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Activision created a "police state," conducted secret "interrogations" of employees and held $54 million dollars hostage as they tried to threaten and cajole the team behind Modern Warfare 2 into making the next Modern Warfare game, according to an amended lawsuit filed in California today and obtained by Kotaku.
In March, according to the suit, Activision paid 40 percent of the Modern Warfare 2 bonus money to the team, but withheld the rest, demanding that Infinity Ward develop, produce, complete and publish Modern Warfare 3 by November 2011 to get the rest of the money.
The suit alleges that during the build up that led to the firing of West and Zampella, Activision forced Infinity Ward employees to submit to secret interrogations and told the employees not to tell anyone about them. The publisher also brought in security personnel to man the office exits, according to the suit.
Later that month, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick attending a meeting with Infinity Ward, promising them that they would receive their full bonus at the end of the month, but that never happened, according to the suit.
When a group of employees met with CFO Thomas Tippl in April to demand the bonus, according to the suit, Tippl responded "Get over it."
Kotaku reports
Remember the good ole days when EA was as bad as it got? This is seriously insane.
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This guy reminds me of Gary Bettman from the NHL, total douche.
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wait.... what? So they held money hostage, interrogated employees, and didn't pay them... Ohwow.
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Is that fire in the background? Oh, he's already in hell. Good.
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This guy reminds me of business, total douche.
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Just the mention that the IW guys were going to sue, but there weren't many details at the time.Some of the charges here were recently amended, along with the drop from 500mil to 215 or whatever.
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![[image loading]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/3794368273_18b09354e8.jpg)
The evil Emperor strikes again. He's easily the most hated guy in the gaming industry.
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Man that is one of the most evil stories i ever heard... if that kind of stuff slips through and becomes public, i'd imagine there is much worse things going on that we dont know about.
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On July 11 2010 00:28 Skvid wrote:
Man that is one of the most evil stories i ever heard... if that kind of stuff slips through and becomes public, i'd imagine there is much worse things going on that we dont know about.
I'm pretty sure this man kills children, so...
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it is just sad that hes willing to be so hated just to make a buck.
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On July 11 2010 00:43 raph wrote:
it is just sad that hes willing to be so hated just to make a buck.
He doesn't care, because he's most likely a sociopath.
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The more power you get, the less you care about others. Why does this surprise anyone?
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Kotick Is one of the few people I completely despise. Hes up there with Hitler
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On July 11 2010 00:19 SkyTheUnknown wrote:The evil Emperor strikes again. He's easily the most hated guy in the gaming industry.
2 chins
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Remember the good ole days when EA was as bad as it got? This is seriously insane.
I just hope that other publishers don't follow suit... More reason to find and buy indie games instead, I guess?
I honestly wish that Activision would get some major backlash for this, but it all seems so mild. Maybe if they screwed around with Blizzard, but I don't think that they're that dumb.
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Makes you miss the old days when games were produced by gamers.
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This is so sick. When is someone going to stop this madman?
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konadora
Singapore66163 Posts
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On July 11 2010 01:21 Biochemist wrote:
Makes you miss the old days when games were produced by gamers.
I almost forgot about those days with Activision and EA ruining every single thing they touch. Blizzard is seeing the results of Activision's grip and only Valve is staying true to gamers.
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his grin makes me irk, I want to punch his face so bad
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Oh dear, looks like someone didn't get spanked as a child...
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16987 Posts
Wow, this is insane. Aren't there protections for employees in place that prevent this sort of thing?
...
I'm fairly certain most people in the gaming community hate Activision even more now :/
Posted on reddit as well, hopefully people can upvote it? Does anyone know if it's posted to digg yet?
EDIT: reddit
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konadora
Singapore66163 Posts
no matter how many times I read this, this is rather ridiculous. holy crap, man.
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On July 11 2010 01:12 ExoCorsair wrote:Show nested quote +Remember the good ole days when EA was as bad as it got? This is seriously insane. I just hope that other publishers don't follow suit... More reason to find and buy indie games instead, I guess? I honestly wish that Activision would get some major backlash for this, but it all seems so mild. Maybe if they screwed around with Blizzard, but I don't think that they're that dumb.
You honestly don't think they are screwing around with Blizzard right now? Everything asinine Blizzard has done over the last few years, since they hit a home run with WoW and went through with the merger, has reeked of Activision.
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oh lookie everyone's going insane over money
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Canada743 Posts
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Blizzard should have merged with Valve... oh wtf activision
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Why would they do that? Go and alienate their BEST game creating team (Infinity Ward) so that they'll go and find a new producer? Activision is going to run themselves straight into the ground. Any other company would kill to have infinity ward make Modern warfare 3 for them.
I can only hope they don't start doing this with blizzard....But deep down, we all know they will.
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This is actually quite old news. Two of the lead developers of CoD:Modern Warfare 2 were fired for demanding the bonuses promised to them. They went on to create Respawn Entertainment (and earning a whole bunch of positive PR along the way). Over the next few weeks, around 20+ more developers that were on the team left with most of them joining Respawn.
Obviously they were angry as they weren't paid in full so they filed a lawsuit.
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On July 11 2010 01:36 azndsh wrote:
Blizzard should have merged with Valve... oh wtf activision
The world would explode if Blizzard and Valve merged. It would be too awesome for nature to handle.
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Is anyone really surprised?
Activision now=EA 10 years ago
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I'M EITHER GOING TO KILL HIM OR MYSELF
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EA now is ok. Their DRM where you need to be online to play, even single player, is extremely stupid. But most of their games are just simply bad or things like sports games, which I think they make well and they are trying to get some good, original games out the door, that is always a good thing.
Activision on the other hand is just releasing pure garbage or, even worse, absolutely destroying the potential of games (modern warfare 2, starcraft 2) By cutting costs and by trying to "Fix" things they don't care about or understand they have only hurt everything. It is really upsetting. They don't want their games to last 10+ years, they want them to last 2 or less so that the sequel can be made.
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Sweden4353 Posts
On July 11 2010 01:39 RoosterSamurai wrote:
Why would they do that? Go and alienate their BEST game creating team (Infinity Ward) so that they'll go and find a new producer? Activision is going to run themselves straight into the ground. Any other company would kill to have infinity ward make Modern warfare 3 for them.
I can only hope they don't start doing this with blizzard....But deep down, we all know they will.
nono... it's activision that would kill 
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I'm boycotting SC2 until the pirated version gets out (which would be never i suppose)
Fuck you, Activision, fuck you.
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Why so serious?
I mean, seriously. Chill the fuck out man. You already have more money than you could ever dream of spending, and enough luxuries to feed a 3rd world country for a year. Relax.
Quality > Quantity. That is why Activision BOUGHT Blizzard in the first place. Because they had made 5 or 6 REALLY good games. Not because they had turned out a mediocre game each year for the last 20.
This is the new business model, to milk the shit out of every quarter as quickly as you possibly can, with no thought to long term stability. Companies like Ford and the Banks that had so much trouble are excellent examples.
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damn, well this explains bnet 2.0 lolz
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On July 11 2010 01:30 Empyrean wrote:Wow, this is insane. Aren't there protections for employees in place that prevent this sort of thing? ... I'm fairly certain most people in the gaming community hate Activision even more now :/ Posted on reddit as well, hopefully people can upvote it? Does anyone know if it's posted to digg yet? EDIT: reddit
Well the entire problem with "protections" is that they're only protected through legal means. Even if they're in the right, it really just comes down to who has a bigger warchest to pay their attorneys. You got 3 guesses to figure out who's got more money to spend on attorneys, Activision the giant corporation, or Infinity Ward, a bunch of nerds who like making video games.
It's sad the way America works, but that's the corporatist state we live in.
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...this really really fucking pisses me off.
if gamers actually united and let this guy know he is a complete fucktard and show it to blizzard maybe we can get something great going...of course we are gamers...we are too lazy 
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What an asshole... blizz should have merged with valve not activision!
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Can Blizz unmerge with Activision? >.<
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On July 11 2010 02:04 sArite_nite wrote:
I'm boycotting SC2 until the pirated version gets out (which would be never i suppose)
Fuck you, Activision, fuck you.
Activision really has no say in Blizzard's development. Blizzard isn't one of Activision's developers. Vivendi is still both their parent company.
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Kennigit
Canada19447 Posts
On July 11 2010 02:32 iCCup.Raelcun wrote:
Can Blizz unmerge with Activision? >.<
Not really. Usually when groups do that, one party just leaves and starts a new company.
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Isn't this old news. Seriously, these threads are becoming a bit ridiculous.
edit: Once again, we have no reason to necessarily think that this is happening to Blizzard. Blizzard is a much larger and far more important entity than Infinity Ward. Perhaps some of activision's marketing tentacles have reached into Blizzard, but that's probably it.
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Bobby Kotick makes Jack Thompson look like Jesus.
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![[image loading]](http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4360/kotck.png)
Google shares my sentiments.
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On July 11 2010 02:33 Railz wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 02:04 sArite_nite wrote:
I'm boycotting SC2 until the pirated version gets out (which would be never i suppose)
Fuck you, Activision, fuck you. Activision really has no say in Blizzard's development. Blizzard isn't one of Activision's developers. Vivendi is still both their parent company.
Yeah but Activision's still milking everything it can get it's hands on. Who's to say they havent touched Blizzard yet? I'm not supporting any company that does whatever it wants without regard to the scene. If Activision touches SC2, we're on our way to the CnC franchise's destination.
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The most interesting development is that the trial has been set for Aug 5. Almost always these lawsuits are settled before they go to trial, but there's less than a month left to settle - and if things go to trial, almost everything becomes public. Juicy! I kind of want it to go to trial, we don't often get to see the evidence and details.
As for Vivendi, Blizzard, and Activision, why is everyone still spouting incorrect information? It's not hard to look things up and confirm for yourself. "Activion Blizzard, Inc", headed by Kotick (CEO and President), has direct control over Blizzard's activities - Blizzard is a business unit of that company. It's true Vivendi owns a majority share of Activision Blizzard, but Activision Blizzard is not under Vivendi's direct control. Of course Vivendi execs have Kotick's ear, and Kotick likely will listen to anything they suggest, but for Vivendi to assume more direct control of Activision Blizzard's business activities (and thus Blizzard), they need to have the board of directors (of Activision Blizzard) replace Kotick. Since Vivendi owns a majority of Activision Blizzard shares, Vivendi can dictate who the board of directors are, and thus can replace Activision Blizzard executives through those means, but that is something that is not done at the drop of a hat.
In practice, Kotick and his executive team run Activision and Blizzard. Only if Vivendi execs notice something at Activision Blizzard that they really don't like will they exercise their power and replace the executive team at Activision Blizzard, but that'll only happen in extreme cases. Given that the formation of Activision Blizzard was due Vivendi's move to separate Blizzard from Vivendi to merge with Activision in return for a majority shareholding in the new merged company, it's likely that Vivendi did NOT want to be involved with the day to day management of Blizzard (while also being extract "value" from what was a locked subsidiary).
