Fuck you Activision. Fuck you Bobby Kotick. Fuck you Blizzard. I mean, ahem. Hello! And welcom to another entry in an occasional series I like to call Greedy Cunts Corner. And of course, we return to the enemy of anyone who has ever owned any games machine ever (especially Colecovision). Latest thing on the list: Pay to play multiplayer. Like Warcraft, as lest face it, if gamers aren’t avoiding sunlight while running around fucking elven maidens and generally not listening to their mother shout up that the washing is done, they’re playing Modern Warfare 2! Yay for Modern Warfare and call of Duty, and its monopolizing of the FPS market. (see also, Halo) I guess the point of this is that, Bobby Kotick saw a good thing with Warcraft and wants it more.
Trawl through those for more indepth analysis, it’s late and I’m lazy. Point is, the comments are the most interesting thing on these cuz those are real gamers. And they all see the same thing: being wrung out for more money. £55 a game+2 £15 map packs(£30)=an £85 investment. Now add in a subscriptiuon fee to this and the only people who can afford to play are the execs at activison who are getting this money fed into their wallets by what I can only imagine is some kind of tube system. They say profits are down because no one is buying new games, they all stay at home and play multiplayer. Maybe that’s because there’s no good games cuz all the money is beig fed away from devs and into the execs back pockets? And of course this year there’s more entries into Activision’s big 3 (Warcraft: Cataclysm, COD: Black Ops and GH:Warriors of Rock). NOw I’ll be the first to admit that I’m looking forward to GH, and if they were to implement a subscription system, I’d look into it, depending on what it promised. And this is the crux of the story. Gamers will pay for content. (not all, but that’s another story). Yes COD map packs are expensive, but that’s Activision for you. But content worth paying for makes itself known. Take for example Borderlands. For just over the price of one COD map pack gets you a short quest/add on story using freaking ZOMBIES!!, some combat arenas akin to wave combat of yore and a pretty substantial add on, which is hard as nails but ultimately satisfying (when the lady jetpack jedis show up). All are madw with the same care as the main game. That’s content worth paying for. And see also GH content. It’s not all worth paying for (and frequently gets beaten by rock band, cuz they have longer to farm out dlc anyway). Point is, if a GH subscription service involved content; decent content, then it may be worth it. But paying for multiplayer is essentually paying for a game twice. But as it stands now, you play COD, expect to have a lighter bank balance, and nothing to show for it except carpal tunnel and knowlegde of the best sniper spots in a fictional Basra village. Almost makes you wanna sell the console and start to read again… Basically, all of this leading down a dark road for gaming and gamers, and at the end, there will only be misery, hurt feelings and a new beginning. Hopefully one free of Activision and it’s greedy, non gamer CEO Bobby Kotick. I hate him, and I hate his philosophy. Yeh I’ll buy Guitar Hero 6, as it has good content. Luckily I don’t use multiplayer anyway as I have very little time on my hands. (I haven’t actually bought a game since…Split/Second back in May). I think I’m due a new game…
EDIT: It’s not just Activision though. Take for example my beloved Resident Evil franchise. The unlock download for Resi 5 costs 3.99 (at last check) and is like 4 kb big. For an entirely new game mode? Never. It’s an unlock code, you download it and it’s actually already on the disc. So now you’re buying half a product and then expected to buy the other half as an extra? Fuck off Capcom. Great, now I’m in a mood…
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Heh heh, the gaming industry never changes. The Sims has to be the worst culprit though.