Acti vs. EA: the trash talk continues
EA: "Welcome to the big leagues Eric."
And so the playground spat between two of the biggest publishers in the business rumbles on.
Earlier this week, Activision exec Eric Hirshberg finally broke his silence on EA's constant ribbing about how much better Battlefield 3 is than Modern Warfare 3, claiming its mudslinging was "bad for the industry".
Rather than see the error of its ways and offer to kiss and make up, EA has duly chimed in with another proverbial hair-pull.
Corporate communications man Jeff Brown had the following choice words to impart to Hirshberg and co. today, via IndustryGamers:
"Welcome to the big leagues Eric - I know you're new in the job but someone should have told you this is a competitive industry.
"You've got every reason to be nervous. Last year Activision had a 90 share in the shooter category. This year, Battlefield 3 is going to take you down to 60 or 70. At that rate, you'll be out of the category in two to three years.
"If you don't believe me, go to the store and try to buy a copy of Guitar Hero or Tony Hawk."
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Comments (87) Latest comment 9 months ago
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LOL!
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Even though i've had enough of this, he has a point with that one.
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Ah, yes, World of Warcraft.
Activision is here to stay even if nobody will buy any of their games.
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LoL nice touch.
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Jesus fucking christ.
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Coming up next week: EA calls Activision's mom a fag. Activision responds by saying that makes no sense. EA laughs and says of course it doesn't, because your mom's a fag ROTFELOLOLOLOL nub.
EDIT: Having read that to myself, does it not sound like the fucking playground to you guys? Some kid shrieking nonsensical insults at another kid, the second kid tries to defend himself by foolishly using attempting to use reason against an opponent who has to be stopped from drinking out of the dog's bowl.
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*snaps fingers*
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It can't continue forever.
http://kotaku.com/5800175/world-of-warcr...
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This may be odd for me but on topic, Acti ain't going nowhere, Cod ain't going nowehere. The best he can hope for is that FPS games go the route of RPGs, where the consumer will buy more than one game of each genre. Otherwise Battlefield could find itself struggling.
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I hope Battlefield wins cause Activision needs to get alot more INNOVATIVE than they have been.
Releasing WHAT AMOUNTS TO BASICLY an exspensive EXSPANISON PACK ONCE A YEAR
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Battlefield will be the better game but MW will outsell it without any problems. CoD will die down but not this year. CoD is the Michael Bay of the gaming world with all big explosions and no substance and let's face it, it's not a game made for gamers really. Battlefield is and I'll be getting that.
As for the publisher's going at it. Both of them are twats and neither are to be trusted or liked. Dice as a developer should not be brought into it as their passion is plain to see and always has been.
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Trash talking is for fucking idiots! (braaaap braaaaap)
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Also, EA should just stfu. They can start talking once BF3 sells anywhere near 15 million units.
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I also see people that talk about innovation and that COD doesn't have it but I am hard press to see any difference in the next Battlefield from previous versions. Yes the graphics look nice but the gameplay appears to be the same. So in other words, if the gameplay is the same pretty much then the outcome will also be the same for Battlefield 3. It will get a number of sales but probably will not dent COD.
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Today, I think BF3 is endless annoying rants by some infantile c***s who just never know when it's enough.
Some months ago, I was pretty certain I would buy this game.
Today, I feel like I shouldn't.
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Acti taking the "high ground" (which is basically a veiled attempt to kill any perception of rivalry and therefore kill any percieved competitiveness to ease the pressure being put on them), or people actively criticising EA and labelling them as childish for being the voice of the exact same issues they have with Activision.
People will shit all over COD all day if they feel like it and pretty much go unheard in the grand scheme of things as wave after wave of samey COD tripe is produced yearly and sold for a premium.
EA gets out there, makes your voices heard, puts pressure on Acti to do something bigger and better than what they probably would have done.
And all you can do is stand there with one hand on your hip while waggling your index finger in EAs face.
Then next year will roll around and those same damn people will begin to complain about how CoD is too similar every year and how there's nothing they can do about it as there's no hard competition to breed the progress needed.
Then again.....if BF3 does as well as its looking to do, Q3 2012 could be a different picture altogether.
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But what do I know, the last line there seems to be getting some applause... from people who didn't see that it's specious.
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have nothing to do?
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I have no doubt these highly-paid executives spend their time whooping and high-fiving each other using language like "dude", "awesome" and "radical".
If you bear that in mind, these types of comments are a little more understandable - though of course no less irritating.
