Infinity Ward: Studio Heads let go, new devs for CoD. Heads strike back!

[quote name='Strell']I hope they don't settle out of court, thus effectively ending any kind of potential judicially-backed comeuppance. I'd like to see this thing pan out where Activision tries to make MW-but-not-called-MW, while these two guys actually make Modern Warfare. Activision will try to sneak it under everyone's noses by called it Mwarfare, or Morefare, or something, because that's like, both words at once, man.

Here, Activision. Here's my advice. Take this chance to fuck with the formula. I'm envisioning the next one taking place in World War I, and you've been transported back in time. You'll get to kick ass with heartbeat sensors and semtex while calling in pavelows in the middle of gas trenches. Then you get to go fight Hitler, because why wouldn't you get to fight Hitler? Except he's RoboHitler, and he's really pissed off and depressed because he got rejected from art school again.

Somehow you should work Indiana Jones in there too. Maybe you ride across the ocean on the backs of tigers while on the Titanic. But it sinks, right next to Rapture, and so you must travel down there and kick some Big Daddy ass.

See? Problem solved. No need to even carry this out. Those doods get their wussy MW3, I get to Commando Pro some bitches under the ocean. Hell, let me call down an emergency air drop. That'd be grand.[/QUOTE]

Ummmm...yeah...I would soooooo buy that.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']Re: the talk about the CoD franchise having peaked - I don't disagree. You know what's really going to piss people off? By the time it really bottoms out, and all this oversaturation, bad press, and shady business practices finally begin to bring Activision down, Kotick will have probably be long gone. He'll be off living on a piece of property everyone in this thread combined couldn't afford.

NO COMEUPPAAAAAANCCEEEEEE!!!![/QUOTE]

Too true.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']I dunno. "Ride that horse until it dies" is a better strategy than "stand and watch as the horse dies anyway." At least with the former option they're getting somewhere.

The question is what causes franchises to decline in value to the market? Is it oversaturation or is it something else (interest with another franchise, perhaps)?

What are some of the longest-lasting franchises that sell like a motherfucker? Madden (zero competition as it has the NFL license locked away)? Grand Theft Auto is a huge anomaly compared to the Activision method - they've released a lot of GTA games since III (6 or 7, I think) and not only does it have staying power, reasonably good pretenders to the throne just can't sell compared to it (like Saints Row). But compare the # of GTA titles released over 8-9 years to the # of GH titles in 4-5 years; 8-10 or more?

Call of Duty is a brand name right now, but it doesn't have to be forever. But I'm not totally convinced that oversaturation is the primary cause.

I partly think that there's something about releasing particular titles that shows the market you've run out of ideas. When consumers see "Band Hero" or "GH: Van Halen," do they see this as a desperate cash grab (that it is)?

EDIT: And let's be totally fair; while Tony Hawk: Ride stunk, and DJ Hero was pretty fun, both sold poorly. That could be a reflection of growing consumer disinterest in more and more big-ass peripherals, wariness at spending $110-120 on a single game, or a combination of the two.[/QUOTE]


The sad part about Activision is that they have a huge portfolio of titles, but they also have a hundred studios working on a hundred games all at once, all the time. You get a serious quantity over quality effect.

It seems like they could have spaced games out better and built up natural hype, instead of the skeptical expectation of this years Call of Guitar Hero: Ride title. Companies like Valve and Nintendo do a great job of nurturing a few titles at a time and keeping fans excited for the next one.

Some of these huge game companies seem to be all about the slingshot trajectory though...they ride the wave for a while, crash, reorganize, repeat.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot'] By the time it really bottoms out, and all this oversaturation, bad press, and shady business practices finally begin to bring Activision down, Kotick will have probably be long gone. He'll be off living on a piece of property everyone in this thread combined couldn't afford.

NO COMEUPPAAAAAANCCEEEEEE!!!![/QUOTE]

Yup. I can't stand him, but the man did rebuild Activision from nothing into a powerhouse. He's a very savvy businessman. Even if he somehow loses his job, (I'm skeptical) he'll just make millions doing something else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top