Backhand of Justice

There are changes afoot at Activision. As you may have heard, the two heads of Activision’s most successful studio, Infinity Ward, have been fired for ‘breach of contract and subordination.’ Dubious Quality has a nice little summary of events.

Activision has tasked Sledgehammer games (run by the former developers of Dead Space) with making the Call of Duty game for 2011 which will potentially be in the action-adventure genre. Activision believes they have created a self-sustaining franchise separate from the individual game quality, the same mistake Electronic Arts made with their sports franchises. Call of Duty, meet Madden, the ghost of Christmas future.  read more

Arcades were once great gaming meccas. Kids from across the neighborhood would converge to spend many quarters and hours on their favorite hobby. Back then, videogames were a social hobby, as you would encounter countless kids with whom you had a common interest while waiting for the next game.

While the home console changed the face of gaming forever in primarily positive ways, one negative side effect was the death of the arcade and the emergence of the fat loner slob videogame stereotype. Can new 3D games reinvigorate the arcade scene? read more

Every serious gamer has a collection of old games, whether it’s dusty SNES cartridges lined up on a bookcase somewhere, or PS1 discs sealed away in a binder. While nobody remembers what connector is required to hook up an original NES to a TV, or even whether that technology exists anymore, that physical reassurance is there. Worst case scenario, emulators for old games are widely available online.

With the news that Halo 2 online is shutting down, however, we have to come to terms with the idea that online games, no matter how popular, will not survive the test of time. Even the Modern Warfare 2 and World of Warcraft’s of the world will be condemned to obscurity once that online experience can no longer be replicated. read more

Ignore the inflammatory headline; the answer is clearly yes. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s happening much  more slowly than I would have imagined.

Steam announced its ‘impressive’ subscriber figures of 25 million last week. While total sales up 225% in 2009 sounds impressive, it’s actually quite pathetic. Going to the store involves tiresome walking. Why aren’t more people downloading games? read more

 Here it is folks, the epic conclusion to Part 1 that you’ve been waiting for since yesterday. Many questions will be answered such as ‘can anything unseat Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2010?’ (No) and ‘What is the difference between baking powder and baking soda?’ (Nothing. Big Soda has tricked you). read more

As I look back on anno domini 2009, I must admit the God of Gaming (Steven, I believe) is a fickle god. He gives us years of lean gaming crops and then all at once inundates us with a deluge of stunning titles. 2009 was truly the greatest year for videogames since the golden age in the late 1990’s. read more

Both the enthusiast gaming press and the mainstream media have rendered their verdict on Modern Warfare 2’s ‘No Russian’ mission; they are outraged. For those unaware, the mission pits you in the shoes of an undercover agent trying to infiltrate a terrorist cell by any means necessary. When the terrorists enter an airport to murder many innocent civilians, you have to at least accompany them, and have the option of participating in the slaughter.

The disapproval culminated with the BBC bringing together religious leaders to criticize the game, claiming it was irresponsible and glorifies terrorism, and would have a lasting negative effect on today’s youth.

I’m not going to discuss whether or not the mission in the game makes sense or dictate what others should believe. I want to offer my take on a few of the arguments being made by both critics and defenders of the content which I think verge on overreaction on all fronts. read more

With all the outrage over the ‘No Russian’ mission in Modern Warfare 2, such as this embarrassing piece on Fox News, I wanted to briefly discuss the gaming community’s obsession with mainstream controversy. Why do we feel the need to defend ourselves from these criticisms?

News flash: gamers are no longer a minority. The videogame industry is one of the largest entertainment earners in the world. Videogames are no longer for children and teens. Most people play in one form or another. With the exception of Germany and Australia, very little of the ‘Western World’ has any history of media censorship.

What is everybody worried about? Just ignore it, videogames aren’t going anywhere. read more

Electronic Arts just released their earnings, and they were disappointing to say the least. As a result, they’re firing 1,500 employees (something in the range of 15-20% of the company) in the next few months, and cutting 1/3 of their planned releases. Any game that doesn’t have the potential to sell 2 million units is cut.

These aren’t the dregs of their studios either; EA Redwood (Visceral Games), EA Tiburon, Mythic, Black Box and Maxis are being hit. This includes games like Dead Space, Dante’s Inferno, Warhammer, Henry Hatsworth and Spore. Furthermore, Electronic Arts bought Playfish for nearly $300 million, adding the company’s social gaming lineup to EA’s existing Pogo.com casual games service.

While I couldn’t care less about the fate of studio employees, I do care about the outlook for games, and this isn’t good. Electronic Arts tried to be creative and that screwed them, so now the road is clear: more sequels, more casual games and most importantly, low-risk incremental release schedules. read more