Tag Archives: Activision

Online passes, subscription fees, and charging for CGI… Are publishers out of touch with gamers?

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EA say there’s been ‘No significant backlash’ to their online pass scheme, at least that’s according to Electronic Arts Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown.

Eurogamer quote the EA man speaking at the Deutsche Bank 2010 Technology Conference in San Francisco. Mr Brown said:

“We thought about [Online Pass] pretty carefully and there hasn’t been any significant push-back from the consumer, because I think people realise that if you’re buying a physical disc and it requires an attachment to someone else’s network and servers, [those] people realise bandwidth isn’t free.”

“So the fact that we’re diffusing or covering online costs is not viewed to be unreasonable. We’re well into this program and there is no consumer backlash.”

Well, if Mr Brown paid a quick visit to any gaming forum on the internet – perhaps the Train2Game forum– he’d see that gamers are not happy at all with EA’s online pass scheme.

‘Project ten dollar’ was launched earlier this year, with new EA games such as Madden 10 or Dragon Age: Origins including a one use code to activate extra content or online multiplayer modes. For example, if an EA Sports title is bought second hand, the player will have to pay an extra $10 to access online play. This is also linked to the players’ console, so if they took, for example FIFA 11, to a friend’s house or a party, they wouldn’t be able to play it online without paying extra.

Earlier this year, Ubisoft announced they’d be using a similar scheme to combat the impact of second hand sales on developers and publishers.

You can see where the games developers and publishers are coming from when it comes to their views on second hand sales. When a game is bought brand new from a store, the profit will be divided between the publisher, the developer and the retailer. However, when you buy a second hand game, the retailer keeps all of the profit with the developer and publisher receiving no share at all. With the second hand market being increasingly lucrative, it’s easy to see why developers and publishers want part of the profit. After all, if someone was playing YOUR game that you’d toiled over the development of, you’d want some compensation for it, right?

But the consumer vs. developer battle is a hard area to find compromise, after all why do people buy second hand games? Because they’re much lower in price than the £40 it costs to buy a new game. Everyone has a limited budget after all, so surely we shouldn’t be persecuted for trying to save as much as £10 or £20 when buying a game?

Of course, there are other ways publishers and developers have looked into increasing profit from games, none perhaps more infamous than subscription fees for online multiplayer. Back in June, the Wall Street Journal asked Activision CEO Bobby Kotick “If you could snap your fingers, and instantly make one change in your company what would it be?” He replied:

“I would have Call of Duty be an online subscription service tomorrow.When you think about what the audience’s interests are and how you could really satisfy bigger audiences with more inspired, creative opportunities, I would love to see us have an online Call of Duty world.”

“I think our players would just have so much of a more compelling experience.” He added.

Of course, gamers of the internet reacted badly this, many saying they’d stop playing Call of Duty games if they were charged extra to play online. Indeed, many already felt the Call of Duty map packs were already a rip-off, and hated the idea of a ‘pay as you play’ scheme even more.

However, Activision now say there are no plans at all for introducing online subscriptions into their future games. Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference in California, Bobby Kotick himself said:

“That’s what people are paying their $60 for,” explained Kotick. “They get a game that has a lot of replayability.

“We’ve seen our margins and audiences expand from providing more appealing gameplay. I think why Call of Duty has been so successful is because we’re delivering extraordinarily high quality gameplay, production values and interactivity at great value.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the man that gamers paint as Satan himself has had a complete change of heart where profit doesn’t seem to be the main item on the agenda. In the same conference speech this time, Kotick said:

“If we were to take that hour, or hour and a half, take it out of the game, and we were to go to our audiences for whom we have their credit card information as well as a direct relationship and ask, ‘Would you like to have the StarCraft movie?’, my guess is that … you’d have the biggest opening weekend of any film ever.”

Call me a cynic – or maybe just a realist –  but I don’t anyone would pay £10 to watch a thirty minute cut scene.

Publishers and developers are facing a difficult decision here. On the one hand it’s understandable why they say see second hand games as a threat, because they don’t make any money from them. However, on the flip side, things like online passes, subscription costs or charging for cinematics is just going to be seen as pure money grabbing by gamers.  To answer the title question it does appear that publishers are out of touch with average gamer on the street who has only so much money to spend.

