Don't see what you all are whining about.

Game company wants more money... big surprise there.

Game company wants to get this money by focusing on the PC market rather than the consoles... What's not to like?

Oh yeah, I forgot. In the real world, the bad guys always win. :shakehead:

I still can't see how they are "bad".

Yeah, but I doubt the same people who ran it 30 years ago are the same people in the current hierarchy of management and decision making (CEO, etc). Maybe they are the chairmen? But I doubt they even play video games anymore, the old farts.

Really? All of the money they get, such a huge fanbase they have...Surely, it couldn't possibly lead to the sudden decline of quality in modern gaming. Why, all of that Call of Duty stuff has no influence whatsoever on the market. It's not like there's a ton of clones or anything out there.

The success of a company like this influences gaming to a substantial degree, almost to the point where gamers like me are left with next to nothing that they want to play. See http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/Haloman21_2011/2mz5vt.jpg, as posted earlier, to get my point.

Not bad, indeed. Activision may not be wholly responsible, but they're a major contributor to this mess.

Complaining about it is a natural extension of dollar voting.

At which point did a large fanbase and good profitability become a bad thing?

Clearly, a large number of people like their products, and are willing to pay for them. Just because you don't doesn't mean they are "bad".



No, it couldn't, because general quality across entire markets doesn't decline, it increases constantly. Markets change, and naturally some people will not like the change, but clearly the vast majority quite like it.

Besides, I can't think of a single clone of Modern Warfare 2, can you?



First of all, you should try looking for it, before you declare that you can't find anything you like. The video game market is extremely diverse, saying there's nothing for you just because you disliked one single game by one single company doesn't make sense.

Second, narrow sectional interests will always suffer, because it simply isn't profitable to cater to them.



I don't really see the mess, some of the best games ever made have been made during these last few years, and there are utterly few games that I have ever played that can hold a candle to Empire: Total War or Fallout 3, games that are a result of the natural evolution of the gaming industry. With larger profits come greater investment and higher production values, which benefit all gamers.

You're really going to start with me on the topic of modern gaming? Oh boy...



When that fanbase is made of easily pleased casual gamers wanting nothing more than their next Call of Duty, Halo, Gears of War, etc fix. This creates a higher demand for games of those types, hence less games for people who want different.



Increases constantly? Perhaps in production values. Not going to find much playability here outside of the online community. Nope, in come the 5-6 hour interactive Michael Bay films. As for this "vast majority", I'll refer you to the easily pleased casual gamers mentioned above. Just because they outnumber me doesn't mean their word is law.



Can you think of anything Modern Warfare 2 has done different? What? Can you tell me how Modern Warfare 2 is even a good example here? :laugh:



Oh, I have. I like maybe one out of twenty games I see anymore.



Are you [censored]ting me? Extremely diverse? Did I even read that right? What, can your superior eyes see something so subtly different in all these cover-based shooters and gimped "stealth" games and streamlined "not even RPGs anymore"? Does not compute.



Do you know why the [censored] that is? Because companies like Activision have effectively brainwashed the "vast majority" over to their side, and like I said, all they want is another Call of Duty or something. Naturally games that aren't the typical [censored] we've been getting aren't going to sell nearly as much.



You don't see a mess because you don't even know where I'm coming from. "Best games ever made" coming from this generation, eh? Don't you mean "Best shooters ever made"? At least, according to the "vast majority" (Chorus), that would be a "[censored] yeah!".

Uhh, yeah. There are no higher-ups stepping on everyone else for maximum profit, not in the music industry! Smile and nod, wait did I say that out loud

Unsurprising, no. Disheartening? Absolutely. There comes a point when games (and movies too) are just being made purely for more and more profit, to further the cash machine rather than provide entertainment - a design-by-numbers. When games are measured only by profitability instead of creativity the industry has died a little, I think... The sad fact is that games are becoming less and less value for money. It used to be only sports games that suffered this kind of lazy development, but lately it's becoming rampant in every genre. Crass commercialism is nothing new, but that doesn't mean we have to accept it idly as it takes over another medium. :shrug:



That was Iguana Entertainment, and published by Akklaim. Activision had nothing to do with it (and haven't been a developer for a looooooong time anyway.) :whisper:



Activision can do what they like, and their naive customers can do what they like. But I don't have to like either, nor do I have to agree with their business priorities.



