that make it number 6, or 4 Part 2, maybe even 4.5? The whole thing is kind of silly, but thanks for your comment!

Jason Wilson

@Iain The opening of News Blips is almost always a joke. The last line of each item is almost always a joke as well. Strap on the humor goggles!

August 17, 2010

@Alejandro. Maybe they could really make our heads hurt and include the expansions and handheld/phone versions too. Call of Duty 8 and 15 could be the same release just to make sure we don't know what the hell we're buying :D

@Jason. I was just teasing Alejandro (maybe my winky emoticon went unnoticed), but he seemed to take it in good humor and was welcoming to a first time visitor to the site. We were both being sarcastic and I don't think anyone ended up with any permanent emotional scars. Trust me, I have to have a pair of humor goggles to filter the online world or the internet would just make my brain hemorage and my eyes bleed every time I logged on.