^{by debs}

A UK court ruling has just made it illegal to play pirated video games most notably in your Nintendo DS.

Game copiers were initially used to back up your game but then people soon shared their backup up game with their friends thus creating an atmosphere of piracy. This has been one of the biggest problems in the gaming industry that finally Nintendo filed a lawsuit in the UK.

Playables Limited and Wai Dat Chan were the defendants in the case and argued that game copiers merely provided a way for people to play home brewed games. Justice Floyd on the other hand pointed out that this reason alone cannot be used as a defense.

Nintendo DS users play pirated games with (now illegal) R4 cards.

The court pointed out that game copiers first bypass the security settings of Nintendo before any home brewed game could be played. The mere fact that the security settings were breached makes it illegal.

How do these game copiers work? These are actually chips that fit into the Nintendo DS cartridge slot. Once booted up it then disables the security system of the gaming device thus enabling people to play pirated games. It is normal for people with game copiers to hold lots of pirated and home brew video game titles stored in their memory card.

Just recently the Netherlands also made the same ruling making it unlawful to import and sell game copiers.

Nintendo is pleased with the way the High Court ruled citing that these game copiers really does a substantial effect on their gaming sales.

On june 30th Microsoft's Xbox Live online video game platform has generated an estimated $1 billion in revenue.

The software giant informed that almost half of the 25 million Xbox Live users had paid an annual subscription fee to play online games like 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2', amassing $600 million in revenue.

The company said that the $1 billion revenue mark was reached thanks to the rise in sales of extra game levels, avatars accessories and films.

The business generated more than $1.2 billion in sales last year, exceeding analysts’ estimates. Success in online gaming is crucial for Microsoft because the other products in this unit include the barely profitable Xbox game console and mobile-phone software that’s losing ground to Apple Inc. and Google Inc.

To boost future revenue, Xbox Live struck content deals with Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN and Activision Blizzard Inc. and introduced a family subscription that gives four memberships for the price of two. Its Kinect device, which lets users play games by movement rather than with a controller, will also fuel sales, Friar said. Microsoft probably can increase Xbox Live sales by a rate of “mid-teens to 20 percent” a year, she said.

Activision says Xbox Live is the only online gaming business -- except for Activision’s own personal-computer based “World of Warcraft” franchise -- that generates substantial money.

“When it comes to online gaming, they’re the only significant alternative to us,” says Activision Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick, whose “Call of Duty” titles have 50 million registered online players.

Success may breed increased demands from content providers to share more revenue. Already Activision says it wants a cut of the take from subscriptions, not just the percentage it currently gets from its content sold through the service.

^{by Claire Claws}

Not only the Call of Duty fan base is struggling with the snotty attitude from Activision.

This time Activision is convinced that the high prices for the new peripherals are going to prevent people from adopting the new technology. So don’t expect to see Call of Duty or Guitar Hero using Playstation Move or Xbox 360 Kinect any time soon.

In the past it was always CEO Kotick who gave, in interviews, his unwanted and biased advice to Microsoft and Sony. That they had to lower their prices of their consoles. But who listens to a man with only one objective; making more money with his Activision?

Now it is COO Thomas Tippl who told Gamasutra that Activision is hesitant to dive into the motion market, mostly due to the high price point of Sony's Move and Microsoft's Kinect.

"I think as a publisher, you have to be concerned about how the price drives a lot of the outcome of how big of an install base there's going to be," Tippl said. "The bigger the install base, the more likely that you can make sense out of your investment. So, the lower the price, the better. In this economic environment, it's probably more important than ever."

Well the new motion controllers don't come cheap, but isn't it something you buy to use way longer than just a couple of months? And when you compare the prices of the "getting more and more popular" 3D active glasses with the price of these High End Game Console motion controllers; the chosen retail price seems to be fair.

By being their business partner (no consoles = no games to sell) you can say Activision is stupidly undermining the way both Sony and Microsoft are trying to compete with Nintendo's Wii. With complaining about the price; normally not something done in public, and acting like being an independent publisher, who doesn't know if or when the successful franchise, Call of Duty, will support these motion controllers. So great help from Actvision to launch a risky project...... not.

• PlayStation Move debuts on September 19th. The main Move controller will cost $49.99, and the navigation controller $29.99.
• The Microsoft Kinect Motion Sensor Launches November 4th 2010 and will cost $149.

But what about the retail price for the next Call of Duty title: Black Ops? And remember the "the lower the price, the better. In this economic environment, it's probably more important than ever." used by Tippl. 

Last year the RRP went up and the weak pound, weak dollar and strong euro got blamed for that. But don't expect to pay less this year; the currency market never gets used to lower the prices. So the price for CoD: Black Ops stays the same as it was for Modern Warfare 2 and so still being the highest of ALL today's games.

When you live in the UK maybe you can be lucky again; last year's price wars and trade-in deals on the UK High Street made that some BIG retailers lost a lot of money by selling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 below the cost price !!!

