Maxdoggy
11-11-2010, 11:41 PM
Today on the Internetz [And Twitter] – Call of Duty, Activision, and Harmonix Oh My!
It’s been . . . a while . . . my apologies.
To start off the news, I’m going to start with something not in the title:
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfare
Why? Because there’s a glitch in their achievement list that prevents you from getting the rank of 25 in their game. The team at Ubisoft tried to remedy that issue. Everyone that was playing the game during the rank reset is basically out of luck – their ranks were NOT reset and they still can’t get the achievement. Lolfail.
(via @X360A (http://www.xbox360achievements.o rg/news/news-6850-Ubisoft-s-GRAW-Leaderboard-Reset-Didn-t-Go-As-Planned.html))
Now on to:
Viacom looking to sell Harmonix
http://www.modojuegos.es/files/2009/08/harmonix-logo.jpg
The lovely people at Viacom, who currently own MTV, MTVGames, and Harmonix – the makers of the famous Rock Band series of music games, are attempting to cut their losses (which is around to the tune of an expected $299 million).
Harmonix just recently shipped Rock Band 3 and Dance Central for the Xbox 360’s Kinect Peripheral Device, which, despite being a highly reviewed pair of games, the sticker-shock of buying Kinect for Dance Central or buying the new and improved instruments for Rock Band 3 may deter sales until later on in the Holiday season.
As per a recent statement, Harmonix says that the selling of the company will “not affect the ongoing work at the studio as we continue to support our existing franchises, Rock Band and Dance Central.” Harmonix continues on to say that DLC for the two franchises will also not be affected, as The BeeGees are Rock Band 3’s next DLC pack.
We can only hope that Harmonix will NOT be a publisher-less company, but I highly doubt that, as “Viacom is in discussion with several potential buyers and will continue to fully support the business until a sale is completed.”
All is well that ends well?
(via @RipTen (http://www.ripten.com/2010/11/11/viacom-selling-harmonix-after-earnings-dip/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter))
Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance Announced:
A brief trailer for the supposed animation comic Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance has been announced by the Ubisoft branch, Ubi Workshop, that handles and creates many multimedia projects, such as the comic book Assassin’s Creed: The Fall. The teaser itself shows snippets of an Altair-like character in the Middle Ages, possibly as another addition to the original Assassin’s Creed’s story-line.
Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ipQYocce0&feature=player_embedded) will be released in some way, shape, or form, on November 16th in North America.
(via @X360A (http://www.xbox360achievements.o rg/news/news-6835--Assassin-s-Creed--Ascendance--Animation-Teaser-Surfaces.html))
Now to the meat and potatoes of this update:
Call of Duty Wins Big, Looks to Win Even More, and Gives Back
The giant in the business is back, Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops racked up a one-day North America and UK sales of $310 million in its first 24 hours on the market. This number eclipses that of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 by over $50 million.
http://trolr.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/call-of-duty-black-ops-debut-trailer.jpg
Again, if you didn’t gather much, Call of Duty: Black Ops (more affectionately known as CODBLOPS by the staff) is the biggest launch in entertainment history. Black Ops sold 5.6 million copies, as compared to Modern Warfare 2’s 4.7 million copies.
http://gamersushi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops-005.jpg
Not to be content with these impressive sales numbers, writer Dave Cook of NowGamer finally put into words what we as gamers do not want to hear. To put it simply, Call of Duty: Black Ops will be the last Call of Duty title to have free multiplayer (minus Xbox Live/PlayStation Network Subscriptions).
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is pushing for an additional subscription fee, somewhere to the tune of $10 a month, to play his videogame giant with extended, albeit necessary, features. Cook elaborates:
“If you reached rank five in multiplayer then a message flashed up onscreen stating something like, “Rank six and above is only available to Call Of Duty Premium members”. Would you be willing to pay whatever monthly fee Activision asked to keep on progressing? Seriously have a think about it then consider if you would be willing to pay micro transactions – say, $1 for a new perk or weapon attachment that gives you an edge in the field – would you be interested? At this point I’d hazard a guess that you are either disgusted by the idea or realistically considering it.
