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"Call of Duty: Ghosts" is the next installment in the shooter franchise. Courtesy / Infinity Ward

Infinity Ward producer Mark Rubin let it slip at E3 2013 that “Call of Duty: Ghosts” is probably coming to the Wii U. Mum is the word from Activision, which has not officially announced that “Call of Duty: Ghosts” was coming to Nintendo’s next-gen console.

“That’s probably in the next-gen bin, but we’re not actually talking about Wii U yet,” Rubin said at a stage show on GameSpot. “We want to keep it mysterious.”

“Call of Duty: Ghosts” is the latest in the shooter franchise from Infinity Ward, the developers of the hit “Modern Warfare” series. “CoD: Ghosts” is perhaps not the sequel that players may have been anticipating (i.e. Modern Warfare 4) but it might be a great fit for the console that few were expecting.

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"Call of Duty: Ghosts" will feature man's best friend as the newest weapon for players to take down enemies. Courtesy / Infinity Ward

The GamePad touchscreen controller for the Wii U is a standout feature from Nintendo. It offers a second-screen experience that the Xbox One and PS4 will lack, and could add an interesting dimension to the “Call of Duty” franchise. Here are the five coolest ways that Infinity Ward could take advantage of the Wii U GamePad:

1 - Dog View: The announcement trailer for “Call of Duty: Ghosts” shows that players can send Riley the dog off to distract enemies, by barking and by attacking. The in-game dog is outfitted with an earpiece for issuing commands as well as vibrating sensors to giving direction in the dark.

The GamePad on the Wii U will allow players to keep their main screen on their human character’s view, while controlling the dog and seeing through his eyes. The touchscreen is the perfect way to issue different commands such as attack, bark, or hide.

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Riley the dog executes a take-down in "Call of Duty: Ghosts." Courtesy / Infinity Ward

2 - Camera: Most of the details of “Call of Duty: Ghosts” have not been revealed, such as multiplayer “killstreaks” or anything else, for that matter. “Ghosts” will focus more heavily on stealth than previous entries in the franchise. One that would give an interesting advantage to players would be an in-game portable camera that could be set up anywhere and wirelessly broadcast video.

On a mission, players could “bug” an area as they advance, to act as a second set of eyes and warn them about enemies advancing from the rear. As a multiplayer killstreak, the camera could let players know what was going on in different parts of a map at the same time.

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The GamePad might make for an interesting fit for the "Call of Duty" franchise. Courtesy / Nintendo

3 - Teammate Cam: A picture is worth a thousand words, and when your squad needs to split up, it would be nice to know how they are doing.

A teammate cam would allow players to see what kind of trouble their team is in, as well as where the enemy team was attacking from. This would work better as a perk than a killstreak, but would be a lot of fun to view on the GamePad.

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An in-game character holds a GamePad-like tablet in "Ghosts." Courtesy / Infinity Ward

4 - Remote control device view: There are a lot of wonderful toys at the disposal of CoD players, and “Call of Duty: Ghosts” will be no different. The release trailer shows that players get to control an in-game underwater missile through a iPad-like tablet.

Rather than having an animation that shows your character gazing into a tablet, imagine being able to pick up the GamePad’s touchscreen to control the missile. Or possibly even using the second screen to control missiles and other devices like a predator missiles, recon drones or even sentry guns, just like the in-game character.

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Players will likely be able to select loadouts on the GamePad. Shown is "Resident Evil: Revelations." Courtesy / Capcom

5 - Multiplayer Maps: In “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2,” players were able to use the GamePad’s screen to view their score streaks, choose a new load-out as well as view the multiplayer map. Viewing a map in real-time while playing a game and not having to hit start or select to bring up a menu adds a whole new element to exploring the maps in “Call of Duty: Ghosts.”

What are some ways that a second-screen experience could improve the “Call of Duty: Ghosts” experience, via the Wii U’s GamePad or perhaps even on Microsoft SmartGlass? Let us know in the comments below.

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