Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg has claimed that the Call Of Duty franchise is "the closest thing this generation has to a Star Wars". Except Star Wars, presumably.

Activision announced that Hirshberg had joined its ranks earlier this month.

The exec immediately said one of his key missions was to change the firm's reputation for arrogance and for making bombastic statements that annoy gamers.

However, Hirschberg told the good folks at IGN in a new interview:

"The Call of Duty franchise is a force of nature. I think it is the closest thing this generation has to a Star Wars. I think it's unique and bigger than any musical act or any movie franchise in that capacity.

"The challenge with any franchise like that is staying a step ahead of people and keep surprising them and keeping it fresh."

The latest Call Of Duty, Black Ops, id due for release on PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii on November 9.

In a slightly more modest appraisal, Hirschberg also turned his attention to the Guitar Hero franchise, admitting that revenues taken by the series - and the music game category overall - had dropped dramatically.

"The challenge is to rejuvenate interest in that game and franchise with innovation," he added.

As in 'nowhere near as good as it used to be?'

Um no. I don't see people dressing up as COD character styles, sitting together and playing all of the COD games from start to finish, owning replica weapons or learning how to shoot from a helicopter for real!

If you were gonna name a game, it'd probably be along the lines of WoW.

for a start, the audience for the COD games is way too small. And public awareness of it outside of those who like gaming is, I think, not great.

I don't know where Mark is, but.....

THERE IS NO NEW STAR WARS, nor shall there ever be. End.

I don't know where Mark is, but.....

THERE IS NO NEW STAR WARS, nor shall there ever be. End.

I personally find the newer COD games aren't a patch on the original...

Is that the out of the box version or the patched one?

I don't know where Mark is, but.....

THERE IS NO NEW STAR WARS, nor shall there ever be. End.

And that is because, unlike in the 1970s, studios are no longer willing to take a punt on the mad doodlings of a director who has two projects under his belt, one of which is truly bizarre. I bet they get a few of these a year. We could have had a decent Star Wars for the new century already, but the bean counters said “no’.

Look at what hollywood is squirting out now, and you’ll see a few nuggets of goodness, but most is generic, bland chase plot style movies, maybe with TV characters from the past crowbarred in. If it’s a multi film epic with thought, planning and careful consideration underpinning it, then you’ve come to the wrong decade, bub.

There will never be another Star Wars type event in the cinema.