Activision 'doesn't just churn sh*t out'

Blur developer Bizarre Creations has defended the track record of mega-publisher Activision - commenting that the US giant doesn't "just churn shit out".

[Hellsvacancy]

Well, in MY opinion they DO, and i base that on the fact that i aint bought ANY of there games 4 ages, i dont think ive even rented any, all i can think of is MW2 which i hated (hence y it was a rental)

[JOLLY1]

I don't get it. You are basing you opinion on nothing? Have you played any of their games, besides modern warfare (which I hate too)? I just don't understand your comment. They publish bad games because you don't buy their games? That just doesn't make sense to me. I haven't purchased any of their games, but that is because I don't like the guy running the ship.

[no_more_trolling]

thats just ur opinion
its not a fact

how can u put opinion and fact in the same sentence

[Hellsvacancy]

Well lets hav a look at sum of Activisions games lately shall we

Call of Duty 3,MW,WAW and MW2. I rented all those games, if i had bought them i would not of been a happy bunny

Guitar Hero, played it at a BBQ once, didnt like it (and i LOVE rock music)

Wolfenstein - Rented it, DIDNT like it

Transformers - I know i wont like it so wots the point in tryin?

Prototype - Next 2 Res5 its the WORST game ive played this gen

Enemy Territory Quake Wars - Oh dear

Spiderman - Same as above "oh dear"

Quantum Of Solace - Rented it, it was Pooh

Kung Fu Panda - Not even worth my time]

------------------

Well thats afew of there games that i can think of, ALL of them awful games

If a games good (imo) ill buy it, if it isnt, its coz its crap and i hated it, i KNOW wot games appeal 2-me and wot games dont

JOLLY1 - YOUR comment is EVEN more retarded, your tellin me u dont buy games (no matter how good they r) coz u dont like the dude that makes them (i dont like him either) well thats just stupid

And as 4 NoMore Trolling u can kiss my arse, i aint even gonna waste my time on the likes of u

[execution17]

they only just multiple games of the same name out every year to have a bigger impact on the market lol

[darkmurder]

Activision holds gun to Bizarre's head: Err sure we'll do anything please!

[Lifendz]

and, consequently, kill the demand and anticipation of their biggest IPs. I'm in love with the Modern Warfare games. I know that many of you hate them but I'm hooked. One of the reasons why I'm hooked is that I get to enjoy the newest iteration of a Modern Warfare game for 2 years before the next one drops. Now look at Guitar Hero. Holy crap. By the time you buy one it seems like another one is dropping in a few months. Rock Band is doing it right. Let it "marinate" for awhile as some would say. Let people buy the music on your store and maybe let your game move units at a lower MSRP for awhile.

Activision was fortunate. They got IW for a bargain, they capitalized on that music game genre, AND they purchased the biggest cash cow out there in Blizzard. 2 of 3 of those moves are in serious jeopardy. I don't buy the Treyarch COD games because I'm sick of WWII shooters and I don't need more than one music game. Maybe I'm alone here, but I think Activision is in serious trouble in the console arena....at least until they get a WoW game on the consoles.

[zeeshan]

Hahaha, that is funny because IMO, that's EXACTLY what they churn out each year! When was the last time they started and supported a brand new IP? Hmmm... lets see.. hmm... Prototype? And?

[MiloGarret]

That's still just your opinion. Another persons list might look like this:

Call of Duty 3,MW,WAW and MW2 - I bought all those games and absolutely LOVED them all.

Guitar Hero, played it at a BBQ once, had a blast with my friends and bought the game later.

Wolfenstein - Didn't quite live up to its predecessor but was still a competent game.

Transformers - I love transformers and I really enjoyed kicking ass as a Decepticon.

Prototype - Next 2 Res5 its the BEST game ive played this gen

Enemy Territory Quake Wars - Yeah that's just crap...

Spiderman - Hug fan of spidey, it wasn't the best game ever, but I enjoyed it a lot more than say... MGS4.

Quantum Of Solace - Bought it, it was great.

Kung Fu Panda - Not really worth my time, but my kids really liked it.

-----------------------------

See, opinions. Just because you say it's so, doesn't make it so.

BTW - Activision does "churn shït out" on a regular basis.

[Mike134nl]

Sometimes they don't. But after they released a good franchise which the people seem to like they start churning out sh*t.
Makes you wonder how they will mess up blur if it turns out to be a good selling title.

[tudors]

for saying it's just my opinion but based on fact? that doesn't make any sense buddy.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

Stockholm Syndrome.

[CoderDunn]

I wouldn't call COD4 sh!t (I had hours of fun at LAN parties with this game), but MW2? Yup, it's sh!t.