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I believe Activision may be responsible for the WoW-ization of SC2 and Diablo 3 that the gaming community had to fight. So I now forgive Blizzard for that.
But as someone going into business currently, I can say that I have seen my new generation of business people, and I am proud. We are going to replace these asinine CEOs that are destroying businesses, shareholder value, and the economy. Trust me, we're all disgusted with it just as much as everyone else. It's not even about 'milking every quarter' or 'shortsightedness'. They're just BAD DECISION MAKERS, grandfathered in during rapidly changing economic times while nobody was quite sure what made a qualified CEO, or how to plan for long-term value. Turns out, the Internet changed alot of things, but the basics of business have not changed. Time to start hiring CEOs that aren't insane.
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Interrogation? What the hell......
On July 11 2010 02:26 Whiplash wrote:
What an asshole... blizz should have merged with valve not activision!
Awesomeness like that would most likely combust the universe.
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On July 11 2010 02:26 Whiplash wrote:
What an asshole... blizz should have merged with valve not activision!
THIS would be awesome :D
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Blizz merging with Valve would be stupid on so many levels...neither would really gain anything and both would have to make some significant concessions.
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On July 11 2010 05:08 Judicator wrote:
Blizz merging with Valve would be stupid on so many levels...neither would really gain anything and both would have to make some significant concessions.
Seeing as battle.net 2.0 and steam are pretty much the exact same type of service (Except that bnet doesn't have a stand-alone client yet) - I agree with you. I just hope Steam doesn't decide to get scooped up by Activision themselves or some such thing.
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Everyone that is a Valve fanboy probably didn't play the original Team Fortress competitively and see the gameplay totally raped in TF2. Much worse than Blizzard could ever do with SC2. Of course they release some good shit like Portal and the HL series. Maybe it isn't that hard if you're releasing 6 hours of play worth of games every 3 years.
Ok enough offtopicness for now.
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On July 11 2010 02:40 Kennigit wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 02:32 iCCup.Raelcun wrote:
Can Blizz unmerge with Activision? >.< Not really. Usually when groups do that, one party just leaves and starts a new company.
They could get a divorce?
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Hyrule19057 Posts
Nah...Battle.net 2 and Steam are vastly different.
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Hyrule19057 Posts
On July 11 2010 05:24 Teddyman wrote:
Everyone that is a Valve fanboy probably didn't play the original Team Fortress competitively and see the gameplay totally raped in TF2. Much worse than Blizzard could ever do with SC2. Of course they release some good shit like Portal and the HL series. Maybe it isn't that hard if you're releasing 6 hours of play worth of games every 3 years.
Ok enough offtopicness for now. Same thing happened from CS 1.5 to 1.6 (though 1.6 is still pretty damn good), and even more horribly in CS 1.6 to CSS. And we don't talk about CZ.
The point is that SC2 should be so much better than it is, what with it having been over a decade since the first already.
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He has become a complete fatso, shows similar faces to fed up cops and politicians.
Thing is I think from their, corporate, perspective it's just another product - they have no soul or entusiasm about it, only the goal which is profit and they are, apparently, obsessed with it as to go to such extremes.
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Too bad lynching isn't allowed anymore D:
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Canada743 Posts
On July 11 2010 05:35 UmmTheHobo wrote:
Too bad lynching isn't allowed anymore D:
Ouch, that was harsh.
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On July 11 2010 05:39 StayFrosty wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 05:35 UmmTheHobo wrote:
Too bad lynching isn't allowed anymore D: Ouch, that was harsh.
Ok, maybe not kill him, but c'mon, this guy is an oppressive dictator. Security officers, with-holding money owed to coerce people into making a game, and interrogations? Kotick is out of his mind!
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money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games.
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Vatican City State1650 Posts
You know, I knew this shit would happen the moment I heard several years ago that Blizzard was bought by activision.
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On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games.
So you want to talk about Super Smash Bros. Brawl and how it didn't fail competitive players of Melee? If you want a list of big companies that still understand how to make ESPORTS titles, here it is: Blizzard and Capcom. Casual games and story-based games are another thing then.
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On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games.
Nintendo?
Let's try to name 5 good games for the Wii
1. Mario galaxy definitely
2. Resident Evil 4, even though it's a Ps2 remake, the motion controls are so well done that it is a completely new experience, and the game was awesome to begin with.
3. Twilight princess, oh wait never mind it's a gamecube remake, and the gamecube version was better!
4. Super Smash Brothers Brawl, oh wait, the single player sucked, the online sucked, and the mechanics were nowhere near as deep as Melee
5. Mario Kart Wii, oh wait, the controls are horrible, the tracks are horrible, the power-ups are annoying as hell, and the dumb slingshot mechanics (wherein the people on the losing side of the race get better power-ups, speed, and agility) fucks up balance.
EDIT: The list is much bigger if you are a 2 year old or soccer mom
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Good lord, these big companies can get away with anything it seems, Activision acting like they're fucking Nazis, Apple torturing employees for accidentally leaking iPhones etc. pretty absurd...
With all these idiots fucking up the industry so badly it makes me glad that BW is the only game I actually care about anymore.
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On July 11 2010 01:28 Chairman Ray wrote:
Oh dear, looks like someone didn't get spanked as a child...
Probably got his ass beat, really. He had to learn that being vicious was an effective strategy somewhere...
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On July 10 2010 23:55 keV. wrote:
Heh that's crazy, almost hard to believe. However, I really am disappointed that some equally insane gamer hasn't strapped him to a chair and beat him to death with a keyboard for being such a greedy mindless prick.
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Wow, this is getting more and more crazy. In a way I hope that they do not settle behind closed doors so that we can hear the whole truth as it happened.
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Infinity Ward was a really cool developer, and then Activision turned into the devil and kicked them in the balls.
The worst part, I'm afraid, is that most of their gamers won't give a shit about the situation 'cause they're too busy playing MW2.
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On July 11 2010 06:28 Brazen[six] wrote:
Wow, this is getting more and more crazy. In a way I hope that they do not settle behind closed doors so that we can hear the whole truth as it happened.
Agreed I want this one to go to court.
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On July 11 2010 06:17 jello_biafra wrote:
Apple torturing employees for accidentally leaking iPhones etc.
Source lol?
That's a pretty ridiculous claim.
EDIT:
On July 11 2010 06:29 iCCup.Raelcun wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 06:28 Brazen[six] wrote:
Wow, this is getting more and more crazy. In a way I hope that they do not settle behind closed doors so that we can hear the whole truth as it happened. Agreed I want this one to go to court.
Seconded, There could be legal ramifications other than not giving people their money.
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Meh still not as money whoring as nintendo in the 1980's and 90's..
Getting close thou, but I don't think anything could outdo that stupid Powerglove Wizard movie or the actual Mario brothers movie. Let's, let's not talk about the cartoons.
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I hate knowing that a portion of my sc2 purchase with fatten this bastard's coffers...
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Well, this just reassures me that I made the right choice canceling my pre order for SC2. I haven't purchased/played a single Activision product since CoD4 and I don't plan on breaking that trend. Screw you Activision and screw you Bobby Kotick.
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On July 11 2010 06:51 3clipse wrote:
I hate knowing that a portion of my sc2 purchase with fatten this bastard's coffers...
Then don't buy it. I cancelled my SC2 pre-order a couple days ago because of activision/b.net2.0 bullshit.
Here is something to think about, It's not going to be any different from SC:BW. Heck, BW might be better.
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:\ Hopefully Blizz remains its own company, independent of Activision's schemes.
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On July 11 2010 06:58 moon` wrote:
:\ Hopefully Blizz remains its own company, independent of Activision's schemes.
they will notice the success of SC2 and decide to take over Blizzard as well
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Foxconn is NOT part of Apple. That guy was NOT an employee of Apple. Apple does NOT torture their employees. Foxconn might torture there employees, Apple should definitely distance themselves from Foxconn.
My dad works at Apple, and while I think their products are stupid and overpriced, I also know Apple is one of the best places to work in the tech world. Great pay, great vacation, good hours. I have been to my dads office while he works, ate lunch with him, and I know the Apple campus is pretty laid back and casual.
If Apple employees were being tortured I think I would be seeing people quietly eating their lunch looking over their shoulders every five seconds rather than laughing and chatting it up with coworkers in flip-flops and sandles.
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On July 11 2010 07:04 UmmTheHobo wrote:Foxconn is NOT part of Apple. That guy was NOT an employee of Apple. Apple does NOT torture their employees. Foxconn might torture there employees, Apple should definitely distance themselves from Foxconn. My dad works at Apple, and while I think their products are stupid and overpriced, I also know Apple is one of the best places to work in the tech world. Great pay, great vacation, good hours. I have been to my dads office while he works, ate lunch with him, and I know the Apple campus is pretty laid back and casual. If Apple employees were being tortured I think I would be seeing people quietly eating their lunch looking over their shoulders every five seconds rather than laughing and chatting it up with coworkers in flip-flops and sandles.
I know it wasn't literally Apple but clearly they were mad enough at the guy to get Foxconn to do that shit, their security measures are ridiculous.
Also there are some other reasons I don't like them: http://www.cracked.com/article_18377_5-reasons-you-should-be-scared-apple.html
Guess I mainly dislike them because they always have to rename everything and everyone goes along with it, it's not an MP3 player anymore it's an i-Pod, it's not a smart phone it's an i-Phone, it's not an FM transmitter it's an i-Trip, it's not a laptop it's an i-Book! etc.
Also my stepfather works for microsoft so I may be slightly biased
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United States616 Posts
On July 11 2010 01:23 Saturnize wrote:
This is so sick. When is someone going to stop this madman?
He can't be stopped, his wrath is evil and unending!