I would love to read what advice Kotick and Tippl would give to Tesco, Sainsbury's and ASDA .

_{by Vrandas}

Tippl says he is “not ignorant of very vocal minority that has some very strong feelings”.

Very vocal minority ?????

Activision and their game developers are dominating the Google News Headlines with less then 6 talking heads and the majority of the CoD buying community can only ventilate their feelings on an official but censored CoD forum. These official CoD forums are made 'not-crawlable" for all search engines !

So 100.000x of frustrated (let's say) Cal of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 players won't even get noticed when they all complain about the fact they are unable to play this expensive CoD game they just bought. Also the justified disappointment, because this last CoD title had some original working features removed and replaced by non working alternatives ( like those 'new' multi player client-host servers ), wasn't picked up by any of the major Gaming News Headlines writers.

So for years now, all Google News about the Call of Duty games gets written by the Activision's Public Relations/Marketing department. And 100.000x Activision customers don't get their honest opinion equally publiced so they can warn others not to make the same mistake.

“Obviously, we stay connected to what's going on in the communities so we're not ignorant that there's a very vocal minority out there that has some very strong feelings,” Activision's COO Thomas Tippl told IGN.

“Whenever you become no.1 in any industry, you automatically get a target painted on your back. You've got to be able to live with that. "

What is this paranoid feeling Tipple is talking about?  Is the overall judgement from the (PC) gamers, that CoD Modern Warfare 2 was/is a BIG disappointment, to much honesty for him to handle?  Will turning this majority into a "minority with strong feelings" create a better relationship between makers and buyers in the near future?

The CoD Community always said:

"Give us the game WE want and we will pay twice the amount of money YOU want."

But, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Actvision again showed that they preferred working with PR lies & Wallstreet dreams instead of just listening to their customers needs. And although the MW2 revenue was a record breaker, especially in the first week after its release (thanks to the well funded PR machine), that was it.  Modern Warfare 2 didn't became a hype.  And this only because most of the buyers wouldn't suggest this game to their friends and by not doing so there was no next huge wave of sales. So Activision still made a lot of money but also lost something very important for a successful franchise: future buyers.

So it's best to wait till after the actual release of Call of Duty: Black Ops to find out if this next CoD game is an improvement and worth buying.

(And this must be Mister Tippl's current problem to deal with.... the amount of CoD Black Ops pre-orders.)

Only better games can fix Activision's bad reputation of releasing unplayable games  .

_{by Vrandas}

In an other recent interview Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick, was asked what he would like to change. And, of course, he picked something we, the CoD Gamers, want. His actual words are that we "are clamoring for it..." 

The Kotick interview in the Wall Street Journal   (Duhhh... what did you expect ??) :

-----

WSJ: If you could snap your fingers, and instantly make one change in your company, what would it be, and why?

Kotick: 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.

WSJ: Is that coming?

Kotick: Hopefully.

WSJ: Are the customers ready for it?

Kotick: I think our audiences are clamoring for it. If you look at what they’re playing on Xbox Live today, we’ve had 1.7 billion hours of multiplayer play on Live. I think we could do a lot more to really satisfy the interests of the customers. I think we could create so many things, and make the game even more fun to play. We haven’t really had a chance to do that yet, so that would be my snap of the fingers.

My opinion is that most CoD gamers love to claymore this idea ! 

Is B. Kotick really thinking that Call of Duty gamers are the same as WoW players ???

"... how you could really satisfy bigger audiences with more inspired, creative opportunities,..." 

Like that flying horse Activision/Blizzard recently started to sell to their World of Warcraft kids for 20 EURO ??? 

This in-game horse made Activision/Blizzard 2 million dollars in first 4 hours.

So does he mean that HE wants to sell in-game outfits or weapons to the CoD Fanbase ?

"... I think we could do a lot more to really satisfy the interests of the customers. ..."

Well Kotick is spot on with that one. But for this there is no need for an online subscription service....

Just sell us a well working game without HEAPS of errors. 

For those who just tuned in : CoD Modern Warfare 2 = AN ONLINE MISERY !!!

The motion control hardware 'PlayStation Move' will be out in September 2010.

Consumers can purchase the main Move controller for $49.99, and the navigation controller for $29.99.

Some First impressions by Brett Molina

The principle applies to just about any new piece of tech hardware: it is only as good as the software it features. The PlayStation Move is no different. Having tried out Sony's motion control device during E3, it's pretty entertaining thanks to a solid collection of titles, although not every game is a great fit.

The primary piece to Move is the main controller, which looks like a microphone with a glowing bulb on top. At the center is the Move button, which players will use most often. Surrounding this are the four face buttons PlayStation 3 users are accustomed to seeing on a standard controller. On the opposite side is a trigger, while the select and start buttons are placed on the side.

Move also features a secondary navigation controller with an analog stick, directional pad, two shoulder buttons that sit near the top, and X and circle buttons. Both controllers are wireless and feel extremely light.

Overall, Move feels responsive, and the PlayStation Eye camera seems to track movements well. For a better idea of what Move had to offer, here's a rundown of some of the games I experimented with.

