Ever been in the middle of a conversation with someone and find yourself zoning out, thinking “I wonder what this person would look like if they were the walking dead?”

That’s where George A. Romero’s App of the Dead for iPhone and iPod Touch comes in. The father of the modern zombie has teamed up with the developer Additive Interactive to make your friend- and family-zombifying dreams a reality.

App of the Dead will allow you to turn human faces from your own images into terrifying visages of the undead, by allowing you to add wounds and other ghoulish facial-deformities. You can even get your zombie “pew pew pew” on, as the app will allow you to “shoot” at your created zombies, complete with a blood-splatter effect. Zombies can be saved and then uploaded to Facebook or even emailed to your friends.

App of the Dead is coming soon to the App Store, so board up your windows, doors, and keep your eyes peeled. Tomorrow we’ll have an exclusive chat with Romero himself, where we talk about everything from App of the Dead to his new film, Survival of the Dead. Stay tuned.

More than a few of us media folk have been wearing our Michael Pachter “Super Martian Prediction Hats” ($12.99) and saying that Infinity Ward will be gutted as a result of its recent losses of top-tier staff. In light of what we’ve learned from the Activision financial earnings call, that scenario doesn’t seem so likely. CEO Bobby Kotick revealed that the studio is working on “their next big project.”

What that project is, of course, is anyone’s guess (the hat is only $12.99, people). No details were provided other than the fact that this “big project” is not the next map pack Tippl spoke about.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Says Infinity Ward Working On “Next Project,” Comments On Studio Tension [G4]

Looks like the next Call of Duty is confirmed as a Treyarch production, and it’s called Call of Duty: Black Ops. When will you be playing it? November 9.

The name and date of the title was revealed as a teaser site for the game was launched. Tonight GameTrailers TV will air the premiere trailer, which is said to feature gameplay from the upcoming title. Rumors have long been swirling that the title would be set in Vietnam, with VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi even going as far as to call it Call of Duty: Vietman.

Treyarch’s Call of Duty title has long been rumored to take place in Vietnam, as well as other locations, as in previous Call of Duty games. I suppose we’ll know tonight for sure; we’ll keep you posted.

[Update: From the official press release, Treyarch studio head Mark Lamia reveals that they've focused the entire studio on the game, with separate teams for multiplayer, single-player, and co-op teams "creating the most intense, gripping, and riveting experience possible for our fans.]

This back-and-forth between Activision and Infinity Ward is not going to end anytime soon, it seems. The latest update is that 38 employees from the developer have joined together to file a lawsuit against the uber-publisher for unpaid Modern Warfare 2 bonuses.

It should be stated that not all of the 38 have left Infinity Ward yet. G4’s coverage of the suit has a few choice quotes from Bruce Isaacs, one of the attorneys representing the “Infinity Ward Employee Group.”

Allegedly, Activision withheld the owed money “in an attempt to force employees of Infinity Ward to continue to work at a job that many of them did not want just so Activision could force them to complete the development, production, and delivery of Modern Warfare 3.”

They’re looking to “recover between $75 million and $125 million, if not more, in compensatory damages,” plus “the additional amount of $75 million to $500 million as an award for punitive damages.”

For a specific breakdown of where those numbers stem from, along with a more comprehensive summary — y’know, not shortened down to four paragraphs — follow G4’s report.

UPDATE: 38 Infinity Ward Employees File Lawsuit Against Activision Over Royalties, Alleges Devs Held “Hostage” [G4]

Industry analyst and 1,000-year-old shaman Michael Pachter has commented on the Infinity Ward situation and the forming of rival studio Respawn. While he believes the majority of consumers won’t care about the recent restructuring, he does think that Zampella and West’s new outfit, Respawn Entertainment, will provide brutal competition.

“I think that it is likely that future games will sell fewer units than in the past, primarily due to increased competition from Respawn, DICE and EA games that will likely be in the same or similar genres,” he claims. 

Pachter seems to believe that game sales work the same way as World War II rationing, in that there are only so many to go around and the existence of new games will have a direct impact on the sale of others. He demonstrated this theory when he claimed that Borderlands was going to sell badly because Dragon Age was launching soon after. He was incorrect.

I don’t quite understand his train of thought and, personally, I don’t think Respawn will have an affect on the future of Call of Duty. One studio cannot take sales magically away from a rival studio’s game simply by existing, as much as I’d like to see Activision get taken down a peg or two. This market is ruled by those who make the names, and Call of Duty is a name that will keep selling, no matter what the competition.