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10387 Posts
On July 11 2010 06:11 UmmTheHobo wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games. Nintendo? Let's try to name 5 good games for the Wii 1. Mario galaxy definitely 2. Resident Evil 4, even though it's a Ps2 remake, the motion controls are so well done that it is a completely new experience, and the game was awesome to begin with. 3. Twilight princess, oh wait never mind it's a gamecube remake, and the gamecube version was better! 4. Super Smash Brothers Brawl, oh wait, the single player sucked, the online sucked, and the mechanics were nowhere near as deep as Melee 5. Mario Kart Wii, oh wait, the controls are horrible, the tracks are horrible, the power-ups are annoying as hell, and the dumb slingshot mechanics (wherein the people on the losing side of the race get better power-ups, speed, and agility) fucks up balance. EDIT: The list is much bigger if you are a 2 year old or soccer mom
Metroid Prime 3? Paper Mario? Red Steel 2? No More Heroes? Monster Hunter Tri? Modern Warfare Reflex? Zack & Wiki? Trauma Center? Sin and Punishment? Wii has plenty of good games, and many more coming up
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On July 11 2010 06:11 UmmTheHobo wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games. Nintendo? Let's try to name 5 good games for the Wii 1. Mario galaxy definitely 2. Resident Evil 4, even though it's a Ps2 remake, the motion controls are so well done that it is a completely new experience, and the game was awesome to begin with. 3. Twilight princess, oh wait never mind it's a gamecube remake, and the gamecube version was better! 4. Super Smash Brothers Brawl, oh wait, the single player sucked, the online sucked, and the mechanics were nowhere near as deep as Melee 5. Mario Kart Wii, oh wait, the controls are horrible, the tracks are horrible, the power-ups are annoying as hell, and the dumb slingshot mechanics (wherein the people on the losing side of the race get better power-ups, speed, and agility) fucks up balance. EDIT: The list is much bigger if you are a 2 year old or soccer mom
3. Twilight Princess - Not a remake, just released for both systems, more or less the same game with different controls?
4. Smash Bros - Is a fun game to play with friends, especially since most people don't play it so competitively as to really care if it's as deep as melee
5. Mario Kart Wii - Is fun as hell, as really interesting tracks, fun controls, and slingshot mechanics that you can turn off in the options and choose between several types of weapon distributions
Edit: List is much bigger if you are able to play games for fun instead of trying to make every game out like it is trying to be a candidate for the next big esport
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On July 11 2010 02:04 nttea wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 01:39 RoosterSamurai wrote:
Why would they do that? Go and alienate their BEST game creating team (Infinity Ward) so that they'll go and find a new producer? Activision is going to run themselves straight into the ground. Any other company would kill to have infinity ward make Modern warfare 3 for them.
I can only hope they don't start doing this with blizzard....But deep down, we all know they will. nono... it's activision that would kill
I guess I can't argue that.
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lol so many kotick haters
if it makes u guys feel any better, he's pretty poor compared to steve jobs or bill gates
kotick only makes $15 million per year
he could buy only 250,000 copies of SC2 with that money, thats not even half the population of cleveland
so yah, he's probably not even a billionaire yet 
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this man does not appear to be a homeslice.
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+ Show Spoiler +On July 11 2010 08:25 baller wrote:lol so many kotick haters if it makes u guys feel any better, he's pretty poor compared to steve jobs or bill gates kotick only makes $15 million per yearhe could buy only 250,000 copies of SC2 with that money, thats not even half the population of cleveland so yah, he's probably not even a billionaire yet
How is telling us he *only* makes FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLARS a year (~300+ times the average salary) supposed to make us feel better?
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Hyrule19057 Posts
On July 11 2010 07:50 anderoo wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 06:11 UmmTheHobo wrote:On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games. Nintendo? Let's try to name 5 good games for the Wii 1. Mario galaxy definitely 2. Resident Evil 4, even though it's a Ps2 remake, the motion controls are so well done that it is a completely new experience, and the game was awesome to begin with. 3. Twilight princess, oh wait never mind it's a gamecube remake, and the gamecube version was better! 4. Super Smash Brothers Brawl, oh wait, the single player sucked, the online sucked, and the mechanics were nowhere near as deep as Melee 5. Mario Kart Wii, oh wait, the controls are horrible, the tracks are horrible, the power-ups are annoying as hell, and the dumb slingshot mechanics (wherein the people on the losing side of the race get better power-ups, speed, and agility) fucks up balance. EDIT: The list is much bigger if you are a 2 year old or soccer mom 3. Twilight Princess - Not a remake, just released for both systems, more or less the same game with different controls? 4. Smash Bros - Is a fun game to play with friends, especially since most people don't play it so competitively as to really care if it's as deep as melee 5. Mario Kart Wii - Is fun as hell, as really interesting tracks, fun controls, and slingshot mechanics that you can turn off in the options and choose between several types of weapon distributions Edit: List is much bigger if you are able to play games for fun instead of trying to make every game out like it is trying to be a candidate for the next big esport TP was under development for Cube, and when they realized they were going to go past the launch of Wii they said "shit....port it!?"
Brawl is awful in so very many ways.
MKW is fun to play for a while, but it's not GOOD. There's a certain point where playing it alone is just a plain waste of time.
As for Galaxy, that gave everyone motion sickness...that's not exactly a hallmark of a good game.
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Hey, it could be worse... could be 16 million...
EDIT: Really, guys? Really? Are we going to make this into another console fanboy argument thread? Because there aren't already a ton of those on the internet already, right? For those involved, do you really think your back and forth pro/anti Nintendo posts are going to make the other guy go "Oh, I guess you're right?"
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On July 11 2010 08:44 Inschato wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On July 11 2010 08:25 baller wrote:lol so many kotick haters if it makes u guys feel any better, he's pretty poor compared to steve jobs or bill gates kotick only makes $15 million per yearhe could buy only 250,000 copies of SC2 with that money, thats not even half the population of cleveland so yah, he's probably not even a billionaire yet How is telling us he *only* makes FIFTEEN MILLION DOLLARS a year (~300+ times the average salary) supposed to make us feel better?
Its only 15 million in benefits and what not. His actual salery is only like 900 grand. (according to wikipedia)
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I Really believe blizzard is a good company. Its a Shame they merged with Activision
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On July 11 2010 08:25 baller wrote:lol so many kotick haters if it makes u guys feel any better, he's pretty poor compared to steve jobs or bill gates kotick only makes $15 million per yearhe could buy only 250,000 copies of SC2 with that money, thats not even half the population of cleveland so yah, he's probably not even a billionaire yet
Shit..I think I'll buy 5 copoies of sc2 for each server..I feel so bad for him .
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The suit alleges that during the build up that led to the firing of West and Zampella, Activision forced Infinity Ward employees to submit to secret interrogations and told the employees not to tell anyone about them. The publisher also brought in security personnel to man the office exits, according to the suit.
Man, I just love the rhetoric in this. Employees had to "submit" to "secret interrogations". No, I'm sorry; "secret interrogations" are what happen at Gitmo, when some people in army fatigues or grey suits strap you down and try to drown you. Unless you're being threatened with jail time or physical harm, it's not an "interrogation."
Stripped of the hyperbole, this was just Activision investigating West and Zampella. They pulled some employees aside and asked them some questions, and they told them not to tell anyone about the investigation. But because that doesn't make headlines, the plaintiffs decided to call them "secret interrogations."
Is Activision being something of an asshole here? Yes, particularly surrounding the "not paying them" part. But the hyperbolic rhetoric here is completely unnecessary. And I'm surprised to see such language in what is a formal legal document.
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On July 11 2010 09:00 NicolBolas wrote:Show nested quote +The suit alleges that during the build up that led to the firing of West and Zampella, Activision forced Infinity Ward employees to submit to secret interrogations and told the employees not to tell anyone about them. The publisher also brought in security personnel to man the office exits, according to the suit. Man, I just love the rhetoric in this. Employees had to "submit" to "secret interrogations". No, I'm sorry; "secret interrogations" are what happen at Gitmo, when some people in army fatigues or grey suits strap you down and try to drown you. Unless you're being threatened with jail time or physical harm, it's not an "interrogation." Stripped of the hyperbole, this was just Activision investigating West and Zampella. They pulled some employees aside and asked them some questions, and they told them not to tell anyone about the investigation. But because that doesn't make headlines, the plaintiffs decided to call them "secret interrogations." Is Activision being something of an asshole here? Yes, particularly surrounding the "not paying them" part. But the hyperbolic rhetoric here is completely unnecessary. And I'm surprised to see such language in what is a formal legal document.
They could have threatened them with their jobs, maybe even threatened not to pay them for work they had done. I'd consider that an Interrogation.
Just for clarification, are only West and Zampella suing Activision or are all 38 of the employees who left suing?
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On July 11 2010 08:46 The_Pacifist wrote:
Hey, it could be worse... could be 16 million...
EDIT: Really, guys? Really? Are we going to make this into another console fanboy argument thread? Because there aren't already a ton of those on the internet already, right? For those involved, do you really think your back and forth pro/anti Nintendo posts are going to make the other guy go "Oh, I guess you're right?"
i was actually arguing against him writing off nintendo wii games as being for "2 year olds and soccer moms" because he didn't like them, but you are right either way i don't even know how that came up to begin with
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I have sc2 pre-ordered for $5, I'm not planning on picking it up after this. League of legends time I guess =)
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On July 11 2010 06:05 orgolove wrote:
You know, I knew this shit would happen the moment I heard several years ago that Blizzard was bought by activision.
Vivendi Games and Activision merged. Blizzard Entertainment was just owned by Vivendi Games
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On July 11 2010 09:24 PanN wrote:
I have sc2 pre-ordered for $5, I'm not planning on picking it up after this. League of legends time I guess =)
Five bucks? Where the fuck did you get that deal? I wanna know!
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It's pre-ordered, not bought. That means for 5 bucks he is assured to buy sc2 on opening day without having to worry about the game being sold out. He still has to buy it for the full 50 dollar retail price.
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On July 11 2010 09:46 The_Pacifist wrote:
It's pre-ordered, not bought. That means for 5 bucks he is assured to buy sc2 on opening day without having to worry about the game being sold out. He still has to buy it for the full 50 dollar retail price.
I thought starcraft 2 was selling for $59.99?
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haha apologies, thought it was a typo
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what has Activision done right...?
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On July 11 2010 09:24 PanN wrote:
I have sc2 pre-ordered for $5, I'm not planning on picking it up after this. League of legends time I guess =)
Are you kidding?
Give it to me, I'll sell it for you . I'm poor.
EDIT: 59.99... there we go. lol
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Kentor
United States5784 Posts
It was a price mistake by bestbuy and none of the preorders got honored. Duh.
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On July 11 2010 06:58 moon` wrote:
:\ Hopefully Blizz remains its own company, independent of Activision's schemes.
Too late for that bro.
If you don't think some of the things going on with SC2 have been influenced by Activision then you're kinda naive.
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Only now, at the end, do you understand. ...*lightning from hands*
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On July 11 2010 01:36 azndsh wrote:
Blizzard should have merged with Valve... oh wtf activision
Vivendi Games and Activision merged. Blizzard Entertainment was just owned by Vivendi Games
This, and also the name only became Activision-Blizzard because Blizzard completely dominates Vivendi's landscape.
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This guy looks like a Gremlins
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Vatican City State1650 Posts
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Hes gotta milk somthing since the Hero clone games are starting to plummet sells
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On July 11 2010 09:49 Saturnize wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 09:46 The_Pacifist wrote:
It's pre-ordered, not bought. That means for 5 bucks he is assured to buy sc2 on opening day without having to worry about the game being sold out. He still has to buy it for the full 50 dollar retail price. I thought starcraft 2 was selling for $59.99?