^{by Claire Claws}

November 2009 :

As Activision announced a $550 million five-day gross for the game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, CEO Bobby Kotick was again exercising his stock options, selling 1.68 million shares for a total of about $17 million.

And this was the second time in a few days Kotick sold shares; the week before, he netted himself $20 million on the day of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's launch.

A large quantity of stock vested for the Activision CEO in 2000, when the options were valued at the comparatively meager price of $1.035 per share. Now Kotick sold this latest round for prices ranging from from $11.61 to $11.72 per share, according to an SEC filing.

In August 2009, when Activision was trading slightly higher, at $12.44, Kotick already sold a volume of 2 million shares and brought in nearly $25 million gross.

Now look at the dips in next chart......  Who do you think can make the price drop after selling large volumes of ATVI stock ?

And Kotick isn't the only one from Activision who owns some big volumes of Activision stock.

Btw.  If you don't understand why we are in a global recession. The above chart is like a blue-print for all other companies that handed out large stock volumes as bonuses to their CEO's.   Fresh investor's money goes straight into the pockets of current or even former CEO's.

Also, on this moment, the main targets to sell products to are teenage boys and girls.  Because today's parents just can't resist to loan some more to make their children happy. 

So Kotick keeps pushing the prices for Actvision games up and up and up.....   This recession is far from over.

Activision's Kotick lies about "just a share of used games market"

_{by Claire Claws}

Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick talked to investors at the E3 2010 Game Expo :

"Today there’s a $3bn used game market that we do not participate in.    If we look at the share of market we have, there’s a $500m opportunity for us in used games. We want to partner with our retailers to allow them to provide products as usual but where we get to participate in the revenue streams." 

Is Kotick claiming earnings from the used games sales or does he mean something completely different ?

Money. Kotick is always talking about money and how Activision wants to get more revenue from every game they sell in the future.

Game Publisher Electronic Arts already has been succesfuly experimenting with ways to bring in revenue from the 'used games' market. So Kotick just need to copy this to get fresh money in. So he thinks.....

This is the EA way and can also be used for ALL Activision games in the near future * :

The Online Pass. The online pass is just a code that comes with a new game. You'll need this code to download a certain add-on and after this you be able to play with your friends on-line.

But... when you buy an used game or rent a game, you ALWAYS have to purchase a NEW personal Online Pass for $10.

So Kotick is not completely honest when he lets all think he just wants "a part" of the $3bn pre-owned games market. With this Online Pass the gamers have pay more for used games than they do now !!!

Because of the current economic situation many retailers need that bit of extra income they now get from their used games section. So will they lower their price of used games ? Fat chance ! 

And, again because of the current economic situation, many gamers already sell their old console game titles (privately) to be able to buy the latest releases. So??  Will a $10 extra for Activision help the less fortunates to sell their old game so they can buy the latest games from Activison? Nope.

Don't forget Kotick already added 10 dollar to the retail price for CoD: Modern Warfare 2 last year.....

Few options how the Kotick brain works :

Is Kotick thinking :

1. "Just adding some extra Activision millions to the $3bn total in used game market revenue."
2. "Retailers will lower their prices so we can take 'our' share of the used game market revenue."
3. "Less production costs but same or MORE revenue. Higher Activision profits for all new titles."

or

• " I am brilliant ! Taking an extra 500 million for nothing extra. And with this I am also ruining what is left of those small and independent game retailers. BYE BYE Free Market! In the end ALL retailers will be directly connected to me. Soon I will be the Master of the Game Universe.     I love money making.          Did I already think that I was brilliant ?                               "

All of the above is a perfect example how to manipulate. Lure the investors in with the promise of still more money can be made. 

Recent figures clearly showed that there is NO extra 500 million stretch in today's games market. Sales numbers are dropping and the 500 million has to come from unwilling buyers or from unwilling retailers.

In the last few years Activision bought it self to the top and it needs more money to stay there. Because Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 never was that good and the expensive WoW is turning sour.

Some CEO's are brilliant in talking the share price up. But what if you knew they were selling their own shares?  Would you still invest in that company ?  

(Kotick Sells More Activision Shares)

(* The use of Steam already made it impossible to sell or buy an used PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 . ) 

Microsoft’s E3 kickoff event on Sunday night was Cirque du Soleil put on a show created entirely for Project Natal, the camera-based controller that will bring motion and voice control to Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

The big news? Project Natal is now named Kinect

Kinect uses multiple cameras to track users’ body movements, translating their motion into game controls. You might control a car-racing game by pretending to grip a steering wheel in the air, or a tennis game by swinging an imaginary racket.

Microsoft will release the Xbox 360 device later this year.

Will this be a revolutionary product? Microsoft certainly thinks so. “History is about to be rewritten,” boomed over the loudspeakers, “Human beings will be at the center, and the machine will be the one that adapts."

The Microsoft Kinect Motion Sensor Launches November 4th 2010 and will cost $149