A compromise is going to have to happen somewhere, or both sides are going to be unhappy.

Perhaps new games should cost less than £40 in the first place?

So Train2Game, as future game developers, what are your feelings about these issues? Sure, you may not like paying online fees now, but how would you feel about it in future when games you’ve developed are being sold second hand? What do you think a compromise could be?

And no one would ever pay for CGI from a game, right?

As usual, leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.

Blizzard release Starcraft II custom map ‘Burning Tide’

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Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Burning TideBlizzard have released Burning Tide, the first custom map for their highly successful Real Time Strategy game Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. The 3 vs 3 map was announced on the Starcraft II Battle.net blog. The Starcraft II blog says:

“We’re proud to announce the release of Blizzard Entertainment’s first new StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty custom map: Burning Tide!”

“Featuring timed lava surges and collectable mineral caches, Burning Tide is a 3v3 map that combines several thematic elements from the epic single-player campaign mission “The Devil’s Playground.”

“Like the campaign mission, the goal of this game is greed, and the first team to reach the specified resource total wins! Players hoping to achieve victory on this map will need to work together, carefully managing their team’s unit production and safeguarding their vulnerable workers as they defend against enemy forces.”

Starcraft II players can access Burning Tide in the custom games list in the game client. It’s likely that Burning Tide will be the first of many custom maps released by Blizzard for Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. Any interested Train2Game students can get a taste of Burning Tide by looking at the screenshots on the Starcraft II Battle.net blog.

Activision Blizzard is extremely pleased with the success of Starcraft II, with Wings of Liberty being the fastest selling strategy game of all time, selling 1.5 million copies in the first 48 hours of release. Starcraft II then went on to sell three million copes in the month after its much anticipated release on July 27th.

So Train2Game, will you be playing Burning Tide? Or have you done so already? Are you pleased Blizzard are releasing more multiplayer challenges for Starcraft II?

You can leave your thoughts about Burning Tide and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Call of Duty: Black Ops’ Hollywood cast revealed

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Gary OldmanActivision has announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops’ will star award winning actors Gary Oldman and Ed Harris, while screenwriter David S. Goyer will be providing script consultation and story developer support for the much anticipated game.

Gary Oldman will be reprising his role as Russian soldier Victor Reznov who returns in the Cold War era based Black Ops’. Reznov featured in Treyarch’s previous Call of Duty title, World at War. Oldman is best known for his work in The Professional, Dracula and, Batman: The Dark Knight.

Ed Harris will make his Call of Duty debut in Black Ops’ by voicing one of the game’s main characters, CIA operative Jason Hudson. Harris is best known for his roles in films including The Abyss, A History of Violence, Pollock, Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff.

Filmmaker David S. Goyer’s writing credits include the blockbusters Batman: Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Blade and the upcoming Superman: Man of Steel.

Despite two integral members of the Batman: The Dark Knight appearing in Call of Duty: Black Ops’, its unlikely Batman himself will be making and appearance…

Of course, Studio Head of Treyarch Mark Lamia is pleased with the fine cast of Call of Duty: Black Ops’

“Oldman, Harris and Goyer are considered some of Hollywood’s finest talents and they perfectly complement Call of Duty: Black Ops’ ambitious and immersive single player experience”

“Their contributions have helped us to push the boundaries of our story telling and character development far beyond anything we have ever attempted before in the franchise.”

The news comes after Activision recently revealed Call of Duty: Black Ops’ multiplayer features at a high profile event in Los Angeles.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released worldwide on 9th November.

So Train2Game, with Call of Duty: Black Ops’ boasting such an impressive cast, how important do you think the quality of voice actors is to games?

Would an impressive cast ever persuade you to buy a game?

And does the fact that games’ like Call of Duty: Black Ops’ can bring on board well known actors show that gaming is becoming a larger entertainment medium?

You can leave your thoughts on the cast of Call of Duty: Black Ops’ here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer features revealed

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Call of Duty Black Ops

Activision has unveiled  full details about Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer mode at a high profile event in Los Angeles.