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Medal of honour
Command and conquer
Wing commander
Populous
Ultima
Dungeon Keeper
Just but a few (popular) game(-series) EA killed off but sure anyone can sling mud? As someone else pointed out let activision do it all themselves without resorting to trash talk just makes themselves look worse :/
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, ok ea severs no doubt where bad before but surely time sorts that out . bfbc2 was okay a few bits of lag but at least the game actually shows you the lag instead of hiding it by bullets round walls or just pure shit gameplay getting killed when u shot first ect the servers are set up in a way the game shows the lag . which is cool
Considering Bf3 is out first you all be stupid not to buy it
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It's also worryingly prophetic. Tony Hawk was just finding a new direction with its open world freeroam approach when EA's Skate appeared and beat it at it's own game, a couple of years later the franchise was retired. Guitar Hero was looking towards a more connected experience and Rock Band came in and set the bar before World Tour was ready and it failed to meet the standard, couple of years later the franchise was retired. Now Battlefield is ramping up and taking some of the spotlight away from CoD could we be seeing another high profile franchise retired in a few years time? Analysts would say no, but we all know that if it does happen they'll be lining around the block to say how it all made sense just as they did with GH and TH.
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So what he says is that he's still just second-rank
Makes me wonder how much business sense he actually has. If he had any, he'd know that a 60-70 percent market share is much, MUCH easier to defend. 90% market share is practically only possible without any competition deserving that name. In any other condition, achieving this kind of market share is only possible by pouring in so many resources that it's economically not profitable. So what happened is nothing more than a normalization of the market.
So if the good man believes half of what he says, he'll find himself cleaning out his desk in no time...
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Really? You've never heard of one-upmanship outside of gaming? There's plenty of often very vocal rivalries in literary, film and TV circles, between both personalities and organisations, and the people who gravitate towards one side or another. Jeremy Clarkson vs. Piers Morgan? BBC vs. Sky? It's not that big a deal - you can buy into the whole fanboy thing if you want, and many do, and so this is why they do that, but more and more gamers don't bother with it. I don't think it has any bearing on the industry as a whole.
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And it's a hell of a lot better that activisions condesending "tsk tsk" style.
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Id's going to kill them both RAGE!!
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Baffling.
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It's has and always will be competetive, but only in terms of the products being made. For me, Battlefield has been tainted by these slurs. I'm not watching the trailers or reading anything about it because I was just going to buy it and discover it all for myself. It's got to the point now where the more prominent things in my mind about this game are EA Execs throwing immature and downright arrogant remarks around.
Someone in charge, with maturity, should put a lid on all this now as it's already embarrassing enough.
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All this trash talking is fun but in the end the games will speak for themselves.
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No, it's not a mistake at all. BF3 has its serious gamer audience and will keep it. The trash talk is just getting BF3 known to the less serious COD buyers out there, and BF3 may be able to skim a few of those. Why not take those extra sales if you can get them?
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Pricks. I hope EA bury you.
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Yes Jeff, and the best way to compete is to waste your salaried hours engaging in a childish slanging match. That stuff plays well to the fanboys, but it does nothing for the people who actually matter; developers. investors and the silent majority of consumers.
These are the people who will ultimately determine the success or failure of EA and Activision. At best, these people are oblivious or disinterested by these antics. At worst, they're put off to such a degree that they take their business elswhere, depriving your company of talent, cashflow and sales!
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LOL - that did make me laugh. It's funny, because it's true. Still, both had smaller fan bases compared to CoD so don't see that happening any time soon - too many teenage muppets like to run and gun and not work as a team.
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Painting BF3 and MW3 as direct competitors is a bit like comparing Saving Private Ryan to The Expendables - both are really enjoyable entertainment products, depending on your mood. Wacky action movie CoD will always have a wider appeal, but critics are more likely to praise the artistry of BF3.
I'm buying both.
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Perhaps the mud slinging is unnecessary, but one, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Two EA have every right to stand up to Activision because they have proved they are willing to provide a great product. Perhaps Activision should push back a bit, have some faith in Modern Warfare 2 (re-skinned again for all consoles with 3 slapped on the end) and show they are not going down without a fight. Fact is BF3 and MW3 are in direct competition, it's a game, people who want either or both are still going to buy them.
Lastly I personally don't see EA's comments as malicious, I see it as some trash talk that could be entertaining for the industry Activision should play along, time to get the stick out their asses.
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LMAO
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Oh, is that so? It might be in a seller's market, but that's not the situation we're in. It might be if no one ever heard of, but that's not the situation we're in.
@AphoticCosmos
Sorry to shatter your illusions, but you're not really helping yourself. If you go outside typical anglophone countries, your conflict "Jeremy Clarkson vs. Piers Morgan" is a "no contest" for lack of show of Piers Morgan. And heck, Jeremy Clarkson IS seen as someone who got stuck in adolescence for a few decades more than other people, which is precisely the appeal of "Top Gear" - he gets to behave like people would love to, BUT KNOW FULLY WELL THEY'D BE SCREWED IF THEY DID.
In other words, you might behave that way if you don't want to be taken seriously, which is perfectly fine if you make an image out of it. But if the BBC really engages in such trash-talking on an inter-business level, they can be glad that precious little of it makes the news elsewhere.
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