Video gamers are idiots.
At least with regards to Call of Duty Modern Warfare II.
No, this isn't a generic complaint about a 12-year-old screaming profanity over XBOX Live. That part will always be with us in multiplayer games as long as parents don't bother getting involved in their kid's lives. But that's another argument.
You might've heard about Bobby Kotick, the current CEO of Activision who is acting like a total dick nearly every time he opens his mouth in public. He's talked openly about how he intends to sell more basic maps or features as downloadable content, how he wants his workers to be afraid of losing their jobs (sure, there's always that motivation, but I don't even think the Wall Street Vampire Squid has gone that far in saying it publicly), and his preference for exploitable franchises over new IP.
How does this relate to Call of Duty Cash Cow II? The developers took out the ability to make dedicated servers, limited them to 9v9, and for the XBOX folks the party chat function was partially disabled as well. Also, on a minor note, the commercials for the game used an annoying Eminem song, thus proving further that Call of Duty had gone from exploring the horrors of war to a goddamn Michael Bay or Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Some people threatened to boycott, wrote internet petitions...
[pause for laugh track]
...and claimed that a line would be drawn in the sand against Activision and Kotick.
Guess how well that worked? 4.7 million units sold in the US and UK within the first 24 hours of release, totalling about $310 million, an even bigger opening weekend than some movies get. Kotick himself became over $20 million richer after exercising his stock options at the height of the craze. Even several of the boycotters were spotted playing the game they so totally hated on Steam (some defended themselves by claiming they only got a pirated copy. Apparently, they seem to be missing the point of a boycott).
So yeah, Activision seems to have learned their lesson: They can piss on their customers all day long, and the response will be "Please sir, may I have some more?" Because for all their whining and gibbering about the customer is always right and how games should be made and how some things should come included on the disc instead of held back for an extra $5-15, they will still go out and buy the damn game or the DLC (or get their parents to do it for them) at the end of the day.
Good going, video gamers. GG, as you would say.
No, this isn't a generic complaint about a 12-year-old screaming profanity over XBOX Live. That part will always be with us in multiplayer games as long as parents don't bother getting involved in their kid's lives. But that's another argument.
You might've heard about Bobby Kotick, the current CEO of Activision who is acting like a total dick nearly every time he opens his mouth in public. He's talked openly about how he intends to sell more basic maps or features as downloadable content, how he wants his workers to be afraid of losing their jobs (sure, there's always that motivation, but I don't even think the Wall Street Vampire Squid has gone that far in saying it publicly), and his preference for exploitable franchises over new IP.
How does this relate to Call of Duty Cash Cow II? The developers took out the ability to make dedicated servers, limited them to 9v9, and for the XBOX folks the party chat function was partially disabled as well. Also, on a minor note, the commercials for the game used an annoying Eminem song, thus proving further that Call of Duty had gone from exploring the horrors of war to a goddamn Michael Bay or Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Some people threatened to boycott, wrote internet petitions...
[pause for laugh track]
...and claimed that a line would be drawn in the sand against Activision and Kotick.
Guess how well that worked? 4.7 million units sold in the US and UK within the first 24 hours of release, totalling about $310 million, an even bigger opening weekend than some movies get. Kotick himself became over $20 million richer after exercising his stock options at the height of the craze. Even several of the boycotters were spotted playing the game they so totally hated on Steam (some defended themselves by claiming they only got a pirated copy. Apparently, they seem to be missing the point of a boycott).
So yeah, Activision seems to have learned their lesson: They can piss on their customers all day long, and the response will be "Please sir, may I have some more?" Because for all their whining and gibbering about the customer is always right and how games should be made and how some things should come included on the disc instead of held back for an extra $5-15, they will still go out and buy the damn game or the DLC (or get their parents to do it for them) at the end of the day.
Good going, video gamers. GG, as you would say.