...Please don't remind me... I miss the days when you could laugh if a game was sold for over 40 dollars...
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On July 11 2010 06:09 Teddyman wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games. So you want to talk about Super Smash Bros. Brawl and how it didn't fail competitive players of Melee? If you want a list of big companies that still understand how to make ESPORTS titles, here it is: Blizzard and Capcom. Casual games and story-based games are another thing then.
when i stated nintendo i meant that in general nintendo have made good games. just because a game cant make it to the competitive scene it doesnt make it automatically a bad game. also yes i meant casual gaming just in general.
On July 11 2010 06:11 UmmTheHobo wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games. Nintendo? Let's try to name 5 good games for the Wii 1. Mario galaxy definitely 2. Resident Evil 4, even though it's a Ps2 remake, the motion controls are so well done that it is a completely new experience, and the game was awesome to begin with. 3. Twilight princess, oh wait never mind it's a gamecube remake, and the gamecube version was better! 4. Super Smash Brothers Brawl, oh wait, the single player sucked, the online sucked, and the mechanics were nowhere near as deep as Melee 5. Mario Kart Wii, oh wait, the controls are horrible, the tracks are horrible, the power-ups are annoying as hell, and the dumb slingshot mechanics (wherein the people on the losing side of the race get better power-ups, speed, and agility) fucks up balance. EDIT: The list is much bigger if you are a 2 year old or soccer mom
first off, the wii was merely an example. i dont have to explain how activision is trying to make money in trade for the quality of a game. but lets look at the wii. the console itself is a whole new level. they try to be innovative in the gaming community (for the casual for the love of god). now you have other companies like sony and microsoft who are now trying to essentially "copy" the wii. while they are busy trying to make the product (and bugs and flaws will appear) nintendo is being...nintendo. innovative and just trying to make good games.
obviously your argument is being fired at the wrong target due to bad intel. sorry.
twilight princess...MADE BY NINTENDO. see how the argument is going here.
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On July 11 2010 12:20 heroyi wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On July 11 2010 06:09 Teddyman wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games. So you want to talk about Super Smash Bros. Brawl and how it didn't fail competitive players of Melee? If you want a list of big companies that still understand how to make ESPORTS titles, here it is: Blizzard and Capcom. Casual games and story-based games are another thing then. when i stated nintendo i meant that in general nintendo have made good games. just because a game cant make it to the competitive scene it doesnt make it automatically a bad game. also yes i meant casual gaming just in general. On July 11 2010 06:11 UmmTheHobo wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games. Nintendo? Let's try to name 5 good games for the Wii 1. Mario galaxy definitely 2. Resident Evil 4, even though it's a Ps2 remake, the motion controls are so well done that it is a completely new experience, and the game was awesome to begin with. 3. Twilight princess, oh wait never mind it's a gamecube remake, and the gamecube version was better! 4. Super Smash Brothers Brawl, oh wait, the single player sucked, the online sucked, and the mechanics were nowhere near as deep as Melee 5. Mario Kart Wii, oh wait, the controls are horrible, the tracks are horrible, the power-ups are annoying as hell, and the dumb slingshot mechanics (wherein the people on the losing side of the race get better power-ups, speed, and agility) fucks up balance. EDIT: The list is much bigger if you are a 2 year old or soccer mom first off, the wii was merely an example. i dont have to explain how activision is trying to make money in trade for the quality of a game. but lets look at the wii. the console itself is a whole new level. they try to be innovative in the gaming community (for the casual for the love of god). now you have other companies like sony and microsoft who are now trying to essentially "copy" the wii. while they are busy trying to make the product (and bugs and flaws will appear) nintendo is being...nintendo. innovative and just trying to make good games. obviously your argument is being fired at the wrong target due to bad intel. sorry. twilight princess...MADE BY NINTENDO. see how the argument is going here.
Dude, seriously, can you just let it die? Nobody cares that you feel personally invested in one of these brands except other people with a similar lack of perspective, you're ruining the possibility of any legitimate discussion here.
I don't see how you can think you're on topic. Nintendo has nothing to do with kotick... nothing. The connection is all in your mind.
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"Get over it"
reminds me of what an admin told me as i was banned because i got mad at someone who called me a fag.
not here of course. that would never happen
User was banned for this post.
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The video game industry and it's consumers are getting fucking ridiculously insane...I miss the late 90's, those were the games and people where thinking completely different surrounding video games, now it's as watered down and superficial money business like the movie and music industry.
More so reason to quit playing games and get a life...
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On July 11 2010 04:39 garmule2 wrote:
I believe Activision may be responsible for the WoW-ization of SC2 and Diablo 3 that the gaming community had to fight. So I now forgive Blizzard for that.
But as someone going into business currently, I can say that I have seen my new generation of business people, and I am proud. We are going to replace these asinine CEOs that are destroying businesses, shareholder value, and the economy. Trust me, we're all disgusted with it just as much as everyone else. It's not even about 'milking every quarter' or 'shortsightedness'. They're just BAD DECISION MAKERS, grandfathered in during rapidly changing economic times while nobody was quite sure what made a qualified CEO, or how to plan for long-term value. Turns out, the Internet changed alot of things, but the basics of business have not changed. Time to start hiring CEOs that aren't insane.
I really hope you're right Garmule
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I remember hearing about the interrogations/guards before. Wasn't that already listed in the suit?
Oh, is this article just the same one from back then?
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Obama appointed a pay czar that took bonus pay away from many thousands, does your hostility apply to him?
I didn't think so.
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On July 11 2010 15:21 Number41 wrote:
Obama appointed a pay czar that took bonus pay away from many thousands, does your hostility apply to him?
I didn't think so.
Dis is relevint to my prejudisse. And jus as samrt.
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The reality of owning a product that you produce from beginning to end is more empowering then most people understand. How to wield that power , share it, and maintain human on all levels is, inhuman to say the least.
In the quest for greatness in leadership a lot of strong men rise and become crooked or evil.
Just be thankful he didn't run for office.
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I've seen a lot of comments about Activision and Blizzard, and - well- I honestly think that Activision doesn't have as much say as we- fans of the old Blizzard - would like to think. It seems kind of strange to think that a company would change things that have been traditional norms in a particular genre, even outright batty ideas really. However- the more I think about it the more I think: well, maybe they honestly think that the game is better with these systems they've put in place.
Most people use Facebook, it sucks ass, but most people use it: so maybe they actually thought that was something that we would be excited about. I mean it can't be too hard to imagine that Facebook came up in an idea meeting, they put it on the list of things they could put in, and it stayed on the list. Easy to code- easy to implement- no reason not to really if you think about it.
LAN - lan parties are pretty rare, they happen- but the normal way to play with your friends these days is over the internet. Cutting it out is a pretty cheap way to put in some sort of copy protection [I mean come on- if you don't give something for the pirates to do, what else are they going to do? make a new virus?]
Chat Rooms- they got a lot of complaints about spammers and trolls. A LOT of complaints. Did anyone ever write them an email saying "Man Blizzard chat rooms are SO AWESOME! Thank you SO MUCH!" -not until they thought it would be a good idea to keep them out. Maybe they honestly thought the new stuff they had in would be enough to not need chat? Maybe they planned on increasing the size of their "party" system?
And maybe Activision had some ideas as well, and they put them in a memo; and the blizzard team read them over reluctantly but then thought many of them were actually decent ideas. It makes sense to want to make a little extra money here and there if it's feasable. Maybe they saw the financial data for guitar hero/rock band (whatever activision publishes) and thought "well- it's possible map purchases could work, and we can give back to the community by giving them a percentage, and we can use the extra money for something else to help the community."
I don't know- I see the name Activision - Blizzard, and I think; they're partners, on even ground, no one more in charge than the other. Blizzard is probably in charge of every aspect of how to make the game, and Activison is probably in charge of every aspect of how to sell the game. It makes sense doesn't it? I guess we'll see though, if we never see the protoss episode because Blizzard's too busy suing activision for withholding royalties, then we'll know what's going down.
Honestly though, I'm not sure activision would really f- with Blizzard, because Blizzard isn't really a small development team. They're as big as Pixar is in my opinion. Just short of untouchable.
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On July 11 2010 09:00 NicolBolas wrote:
Man, I just love the rhetoric in this. Employees had to "submit" to "secret interrogations". No, I'm sorry; "secret interrogations" are what happen at Gitmo, when some people in army fatigues or grey suits strap you down and try to drown you. Unless you're being threatened with jail time or physical harm, it's not an "interrogation."
No. Consult with webster. An interrogation is a conversation where one party poses interrogatives (questions) to another party. What you are referring to is "harsh interrogation tactics", or torture, or whatever you want to call it. Either way, it's still an interrogation. By definition.
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On July 11 2010 01:23 Saturnize wrote:
This is so sick. When is someone going to stop this madman?
You can stop him. By not giving him your money.
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Activision has done a great job of overtaking EA as the big, bad game publishing company
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lol . its so funny cos ea was never this bad, they just made crappy shovelware on hellish timetables but hey ! least it got them rich enough to start growing some new ips and making better games later on. (fifa 10 is better than pes, but why did it take so long?) whereas activision have just gotten worse and worse.
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On July 11 2010 16:14 np.Resuscitate wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 09:00 NicolBolas wrote:
Man, I just love the rhetoric in this. Employees had to "submit" to "secret interrogations". No, I'm sorry; "secret interrogations" are what happen at Gitmo, when some people in army fatigues or grey suits strap you down and try to drown you. Unless you're being threatened with jail time or physical harm, it's not an "interrogation."
No. Consult with webster. An interrogation is a conversation where one party poses interrogatives (questions) to another party. What you are referring to is "harsh interrogation tactics", or torture, or whatever you want to call it. Either way, it's still an interrogation. By definition.
The words we use have connotations that are not found in the dictionary. By your definition, an "interview" is the same thing as an "interrogation". However, when you read the word "interview", you think of two individuals in suits calmly discussing things. When you read the word "interrogation", this is not the mental image you get. Instead, you get the image of one guy in a room under harsh lights while a pair of cops grill him about some subject.
The words we use say something about the way we think of things and the ideas we want to communicate. Understanding this is vital to understanding PR, which this legal document is being used as.
They don't call it an "interview" because calling it that doesn't make good headlines. It doesn't make for good copy.
Take this line:
"Activision forced Infinity Ward employees to submit to secret interrogations and told the employees not to tell anyone about them."
It could have read:
"Activision interviewed Infinity Ward and told them not to tell anyone about the interviews".
According to the dictionary definition of the words, these mean the same. But don't tell me that they don't have two completely different tones. The latter sounds calm and reasonable; something a company might do legitimately. The former sounds much more aggressive and dangerous; it is clearly language that suggests Activision is acting outside the bounds of a normal company.
