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[fenrif]

I've got much more blame to throw at Kotick than people like that.

I have a bigger problem with people who don't care about what they are doing than Kotick. If you don't care enough about your hobby to be informed of it, then it probably isn't for you. If you have no passion for your hobby, why are you engaged in it at all? When I go to see a movie, I'm not just going to pick from the list when I get there, I'm only going to go if there is something that I want to watch playing. I won't go scouring all the review sites to see if that cool trailer for whatever movie is as good as the actual movie, but I'm not going to waste my money on a film I don't care about and don't want to see. I don't watch the cooking channel because I can't be bothered to flip the channel to something that appeals to me. I don't listen to WKIQ 99.1 because the music on that station is not my cup of tea, so I listen to a channel that plays songs I like.

Games aren't even the same as movies and TV or radio. They are much longer and more involved experiences. They are very, very different from TV and Radio. But even a comparison between movies fails to suffice. Movies are much cheaper and much shorter experiences. Advertisement for movies is also much more prevalent, and movies come and go from theaters in a matter of weeks, while games can be on store shelves for years.

The only time I've bought a game on impulse was on Steam (GET IT?), it was $2.50, looked unique, so I thought I'd take a chance. It wasn't great, but I didn't pay very much. I would never, purchase a 60 dollar game without knowing what I was getting into. I don't have that kind of cash. Maybe most other people do, but I certainly don't.

Even worse than Kotick in my mind, however, are those in the Boycott groups who buy the games they are boycotting. I will not buy Modern Warfare 2 because it lacks dedicated servers. I might would years later, when it was dirt cheap, but at that time they will probably have long since shut down the service, so I can safely say I will never buy it. I don't go out of my way to show people that, but that's how I feel and that is the decision I came to. However, the people who did say that, as loudly as possible, and yet BOUGHT the game, even PRE-ORDERED the game. Those people I can't even respect, not one bit.

Kotick is an asshole who does his job well. He has the balls to say exactly what assholery he is engaged in and do it. That I can respect, even if I don't LIKE the man.

The attitude that "you have to be compeltely devoted to the hobby or it's not for you" is far too elitist for my tastes. Who are you or I to decide how other people enjoy their hobby. You give examples of going to the cinema and only watching something you know you want to watch, or only listening to the radio stations that play the songs you know you like. That's all well and good if you only ever want to experience things you're allready familiar with.

The length and involvement isn't the issue here. Someone could release a movie that's 20 hours long, for example. Or even more pertinant, box sets of TV series are often the same length or longer than modern games. It's not about the content, but the advertising and how people interact with it. Movies can be on shelves for just as long as games. Longer even, if those copy of metropolis (1927) I see at the local HMV are anything to go by.

Yeah, you and I wouldn't purchase a 60 dollar/pound game without knowing all about it. But my point is that there are people out there who aren't like you and me. Who don't hang around on a forum for a relativly obscure freeare indie game. These people have kids, limited free time, or are kids themselves. Are you saying they shouldn't be allowed to play games because they aren't as knowledgeable about it as we are? They still have a passion for it, just maybe not as much as us. And that's perfectly ok.

[Calhoun]

The attitude that "you have to be compeltely devoted to the hobby or it's not for you" is far too elitist for my tastes. Who are you or I to decide how other people enjoy their hobby. You give examples of going to the cinema and only watching something you know you want to watch, or only listening to the radio stations that play the songs you know you like. That's all well and good if you only ever want to experience things you're allready familiar with.

The length and involvement isn't the issue here. Someone could release a movie that's 20 hours long, for example. Or even more pertinant, box sets of TV series are often the same length or longer than modern games. It's not about the content, but the advertising and how people interact with it. Movies can be on shelves for just as long as games. Longer even, if those copy of metropolis (1927) I see at the local HMV are anything to go by.

Yeah, you and I wouldn't purchase a 60 dollar/pound game without knowing all about it. But my point is that there are people out there who aren't like you and me. Who don't hang around on a forum for a relativly obscure freeare indie game. These people have kids, limited free time, or are kids themselves. Are you saying they shouldn't be allowed to play games because they aren't as knowledgeable about it as we are? They still have a passion for it, just maybe not as much as us. And that's perfectly ok.

Complete devotion isn't what I mean. I just mean that people should know things about their hobby. If they enjoy whatever games they buy that are shit, then that's good for them, honestly. But you say it as if they buy these shit games because they get tricked by advertisement. If they enjoy the games than thats good for them. Seriously, it means the games must have some redeeming quality. That's something else entirely.

However, It isn't hard to get information on games, yes review sites aren't necessarily accurate, but that doesn't mean they are all handing out 10/10s for $2.50. Aggregate sites like Metacritic are fairly reliable. Plus, the big one, They could TALK to other people they know who play games, they could talk to the people at whatever shop they are buying their games at. I've gotten into multiple conversations about various games at my local gamestop with other customers.

