So, , then. I will unashamedly say at this juncture that despite the excitement the industry has shown over the leaked information released today, Modern Warfare 3 is a title which holds almost precisely zero interest for me whatsoever, and I know that I'm not alone in that, either amongst the staff here at or in my wider circle of friends.

The trouble is fatigue. I've played two Call of Duty titles in my time -- Modern Warfare 2 and World at War -- and don't feel the need to ever play one ever again. The stories in both were utterly forgettable -- if spectacularly presented -- and the multiplayer was entertaining for a while, but I found myself pining for a more structured narrative experience after a while, much like the way I feel any time I try out an MMO. In short, the series just isn't for me -- and I'm fine with both that and the fact that there are people out there who enjoy it to the exclusion of everything else, too. The new game may well offer the most spectacular setpieces gaming has ever committed to an HDTV, but the sheer fact that it's another "soldiers and guns" game just a year after the previous one -- not to mention all the "rivals" that have come out in between -- makes me want to look elsewhere for my interactive entertainment.

But Call of Duty is profitable, and this leads to the "TV series" phenomenon, where franchises keep getting trotted out year after year so long as they make money. Eventually, the audience is left so resentful of the franchise that they wish it would just hurry up and finish so that "the next big thing" can come along and replace it. And it's not just Activision that is doing this -- Ubisoft announced this week that it's planning to take this approach with more if its franchises, . What we end up with, then, is an oversaturated market full of triple-A games with colons in their titles and an increasingly-embittered audience looking for something new to enjoy. Not only that, but once-beloved franchises such as Assassin's Creed become mere shadows of their former selves, the reasons why they were so great in the first place forgotten thanks to franchise fatigue.

But don't despair, because it's not as if there's nothing else to play. In just the next few weeks, solo players have The Witcher 2 and L.A. Noire to look forward to from the mainstream publishers, and this isn't even taking into account the indie market -- a market which is getting easier and easier to explore thanks to Steam and upcoming services like .

In short, however fed up you may be of the "big name" franchises -- and the way the market is going at the moment, it seems there isn't one of them that won't be milked dry -- you will be able to find something else to enjoy. So let the Call of Duty players enjoy their Call of Duty, and you enjoy whatever you want to enjoy. It's what I'm planning to do, and you should too.