by Activision.


http://www.destructoid.com/activisio...36258.phtml?kb

The folks at the Activision are probably ripping their shirts off and swinging their axes (guitars) above their heads with the announcement of their domination of the third-party publisher ranks. They've overcome long-time leader Electronic Arts to become the top-grossing third party in the gaming world. The latest from the NPD group shows that sales of Activision's titles, led by the Guitar Hero series, has hit almost $400 million. EA has lost the top spot for the first time in over a decade with sales of $365.7 million. Other big titles in the Activision camp include the Call of Duty series as well as the Tony Hawk franchise, but Activision's buy-up of RedOctane last year for $100 million looks like money well spent, and has definitely put them over the top.

Awesome.

Interesting that Activision would dethrone them. They haven't assimilated nearly as many smaller devs unless I'm mistaken, so perhaps bigger isn't better?

EA is going to wipe the floor with everyone this holiday season.

Originally Posted by CheapyD EA is going to wipe the floor with everyone this holiday season.

I agree. Let's do a quick "coming soon" check on ebgames.com and take a look at this holiday season's lineup:

Activision - Cabela's Trophy Bucks, Hot Wheels Beat That, World Series of Poker 2008, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Guitar Hero 3, Bee Movie, Call of Duty 4, Soldier of Fortune: Payback, Barbie Island Princess (Wii), Kitty Luv (Wii)

EA - Madden 08, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Battlefield: Bad Company, NHL 08, SKATE, NBA Live 08, Fifa 08, Half-Life 2 Orange Box Collection, Simpsons: The Game, Mercenaries 2, Army of Two, Left 4 Dead, Rock Band, Tiger 08, My Sims, Need For Speed Pro Street

WOW. Enjoy the moment, Activision.

Yep. All Activision had was Guitar Hero, that's it.

EA has nabbed Harmonix with Rock Band.

If activision were smart, they'd start investing in some more titles with that temporary extra cash. More games that aren't shovelware.

That only shows that EA has the better looking lineup. Activision still has more proven sellers.

From an analitical view, Activision will hold down top spot. However, nothing is set in stone.

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Konami must be the real loser for not localizating Guitar Freak

Originally Posted by Scorch I agree. Let's do a quick "coming soon" check on ebgames.com and take a look at this holiday season's lineup: Activision - Cabela's Trophy Bucks, Hot Wheels Beat That, World Series of Poker 2008, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Guitar Hero 3, Bee Movie, Call of Duty 4, Soldier of Fortune: Payback, Barbie Island Princess (Wii), Kitty Luv (Wii) EA - Madden 08, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Battlefield: Bad Company, NHL 08, SKATE, NBA Live 08, Fifa 08, Half-Life 2 Orange Box Collection, Simpsons: The Game, Mercenaries 2, Army of Two, Left 4 Dead, Rock Band, Tiger 08, My Sims, Need For Speed Pro Street WOW. Enjoy the moment, Activision.

Hmm, they don't seem that far off from each other to me.
I suppose that would be due to my lack of interest in the sports titles.

Here are the only ones I'll probably be getting.

ACTIVISION
Guitar Hero 3
Call of Duty 4

EA
Half-Life 2 Orange Box Collection
Rock Band

(Though since my buddy works at Activision and can get games for $15 each I may get more).

Activision has more proven sellers? Excuse me? Just because real gamers don't like Madden doesn't mean it doesn't sell. Couple that with NCAA, the every-man appeal of Tiger Woods (Best golf sim on the market, crappy menus and all.), and their fortunate acquisition of publishing rights of Mercs 2, Left4Dead (Maybe not a surefire hit, but hardcore ass-raping co-op vs. zombies? Hello?), and HL2:Ep2... if you even PRETEND Activision has a mightier lineup, you're deluded. I'm sorry.

Don't forget Rock Band, either.

CoD4, GH3, and Spidey are potent franchises, yes, but the Activision totality simply cannot compare to the EA totality, I'm sorry.

I dunno man, that Kitty Luv game Scorch listed might seal it for Activision...

...rushes off to get a preorder down.

To counterbalance that on the EA side, I think you need to include that EA Playground game (which if semi-decent may actually sell pretty damn well to all the families with young kids that have Wii's).