I don't know anyone, (including older folks I know, who have kids, including my own parents) who would buy a boxset of DVDs for a TV show they have only seen a few times in advertising. That isn't to say that they wouldn't if they hadn't heard a very good recommendation from a friend, but that isn't just seeing a cool ad and running out to buy it.'

People can play games if they want to, It's a good thing the more people play. I don't have a problem with "Casuals" like so many other people do. If they have fun, then it's all good. It's just a bit hard to imagine so many people doing what they do because of limited free time, and seeing a cool advertisement for a product.

[dogstile]

I go to gamestop every once in a while and pick up a game off the shelf at random to play it. Its more fun for me that way. Are you telling me i'm a horrible consumer?

[Calhoun]

Are you paying for a full-price game?

I'd say thats the big one. If it's straight out of the bargain bin and is only 5 bucks. No big deal. But if you are buying a brand new game at full price, that is a bit worrying.

[Cthulhu]

Tangentially related:  I don't know why Metropolis is in stores, it's not good at all, although evil robot woman is pretty sexy.

[inteuniso]

Tangentially related:  I don't know why Metropolis is in stores, it's not good at all, although evil robot woman is pretty sexy.

What's Metropolis?

[Calhoun]

Tangentially related:  I don't know why Metropolis is in stores, it's not good at all, although evil robot woman is pretty sexy.

What's Metropolis?

A movie form 1927. Which had some pretty damn good visual effects, for the 20's.

[dogstile]

Are you paying for a full-price game?

I'd say thats the big one. If it's straight out of the bargain bin and is only 5 bucks. No big deal. But if you are buying a brand new game at full price, that is a bit worrying.

Depends on if i have alot of cash to spend or not. Sometimes i'm given to flights of fancy and i just go to the shelf and go "that looks cool" and buy a full priced game (this is how i found out about Alan Wake). Buying games because you have cash to spend and it looks cool isn't a bad thing.

[fenrif]

Tangentially related:  I don't know why Metropolis is in stores, it's not good at all, although evil robot woman is pretty sexy.

It's a hugely important film in cinematic history, and I personally quite enjoyed it. Though I doubt I'd ever watch it again. It does often end up on top 100, or best sci fi films. It's just a matter of taste.

[PTTG??]

1. Stop making threads OP.

Mildly agree.

2. OH GAWD SOMEONE IS DOING THEIR JOB! OH NO A BUSINESS MAKING MONEY? OH GAWD EVIL EVIL! CAPITALISM IS GUD BUT FUCK ANY COMPANY THAT DOES WELL AND MAKES MONEY! OH GAWD NO!

Seriously, get real.

His exact methods are, quite openly stated (by himself, no less), "reduce quality, raise prices, squash innovation, and torment employees". He's not just the quintessential soulless businessman; he's the living embodiment of malevolent, short sighted greed.

How can I purchase a share of this enterprise?

Seriously, He is complete based around profit, over anything else. If selling high quality games garnered him a 100 million, he'd be out selling it. But, the new game industry is all about regular people. People who just don't care.

Short term profit! How long is Activision going to stay in business if they make countless identical sequels? He's running the company into the ground and while it's going to look good on paper, it's not going to work out well for anyone but him and his cronies.

[Muz]

Speaking of running companies into the ground, it's amazing how a lot of great companies in the industry died - Microprose, Interplay, Midway, Bullfrog, that company that made Evil Genius. Game industry has a short lifespan.

[Grakelin]

Speaking of running companies into the ground, it's amazing how a lot of great companies in the industry died - Microprose, Interplay, Midway, Bullfrog, that company that made Evil Genius. Game industry has a short lifespan.

Evil Genius is barely worth the $10.00 I paid for it years after its release.

The lifespan isn't really that short. Blizzard has been going for around twenty years. Nintendo for longer than that. And not all companies die, so much as get absorbed by other companies.

[Muz]

I mean like when you compare it to other companies. Only a small percentage lasts 20 years or more, or even 10 years. It is difficult to compare when the game industry is only like 40 years old and the tech changes every 5 years. The best benchmark would be the software industry, but I can't find much data on that.

[Neonivek]

Personally I don't exactly like the idea of "Excuse the person because he is simply using the system in the way that it is set up to be used"

and while to an extent it is true... it allows just about anyone off the hook.

I am not going to excuse shady buisness practices just because they make more money. I am allowed to question both the reasons why it makes more money and the person who attempts to benefit from such in the same way that I can be mad that my security alarm is broken AND mad that the person who came and fixed it ripped me off because he made a deal with the parent company and it is the only way to make money as a repair man.

[dogstile]

Then how about "He's making money, and if you don't like it don't buy it". Because that's about all you can do.