Yesterday Call of Duty's YouTube channel came out with a trailer about Ghosts' new companion app.  This is sort of news, right?  It's not like there hasn't been one of these for previous games in one form or another, right? ...right?  Whatever the case, this iteration boasts a four-pillar foundation that adds a "new dimension to Call of Duty Ghosts multiplayer."  These pillars are the Companion Feature, Second Screen, Clan support, and Clan Wars.

The first, Companion Features, focus on stats, interconnecting with previous Call of Duty games as well as a mobile soldier creation kit; cool feature, but Halo Waypoint had this like half a decade ago.  Next is Second Screen, which connects to live games, making things "easier to do;" one can only guess how that's possible, seeing as most players only have two hands.  Clan support allows players to create clans or recommends them to those who don't have one yet, which include cross platform clans; this is an interesting feature and good step toward cross platform gaming, but ultimately means the player will be making a bunch of contacts with whom they will never be actually playing.   Finally, there is Clan Wars, where clans compete against each other for in game XP multipliers and exclusive items; in short, if COD didn't get enough flack for being a dudebro game, now it adds a cow clicker for its hardcore fans.  Thank you, Call of Duty, you are a service to the gaming community's reputation.

In related news and pertaining to an actual game, several map names were leaked during the recent COD double XP weekend.  Aside from the normal titillations that vague spoilers entail, this leak actually sparked a bit of a mystery and a complicated debate ("complicated" debate).  One of the map titles, "Dome," is a fan favourite and the centre point of the speculation.  You see, there were two different "Domes" and players have differing, caps-locked opinions as to which is better.  To complicate matters further, some players have argued that Ghosts already includes a map similar to the more favoured Dome and that the new one will probably be an iteration of the other.  If that is the case, both parties should be happy.  Along with Dome. Swamp, Battery, Red River, Rumble, Gaza, and Boneyard were leaked, one or more potentially Extinction maps.  Call of Duty Ghosts is available pretty much everywhere starting at $59.99. But don't forget to budget for DLC!