If this were just a PR statement, I wouldn't mind. But this is a legal document; one shouldn't abuse such documents like this.
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On July 11 2010 01:25 holy_war wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 01:21 Biochemist wrote:
Makes you miss the old days when games were produced by gamers. I almost forgot about those days with Activision and EA ruining every single thing they touch. Blizzard is seeing the results of Activision's grip and only Valve is staying true to gamers.
e.g. The Command and Conquer series.
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On July 11 2010 08:51 Tabbris wrote:
I Really believe blizzard is a good company. Its a Shame they merged with Activision
This quote honestly and 100% sums up my feelings.
I wish I could add more to my post but there's nothing else worth the time to type it.
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On July 11 2010 01:12 ExoCorsair wrote:Show nested quote +Remember the good ole days when EA was as bad as it got? This is seriously insane. I just hope that other publishers don't follow suit... More reason to find and buy indie games instead, I guess? I honestly wish that Activision would get some major backlash for this, but it all seems so mild. Maybe if they screwed around with Blizzard, but I don't think that they're that dumb.
You must have missed THIS THREAD.
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Kotick should just resign on his own, if he has any bit of dignity left in him.
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On July 11 2010 16:57 a_flayer wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 01:23 Saturnize wrote:
This is so sick. When is someone going to stop this madman? You can stop him. By not giving him your money.
Well of course. Wouldn't it be silly if I talked like this about Activision and Kotick and still paid for the games they publish ^^
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On July 11 2010 18:11 bjwithbraces wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 08:51 Tabbris wrote:
I Really believe blizzard is a good company. Its a Shame they merged with Activision This quote honestly and 100% sums up my feelings. I wish I could add more to my post but there's nothing else worth the time to type it.
They're just playing good cop bad cop with u guys.
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Fake smile, evil eyes and a %#"%&"%!...
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On July 12 2010 02:39 Bluestar- wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 18:11 bjwithbraces wrote:On July 11 2010 08:51 Tabbris wrote:
I Really believe blizzard is a good company. Its a Shame they merged with Activision This quote honestly and 100% sums up my feelings. I wish I could add more to my post but there's nothing else worth the time to type it. They're just playing good cop bad cop with u guys.
Interesting point, but I'm inclined to say people are suckering themselves into good cop bad cop without any help from blizzard/activision. Blizzard's good rep is for making awesome games... it was never for caring about the community or refusing to rip them for cash, and suddenly people think they've been like their beloved kindergarten teacher for the last 10 years.
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On July 11 2010 17:17 NicolBolas wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 16:14 np.Resuscitate wrote:On July 11 2010 09:00 NicolBolas wrote:
Man, I just love the rhetoric in this. Employees had to "submit" to "secret interrogations". No, I'm sorry; "secret interrogations" are what happen at Gitmo, when some people in army fatigues or grey suits strap you down and try to drown you. Unless you're being threatened with jail time or physical harm, it's not an "interrogation."
No. Consult with webster. An interrogation is a conversation where one party poses interrogatives (questions) to another party. What you are referring to is "harsh interrogation tactics", or torture, or whatever you want to call it. Either way, it's still an interrogation. By definition. The words we use have connotations that are not found in the dictionary. By your definition, an "interview" is the same thing as an "interrogation". However, when you read the word "interview", you think of two individuals in suits calmly discussing things. When you read the word "interrogation", this is not the mental image you get. Instead, you get the image of one guy in a room under harsh lights while a pair of cops grill him about some subject. The words we use say something about the way we think of things and the ideas we want to communicate. Understanding this is vital to understanding PR, which this legal document is being used as. They don't call it an "interview" because calling it that doesn't make good headlines. It doesn't make for good copy. Take this line: "Activision forced Infinity Ward employees to submit to secret interrogations and told the employees not to tell anyone about them." It could have read: "Activision interviewed Infinity Ward and told them not to tell anyone about the interviews". According to the dictionary definition of the words, these mean the same. But don't tell me that they don't have two completely different tones. The latter sounds calm and reasonable; something a company might do legitimately. The former sounds much more aggressive and dangerous; it is clearly language that suggests Activision is acting outside the bounds of a normal company. If this were just a PR statement, I wouldn't mind. But this is a legal document; one shouldn't abuse such documents like this.
Typically, the allegations are taken from the claim.
Law suits like this are won by embellishment. The whole argument is that Activision went overboard, hence the purple prose. How far do you think IW would get if they they said things like:
"Activision interviewed Infinity Ward and told them not to tell anyone about the interviews".
On a side note, I want you to know that -
But the hyperbolic rhetoric here is completely unnecessary.
is my favorite sentence read on TL.
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After browsing through a few pages of responses I must say that many of the posters in this thread are very delusional about the corporate world and for-profit businesses. Is this behavior great or commendable, of course not. Is this behavior shocking or mind boggling, of course not. If you want the best product in a timely matter, i.e. behavior pushed and spawned and nurtured through capitalism, ruthless behavior can and will occur.
Let me ask you, as a consumer, how you are affected by and what will be the possible repercussions of a STANDARD work environment within the gaming community? This is not Grandma's Boy people.
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On July 12 2010 04:36 Ummbeefy wrote:
After browsing through a few pages of responses I must say that many of the posters in this thread are very delusional about the corporate world and for-profit businesses.
Elaborate please. Yes, yes, all companies want to make money, but activision has done some pretty evil and down right despicable things to IW and you seem to act like this is standard business practice in the video game industry. Could you give some more examples?
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I think Kotick should show up to Blizzcon
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On July 12 2010 04:36 Ummbeefy wrote:
After browsing through a few pages of responses I must say that many of the posters in this thread are very delusional about the corporate world and for-profit businesses. Is this behavior great or commendable, of course not. Is this behavior shocking or mind boggling, of course not. If you want the best product in a timely matter, i.e. behavior pushed and spawned and nurtured through capitalism, ruthless behavior can and will occur.
Let me ask you, as a consumer, how you are affected by and what will be the possible repercussions of a STANDARD work environment within the gaming community? This is not Grandma's Boy people.
I love how there's always someone taking the -it's not nice, it's not right, but that's just the way it is, move on-route. If it were for people like you we would all be sitting here with a corporate stick so far up our asses we could probably stir our coffees with.
Any creative work needs it's timetable, yes. But in what delusional, as you like to put it, world does Mr. Kotick live if he thinks that spitting in his employees faces before they have done any work on their next project is going to achieve? This is basically the best shady excuse for piracy.
But whatever. Kotick is an idiot and sure will realize someday that having your name written down in big letters every time there is some negative press concerning your company is a bad thing.
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On July 11 2010 00:07 Darpa wrote:
This guy reminds me of Gary Bettman from the NHL, total douche.
haha That is a typical Canadian response.
Now David Stern. That is a douchebag.
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On July 12 2010 04:36 Ummbeefy wrote:
If you want the best product in a timely matter, i.e. behavior pushed and spawned and nurtured through capitalism, ruthless behavior can and will occur.
Let me ask you, as a consumer, how you are affected by and what will be the possible repercussions of a STANDARD work environment within the gaming community? This is not Grandma's Boy people.
Repercussions of a standard work environment? lol. Oh noes the horrors!
I've been a software developer for 10 years, and have worked on most sides (lowly code jockey, management, and independent contractor) and can tell you you're dead wrong about this getting good results from employees.
Environments like these cause company-wide efforts degrade into territorial fiefdoms rewarding cronyism over merit, shortcuts and bandaids over long-term planning and best-practice, and often put some of the organization's best talent in the crossfire between warring corporate factions.
Granted, businesses with these problems can still get things done, can still be profitable, and can still make their customer's happy; It's not like there's 0 margin for error. But it in no way makes a better product - it just makes more grief and drama for everyone involved... which usually means your best people will walk when a better opportunity knocks.
As for the repercussions of a "standard work environment" on the gaming industry: Remember all of those innovative game studios that released smash hits that changed the way we think about gaming, only to later be bought up by a big publisher? These studios once had work environments that fell closer to "standard" and further from "Bobby Kotick's White-Collar Labor Camp Fiesta." I think they did alright.
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this just seems like hating. as much as i don't like activision, this has been known for such a ridiculously long time... it was pretty huge news for quite a long time.
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On July 12 2010 04:36 Ummbeefy wrote:
Let me ask you, as a consumer, how you are affected by and what will be the possible repercussions of a STANDARD work environment within the gaming community? This is not Grandma's Boy people.
you sound like an idiot. how is not paying the developers of the highest grossing game of all time defendable? even under "capitalism" you are meant to be rewarded for beating the competition not cutting off ur own arms.
i bet not even treyarch are happy abt this news. NOW they will actually have expectations of quality from activision.
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Yet none of this will actually change because we've shown that we as consumers simply don't care and are willing to pay to support this company's products despite all the crap we talk about them...
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On July 11 2010 01:48 thehitman wrote:
Is anyone really surprised?
Activision now=EA 10 years ago
This is exactly what Im thinking aswell. The truly sad part is that Activision got a hold on blizzard and will eventually bring them down in their fall or sacrifice them to prevent a fall of their own... future looks grim for Blizzard.
*edit. Fixed the messed up smiley.
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On July 12 2010 07:22 T0fuuu wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 04:36 Ummbeefy wrote:
Let me ask you, as a consumer, how you are affected by and what will be the possible repercussions of a STANDARD work environment within the gaming community? This is not Grandma's Boy people. you sound like an idiot. how is not paying the developers of the highest grossing game of all time defendable? even under "capitalism" you are meant to be rewarded for beating the competition not cutting off ur own arms. i bet not even treyarch are happy abt this news. NOW they will actually have expectations of quality from activision.
poor treyarch, they can't get away with cod 3 and world at war anymore...
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Sanya12364 Posts
Much of the discussion here has been silly. Game developing studios have a choice who funds the capital and provides their marketing for them. If you are morally indignant about all this, then stop giving Activision your money and tell your game developing friends and contacts not to do business with them. However, if Activision operates excessively nasty and greedily then game developers will be smart enough to figure out that for themselves.
That's all there is too it. If Activision is as bad as it sounds, it's setting up its own demise.
Edit: Seems like the discussion wised up in the more recent pages. Consumers should largely judge any product by its price and quality. Leave the details of production to those involved. Bemoaning an eventual demise of a franchise with "Activision is going to screw up XXX with their bad management style" is perfectly ok.
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On July 12 2010 08:12 TanGeng wrote:
Much of the discussion here has been silly. Game developing studios have a choice who funds the capital and provides their marketing for them. If you are morally indignant about all this, then stop giving Activision your money and tell your game developing friends and contacts not to do business with them. However, if Activision operates excessively nasty and greedily then game developers will be smart enough to figure out that for themselves.
Thank you Adam Smith.