[Solidus187-SCMilk]

The just churn COMPLETE sh@t out.

and then fire the sh@t churners before paying them.

[bjornbear]

opinions are usually meant to be based on certain facts...

the general public's opinion of Hitler is bad because of what did (opinion), which was murdering millions of innocent people (fact).

see how it works? opinions are based on certain facts...but not always all, hence why they differ, being SUBJECTIVE

if you take in ALL the facts, you are looking at something OBJECTIVELY

+ I agree with hells', I haven't BOUGHT any Acti games in a while (since COD4) but have played Guitar Hero and MW2 and was so disappointed, that considering what they have to offer, have NO interest in them what so ever.

[bioshock1221]

Yeah I agree they do churn sh*t out a lot. Just wait if blur becomes a success you can definitely expect it every year. Just like they do to all their successful franchises they start out great and then just keep milking them until no one cares anymore.

[aaron5829]

I have a weird feeling that Blur will be another sh*t churned out by Activision.

[Hotel_Moscow]

thats youre oppinion though that you dont like their games

[mastiffchild]

But it IS true that they have as good as killed their GH series by milking it to death and have even made their top cash cow and talented devs in /IW look shabby by making them cut every conceivable corner while bringing us MW2, no?

That isn't a way of working that's indicative of them caring about the quality of their games now is it? Sure, you might like their games but, also, that doesn't make them good and nor does lots of people buying them esp when we can see a downward spiral in the quality of their two largest console franchises. MW2 is STILL a mess on line, they cut back on QA and beta tests, cut PC dedicated servers and failed to offer them to console gamers when they needed to and the marketing budget for the game dwarfed the production budget which shows even more that they're more interested in selling a lot of games than selling a lot of GREAT games and while Booby the tight is in charge this will always be the case.

the sad fact is that MW2 was the third release in three years of what amounts to the same basic game reskinned and with ever decreasing in quality SP stories./ the corners being cut are having the same effect as pushing out a GH bundle every other week and Acti might as well see that people are getting wise to their grabbing ways that hurt the rep of even the best developers they deal with. The clash at IW hasn't happened by chance you know.

the deal, as I see it with Act/Kotick, is this:they'd rather sell 1,000000 average games for £50 a piece than 2,000000 great games at £25/£30 a pop even if them getting them out quicker and more cheaply and therefore at a lower quality-which is the net effect gamers feel from all this greed and dev de,moralising behaviour.

It's slash and burn economics in many ways and they'll come, imo, to rue the day they went this far and, even worse, allowed Kotick free reign to say some of the most awfully greed centric BS since MD in Wall Street declaring "greed is good!". A whole company of Gordon Gecko's under Kotick's banner of instant returns and maximum greed and sod the quality! Perfect, just friggin perfect. did they learn so little from watching Ea when they were the Devil's own publishing house? I'm not proud to say that I won't buy another Acti product until things change on their side as I'm more concerned about those willing to keep filling their pockets while Acti look for more and more ways to sell you the same sweets in different wrappers and under slightly different names and with slightly less fresh ingredients year on year.

They also have a problem with COD now, imo. Come , say next years release at the latest, that COD4 set up will need major tweaks to stay competitive with everyone else upping the FPS ante while they're alienating the best talent they had! So, with IW either gone or, more likely, scattered to the four winds because of Activision's draconian greed measures just who, on their rosta, would you trust to maintain the levle of success so far this gen while overseeing a pretty big reboot of the franchise and maybe a brand new engine? Painting themselves into tighter and tighter corners every day because of their awful business style.

[dredgewalker]

@Mastiff
I agree with most of what u said but good God man calm down and try to keep it short. Im no Activision fan either and i hate how Kotick handles business.

[Marty8370]

But they don't pay ther devs royalties.

[Bea Arthur]

How many CoD franchises are they going to have now? I've lost count.

[kingme71]

A Wii version, an action style CoD and the main yearly CoD recycle. I'm sure a few handhelds thrown in for good measure.

[Bea Arthur]

Exactly. Sounds like the just churn crap out to me. At least for some of their IP's.

[wicko]

Not to mention Guitar Hero Spinoffs.

[Bea Arthur]

wicko...good point, they have beat that franchise to death.

[DelbertGrady]

I really like the Blur multiplayer beta. I love how basic the controls are and how well-balanced it feels. It's a rush to play.

[Convas]

I really like Blur and I'm planning on buying it, but I really wish that the proceeds for the game wouldn't go to Beelzebub's ... ermm, I mean Activision's Pockets.

It's in Bizarre's best interest to butter up Activision's image, and if it's true that Acti gave Bizzare more time to step up their game (Read CVG's Blur Preview, it'll show you how much things improved) then more power too them. However, I still don't trust Acti, and I fear I never will.