I don't know... The tick is doing a pretty good job of running that "good name" into the ground.

The name may be the same, but they've fallen a long way since their brand actually meant anything good. I liked them when they were developers - now they just seem like a bunch of boardroom beancounters. :meh:



I have to agree. As long as customers accept a bad deal, it will be offered.

when you say overprice do you mean the same price that every other video games have?....

Good thing I play TF2 on the PC. No need to waste time with Activision.

Which is how every single market has ever worked in the history of mankind.

If almost everyone wants apples, it's not very good business practice to specialize in oranges, if the production costs are the same.

Most people are average, they want enjoyable gaming experiences, they don't care how innovative or sophisticated the games are, they just want games that they like. Quite frankly, they're better off for it.



Nobody ever said their, or should I perhaps say our, word is law, it is however good business practice to cater to them, or us at it were.



There seems to be some confusion here as to what constitutes a clone. Heretic and HeXen were clones, Modern Warfare 2 might share several elements with other shooters, but it is it's own game in it's own right.



For belonging to a rather marginal group of gamers, enjoying 5% of all games released at any one time seems rather good, doesn't it?
Imagine how it would be if you liked 5% of all the music in the world.



Please, calm down, this is just a friendly discussion, not a war.



I hardly think it appropriate to use words such as brainwashing when they are clearly at best hyperbolic and at worst ridiculously out of place.

Regardless of whether or not the customer base has been influenced by the developing companies, it must be up to each and every consumer to choose what products to buy, and there is nothing you can do to change that.



I am speaking of my own opinions, and I dare say that earlier generations in video gaming have produced nothing on the level of Fallout 3, Empire: Total War, Mass Effect 1&2, X3 or LEGO Batman.

Though, of course, there could be a legitimate case for arguing that, in the fullness of time, with appropriate give and take, in the interest of fairness, taking one time with another, there is no prima facie reason why, at the appropriate juncture, one should not say with or without any certainty that it could possibly be true to state, that, at present, the circumstances surrounding the general approval of certain products of a greater than entirely marginal nature, would not be susceptible to interpretation as to reevaluate the importance of appreciating the increase in sale of said products, in terms of the average appreciation for them.

I think he was talking about their general prices. Like the map packs and now this.

Edit: Oh yeah almost forgot, Activision bad. Rabble Rabble and all that stuff.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Well played.

Yeay!!! I'm the 40%

LOL! I though they where from the same game. How lousy

If they do a paid subscription for the series, then it will "crash and burn." Most people probably would not want to shell out cash to play a single game on top of an xbox live subscription (if that is how it will work). Considering how expensive 3 maps are, I would think their subscription would be ridiculous.

1 pint of blood per half hour of gameplay.

How is Kotick still CEO of a video game company when he's made it clear many times that he hates games and gamers. I know money talks, but so do employees.....

But he's got http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/kotaku/2008/07/bobby_kotick_activision.jpg

All he needs now are some horns and a tail.

You know those cyborg typer women things in Ghost in the Shell? Yeah, those are the "employees".

I'm assuming that you mean the CoD series, not Activision... as Activision owns Blizzard (which is akin to having your own mint).

If you are referring to the CoD series. it's hard to say. Xbox users already pay for something which is normally free. so I'm not sure if tacking on an MMO style price scheme on top will bother enough of them to revolt (meaning stop playing).

For those saying CoD will die because of this. Do you know how many 12 year olds that will get their parents to pay for this? Tons.