New Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and 007 coming in 2007-8

Do you like shooting Nazis and popping ollies but aren't excited about Call of Duty 3 or Tony Hawk's Project 8? No problem. In the not-so-shocking news department, both franchises will be getting updates after their currently scheduled installments, according to Bobby Kotick, chairman and CEO of Activision.

Speaking with Wall Street analysts following today's earnings report, the executive revealed--to the surprise of virtually nobody--that his company would release new titles in its two flagship franchises during Activision's 2008 fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2007.

"We'll start the first quarter of fiscal [2008] with three strong movie-supported franchises, Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3, and Transformers," Kotick said. "Also anchoring our slate in fiscal 2008 will be strong new titles from a number of our core franchises: Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, and Marvel." Besides Spider-Man, Kotick did not say which comic book the new Marvel game would be based on, but Activision recently revealed that it no longer has the game rights to Iron Man, which is being adapted into a 2008 film.

Kotick also revealed that Activision's 2008 fiscal year will see new installments in two other popular series. Besides a new tie-in to the megapopular World Series of Poker tour, the 12 months will mark the debut of an "all-new Guitar Hero" game, the third entry in Red Octane's virtual-headbanger series. No platforms were mentioned in connection with either franchise, the latter of which is currently a PlayStation 2 exclusive.

Last but not least, Kotick unveiled the release window for Activision's first James Bond game. In May, the publisher announced it had picked up the Agent 007 license after its former holder, Electronic Arts, gave up its rights to make games featuring the superspy.

But while the next Bond film, Casino Royale, is due this November, the first Activision game to involve Her Majesty's Secret Service won't hit store shelves for another year and a half. "MGM has announced the release date for the next Bond movie following this holiday for May of 2008," said Kotick. "That is where we would focus to have our first [Bond] game."