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Sanya12364 Posts
On July 11 2010 05:56 heroyi wrote:
money corrupts. bungie, blizzard, activision. the list goes on.
there are only a few like nintendo and valve that make good games and care about the customers. and they dont fail.
nintendo- gaming innovation like the wii. everyone is now trying to copy the wii while nintendo is...nintendo.
valve: still kicking it with the good ol games.
Quoted for the truth.
Building company that last have to balance and excel in three areas:
They have to keep churning out well-priced quality games.
They have to spend wisely and make money.
They have to keep their workers motivated.
It's so easy to go off the deep end in any of the three. It's just as easy to neglect any one.
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Tomorrow's big news: SC2 and D3 cancelled, Blizzard working on Call of duty RTS, call of duty MMO, Guitar hero MMO.
"The Kotick" Is starting to become a catch phrase for everything wrong with the gaming industry. I seriously thought scumbags like him were absent or at least not controlling influences in the management of the gaming industry, but i guess i was wrong.
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On July 12 2010 09:37 ghermination wrote:
Tomorrow's big news: SC2 and D3 cancelled, Blizzard working on Call of duty RTS, call of duty MMO, Guitar hero MMO.
"The Kotick" Is starting to become a catch phrase for everything wrong with the gaming industry. I seriously thought scumbags like him were absent or at least not controlling influences in the management of the gaming industry, but i guess i was wrong.
nah bro, sc3 announced in 2012, d4 in 2012, next WoW expansion sometime in between
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Sanya12364 Posts
Blizzard sounds like it's still in control of its management and design decisions, and they've always been good about the excellent quality of games. Some studios make you love their game but wonder about their longevity. But Blizzard looks like one that's figured that out. As long as they firewall the Activision craziness. Blizzard will be around for a long time.
Although you have to wonder about the longevity of the other franchises that Activision has under control now.
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On July 12 2010 09:41 Lightswarm wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 09:37 ghermination wrote:
Tomorrow's big news: SC2 and D3 cancelled, Blizzard working on Call of duty RTS, call of duty MMO, Guitar hero MMO.
"The Kotick" Is starting to become a catch phrase for everything wrong with the gaming industry. I seriously thought scumbags like him were absent or at least not controlling influences in the management of the gaming industry, but i guess i was wrong. nah bro, sc3 announced in 2012, d4 in 2012, next WoW expansion sometime in between
If they announce an SC3 before SC2 has been out for a year I think I literally might puke. I really don't want SC going the way of C&C.
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On July 12 2010 10:07 Fulgrim wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 09:41 Lightswarm wrote:On July 12 2010 09:37 ghermination wrote:
Tomorrow's big news: SC2 and D3 cancelled, Blizzard working on Call of duty RTS, call of duty MMO, Guitar hero MMO.
"The Kotick" Is starting to become a catch phrase for everything wrong with the gaming industry. I seriously thought scumbags like him were absent or at least not controlling influences in the management of the gaming industry, but i guess i was wrong. nah bro, sc3 announced in 2012, d4 in 2012, next WoW expansion sometime in between If they announce an SC3 before SC2 has been out for a year I think I literally might puke. I really don't want SC going the way of C&C.
Heh, or l4d.
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... in Australia.. all the highly anticipated games are sold for $100... thats like... 80-90 US dollars..
stop complaining!! hahahaha. I'm paying 150 for my collectors edition. ($130 US)
I wish we had the same price as the US.. ipods, iphones .. all so expensive over here.
its messed, and our dollars aren't even that different T.T
EDIT: we have a higher minimum wage over here though im pretty sure. so more of the kiddies have cash
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On July 12 2010 10:20 USn wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 10:07 Fulgrim wrote:On July 12 2010 09:41 Lightswarm wrote:On July 12 2010 09:37 ghermination wrote:
Tomorrow's big news: SC2 and D3 cancelled, Blizzard working on Call of duty RTS, call of duty MMO, Guitar hero MMO.
"The Kotick" Is starting to become a catch phrase for everything wrong with the gaming industry. I seriously thought scumbags like him were absent or at least not controlling influences in the management of the gaming industry, but i guess i was wrong. nah bro, sc3 announced in 2012, d4 in 2012, next WoW expansion sometime in between If they announce an SC3 before SC2 has been out for a year I think I literally might puke. I really don't want SC going the way of C&C. Heh, or l4d.
I guess that narrows it down to valve as the "last good company"
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If only the gaming industry was recognised in the public eye, this would qualify as important news and be published where people would read it. Its not like anyone in their right mind can condone this they just don't know about it >.<
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On July 12 2010 10:29 ayababa wrote:
... in Australia.. all the highly anticipated games are sold for $100... thats like... 80-90 US dollars..
stop complaining!! hahahaha. I'm paying 150 for my collectors edition. ($130 US)
I wish we had the same price as the US.. ipods, iphones .. all so expensive over here.
its messed, and our dollars aren't even that different T.T
EDIT: we have a higher minimum wage over here though im pretty sure. so more of the kiddies have cash
Lol was JUST about to mention that... And I'm pretty sure I don't know ANYONE on minimum wage in Perth :p Maybe supermarkets... that's about it...
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You know, normally I would not give a shit. I mean, my response to this would be: don't support a company you disagree with on fundamental actions like this. By this I mean, simply don't purchase MW3 if you hate Kotick that much.
However, we find ourselves in a very strange, unique situation. A company I really want to support (Blizzard) now shares its rewards with Activision. How does one support Blizzard without supporting a company they really hate?
My decision is to purchase Blizzard games whilst invariably eschewing Activision games. Perhaps it's the best way to say to Activision: "Hey, successful games companies don't need to start doing more things the Activision way, Activision needs to start doing more things the Blizzard way, or the Valve way, etc".
But the hordes of XBL 13yrolds are gauranteed sales for this asshole anyway so perhaps any efforts are in vain.
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ahha true...no one i know is on minium wage.. fast food people... and yeah super markets...
well.. i cant complain about my wage... im a creative director and get paid..'nicely'... in saying that.. we get totally screwed down here in the sourthen hemisphere when it comes to anything imported and electronic. haha
oh.. new computers are a bitch to buy 2...sucks
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On July 12 2010 07:33 Robinsa wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 01:48 thehitman wrote:
Is anyone really surprised?
Activision now=EA 10 years ago This is exactly what Im thinking aswell. The truly sad part is that Activision got a hold on blizzard and will eventually bring them down in their fall or sacrifice them to prevent a fall of their own... future looks grim for Blizzard. *edit. Fixed the messed up smiley.
Wow, yeah... Blizzard really has to break free before things like this start happening to them. Activision will ruin everything they get involved in it seems like
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Fat douchey assclown.
Worst thing is he's damn good at his job, makes Activision a fortune.
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I Just found out that Bobby Kotick was the CEO of 4kids before becoming the CEO of Activision.
1. Doesn't surprise me, as they ruin every single anime they publish
2. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
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On July 12 2010 11:11 sluggaslamoo wrote:
I Just found out that Bobby Kotick was the CEO of 4kids before becoming the CEO of Activision.
1. Doesn't surprise me, as they ruin every single anime they publish
2. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
LMFAO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
ohhh man that is just....omg lol.
i like how he tries to "connect" to the gaming community and thinks he will get away.
yes blizzard is one of the biggest corp in the gaming industry (with wow being its main cash cow). kotick obviously is not trying to go for the "best gaming company" but make the most money. thus he sees how blizzard has a large income and many dedicated players. by manipulating blizzard he can receive the benefits.
its just a matter of time before all of the players get fed up and will leave activision and anyone else that is with them with blizzard sadly being in the crossfire.
kotick may make money in the short term but ultimately his fame will die and i hope other noble corporations (not just gaming) will deny him access to their floor.
this man is the iconic image of the lazy fat cat corp in america today (literally a fat cat). what happen to customer satisfaction first and customers are always right??
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On July 12 2010 11:11 sluggaslamoo wrote:
I Just found out that Bobby Kotick was the CEO of 4kids before becoming the CEO of Activision.
1. Doesn't surprise me, as they ruin every single anime they publish
2. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Now I have 2 reasons to hate him. Putting shame on my main 2 hobbies.
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one piece was completely ruined by 4Kids.. I hate Bobby now... even more than i did for the whole gaming problem... i live for manga.
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On July 12 2010 11:08 Subversion wrote:
Fat douchey assclown.
Worst thing is he's damn good at his job, makes Activision a fortune.
I feel like such a hippie complaining about corporations and their corporate greed, but... they're takin' over, maaaan
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On July 11 2010 00:07 Darpa wrote:
This guy reminds me of Gary Bettman from the NHL, total douche.
except evil instead of just smug and smarmy
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Hope he gets a heart attack. Human beings do not treat each other like this.
That thing is not human.
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lol, such over the top hate.
Admit it, you (yeah, you) don't even care about the employees. If he were the ceo of paramount or something this thread would hit two pages tops, you wouldn't have posted in it, and you certainly wouldn't let anything like
Hope he gets a heart attack. Human beings do not treat each other like this.
That thing is not human.
pass without comment.
You only care because he's the head of a gaming company and you are way too emotionally involved with games -_-. Take a moment to get some perspective, this is actually at an incredible distance from you.
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On July 12 2010 16:17 USn wrote:lol, such over the top hate. Admit it, you (yeah, you) don't even care about the employees. If he were the ceo of paramount or something this thread would hit two pages tops, you wouldn't have posted in it, and you certainly wouldn't let anything like Show nested quote +Hope he gets a heart attack. Human beings do not treat each other like this.
That thing is not human. pass without comment. You only care because he's the head of a gaming company and you are way too emotionally involved with games -_-. Take a moment to get some perspective, this is actually at an incredible distance from you.
So you're saying that tolerance and mutual understanding is the answer to employee abuse? QFT
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On July 12 2010 16:27 love1another wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 16:17 USn wrote:lol, such over the top hate. Admit it, you (yeah, you) don't even care about the employees. If he were the ceo of paramount or something this thread would hit two pages tops, you wouldn't have posted in it, and you certainly wouldn't let anything like Hope he gets a heart attack. Human beings do not treat each other like this.
That thing is not human. pass without comment. You only care because he's the head of a gaming company and you are way too emotionally involved with games -_-. Take a moment to get some perspective, this is actually at an incredible distance from you. So you're saying that tolerance and mutual understanding is the answer to employee abuse?
Get that strawman outta here.
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On July 12 2010 04:56 HuskyTheHusky wrote:I think Kotick should show up to Blizzcon
Oh god yes
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This is pretty fucking epic. I had no idea a gaming company could go badass and all.
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On July 12 2010 12:55 hejakev wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 11:08 Subversion wrote:
Fat douchey assclown.