However from what I'm seeing in Previews and on Youtube, Blur looks like it could be a breakout hit in the Racing Genre this year. On the one hand, I'd like Blur to succeed because it's a novel idea that I find even more attractive that Split/Second: Velocity, but on the other hand, I'd hate for this game to explode in popularity and fill up Acti's Coffers once again. Only time will tell I guess.

[DelbertGrady]

Yeah. I've always liked Bizarre and I hope Nazivision and Kotick don't ruin their game.

@_vx - Not surprised that you got 3 agrees for that intelligent reply. Keep that up and you will have 10+ bubbles in no time. That's the kind of behaviour the N4G mods seem to reward.

[mastiffchild]

Well, IDK Soda he doesn't seem to be gathering many atm. Yeah, I'd almost forgotten that game and, yes it looks OK and could prove good given the talent at Bizarre though i haven't been into any betas nor played it at a mates as of yet(will do so, however)even if it means I'm even more gutted when I refuse to buy it!

Thing is some things are more important to me than getting every game I want to play(I've baulked at buying Forza3 even though ?I like the series because of T10's awful Greenawalt inspired nonsense. Won't buy Acti games because they bleed them dry if the first is successful. Wouldn't buy a PS3 til sony grew humble again. Haven't bought MAG yet afeter Zipper's big mouthed comments even though I loved the betas and am currently struggling over whether /i feel I should buy Alan Wake when it comes out because I think the way they led PC gamers on for FIVE years before giving a BS "intimacy" excuse and cutting them off-which really wrankles as AW was one of the games I initially bought my firsyt 360 to play!)as I feel that rewarding some companies and, by association, the way they act or do their business which I consider bad for gamers and/or developers. Yu realise the danger here is that should Blur be amazing, sell well and garner a big followin Acti will want the next one out a year later with no time to improve or even make it the same quality as the first game was. Bizarre will either farm it out to get a chance of a good thrid game, rush it themselves or cut every corner they feel they can and end up with a second game NOTHING like what they imagined and even less like we'll likely want. either way it leads to a depressed developer and ripped off gamers in my book and IDK how to support the developer without joining the spiral of crap Acti will unleash on any successful new IP the moment the think the F word is relevant(The F word being FRANCHISE for those asleep at the back!).

Seriously, it would almost be better if there were NO talent under Kotick's evil batwings(lol, I mistyped and put "Kotick's evil batwang" first time out! Even his genitals are sinister.)as then it wouldn't be so hard trning my back on every single thing they're connected with. I guess it's just a rental-best answer of a bad bunch for me I suppose.

Anyway, good one to bring up Soda fella. It doesn't neccessarily mean a game will be crappy JUST because Acti are involved but your best chances these days will often lie with those rare new IPs from their developers. I just don't feel comfy bringing Activision my hard earned when I feel they're actively hurting gaming at it's heart-which I consider to be a dual thing including both those creating games and us gamers they create them for. Activision should, at the very least, have a more reasonable attitude towards the developers who make them their cash-should also give us gamers more respect considering we pay even THEIR wages but y'know!-and not let them see their hard fought for and hard to create games just pi55ed away under a slew of yearly releases and unreasonably cut corners in the name of even more greed and even more extra pennies and dimes.

so, sadly, even if Blur is incredible there's no big chance of me putting any more cash in Kotick's pockets-shame, but what can I do? Pirate the game I hurt the dev as much as Activision. buy it used-same thing so all I can do is minimise what Activision get and rent any of their titles I really must play. It's a sh1t answer but what else is there that helps Bizarre(in this case) but doesn't give out a message to Activision that we'll happily lie down and roll over in order to be ripped off on a yearly basis in yet another franchise they insist on flogging to death.

Oh, sod it, and sod them.

[bjornbear]

yes it does, I haven't seen a decent Acti game since COD 4 and that was a few years ago...

[jor438]

Yet they let Tony Hawk's Ride to be released which is one of the worst creations this generation

[JussBlazn]

Blur looks like sh*t to me

[carreirabr]

Sorry, but Split/Second looks way better and the dynamic env is a new and nice touch on the arcade side of the game. Let's see which one is the best.

[DARK WITNESS]

I think bizzar are worried that people will overlook Blur because there is a lot of talk from people not wanting to buy anything activision.

I tried blur, thought it was ok, but still didn't like it as much as PGR.

[GrilledCheeseBook]

well like every other publisher, they publish new IP's but don't no if they noticed but when a franchise reaches a certain popularity, they star start churning it out

[Sir_Ken_Kutaragi_]

I didn't buy MW2. When you got so much choice on the PS3 like i have i can pick and choose who to buy games from!!! ;-D

[RedDragan]

LOL! I want to marry you!

