Brittney
January 10, 2011
How big is Call of Duty? It’s freakin’ huge. Huge enough that Milo.com has created a graphic showing just how huge it is. Can I say huge one more time? Huge.
If I were to upload the entire photo this website, I’m 62% sure it would cause an unearthly imbalance which would lead to the inevitable demise of the planet —Oooh. So THAT’S Activision’s plan! HA. Well I won’t fall for it!
Instead, head over here. It will show you all you need to know. And then some.
Brittney
December 8, 2010
Sometimes I wonder where video game research analyst Michael Pachter is coming from. While I enjoy reading most of his theories/predictions (if anything, they’re generally interesting enough) some of them make me want to repeatedly bash my head into a wall.
::stretches fingers::
In July, Pachter released a statement stressing the necessity for publishers to implement an online subscription service because gamers are spending too many “free hours” playing online. According to him, this is preventing players from purchasing new games and ultimately hurting the industry.
Pachter’s bottom line: Where’s the revenue?
“We see this as a continuing problem, and think that unless and until the publishers come up with a business model that appropriately captures the value created by the multiplayer experience, we are destined to see a migration of game playing away from packaged goods purchases and toward multiplayer online.” Pachter said in July.
“We think that it is incumbent upon Activision, with the most popular multiplayer game, to take the first step to address monetization of multiplayer. It is too early to tell whether that will be a monthly subscription, tournament entry fees, micro transaction fees, or a combination of all three, but we expect to see the company take some action by year-end, when Call of Duty Black Ops launches.”
And the rumors began running wild. Did Activision really have the you-know-whats to begin charging an online subscription fee? To add fuel to the fire, supposed “footage” of an in-game screen prompting a player to add Microsoft Points for an online membership surfaced, and Activision was forced to debunk the rumors twice; once in July and again last month.
“Are we going to be charging for multiplayer? The answer is no,” Activision CEO Eric Hirshberd stated in November.
“The experience you have out of the box, connecting with the online community to play Call of Duty is absolutely integral to the experience and we’ll never charge for that. It’s not going to be something we’ll attempt to monetize; it’s part of the package.”
Thank GOD, because I sensed a revolt on the horizon. But back to Pachter. What does he have to say about all of this?
“We were disappointed to hear Activision’s new head of publishing flatly deny the company’s plans to charge for multiplayer. We firmly believe that until the publishers address monetization of multiplayer, game sales will continue to be challenged by the publishers’ altruistic decision to provide significantly more entertainment value per hour than ever in history.”
Okay, good sir, what else would you like to charge us for? Or better yet, maybe we should have developers abolish all side quests in their games, because those take up time too. Think of it! Fallout 3 could be finished in no time flat! And afterwards, people could move onto another game! The industry would flourish!
Sound ludicrous?
It’s the same f*cking thing he proposed.
Anyway…what are your thoughts?
Brittney
July 21, 2010
Who needs drama sitcoms or reality shows when you can sit back, relax and watch developers and publishers alike lash out at each other?
<3.
Last week’s episode of Gaming Industry Drama consisted of Double Fine’s Tim Schafer calling Activision’s Bobby Kotick a “total prick” in a Eurogamer interview, for which he later apologized for, not before referencing to Kotick as Darth Vader. Remember that Brutal Legend publishing fiasco? Enough said.
There was also that juicy bonus episode where Cliff Harris of Positec Games became extremely ticked off at Epic’s Mark Rein due to comments Rein made during a panel that Harris was a part of at the Develop Conference in Brighton.
Harris and three other panel members were discussing marketing techniques for indie titles. Rein was not a part of this panel, just an audience member in the front row, but proceeded to open his “big mouth” and give his conflicting opinion. This resulted in Harris making a blog post in which he stated he “resented having some triple-a studio jerk come and tell someone whose run a microstudio for thirteen years that he is doing it all wrong”, and concluded with “Triple-A studio bosses trying to lecture me on how to communicate better with gamers? Fuck off.”
This week, we have Glenn Schofield of Sledgehammer games calling out EA. Back history: Glenn Schofield was a part of the subsidiary of EA, Visceral games, before he and Michael Condrey left to form Sledgehammer Games, which Activision owns.
Because all battles are best fought via Twitter, Schofield tweeted the following:
“Wow, a year ago today I left EA. What a day that was. They really treated me like shit even after creating Dead Space 4 them.”
And later…
“Seems my tweet got some attention. Didn’t mean to. But after a year of EA bashing us it’s good to get it off my chest.”
Well, there you go. Do you really want to know what it feels like to be treated like “shit”? Go talk to Infinity Ward. I’m sure the employees of Respawn Entertainment also have some old stories to tell.
Granted, specific reasons why Schofield was treated poorly weren’t given, so who knows.
Something tells me we haven’t heard the last of it.
Jill
March 11, 2010
On March 30th, Modern Warfare 2 fans will be able to purchase a new MW2 map pack on XBL to cure their case of ‘mapathy.‘ What is mapathy you ask?
(mapathy.com)
The first two map packs for Modern Warfare 2 will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 & for only a month. PS3 and PC players should expect the first map pack at the end of April or in early May.
[GameSpot]
Jill
March 5, 2010
Jeez, I’ve heard rumors that Activision was headed by a big bunch of jerks but this is absolutely absurd. Infinity Ward’s head bosses Vince Zampella and Jason West were expecting a large royalty check with a “thank you” for making one of the greatest most successful games of all-time. Instead, Activision fired them before the date of their payment.
“Instead of thanking, lauding, or just plain paying Jason and Vince for giving Activision the most successful entertainment product ever offered to the public,” attorney Robert Schwartz said, “last month Activision hired lawyers to conduct a pretextual ‘investigation’ into unstated and unsubstantiated charges of ‘insubordination’ and ‘breach of fiduciary duty,’ which then became the grounds for their termination on Monday, March 1st.”
Dude, I don’t care what happened. Modern Warfare 2 was so utterly freakin’ SWEET and successful, that I think Activision should have just swallowed their pride & kissed some Infinite butts. Does this mean the Call of Duty enterprise will now plummet?