(Seriously, hadn't heard of that Kitty game - may check it out for the kids )

Originally Posted by RollingSkull Activision has more proven sellers? Excuse me? Just because real gamers don't like Madden doesn't mean it doesn't sell. Couple that with NCAA, the every-man appeal of Tiger Woods (Best golf sim on the market, crappy menus and all.), and their fortunate acquisition of publishing rights of Mercs 2, Left4Dead (Maybe not a surefire hit, but hardcore ass-raping co-op vs. zombies? Hello?), and HL2:Ep2... if you even PRETEND Activision has a mightier lineup, you're deluded. I'm sorry. Don't forget Rock Band, either. CoD4, GH3, and Spidey are potent franchises, yes, but the Activision totality simply cannot compare to the EA totality, I'm sorry.

I competitively play fps, sports, racing, rpgs, and most other genres I can think of - and I DO like Madden. In fact, I think most people outside of these anti-EA fanboys that crop up only on the internet like it. I would consider myself to be well within range of being a "real gamer." I actually dont know a person in real life that plays Madden or any sports game seriously that dislikes the game.


In any case, sorry Activision. I love you but you've got a long way to go. Unless the 08 lineup somehow flops, EA may outsell them with Madden and Rock Band alone. Now that EA has Harmonix, I think the next logical step is Walmart and Google.

Not gonna last but I see a tug of war in the future. And also, this is good for EA, for being so big they release a lot of mediocre games.

Originally Posted by Scorch I agree. Let's do a quick "coming soon" check on ebgames.com and take a look at this holiday season's lineup: Activision - Cabela's Trophy Bucks, Hot Wheels Beat That, World Series of Poker 2008, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Guitar Hero 3, Bee Movie, Call of Duty 4, Soldier of Fortune: Payback, Barbie Island Princess (Wii), Kitty Luv (Wii) EA - Madden 08, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Battlefield: Bad Company, NHL 08, SKATE, NBA Live 08, Fifa 08, Half-Life 2 Orange Box Collection, Simpsons: The Game, Mercenaries 2, Army of Two, Left 4 Dead, Rock Band, Tiger 08, My Sims, Need For Speed Pro Street WOW. Enjoy the moment, Activision.

Nobody will beat Hot Wheels and Barbie Island Princess.

This won't last very long. EA only lost this by a few million bucks this time. Activision made $387 million, EA made $365 million. That's not exactly a huge gap considering the time of year.

Madden will sell better than people here want to believe. It's one of the most popular selling titles year after year.

I don't know if EA is blowing out Activision this holiday season. While Madden will be the biggest selling game of the year counting all sales across consoles, my guess is that the #2-4 selling aps will be Guitar Hero 3, Call of Duty 4, and maybe NBA Live. I think Activision might edge out EA simply because their big games are coming out on more consoles. It'll be close whatever it is.

While I agree EA will probably retake the top spot, I find the number of people seeming to defend EA astounding. Given the trend of crapping on EA simply because they're a big, mean corporation who tries to make money.. it just surprises me people are ready to jump in on their defense the same way The Mana Knight defends PS3.

Originally Posted by Scorch I agree. Let's do a quick "coming soon" check on ebgames.com and take a look at this holiday season's lineup: Activision - Cabela's Trophy Bucks, Hot Wheels Beat That, World Series of Poker 2008, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Guitar Hero 3, Bee Movie, Call of Duty 4, Soldier of Fortune: Payback, Barbie Island Princess (Wii), Kitty Luv (Wii) EA - Madden 08, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Battlefield: Bad Company, NHL 08, SKATE, NBA Live 08, Fifa 08, Half-Life 2 Orange Box Collection, Simpsons: The Game, Mercenaries 2, Army of Two, Left 4 Dead, Rock Band, Tiger 08, My Sims, Need For Speed Pro Street WOW. Enjoy the moment, Activision.

Agreed. While I'm very interested in COD4, I'm just as interested in Madden, FIFA, Mercs and Army of Two.

I predict EA and Activision both sell a metric shitton of games this holiday season.

Originally Posted by CheapyD EA is going to wipe the floor with everyone this holiday season.

Hey, as long as they are mainly publishing games that will be fine. Trying to rebuild their tarnished brand name by publishing many great titles is a good strategy. Hopefully they can learn from the great developers they are publishing games for, and insert a bit of creativity and originality into their own dev teams.