[Jdoki]

Activision are just going through the same growing pains as EA went through.

I'm not going to boycott or avoid a publisher just because their CEO seems like an idiot. I buy the games I like the look of, and avoid those I don't, irrespective of publisher.

Metropolis Street Racer is still a landmark game in my opinion, so I'm hoping Bizarre have a return to form with Blur (I thought the PGR series went downhill fast).

[Corrwin]

Just mediocrity. Rubbish games are worth playing to see how bad they are (in a so bad it's good way), but the stuff Activision usually churns out is just pedestrian.

Play it for an hour, Meh, Play something better. That's the activision way!

[Godmars290]

They turn out one decent property in a franchise, *then* they turn out sh!t by running it into the ground.

So if Blur is any good, expect Blur 6 within the next six months...

[jack_burt0n]

poor old bizzare creations getting caught in the backlash.

[mastiffchild]

I know. however, it could also be said that if you keep playing with sh1t you WILL end up with some pretty smelly fingers, no? Maybe, and it's still sad for Bizarre(sadder still if they had little choice over the matter-idk the deal with them and Activision)if they just want to make the best game possible but know if they do it's doomed to become a series of crap from then on in.

[dredgewalker]

I agree, they also churn out rubbish. How many franchises did they ruin these past 2 years? I loved MW, you can see my stats on how many games i played but you can never see me having played MW2 online because it symbolizes Activisions greed and disregard for its supporters.

[Darkfiber]

Um, you sure about that? :P

[maxcer]

I would probably be saying the same thing about my employer if i wanted to save my job and continue to work.

[Treyb3yond]

Says otherwise.

[The_Nameless_One]

This says everything about his comments.

Comment should read as:
"The company that owns us told us to say those things in order to try to show us [Activision] in a more positive light."

The best things Activision can do now is settle out of court with Jason and Vince, give them the money they rightfully earned, and let them move on. If Activision will be jerks and try to drag it in the courts then what would happen is that the judge will put a freeze on the Modern Warfare IP until this issue will be resolved and who knows how many years that will take to settle, and that's the last thing Activision want.

I also expect the original Infinity Ward team to leave Activision and join Jason and Vince with whatever studio they will open. Those guys might be jerks at time but they are loyal to each other.

[maxcer]

"I also expect the original Infinity Ward team to leave Activision and join Jason and Vince with whatever studio they will open"

the team might go and work with the former heads of IW, but i would expect some to start looking for other jobs at this point or try and tough it out at IW, however long that will last. im afraid the developer called infinity ward is a shell of its former self and will be dissolved by activision after the map pack ships

[The_Nameless_One]

I'm not sure they'll do that unless other publishers will give them a way better offer. Those guys have been together since the Medal of Honor: Allied Assault days. They stuck together this long and I don't see them disbanding now. As far as IW is concerned then I really don't them dissolving IW as the name itself has a weight in the minds of the gamers and you have to remember that there are a large portion of gamers that have no idea, or interest for that matter, in the inner working of the gaming industry and still have no clue about the turmoil between IW and Activision.

[tudors]

but CODMW was amazing, the online was and still is one of if not the best online FPS around, KZ2 cannot hold a online candle too it, for that matter neither can CODMW2. I too am a little angered by activision but after CODMW there is no way I will be able to ignore it if they bring out a new game, and if you notice there is a lot of trial and error with the games they produce, COD2 was fantastic, it's a shame that there is not that many players online anymore but when you get a full game it still rocks, COD3 was meh, not bad but nothing special, CODMW amazing, CODMW2 not so good, hopefully if they stay true to form the next one will go the same route of CODMW and not 2.

[dredgewalker]

Don't get your hopes up as long as Kotick sits on his fiery throne.

[Pumbli]

Activision doesn't just churn sh*t out, they churn out diarrhea and trash too.

[Fairchild Channel F]

He must have been mis-quoted. I believe he said "All we do is churn sh*t out".

[Figboy]

i can say, YES, they DO just churn sh*t out.

and if this is the best quality they can do when they are allegedly "not" churning sh*t out, i don't want to see what swill they'll be producing when they start "just churning sh*t out."

Activision is a cancer on the gaming industry. they make a lot of money, but NONE of that is going into quality gaming software.

even EA and Ubisoft produce INFINITELY better games than Activision.

[emk2004]

activision mass produces crap games like the ussr making ak-47s. basicly there best game is in trouble of going with infinity ward, which i hope they get the whole cod brand back, activision is the worst publisher there is. lets see there line up shall we
20 new gutar heros CHECK
3 new call of dutys (unless iw get the rights back, or just dont make another)
a bunch of crappy movie games CHECK
and just more crappy games (possibly another prototype which sucked)

i wish blizzard never join with them clowns there such a good company.