Worst thing is he's damn good at his job, makes Activision a fortune. I feel like such a hippie complaining about corporations and their corporate greed, but... they're takin' over, maaaan
It's not like Activision/Blizard is holding you upside down and shaking coins out of your pocket. If you give them money that's your own choice. What, they lure people into giving them money by making a product (Starcraft) that people want? Oh noes! It's still your choice. If you weigh and balance your disgust at Bobby vs your want for SC2, and decide to buy SC2, well again that was your choice, and you validated Bobby.
There's an easy way to prevent Actiblizz from being a greedy corp, and that's not putting up with their perceived abuses and not giving them money. Of course I'm sure you'd prefer to get both SC2 and have Actiblizz act more nice. Now who's greedy? You want their product, and control over how they produce it
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On July 12 2010 16:17 USn wrote:lol, such over the top hate. Admit it, you (yeah, you) don't even care about the employees. If he were the ceo of paramount or something this thread would hit two pages tops, you wouldn't have posted in it, and you certainly wouldn't let anything like Show nested quote +Hope he gets a heart attack. Human beings do not treat each other like this.
That thing is not human. pass without comment. You only care because he's the head of a gaming company and you are way too emotionally involved with games -_-. Take a moment to get some perspective, this is actually at an incredible distance from you.
Wl excuse me if I like to have faith in the future of society. I actually do care about the people who get treated like crap. And let's face it, you don't give two shits because you're not in the employees shoes right now and have no commitment to them. Jobs, at their core, exist so that the individual can contribute and benefit his or her community, without exception. What I see here is a guy who lied, cheated, and stole from people who wanted to create something for the enjoyment of the community.
Now tell me, would YOU like to live in a world filled with people like this?
Food for thought. I've given my input and I don't have any obligation to defend it for you.
Have a great day. Your opinion is entirely your own.
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You know, arguing like this on the internet is like running the special olymipcs:Even if you win you are still retarded.
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I still can't believe that a company like Blizzard, that seemed to have so much passion and vision for gaming, would switch over to the dark side.
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On July 11 2010 01:43 Ho0ps wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2010 01:36 azndsh wrote:
Blizzard should have merged with Valve... oh wtf activision The world would explode if Blizzard and Valve merged. It would be too awesome for nature to handle.
Yeah, it would be completely insanely cool.
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How much is Blizzard worth? Maybe all Blizzard fans can pay some money into a mutual fund and with that money we buy 51% of Blizzard shares. Then WE own the company. What's better than a company owned by their very own customers? And for all the Fox News Fans: yeah, that's socialism. :p
Edit: Just found information stating that the approximate value of the Vivendi branch containing Blizzard was $8.1 billion at the time of the merger. Even 51% of that might be a bit more then we could afford.
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Russian Federation4235 Posts
On July 12 2010 17:48 Electric.Jesus wrote:How much is Blizzard worth? Maybe all Blizzard fans can pay some money into a mutual fund and with that money we buy 51% of Blizzard shares. Then WE own the company. What's better than a company owned by their very own customers? And for all the Fox News Fans: yeah, that's socialism. :p Edit: Just found information stating that the approximate value of the Vivendi branch containing Blizzard was $8.1 billion at the time of the merger. Even 51% of that might be a bit more then we could afford.
Oh my god, no. Never ever should you let a mob of children run a company.
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On July 12 2010 17:48 Electric.Jesus wrote:How much is Blizzard worth? Maybe all Blizzard fans can pay some money into a mutual fund and with that money we buy 51% of Blizzard shares. Then WE own the company. What's better than a company owned by their very own customers? And for all the Fox News Fans: yeah, that's socialism. :p Edit: Just found information stating that the approximate value of the Vivendi branch containing Blizzard was $8.1 billion at the time of the merger. Even 51% of that might be a bit more then we could afford.
Umm,
Can you not make this into a childish swipe? Fox News has NOTHING to do with this, so please don't insult other members like that.
Right now I can picture Neil Cavuto just face palming himself over such a comment.
Let me guess, you want a private group (think for a second about your statement and you will see the big hole you put into it) to run a company? Hmm doesn't not seem like socialism (I"m not even going to deal with the rest of it).
Bobby, Is just a complete madmen in such a horrible way. To be honest at this point everyone just beating a dead stick, and withholding buying stock there's really only one thing you can do to affect his job, and most are not willingly or cannot make a difference in that market. Point is, give it time an Activision will start to see stock fall and money shrink up. Self destructive policies, don't really need any help to destroy this company.
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On July 12 2010 17:10 MamiyaOtaru wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 12:55 hejakev wrote:On July 12 2010 11:08 Subversion wrote:
Fat douchey assclown.
Worst thing is he's damn good at his job, makes Activision a fortune. I feel like such a hippie complaining about corporations and their corporate greed, but... they're takin' over, maaaan It's not like Activision/Blizard is holding you upside down and shaking coins out of your pocket. If you give them money that's your own choice. What, they lure people into giving them money by making a product (Starcraft) that people want? Oh noes! It's still your choice. If you weigh and balance your disgust at Bobby vs your want for SC2, and decide to buy SC2, well again that was your choice, and you validated Bobby. There's an easy way to prevent Actiblizz from being a greedy corp, and that's not putting up with their perceived abuses and not giving them money. Of course I'm sure you'd prefer to get both SC2 and have Actiblizz act more nice. Now who's greedy? You want their product, and control over how they produce it
That is some next-level douchebaggery. All I really said was I sound like a hippie for saying that corporations are greedy.
I know you probably don't mean to look like a jerk, so next time you should really read what you're responding to before posting a reply.
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I hope the lawsuit wins and they get awarded 'compensation' damage due to emotional distress, etc.
Look forward to the games the new spin off company makes.
Corv
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On July 12 2010 17:20 TUski wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 16:17 USn wrote:lol, such over the top hate. Admit it, you (yeah, you) don't even care about the employees. If he were the ceo of paramount or something this thread would hit two pages tops, you wouldn't have posted in it, and you certainly wouldn't let anything like Hope he gets a heart attack. Human beings do not treat each other like this.
That thing is not human. pass without comment. You only care because he's the head of a gaming company and you are way too emotionally involved with games -_-. Take a moment to get some perspective, this is actually at an incredible distance from you. Wl excuse me if I like to have faith in the future of society. I actually do care about the people who get treated like crap. And let's face it, you don't give two shits because you're not in the employees shoes right now and have no commitment to them. Jobs, at their core, exist so that the individual can contribute and benefit his or her community, without exception. What I see here is a guy who lied, cheated, and stole from people who wanted to create something for the enjoyment of the community. Now tell me, would YOU like to live in a world filled with people like this? Food for thought. I've given my input and I don't have any obligation to defend it for you. Have a great day. Your opinion is entirely your own.
Yeah, sure. Your heart is filled with sorrow and rage because of the incredible emotional brutality on display here, not because you inflate the significance of anything gaming related to titanic proportions.
People are sweating and shouting about this when really it has nothing to do with them. Suppose I put a picture of a random sweatshop owner up on here along with a brief description of his alleged crimes. Do you really think we'd be getting the kind of ridiculous reaction you see here, with nine pages of people saying he should have a heart attack and die and that he's not human? Of course not, even though sweatshops are infinitely worse than it's possible for the conditions at infinity ward to have been. That's because nobody cares, because they aren't emotionally invested in the fall sweater season or whatever like they are in games.
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I like this scenario better. Blizzard takes over Activision after Bobby gets sent to prison/is murdered by some outraged gamer on steroids. Then Blizzard merges with valve forming idk... "Fog..." "Iced over valve." BlizzardValve." "ValveBlizzard" Then take over the gaming world entirely with their new MMO, WORLD OF HALFLIFE, or WoH for short, every player gets a free in-game CROWBAR just for purchasing the game! (See redeeming code on back of box.) Ahhh that would be awesome... wait whats going on now? Oh yea Activision sucks balls, its as if heaven and hell are merged and they need to have a war where Blizzard comes out on top...
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On July 13 2010 03:08 USn wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 17:20 TUski wrote:On July 12 2010 16:17 USn wrote:lol, such over the top hate. Admit it, you (yeah, you) don't even care about the employees. If he were the ceo of paramount or something this thread would hit two pages tops, you wouldn't have posted in it, and you certainly wouldn't let anything like Hope he gets a heart attack. Human beings do not treat each other like this.
That thing is not human. pass without comment. You only care because he's the head of a gaming company and you are way too emotionally involved with games -_-. Take a moment to get some perspective, this is actually at an incredible distance from you. Wl excuse me if I like to have faith in the future of society. I actually do care about the people who get treated like crap. And let's face it, you don't give two shits because you're not in the employees shoes right now and have no commitment to them. Jobs, at their core, exist so that the individual can contribute and benefit his or her community, without exception. What I see here is a guy who lied, cheated, and stole from people who wanted to create something for the enjoyment of the community. Now tell me, would YOU like to live in a world filled with people like this? Food for thought. I've given my input and I don't have any obligation to defend it for you. Have a great day. Your opinion is entirely your own. Yeah, sure. Your heart is filled with sorrow and rage because of the incredible emotional brutality on display here, not because you inflate the significance of anything gaming related to titanic proportions. People are sweating and shouting about this when really it has nothing to do with them. Suppose I put a picture of a random sweatshop owner up on here along with a brief description of his alleged crimes. Do you really think we'd be getting the kind of ridiculous reaction you see here, with nine pages of people saying he should have a heart attack and die and that he's not human? Of course not, even though sweatshops are infinitely worse than it's possible for the conditions at infinity ward to have been. That's because nobody cares, because they aren't emotionally invested in the fall sweater season or whatever like they are in games. Well of course everyone agrees that sweat shops are bad, and there are plenty of people that are actively trying to put a stop to it, but trying to discredit people's rage over this issue by claiming "well you wouldn't be as pissed off if you heard news of how a sweat shop is running" is completely besides the point. Yes, some of the comments about how Kottick deserves to die are fairly outrageous, but it's still reasonable to be angry at the guy. You're like the guy that tries to say "how can you be so angry at ___ when there are kids starving in Africa!", just because there are worse things happening in the world doesn't give you the right to claim that complaining about anything else is pointless.
and yeah, people tend to get worked up over things that they care about even if it doesn't affect them directly, big surprise.
editted for clarity.
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On July 13 2010 03:49 Spyfire242 wrote:
I like this scenario better. Blizzard takes over Activision after Bobby gets sent to prison/is murdered by some outraged gamer on steroids. Then Blizzard merges with valve forming idk... "Fog..." "Iced over valve." BlizzardValve." "ValveBlizzard" Then take over the gaming world entirely with their new MMO, WORLD OF HALFLIFE, or WoH for short, every player gets a free in-game CROWBAR just for purchasing the game! (See redeeming code on back of box.) Ahhh that would be awesome... wait whats going on now? Oh yea Activision sucks balls, its as if heaven and hell are merged and they need to have a war where Blizzard comes out on top...
