While the news outlet doesn't name the studio responsible for providing gamers with even more of the Call of Duty that they clearly crave, having a third team dedicated to pumping out future iterations could mean any number of things.

One possibility could give current Call of Duty developers Treyarch and Infinity Ward more time to produce entries in the core series, offering them a three year development cycle instead of the two year turnaround time in place now. Another is semi-annual releases, which may be pushing it.

Or, this third team could be focused on a different Call of Duty model. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has publicly expressed this thoughts on a massively-multiplayer online take on the series. Activision CFO Tom Tippl has also teased "additional online monetization models" for the Call of Duty brand.

Activision already has a handful of other developers working on Call of Duty content, including Nintendo DS developer n-Space, responsible for three portable entries, and multiplayer map specialists Certain Affinity, who helped Treyarch out with Call of Duty: World At War. The publisher owns plenty of other studios with first-person shooter experience, like Raven Software (Wolfenstein, Singularity) and High Moon Studios (Darkwatch), should it choose to tap one of its wholly-owned developers.

Or perhaps Activision has its newest studio, the recently announced Sledgehammer Games at work on a Call of Duty title. The ex-Dead Space developers could take the franchise in a more futuristic direction, if they dare.

We've reached out to Activision to see if they'd like to comment on the LA Times report, but have not yet heard back.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 video game gets Hollywood-scale launch [LA Times]

Modern Warfare: Mobilized is being developed by n-Space for a Nov. 10 release. Previous DS titles by n-Space include Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: World at War and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Mobilized will have gamers fighting on the ground, hacking into enemy computer terminals, controlling tanks and UAV spy drones and manning the guns of an AC-130 gunship.

The title, which will have its own storyline, will include six-player online multiplayer modes and a Survival Mode that has players trying to hold off waves of oncoming enemies. Finally, Arcade Mode has players going through the single-player campaign with a time limit and running score.

IGN's exclusive look at Winter, from the developer of the lukewarm Gamecube title Geist, is about as depressing for "core" Wii owners as it probably is for n-Space employees. The game, which looks to have been heavily inspired by the Silent Hill series, looks to have taken advantage of the Wii's control scheme and processing power wisely.

Winter appears to not only have the player battling monsters, but the harshly cold conditions of a Midwestern town. Finding warmth to stay alive puts the survival back in survival horror.

So why didn't Winter find a home, existing as little more than a concept and playable demo? n-Space president Dan O'Leary explains...

"In almost every case we got hung up with the sales and marketing groups. They simply could not get behind a survival horror title on the Wii," O'Leary tells IGN. "In spite of great sales for Resident Evil 4 and the Umbrella Chronicles, these groups were unable to support the projections required to create a viable [profit and loss statement] for the title."

"The idea of an 'adult' game on what they perceived to be a 'kids' console was simply too big a leap for them, regardless of the enthusiastic support of the PD department and the Wii's total domination in the marketplace," O'Leary adds.

IGN has video of the game in action — which looks promising — if you're interested. Maybe, if interest is vocal enough, someone will be able to divert some mini-game development funds n-Space's way.

Wii's Lost Game: Winter [IGN]

A scholarship fund has been created in Dyke's name at his alma mater. For more information, please visit the Michigan Technological University web site.

Erick S. Dyke is survived by his wife Michelle, parents Michael and Greta Dyke, and his brother Matthew. Erick S. Dyke was 41.

World at War doesn’t fail on all these fronts, but it is far from pretty. World War II (or whatever conflict we’re fighting – does anyone keep track anymore?) isn’t supposed to be pretty, but I’m pretty sure the world has more colors in it than green, brown and gray. I’m also pretty sure World at War on PS3 and 360 is going to look loads better because developer Treyarch subscribes to the notion that the Wii is a bastard stepchild console to be shunned.

I grabbed the Wii Zapper and went co-op with the demo handler to get a better look the level. If left to my own devices, I would have shot all my squad mates by mistake (it took me a while to figure out that the bad guys had shrubberies taped to their heads and that the targeting reticule turned red when it was pointed at them) and failed the mission.

As the second player, my gameplay experience was more like an on rails shooter. My yellow reticule hovered on screen right next to player one’s gray reticule. Player one did all the driving, decided where to go and who to shoot at. Because it wasn’t split screen, I got the impression that player two was like that guy from Total Recall. You know who I’m talking about.

Our team was out to destroy a bunker by flinging a grenade into the narrow slit – which meant we had to get close enough to be within flinging distance. This meant trekking up and down grassy hills and past lines of Nazis (at least I think they were Nazis), all wearing shrubbery camouflage. The level seemed pretty bare bones – and normally, I’d chalk this up to it being an early build. But… this game is supposed to come out in November and I know they didn’t build a new version of the engine for the Wii. So, basically, I was looking at Call of Duty 3 all over again – and unless something drastic changes during the polish phase, you will be too, poor Wii owner.

DS owners are getting a better deal all around. World at War on DS is being developed by n-Space, so it’s got more in common with Call of Duty 4 than its Wii cousin. Gameplay is made up of action parts where you walk through linear levels and shoot at Nazis, broken up by mini-game portions like the bomb diffusions and lock-breaking stuff we saw in Call of Duty 4 on DS. There are also mini-games with Morse code and other WW II-specific technologies.

This level was also about blowing up a bunker – but instead of having to get right up on it and fling a grenade into a building, we had to take a mortal gun from some Nazis and point it at the bunker. This went fairly well up until aiming the the mortar. I missed a few times before managing to land the shell where it needed to be and then – on my way to the next mortar location to blow up the next tower, we ran into some tougher Nazis I couldn’t kill fast enough.

At the end of my demo time, I felt like I’d had more fun on the DS than on the Wii. Part of it was I felt like there was more to do on the DS than on Wii; and part of it was a sneaking suspicion that n-Space’s game is a true evolved form of Call of Duty 4 whereas Treyarch’s game felt more like Call of Duty 3.5.

Both games are out November 11 – just in time for Veteran’s Day.

Harrison stated that the current market leader is instead looking to third parties such as Ubisoft and EA to appeal to non-Japanese gamers. The future plans of Retro are currently unknown, but N-Space was reported to be knee deep in Wii development some 18 months ago.

Nintendo: 'No Plans' To Increase Western Game Development [Game|Life]

An article in the Orlando Sentinel mentions that N-Space, the company behind Geist is working on a title for Nintendo's Revolution. The article mentions that N-Space is expanding both its workforce and its office space. Hopefully N-Space's unannounced Revolution project will have some details leaked in May.

Thanks for the link, Christopher

Video Game Firm Expands - And We're Not Talking About EA [Orlando Sentinel]