The evidence suggests that traditional  features familiar to Call of Duty players such as killstreaks, levelling up and perks will be mixed with new features including a Black Ops Combat Training mode, new weapons, and the ability to gamble points earned through playing.

Combat Training mode has been introduced for Black Ops in an effort to encourage the 30% of Call of Duty owners who never play online to do so.

Black Ops Combat Training will allow you to hone your skills against AI bots or your friends before making the jump into the big bad world of Call of Duty: Black Ops online multiplayer.

Treyarch revealed there will be unique weapons in Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer that can only be found in random supply drops including the death machine – a huge machine gun – and the grim reaper – a rocket launcher. The remote control car that featured in last months Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer teaser trailer can also be found – among other things – in the random supply drops.

Another new introduction for Call of Duty: Black Ops is CoD Points which you’ll earn while you play then use to buy abilities and perks that previously were only made available through gaining experience and levelling up.

These CoD points will be able to gambled in an all new game mode for Call of Duty: Black Ops in the form of the Wager Match.  Wager Matches will allow Call of Duty: Black Ops players to gamble their points in four different games revealed in a new trailer at the event.

One in the Chamber will equip each Black Ops player with three lives but just a pistol and one bullet. You can add another bullet by killing another player, but if you miss you’re reduced to just a melee weapon.

In Sticks and Stones mode, Call of Duty: Black Ops will see players equipped with a rather unfamiliar crossbow and tomahawk set up. If you’re killed by a tomahawk, you’ll lose all of the Cod Points you gambled.

Meanwhile, Treyarch have also lined up a standard Gun Game mode for Call of Duty: Black Ops Wagers Matches where every kill gets you a better weapon. The winner is the first person to have got a kill with every different weapon available in this Black Ops multiplayer mode.

The last Wager Match mode for Call of Duty: Black Ops is Sharpshooter which sees every player equipped with the same random weapons and perks.

Of course, the gambling element of Wager Matches means someone has to lose, so only the top three players in each of these Black Ops multiplayer modes will walk away with points, the rest will leave with nothing.

You can watch the Call of Duty: Black Ops Wager Match trailer below, complete with commentary for the developers.


One disappointment however for Call of Duty fans is that no Zombie Mode for Black Ops was announced.

Nonetheless, Call of Duty: Black Ops is set for release on November 9th 2010.

So Train2Game, what do you think about the details Activision has revealed about Call of Duty: Black Ops Multiplayer mode? Will the new features encourage you to pick up Call of Duty: Black Ops? Are you a gambler who fancies a flutter with Wager Matches?

You can leave your thoughts about Call of Duty: Black Ops here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Starcraft II sells over three million in a month

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Starcraft IIStarcraft II: Wings of Liberty has sold over three million copies worldwide in just its first month on release according to publisher Activision Blizzard.

The long anticipated Starcraft II was released simultaneously worldwide on July 27th with many eager Starcraft fans attending midnight launches in order to be among the first to get their hands on the RTS sequel.

Starcraft II was a massive success, with 1.5 million copies Blizzard’s title being sold in the first 48 hours of release, making Starcraft II the fastest selling strategy game of all time.

Naturally, Starcraft II had no trouble topping the UK Charts in its first week on release, an impressive achievement given that downloaded copies of Wings of Liberty weren’t counted in the chart at the time.

These strong sales have given Starcraft II the momentum required to push past the three million copies sold mark, further cementing Wings of Liberty’s position as the most successful PC game of 2010 so far. With three million copies sold, it seems unlikely that anything will be removing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty from its position of most successful PC game of the year.

Activision Blizzard will no doubt be well on the way to recouping the supposed $100 million Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty cost to produce.

Naturally, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Morhaime is pleased with the success of Starcraft II.

“We appreciate all the enthusiasm that players around the world have shown for StarCraft II.”

“It was important to us to deliver an overall gameplay experience that was accessible, balanced, and fun, and it’s been gratifying to see how strongly the global community has already embraced the game.”

With Starcraft II being divided into three instalments, it’s likely that Activision Blizzard will have more success with the franchise in future. However, there’s no word yet on when the second part of Starcraft II will be released.

