Activision: We're In "The Best Competitive Position" Ever
See Full ImageActivision Blizzard has been in the news a lot lately, and each time, it seems they've got some strong words for the subject at hand.
This time, it's fairly straightforward. Activision CEO and president Mike Griffith spoke to MCV and is clearly confident heading into the latter half of 2009. In fact, he says the publisher is currently in "the best competitive position we've ever had," and the competition is "a little sparser than in the past." He points out the ever-expanding Guitar Hero franchise, that will add no less than three titles to its repertoire later this year: Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and DJ Hero. Not surprisingly, he also mentioned Modern Warfare 2 and Tony Hawk: Ride, which should by all rights secure a lucrative holiday season for Activision. As for The Beatles: Rock Band, Griffith isn't too concerned, stating that Guitar Hero outsells Rock Band "four to one in the US; in Europe that number is ten to one." Some gamers criticize Activision for this torrent of sequels (as good as they may be), but here's Griffith's take on IPs:
"New IP is risky: successes are great but most of them fail. So we take a very focused and deliberate approach to new IP. It's always part of our portfolio but it's a balanced part of it. We are very selective but we go through a checklist: is it global, is it franchisable, is it unique and compelling in this space, does it have the right developer? When we go through this process we greatly increase our chances versus other publishers who are usually just throwing spaghetti against the wall."
Well, we all have to admit that most of the best sellers every year are part of established franchises. And there's no doubt that with the games listed above, this publisher is primed to rake in some serious bucks in 2009 and into 2010. Even if you don't plan to buy 'em all, chances are, you do plan to buy at least one of 'em...
6/23/2009 Ben Dutka
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Comments (58 posts)
Jed
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:18:41 PM
Reply
1 up, 1 down
Masterofallz
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:30:07 PM
4 up, 0 down
Cpt_Geez
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:20:09 PM
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4 up, 0 down
Riku994
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:20:24 PM
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5 up, 0 down
LightShow
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:43:00 PM
ex. The Hulk is an IP, with its own story and characters that have been used in print, in movies and in video games. Whenever game publishers talk about IP's, they're usually talking about a series of games (ex. Call of Duty), although the term is vastly versatile.
0 up, 0 down
Sir Shak
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 5:46:12 AM
Last edited by Sir Shak on 6/24/2009 5:46:56 AM
1 up, 0 down
kevinater321
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 7:29:29 AM
1 up, 1 down
Jed
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:30:54 PM
Reply
4 up, 4 down
Bugzbunny109
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:54:41 PM
6 up, 0 down
Qwarktast1c
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 11:33:41 PM
lol, do boobies ever bite, or rather bight back i should say? lmao
4 up, 0 down
Bugzbunny109
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 12:07:28 AM
I am sure you will lol.
@Qwarktast1c
I would say boobies always bite back lmao.
1 up, 1 down
Sir Shak
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 5:50:52 AM
Star Wars : The Boobies Bite Back
3 up, 1 down
SarahPalinMILF
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 7:47:47 AM
12 up, 0 down
Arvis
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 10:58:06 AM
-Arvis
0 up, 0 down
Qwarktast1c
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 3:30:39 PM
all ads are annoying, you just have to deal with them
2 up, 0 down
Jed
Friday, June 26, 2009 @ 10:23:22 AM
0 up, 0 down
LightShow
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:50:43 PM
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either way, I dont play any of their games. I followed Harmonix over to Rock Band instead of sticking with the name "Guitar Hero" and I've been a Battlefield fan for years. Coincidence would have it they're both EA titles, along with my other top-10-favorite game, Burnout Paradise.
The public may be putting Activision in a competitive situation, but i'll always opt for an EA game over an Activision one, especially now that they've proven themselves to be active supporters of the PS3.
6 up, 1 down
oldmike
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 4:49:18 PM
0 up, 0 down
King James
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:51:31 PM
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IMO, EA has them beat this year and next year.
Last edited by King James on 6/23/2009 10:51:59 PM
8 up, 1 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 11:14:54 PM
Reply
6 up, 2 down
Qubex
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 9:07:41 AM
Q!
"i am home"
Last edited by Qubex on 6/24/2009 9:08:46 AM
3 up, 0 down
Qwarktast1c
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 11:31:50 PM
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i for one take rock band over GH any day
i never really cared for skateboarding games
and i'm not the biggest fan of CoD, but its ok. plus CoD is the biggest thing they have going for them right now
3 up, 0 down
bigchilejay6
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 12:05:23 AM
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0 up, 16 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 12:23:48 AM
9 up, 0 down
ZettaiSeigi
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 12:30:05 AM
9 up, 1 down
kratos17
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 1:41:30 AM
plus modern warfare 2 doesnt look all that different from the first game
4 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 2:04:17 AM
I guess what Miss Connie tried to teach you in Romper Room class didn't sink in as well as with the rest of the lil pre-kindergarden rugrats, huh?