I rather like this scenario I'd play WoHL (especially for the free in-game crowbar), and it'd be nice to see all my steam friends again
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"In 2008, as reported by Forbes magazine, Robert Kotick received nearly $15 million USD in salary, benefits, options and incentives for his work with Activision Blizzard, of which $899,560 was his actual salary"
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The way I see it, complaining about some sort of injustice is absolutely pointless and meaningless if you don't have the conviction to act on those complaints. Given the fact that this is most likely the case with the members posting here, I don't see what the point of this is. If you want Activision to change its ways, boycott their products and stop giving them your money. But then again, this is a Starcraft forum and most of you are probably going to buy Starcraft 2 anyway... Until you give a company some sort of financial incentive to change its policies, there's no reason for them to do so, particularly when they're as successful as Activision is and have a huge fanbase that will buy whatever crap they put out no matter how it was made...
Of course what's being described here is not right, but neither are countless other things in the world. Ultimately, you're the one choosing where your money goes and who you support. So long as you perpetuate these injustices by supporting those who commit them, then you really have nothing to say because you're part of the problem too. So you can choose to continue to have your complaints fall on deaf ears or you can actually do something to send a real message that this is something you don't find acceptable from a corporation. Ball's in your court.
On a completely separate note, I can't believe Activision hasn't done something to remove this guy from the limelight and hide him in some dark corner of the company, away from the public. Every single thing out of his mouth is so stupid and horrible for PR. How to they let him keep doing interviews?
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On July 13 2010 04:04 Falcynn wrote:Show nested quote +On July 13 2010 03:08 USn wrote:On July 12 2010 17:20 TUski wrote:On July 12 2010 16:17 USn wrote:lol, such over the top hate. Admit it, you (yeah, you) don't even care about the employees. If he were the ceo of paramount or something this thread would hit two pages tops, you wouldn't have posted in it, and you certainly wouldn't let anything like Hope he gets a heart attack. Human beings do not treat each other like this.
That thing is not human. pass without comment. You only care because he's the head of a gaming company and you are way too emotionally involved with games -_-. Take a moment to get some perspective, this is actually at an incredible distance from you. Wl excuse me if I like to have faith in the future of society. I actually do care about the people who get treated like crap. And let's face it, you don't give two shits because you're not in the employees shoes right now and have no commitment to them. Jobs, at their core, exist so that the individual can contribute and benefit his or her community, without exception. What I see here is a guy who lied, cheated, and stole from people who wanted to create something for the enjoyment of the community. Now tell me, would YOU like to live in a world filled with people like this? Food for thought. I've given my input and I don't have any obligation to defend it for you. Have a great day. Your opinion is entirely your own. Yeah, sure. Your heart is filled with sorrow and rage because of the incredible emotional brutality on display here, not because you inflate the significance of anything gaming related to titanic proportions. People are sweating and shouting about this when really it has nothing to do with them. Suppose I put a picture of a random sweatshop owner up on here along with a brief description of his alleged crimes. Do you really think we'd be getting the kind of ridiculous reaction you see here, with nine pages of people saying he should have a heart attack and die and that he's not human? Of course not, even though sweatshops are infinitely worse than it's possible for the conditions at infinity ward to have been. That's because nobody cares, because they aren't emotionally invested in the fall sweater season or whatever like they are in games. Well of course everyone agrees that sweat shops are bad, and there are plenty of people that are actively trying to put a stop to it, but trying to discredit people's rage over this issue by claiming "well you wouldn't be as pissed off if you heard news of how a sweat shop is running" is completely besides the point. Yes, some of the comments about how Kottick deserves to die are fairly outrageous, but it's still reasonable to be angry at the guy. You're like the guy that tries to say "how can you be so angry at ___ when there are kids starving in Africa!", just because there are worse things happening in the world doesn't give you the right to claim that complaining about anything else is pointless.
No, your example is completely unrelated. My point is not that complaining about this is pointless (although, obviously, it is.) What I'm saying is that to any normal person who isn't wrapped up in hardcore gaming the posts in this thread would be either disgusting, hilarious, or embarrassing. People are just letting the statements you describe as "fairly outrageous" slide right by. That's pathetic, get off the bandwagon guys.
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Wow that pic looks like some guy I really hated in highschool.. I'M IN ... F ACTIVISION!
Seriously though, some of those allegations are pretty disturbing.
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Vatican City State1650 Posts
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6226758.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1
CEO Bobby Kotick reveals plans for "untethered Guitar Hero," Facebook integration, emotionally resonant animation, and taking "all the fun out of making video games."
During a 45-minute presentation today at the Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference in San Francisco, Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick covered a substantial amount of ground. For one, the executive explained how he expects Activision games--specifically Guitar Hero--to bypass consoles altogether. The executive also showed off animation technology he hailed as the future of storytelling in games, pegged the next generation of consoles as being two years out or more, and explained openly why he wants a company culture infused with skepticism, pessimism, and fear.
On the Guitar Hero topic, Kotick told analysts and investors about some potentially big changes in store for the rhythm franchise. When asked about a Guitar Hero game that didn't need a console to operate, Kotick bluntly appraised its benefits.
"I think what the untethered Guitar Hero does is equal the playing field a little more and give you some leverage with first parties when it comes to downloadable content and the business model," Kotick said.
The executive also told attendees to "expect many of our products to be playable independent of a console," specifically saying he'd been impressed with media hub functionalities shown by 1080p TVs that let users stream content from their PCs. He also suggested a day in the not-too-distant future where players' Facebook profiles will be integrated into Guitar Hero, letting them make songs to share with friends, post high scores or favorite songs on their profile pages, and so on.
While games like Guitar Hero have proven popular for the tactile experience of their peripherals, Kotick said Activision is also working to push the envelope in emotional game experiences. He showed the audience a clip of Call of Duty: World at War, saying his friends in the movie industry all react by pointing out how unreal the mouth movement looks. The executive said game makers just haven't reached a point yet where the mouth movement and facial animation of game characters is good enough to establish a compelling emotional attachment from the player.
To remedy that, Kotick noted a real-time rendering and mouth movement technology Activision has been working on. He showed a clip of the technology, saying it could represent nothing less than a transformation of the medium. While Kotick said the technology wouldn't surface until the next generation of games, he did say it would be ready before the next generation of hardware.
Kotick added that publishers don't take advantage of the full capabilities of today's hardware and said it might be some time before the next generation arrives. Typically, console makers give publishing partners about two years' notice when they plan to introduce new hardware, Kotick said. But so far, the console makers haven't given him specs or white papers on new hardware nor have they consulted him on design decisions, leading him to believe their current priority is instead to reduce the cost of each system.
When he wasn't promoting the company's games or technology, Kotick was celebrating its laserlike focus on the bottom line. He pointed to changes he implemented in the past as being particularly beneficial, such as designing the employee incentive program so it "really rewards profit and nothing else."
"You have studio heads who five years ago didn't know the difference between a balance sheet and a bed sheet who are now arguing allocations in our CFO's office pretty regularly," Kotick said.
He later added, "We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."
If that sounds like it would create a corporate culture that isn't all sunshine and hugs, then it's mission accomplished for Kotick. The executive said that he has tried to instill into the company culture "skepticism, pessimism, and fear" of the global economic downturn, adding, "We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."
[UPDATE] Below is the question which prompted Kotick's response and his full answer, verbatim from the archived conference audio.
Jeetil Patel, Deutsche Bank Securities - Analyst
"What do you think the retailers' willingness these days is to hold inventory on the video game side? Are they building positions today or are they still very reluctant and very careful of how they are buying?"
Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard, Inc. - President and CEO
"I don't think it is specific to video games. I think that if you look at how much volatility there is in the economy and, dependent upon your view about macroeconomic picture and I think we have a real culture of thrift. And I think the goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks that we brought in to Activision 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."
"I think we definitely have been able to instill the culture, the skepticism and pessimism and fear that you should have in an economy like we are in today. And so, while generally people talk about the recession, we are pretty good at keeping people focused on the deep depression."
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United States889 Posts
Lest anyone continue on these accusations of greed, let me make on thing clear. There's a huge difference between the buzz word form of greed to mean exceedingly profitable and trying to cheat employees out of contractual, obligatory compensation. If this is true, Activision is batshit insane, and in some serious trouble too.
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51454 Posts
i'd love to see kotick participate in undercover boss.
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On July 13 2010 12:30 Arrian wrote:
Lest anyone continue on these accusations of greed, let me make on thing clear. There's a huge difference between the buzz word form of greed to mean exceedingly profitable and trying to cheat employees out of contractual, obligatory compensation. If this is true, Activision is batshit insane, and in some serious trouble too.
Oh I see what you mean. I suppose it just seems "greedy" because one party is gaining something at another party's expense. If it's true, the employees are really getting taken advantage of
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This is so fucking stupid.. this guy for sure is going to get alot of threats on his life. ill break a bottle of champange when one of those ppl actully manages to do it.
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On July 11 2010 02:46 Megalisk wrote:Google shares my sentiments.
ohhhh MAN!
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On July 12 2010 18:32 angelicfolly wrote:Show nested quote +On July 12 2010 17:48 Electric.Jesus wrote:How much is Blizzard worth? Maybe all Blizzard fans can pay some money into a mutual fund and with that money we buy 51% of Blizzard shares. Then WE own the company. What's better than a company owned by their very own customers? And for all the Fox News Fans: yeah, that's socialism. :p Edit: Just found information stating that the approximate value of the Vivendi branch containing Blizzard was $8.1 billion at the time of the merger. Even 51% of that might be a bit more then we could afford. Umm, Can you not make this into a childish swipe? Fox News has NOTHING to do with this, so please don't insult other members like that. Right now I can picture Neil Cavuto just face palming himself over such a comment. Let me guess, you want a private group (think for a second about your statement and you will see the big hole you put into it) to run a company? Hmm doesn't not seem like socialism (I"m not even going to deal with the rest of it).
First of all, I did not intend to seriously offend anyone. Sorry if you felt offended. It was meant as a joke. We good?
FYI, there is a huge difference between owning a company and running it. If you buy stocks, you own part of the company. The CEO, despite his or her own perception of the situation, is a well paid employee unless he or her also holds shares of the company.
So basically who owns the company is entitled to tell the CEO what to do and fire him or her in case of noncompliance. AGAIN, not running the company but telling the CEO when to do stuff differently. That means, as long as the CEO does a good job, the owners can lean back. As soon as the CEO starts pulling off shit, like blackmailing employees, you tell them to stop it or GTFO. Sounds good to me.
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On July 11 2010 02:46 Megalisk wrote:Google shares my sentiments.
google is a very smart search engine.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://cache.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/185766_S/Bobby-Kotick.jpg)