Until Activision itself drains the market and whores the franchise out too hard.

Pachter: EA, DICE and Respawn will impact future Call of Duty sales [Joystiq]

Modern Jobfare?

Nah. It seems like all these guys leaving Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 dev Infinity Ward are getting great gigs elsewhere. Senior animator Bruce Ferriz is moving to Big Red Button Entertainment. Programmer Jon Shiring is also out the door, though he doesn’t say where he’s going yet. He did say this, though: “I’m not trying to create spectacle, I just wanted to avoid the LinkedIn nonsense.”

Lead designer Mackey McCandlish dropped a tweet that said he had “a great 8+ year run” at IW. I wonder where he’ll go next.

Three more leave Infinity Ward [Joystiq]

As you may have already read this morning, the saga of former Infinity Ward honchos Vince Zampella and and Jason West versus Activision took yet another turn today with the announcement of the duo’s new development company, Respawn Entertainment. Oh, and the company’s partnership with Activision’s chief rival, Electronic Arts.

In response to the news, a representative of Activision had the following to say to Destructoid:

“This agreement comes as no surprise to Activision given the myriad of improper activities detailed in the cross-complaint filed on Friday against Jason West and Vince Zampella. We look forward to continuing to work with Infinity Ward’s deep bench of proven talent on exciting new projects.”

Shockingly, it sounds like there’s no love lost over the announcement. I will say that I appreciate the use of the word, “myriad.” I’ve just always liked that one.

Nice compliment to everyone who’s still at Infinity Ward, though. I guess that talent is pretty valuable to them, eh?

This will make three posts over one lawsuit this weekend, but when Activision sues the sh*t hits the fan. While for the most part this lawsuit has very little impact on us gamers, it appears that we may now thank the legal issues going on for a possible delay of Modern Warfare 3.

In Activision’s filing against Frank West and Vince Zampella they claim that the pair’s actions were “delaying pre-production of Modern Warfare 3,” and that they are using that delay as “leverage in their negotiations with Activision.”

The filing goes on to say that the two are even more nefarious than originally thought since “as a direct and proximate result of this breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, Activision has been forced to commit additional resources to Modern Warfare 3.” Yes, West and Zampella have made Activision lose both time and money.

We eagerly await the counter-counter lawsuit in which Zampella and West accuse Activision of touching small children and killing endangered species.

Modern Warfare 3 Being Held Up By Legal Confrontation [Kotaku]

According to mystery sources, Infinity Ward is not interested in making Modern Warfare 3, at least right now. The next project from Activision’s golden boys will apparently be something “completely new.” You can, of course, color us intrigued. 

Where this leaves Modern Warfare 3 is unclear right now. It’s obvious that Activision will want a follow-up in 2011, but if Infinity Ward’s not behind it, then who is? There were rumors a while back that a third studio was going to be brought into the Call of Duty franchise. Perhaps they’ll be taking over Modern Warfare while Infinity Ward does something else. 

Whatever it is, this will be very interesting to see pan out. I’d love to see what else Infinity Ward is capable of, although I wonder how well Modern Warfare would do in the hands of another. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, eh?

Source – Infinity Ward not developing Modern Warfare 3 [VG247]

Hey Britain, I heard you like Modern Warfare 2! Yes, 2010 may be a perceived time of change, but the UK Charts are stoic and immovable like a big, dependable rock. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 remains atop the pile, proving resistant to all competition. Still, considering that competition was practically non-existent, it’s not exactly a shock.

The holiday lull has been good to Assassin’s Creed 2 as well, remaining in second place, while the rest of the chart is, as always, stuffed to the gills with Wii games and sports titles. So, nothing really surprising there, then. As always, you can hit the jump for the full list if you can be bothered.

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
2. Assassin’s Creed 2
3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
4. Wii Sports Resort
5. Wii Fit Plus
6. FIFA 10
7. Just Dance
8. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
9. Mario Kart Wii
10. James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game
11. Forza Motorsport 3
12. Need for Speed: Shift
13. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
14. Left 4 Dead 2
15. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
16. Batman: Arkham Asylum
17. Wii Play
18. Grand Theft Auto Episodes: Liberty City
19. Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
20. Tekken 6