Here........have a cookie!
3 up, 0 down
bigchilejay6
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 12:09:25 AM
Reply
1 up, 18 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 12:53:39 AM
16 up, 1 down
vicious54
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 9:49:29 AM
This is definitely a spammer, that was the exact same comment as before. I think you should just give them the ban for wasting space.
2 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 5:46:53 PM
Damn kid, ou're still here?
Sorry, but we have no lovely parting gifts for anybody who likes to mimic a "Chatty Kathy" doll, as you'll soon find out.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 6/24/2009 5:48:47 PM
1 up, 0 down
SarahPalinMILF
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 12:12:48 AM
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6 up, 1 down
BikerSaint
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 2:08:48 AM
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"More plastic ware than a picnic sales convention"
4 up, 0 down
OriginalSin
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 2:18:25 AM
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Okay and also no one is disputing the fact that MW2 will be epic in every way and that it will most like be the biggest contender for game of the year. I think that is pretty obvious to everyone. I don't think it will sell that many copies if people didn't actually love the series.
I think our point (or in this case mine) is the fact that Activision spits out game after game, after game like Guitar Hero I,II,III...V, Then still Guitar hero Aerosmith,Metallica and so on and so on. Don't get me wrong they are great games once again, but do they have to charge full price every time? It's basically the same game different "skins" and tracks... the could just sell it as DLC, or have a place where people can download new tracks/"skins" as they want, updated every week... for a lot less.
But then they have the F**** nerve to tell Sony that they better drop THEIR prices or they will stop supporting Sony all together. Then they say something like this.: Errrr well you see we are raping the consumer as it is with our current games and seeing there are 1000000000000000000000 bands out there we can have a spin of for each one and make even more money without spending anything on actual creativity and use the same engine we have used for the 400th time....
So they make all this money and people just keep paying, but they don't have the balls to take on a new fresh concept.... NO NEW IP's... Guess well be getting Guitar Hero XIV by next year...DJ Hero 8 the month after that....
In my opinion the ONLY worth while series they have is COD. And if IW decide to go solo or find a new publisher Activision is F*****. And guitar hero? Nah I'd rather spend my money on a brand new Gibson and play that instead.... DJ Hero h3ll no I also do that for real.... Rock band rather start my own....
Activision is a great company and I've always respected them. But they are getting too C*ck sure and they might just shoot themselves in the foot. If the mightiest of men have fallen before....
3 up, 0 down
007
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 2:42:17 AM
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1 up, 0 down
fundando
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 2:49:17 AM
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I don't play fps.
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Scarecrow
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 3:58:48 AM
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Have never bought any of their games, so don't really care lol
Last edited by Scarecrow on 6/24/2009 3:59:04 AM
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OriginalSin
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 4:20:33 AM
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Also kinda ironic if you think....
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OriginalSin
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 4:24:14 AM
0 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 4:40:23 AM
1 up, 0 down
Jed
Friday, June 26, 2009 @ 10:40:23 AM
0 up, 0 down
Sir Shak
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 5:58:17 AM
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Brutal Legend >>>> Prototype
1 up, 0 down
Phoelix
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 7:13:17 AM
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And what they said about new IP's is basically, "We only care about money, so we won't do new IP's unless we're absolutely certain they'll be smash hits."
Although we can whimper about this all we want, we'll still all be lining up to buy MW2.
1 up, 1 down
Lotusflow3r
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 7:42:34 AM
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3 up, 0 down
www
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 10:05:19 AM
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So please don't get ahead of yourselves.
Its not even like Take-Two who got 2k making Bioshock,the rumored Duke Nukem Begins and those fast-selling 2k sports games + Rockstar with GTA,Max Payne,Red Dead Redemption.
OR Capcom with all their franchises, all these publishers are not even threatening anyone.
Seriously, apart from COD, i don't see any other ActiVision game in my collection. Make a games collection survey and i bet you would find more EA,Capcom & Take-Two games in homes than ActiVision.
Last edited by www on 6/24/2009 10:06:05 AM
2 up, 0 down
oldmike
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 @ 4:59:29 PM
1 Ubisoft will to be 2 at years end
1 SEGA also will be 2
1 EA lol once more will be 2 (only get maden even years)
1 Capcom
1 Konami
2 Bandai will be 3 soon
2 Bethesda
4 2k
and 9 Sony will be 10 or 11 depending on GTA5
thats what i keep and not rented COD4 was a rent to short was done less then a week and i read this one will be short also
Last edited by oldmike on 6/24/2009 5:18:14 PM
0 up, 0 down
ZettaiSeigi
Reply
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 @ 10:18:15 PM
To Activision: Just make great games, stop flooding the market with your uber-expensive peripherals, and yeah, just mind your own business.