So Train2Game, have you picked up a copy of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty in the month it’s been on sale? If so, is it really that amazing?  How much are you looking forward to the next instalment of the Starcraft II franchise? And will anything else released this year topple Starcraft II from its position of most successful PC game of 2010?

You can leave your thoughts on Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, or the Starcraft franchise in general, here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Starcraft II ‘the fasting selling strategy game of all time’

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Blizzard has revealed that Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty sold over a million copies worldwide in just its first day on sale.

That already made it the best selling PC game of the year so far, while selling a total of 1.5 million copies in its first 48 hours cemented Starcraft II as the fastest selling strategy game of all time.

More than 8,000 stores throughout the world opened their doors at midnight to celebrate the release of the much anticipated sci-fi sequel, including Game on London’s Oxford Street.

The store saw hundreds of fans queuing up to be among the first to play Starcraft II, 12 years after the original hit the PC in 1998. CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime, is happy with the title’s initial sales.

“We launched Starcraft II in 11 different languages and on 5 different continents because we wanted to make sure as many players as possible were able to log on and play on day one.”

“We’re pleased that so many people around the world have already picked up a copy of the game, and we look forward to welcoming even more players to Battle.net in the weeks and months ahead.”

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty topped the UK charts this week, and retailer GameStop has confirmed it’s the fastest selling PC title since the release of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King – also published by Blizzard – in 2008.

So, Train2Game are you surprised by that Starcraft II sold a million copies in just 24 hours, or was it to be expected? Have you played it yet? And finally, is any other PC or strategy title going to beat it in the near future?

As usual, leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.

Activision sell over 20 million Call of Duty map packs

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Over 20 million Call of Duty map packs have been sold since the franchise began in 2003. Six map packs have been released by Activision so far, with one for Call of Duty 4, three for World at War and two for Modern Warfare 2.

The most recent downloadable content came in the form of this years Stimulus and Resurgence packages, both sold very well despite many feeling the asking price of over £10 was far too expensive for a handful of maps.  However, everyone’s favourite Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is obviously pleased with the success of the games:

“The Call of Duty franchise is unique in the world of entertainment and delivers one of the best multiplayer experiences ever”

“We are thrilled to deliver to fans exciting and engaging content that has the intensity they have come to expect from the franchise.”

Activision say that Call of Duty is the number one best-selling first person shooter franchise in both the USA and Europe, with Chart-Track, GfK and NPD group figures showing that sales indicate this to be true.

Of course, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had one of the biggest first weeks in entertainment history and has no doubt had a massive hand in the success of the franchise. The fact that the smash sequel has only been out of the UK top ten since it was released in November is testament to its triumph.

Despite the massive achievements of the Call of Duty titles, Bobby Kotick still thinks there is more money to be made from them. Last month he told the Wall Street Journal that if he could change one thing about Activision, it’d be to charge a subscription to play Call of Duty online. Rumours of a future pay as you play Call of Duty have been roaming the internet ever since.

So Train2Game students, what do you think about the Call of Duty map packs? Are they a testament to the success of the game? Or just evidence of an exercise in corporate money making?  Would you charge for extra content in future? And is Modern Warfare 2 really one of the best multiplayer games?

As usual, leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.

Nintendo President – ‘Slow sales due to lack of great software’

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The lack of quality games – not the global recession – is the main reason behind slow software sales. That’s according to Nintendo President Saturo Iwata who was speaking in an interview with Venture Beat.

“I cannot say that the recession has no effect on the sales of video games. My belief is we should not blame the bad economy for the cause of slow sales of video games. The slow sales must be due to the lack of great software that everyone wants to buy. We have not shown off the great attractions of whatever we are selling. This is not the problem of Nintendo alone, but the entire video game industry”

There are some in the games industry, Activision with their 20 million Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sales, who may not necessarily agree with the Nintendo President that the Market is slowing. Nevertheless, Mr Saturo believes the games industry – which includes Games Designers, Games Developers and Games Artists & Animators – needs to innovate in order to keep us, the consumers, interested.

“Something that is really fresh can make our industry grow. The important thing we have to tackle is making attractive games and marketing them well toward the end of this year. I think the whole industry should be more cautious about how we act and how the general public perceives us.”