Of course, for such a payment model to work the game would have to be an absolute revelation. It’s apparent that single player now plays second fiddle to Call of Duty’s multiplayer element. So if this is what Treyarch and Infinity Ward excel at then it makes sense for the studios to ditch the narrative and deliver a mind-blowing multiplayer only game. If the quality is there then there’s no reason Activision should be accused of being greedy for wanting to make a few extra coin. It is, after all, a business at the end of the day and businesses exist to make money whether gamers like it or not.
At this point you may be thinking that I’ve gone mad and agree that games should be made purely to make money, but rest assured, I’m firmly with you guys though. I believe that Activision shouldn’t be so cutthroat about this issue if it comes to pass, but if they play it smart and give the players real value for money instead of just a paid-for version of Black Ops multiplayer then it could be a viable prospect. When I look at Black Op’s ‘CoD Points’ currency system, all I see is microtransactions. Is it possible that Activision has encouraged this format to canvas the idea of micro payments to get a feel for how we spend our points?”
As Cook explains, the one phrase of “Multiplayer – Free with Call of Duty: Black Ops” plastered in the game and through the trailers has set off what may be the biggest change in gaming besides the Motion Controller Wars of Wii vs Move vs Kinect.
Anarchy, you say? The vast majority of people, in my opinion, will take Mr. Kotick’s offer. Other companies will follow suit, and the cost of gaming will go up. Substantially.
Yet, Activision does one thing NICE with their boatloads of money,
http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/code.052810-580px.jpg
Simply put, Activision will be donating $1 million it’s over $560 million it just made on Call of Duty: Black Ops and it well help find jobs for the Veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Activision hopes their donation will help rehabilitate our Veterans back into a civilian lifestyle.
(via @Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6283887.html), @NowGamer_Dave (http://www.nowgamer.com/columns/casual-games/573/multiplayer-free-with-call-of-duty-black-ops), and @RipTen (http://www.ripten.com/2010/11/11/activision-donates-one-million-to-veterans-from-black-ops-sales/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter))
For more information and stories I couldn’t get to today, please follow us on Twitter: @GamerDirt (http://www.twitter.com/GamerDirt).
http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_us-c.png (http://www.twitter.com/GamerDirt)
http://i37.tinypic.com/2vsghmt.jpg
It’s been . . . a while . . . my apologies.
To start off the news, I’m going to start with something not in the title:
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfare
Why? Because there’s a glitch in their achievement list that prevents you from getting the rank of 25 in their game. The team at Ubisoft tried to remedy that issue. Everyone that was playing the game during the rank reset is basically out of luck – their ranks were NOT reset and they still can’t get the achievement. Lolfail.
(via @X360A (http://www.xbox360achievements.o rg/news/news-6850-Ubisoft-s-GRAW-Leaderboard-Reset-Didn-t-Go-As-Planned.html))
Now on to:
Viacom looking to sell Harmonix
http://www.modojuegos.es/files/2009/08/harmonix-logo.jpg
The lovely people at Viacom, who currently own MTV, MTVGames, and Harmonix – the makers of the famous Rock Band series of music games, are attempting to cut their losses (which is around to the tune of an expected $299 million).
Harmonix just recently shipped Rock Band 3 and Dance Central for the Xbox 360’s Kinect Peripheral Device, which, despite being a highly reviewed pair of games, the sticker-shock of buying Kinect for Dance Central or buying the new and improved instruments for Rock Band 3 may deter sales until later on in the Holiday season.
As per a recent statement, Harmonix says that the selling of the company will “not affect the ongoing work at the studio as we continue to support our existing franchises, Rock Band and Dance Central.” Harmonix continues on to say that DLC for the two franchises will also not be affected, as The BeeGees are Rock Band 3’s next DLC pack.
We can only hope that Harmonix will NOT be a publisher-less company, but I highly doubt that, as “Viacom is in discussion with several potential buyers and will continue to fully support the business until a sale is completed.”
All is well that ends well?
(via @RipTen (http://www.ripten.com/2010/11/11/viacom-selling-harmonix-after-earnings-dip/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter))
Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance Announced:
A brief trailer for the supposed animation comic Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance has been announced by the Ubisoft branch, Ubi Workshop, that handles and creates many multimedia projects, such as the comic book Assassin’s Creed: The Fall. The teaser itself shows snippets of an Altair-like character in the Middle Ages, possibly as another addition to the original Assassin’s Creed’s story-line.
Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ipQYocce0&feature=player_embedded) will be released in some way, shape, or form, on November 16th in North America.
(via @X360A (http://www.xbox360achievements.o rg/news/news-6835--Assassin-s-Creed--Ascendance--Animation-Teaser-Surfaces.html))
Now to the meat and potatoes of this update:
Call of Duty Wins Big, Looks to Win Even More, and Gives Back
The giant in the business is back, Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops racked up a one-day North America and UK sales of $310 million in its first 24 hours on the market. This number eclipses that of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 by over $50 million.
http://trolr.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/call-of-duty-black-ops-debut-trailer.jpg
Again, if you didn’t gather much, Call of Duty: Black Ops (more affectionately known as CODBLOPS by the staff) is the biggest launch in entertainment history. Black Ops sold 5.6 million copies, as compared to Modern Warfare 2’s 4.7 million copies.
http://gamersushi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Call-of-Duty-Black-Ops-005.jpg
Not to be content with these impressive sales numbers, writer Dave Cook of NowGamer finally put into words what we as gamers do not want to hear. To put it simply, Call of Duty: Black Ops will be the last Call of Duty title to have free multiplayer (minus Xbox Live/PlayStation Network Subscriptions).
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is pushing for an additional subscription fee, somewhere to the tune of $10 a month, to play his videogame giant with extended, albeit necessary, features. Cook elaborates:
“If you reached rank five in multiplayer then a message flashed up onscreen stating something like, “Rank six and above is only available to Call Of Duty Premium members”. Would you be willing to pay whatever monthly fee Activision asked to keep on progressing? Seriously have a think about it then consider if you would be willing to pay micro transactions – say, $1 for a new perk or weapon attachment that gives you an edge in the field – would you be interested? At this point I’d hazard a guess that you are either disgusted by the idea or realistically considering it.
Of course, for such a payment model to work the game would have to be an absolute revelation. It’s apparent that single player now plays second fiddle to Call of Duty’s multiplayer element. So if this is what Treyarch and Infinity Ward excel at then it makes sense for the studios to ditch the narrative and deliver a mind-blowing multiplayer only game. If the quality is there then there’s no reason Activision should be accused of being greedy for wanting to make a few extra coin. It is, after all, a business at the end of the day and businesses exist to make money whether gamers like it or not.
At this point you may be thinking that I’ve gone mad and agree that games should be made purely to make money, but rest assured, I’m firmly with you guys though. I believe that Activision shouldn’t be so cutthroat about this issue if it comes to pass, but if they play it smart and give the players real value for money instead of just a paid-for version of Black Ops multiplayer then it could be a viable prospect. When I look at Black Op’s ‘CoD Points’ currency system, all I see is microtransactions. Is it possible that Activision has encouraged this format to canvas the idea of micro payments to get a feel for how we spend our points?”
As Cook explains, the one phrase of “Multiplayer – Free with Call of Duty: Black Ops” plastered in the game and through the trailers has set off what may be the biggest change in gaming besides the Motion Controller Wars of Wii vs Move vs Kinect.
Anarchy, you say? The vast majority of people, in my opinion, will take Mr. Kotick’s offer. Other companies will follow suit, and the cost of gaming will go up. Substantially.
Yet, Activision does one thing NICE with their boatloads of money,
http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/code.052810-580px.jpg
Simply put, Activision will be donating $1 million it’s over $560 million it just made on Call of Duty: Black Ops and it well help find jobs for the Veterans of the United States Armed Forces. Activision hopes their donation will help rehabilitate our Veterans back into a civilian lifestyle.
(via @Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6283887.html), @NowGamer_Dave (http://www.nowgamer.com/columns/casual-games/573/multiplayer-free-with-call-of-duty-black-ops), and @RipTen (http://www.ripten.com/2010/11/11/activision-donates-one-million-to-veterans-from-black-ops-sales/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter))
For more information and stories I couldn’t get to today, please follow us on Twitter: @GamerDirt (http://www.twitter.com/GamerDirt).
http://twitter-badges.s3.amazonaws.com/follow_us-c.png (http://www.twitter.com/GamerDirt)
http://i37.tinypic.com/2vsghmt.jpg