Why the back and forth? It's not really clear. But this is what Activision has to say about the name game:

"Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 is the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare," a spokesperson told Kotaku. "We have focused our attention on Modern Warfare in order to most effectively communicate the fact that this is the first true sequel in the Call of Duty series. Infinity Ward, the original creators of the Call of Duty franchise, has said from the beginning Modern Warfare 2 resides in the Call of Duty universe. This is reflected in the title's package."

What this doesn't answer is why the game initially ditched the Call of Duty moniker for the title, calling it just Modern Warfare 2, only to put the franchise name back on the box.

Stranger still, why did the world find out about this latest change through a tweet by Infinity Ward?

Could this latest move be concerns over brand awareness? Is it possible that we're just seeing the repercussions of the sort of in-house-versus-external development of a game that analysts say cause friction at big publishers?

Perhaps we'll never know.

EA Sports is asking you to submit your last name and its phonetic pronunciation for inclusion in NCAA Football 2010.

Log in (or create) an EA Sports World account, and you can send in your name to be included in this year's version of the game. Note, this is not absolute. EA will review it, and I'm thinking "Bleszinski," "Molyneux" or "Fils-Aime" might not make it. Although I would love for someone to send in "Shithead" with the pronunciation "shih-THEED."

This is a chance for me to undo one of my great regrets about this game. Back with NCAA 2004, I created a University of Denver team and put a bunch of friends and familiar names on the roster. Inexplicably, I named the quarterback after the then-spokesman for Denver-based Frontier Airlines (and a contact of a good friend of mine, who covered the airlines). Joseph I. Hodas was a senior, but a real dropback statue, atop the depth chart in an option offense. I realized I needed a younger guy, for continuity purposes and a little more adaptable to a flexbone offense. So Hodas got replaced by a sophomore midway through the Pioneers' first title run. My pal Dave told Joe what happened, and he was extremely disappointed to have been cut out of the glory in his final year playing ball.

So, here you are Joe, Five years later, I'm making it up to you.

This year you'll hear Brad Nessler say, "Hodas, back to pass, he's got a man downfield! Complete!"

Get Your Name in the Game! [EA Sports World]