Pretty sure that MW 3 is greatly overtracked here. Outside of small jump in launch sales compared to blops we have gotten only reports of declined sales month after month.

I couldn't care less (THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE THE PHRASE!). To be honest, the gaming industry needs cookie cutter juggernauts like COD. It keeps gaming relevant to the masses and affords more unique games in the long run.

Ye olde bitching about COD. I will buy Blops2 and play it with friends either way, it's ability to maintain the price(with the exception of MW3 which plummeted) is impressive, so I'll just resell it if it turns out to be a pile of crap.

Wow I'm shocked. I mean obviously the CoD series is a juggernaut, but I can't believe it's STILL growing in popularity. I guess Treyarch has a better reputation than IW in the CoD community now though and it's the one with Zombies, so maybe that's why. I do not expect the next IW CoD game to do as well, I think CoD 2013 is where the series starts to decline. MW2 was brutal but semi-playable...but MW3 was just straight bad. I haven't touched it in months and have no plan to.

It doesn't matter what Activision does, COD 2013 won't sell nearly as well as its predecessors because it will be on brand new platforms. It won't be until COD 12 or 13 until the franchise regains the throne that Black Ops 2 will set it in, and thats assuming the next generation of consoles will be at least on par with the popularity of the current generation of consoles.

Yup: Hate it.

I think you don't know what you are talking about. MW2 did add new features (spec ops) and 3 added more modes to play. Also what more do you want them to add beside improve the graphics. 

What do I need to explain?  You see the post hype buzz about the game?  People didn't like the said attempt at more realism in GTA IV and the game was consistently on lists of games that were overhyped.  People didn't find it as fun, and wanted more.   That was the direction that GTA went, an attempt to be more serious with the single player game.  In light of this, why do you think that GTA V will dethrone anything, or even has a shot of dethroning COD?  Is GTA V going to have a superior online multiplayer mode?  If not, show me a single player game that would end up outselling the top titles that have a strong multiplayer element.  Call of Duty now fits into having a strong multiplayer element, at least from the perspective of driving sales.

Cash cows on top, like Call of Duty, help fund more exporatory projects in the videogame industry.  That is how it works at this point.  The top sellers cover the costs of the turkeys.