Basically, Mr Saturo is warning that the games industry shouldn’t become boring and repetitive. Producing video games is a creative industry after all and the Train2Game students have already demonstrated that they’re full of ideas, and are even working on their own games.

However, there does appear to be a prevalent theme within the industry where some developers do make very creative and interesting games, but then churn out numerous –perhaps better looking – sequels. This may be repetitive, but developers with a successful product are seemingly less likely to take risks with new ones. The Nintendo President also touches upon this during the interview with Venture Beat:

“I think the whole industry should be more cautious about how we act and how the general public perceives us. In the past, the formula was to make the computer graphics more gorgeous. It used to fit the taste of the majority of the gaming audience, but it doesn’t work so well in this day and age. It’s more difficult for us to come up with something new and different and show people how different we are. The whole industry has to recognize that.”

“Looking at the product line-ups this year, these titles might have been big hits three years ago. But now this year, they are not selling that much. In other words, people get tired of games more quickly than they did before.”

Naturally, with the upcoming release of the Nintendo 3DS, Mr Saturo believes that it’ll be the introduction of 3D games that will galvanise the industry.

“When you look at our 3D games concept, we recognize it will not be eternally appealing. However, it’s not a shallow concept that can be forgotten as a momentary fad.”

The Nintendo 3DS will be available in all “Major Markets” by April 2011.

So what do you think of the Nintendo President’s comments? As usual leave your views here or on the Train2Game forum.

The future of gaming, according to Stan Lee

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Video games are not only one of the greatest forms of entertainment, but will in future, become a key part of a single system – That’s the opinion of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee.

Speaking to a BBC reporter at Activision’s impressive E3 event, the veteran comics publisher spoke very positively of video games.

“I love games, I’m no good at them myself, but I love to watch people play them and I love to watch people play the games.

And I think it’s one of the greatest methods of entertainment, and I think it’s only at the beginning now, it’s burgeoning, growing.

….There was a survey and it said the average age of game players now is mid 20s to mid 30s, it’s no longer just a kids thing and it’s a wonderful form of entertainment.

Because you’re seeing the story, but you’re participating in the story and what can be better than that?”

Stan Lee is certainly right about the growth of the games industry. It’s amazing to think how far it’s come in such a relatively short space of time – just compare how Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Nintendo Wii looks compared to the first ever Super Mario Bros, released on the NES just over 20 years ago!

And with new innovations in recent years like motion controllers – including PlayStation Move and Microsoft’s Kinect –  and 3D gaming, in addition to ever  more photo-realistic graphics, who knows where the games industry will be in another 20 years time! The big name Games Designers, Games Developers, and Games Artist and Animators of the future – who could very well be current Train2Game students – could be revealing absolutely mind blowing new innovations at E3 2030! (In case you’ve somehow managed to miss the key events from the current E3 2010, you can catch up with developments here)

When asked about the future of video games by BBC reporter Daniel Emery, Stan Lee only sees great things:

“I think they’ll get better and better. I think the whole of entertainment is coming together, sort of homogenising.

You’re going to have comic books, you’re going to have cartoons, movies, television, video games and music.

They’re all becoming one thing and you’ll be able to watch it on your little telephone screen when you’re travelling, then everybody’s going to want the biggest TV set, bigger than his neighbour.

It’s incredible. Everybody wants the biggest TV set and the smallest little thing to watch it on, but everything will be on one screen eventually, including video games and everything else.”

If Stan Lee’s predictions do come to pass, it’s entirely possible that Train2Game course graduates could be designing games that will be accessible to anyone through a single multi-purpose entertainment system.  Are the first steps towards this already happening? Possibly, with OnLive going live tomorrow (Thursday 17th June) we could be seeing the future of gaming, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Of course, smart phones such as the iPhone already provide people with multiple forms of entertainment – including games – in one place, and as we’ve discussed previously on the Train2Game blog, the iPhone could give a Train2Game student their big break.

The video games industry has a very bright future, and as a Train2Game graduate, you could very well be a part of it. Do you think you could end up developing games for a home entertainment hub? As usual let us know here on this blog, or on the Train2Game Forum.