The Infinity Ward train wreck, sponsored by Activision.

The mainstream gaming media, indie bloggers, tweeps and forum trolls across the net have beat this Infinity Ward debacle to death. And rightly so, as it has proven to be a great drama to watch unfold. It’s been like a multi-car wreck on the interstate, people just can’t help but rubberneck and say their piece on it. I am not immune to this phenomena.

I haven’t said much about it until now due to the excessive coverage of it all, but I recently pondered how this might effect Activision’s primary cash cow Blizzard, and thought I’d get my 2 cents in. I’ve read very little to give me any impression that Blizzard is any danger of Bobby Kotick and gang running them into the ground in such a manner, aside from my sparkly pony prognotications of doom. One would think that you’d leave well enough alone when that company is making you more money than that of most small countries’ gross domestic product. Yet, they did just that with Infinity Ward and the Modern Warfare franchise.

The IW thing just gets worse and worse for Activision every day. By last count there were nearly 30 people that have jumped ship, and now a group has banded together for yet another lawsuit in addition to the one that West and Zampella filed. Very soon, the 3 remaining employees at Ininity Ward will have to give Activision the bad news by telling them that they won’t be able to crank out Modern Warfare 3 any time soon. Eventually Activision will have to admit defeat because of this train wreck and close down one of the most lucrative gaming studios of all time. This is a great lesson on how to shoot yourself in the corporate foot.

I think that Blizzard is precisely the reason that Activision was bold enough to go through with the sacking of West and Zampella. By all accounts things are just rosy at Blizzard HQ. Starcraft 2 is about to release and make more truckloads of cash, followed shortly by World of Warcraft’s Cataclysm expansion. I think those 2 games might be poised to send Activision’s stock value up just a bit. Hopefully, this Infinity Ward disaster might help them to rethink any future conflict that could come about with Blizzard. You think the IW meltdown is bad? Imagine if Blizzard employees started leaving en masse. You could just about follow that up with an Activision chapter 13 filing, because Blizzard is what makes Activion worth a flip financially. It seems to me that with so much reliable cash flow coming from Blizzard, the Activision bozos felt froggy enough to leap at Infinity Ward. Wonder how froggy they feel now?

It just prooves to me that Activision has it’s collective head solidly up it’s rear end. These corporate robots clearly underestimated the loyalty that the IW staff had for the 2 studio heads they so boldly escorted out of the building that fateful day. So Infinity Ward is going to die a slow death despite what they say to the media or community. There’s no way that the remaining staff can be happy or trust the clowns they now work for. IW’s staff have either left, stayed to get all they can before leaving, and/or have updated their resumes and will be gone sooner or later. The talent level will dissipate to that of entry/junior level. Remaining staff may likely be people without the talent, vision and experience to make MW3 as great as the others have been. Infinity Ward is a dead man walking.

I hope EA is watching. Oh yeah, they are.

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with One comment on 04/28/2010.
Posted in: Analysis, Featured, Opinion Tags: Activision, Blizzard, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2, Respawn Entertainment

CC’s avatar takes a moment to tell us how BFBC2 is much better because this type of play is not as effective, given the vehicles and destructible buildings and all.

Check the video below for the full scoop:

Is CC gonna get a fine from the commissioner for blowing Sweetwater up with a Hellfire missle?

~br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with No comments on 03/16/2010.
Posted in: Featured, Funny, News, Video Tags: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, DICE, Electronic Arts, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2

In my first look at Battlefield: Bad Company 2 I stated that I thought this game was coming to kick Modern Warefare 2′s ass.  Today we have more video of the Port Valdez Demo to drive that point home, and apparently beta testing is now in full swing.  Retailers began selling pre-orders with beta access and all sorts of other goodies, and from what I’m hearing the beta servers have been getting pounded. Over twitter EA stated they were having trouble getting beta information out on their blog since it was also getting crushed. It appears that interest in BBC2 is hitting a fevered pitch, and I must say that after watching the Port Valdez Demo Gameplay Video below I couldn’t resist hitting the “buy now” button for my pre-order. Check out the action below:

That sealed the deal for me. I’ll be asking my wife’s forgiveness for buying this game since I just blew some change on Mass Effect 2, but I am weak and cannot resist explosions. I purchased via Steam (shocker, I know) and will be getting my beta access and pre-order goodies from Valve, but other retailers are offering some great pre-order deals as well.

I’ve played alot of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer.  I’m nearly 1st prestige level 70, which means I have been to max level twice in that game.  I love much of the action in that game and have tolerated many bugs and exploits by many of the jackasses out there that love to get ahead that way.  However, I hate Infinity Ward’s lack of dedicated servers and their matchmaking system is craptastic, but I digress.

My point is to say that with all the things I like about MW2, I see so much more to like in BBC2.  Vehicles, medics, better audio and sound effects are all things that jump out at me in the videos I’ve seen.  Well, the pre-order is done, the beta is downloading, and I’ll gather recon and report back soon.

Wish me luck soldier, I’m goin’ in…

~br3ntbr0 (a.k.a Stimulus Package on Steam)

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 01/28/2010.
Posted in: Featured, Impressions, Video Tags: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, DICE, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2

Recently, Infinity Ward’s Creative Strategist, Robert Bowling, announced that Modern Warfare 2 would not ship with any dedicated server support.  Instead, the game would be using their new IWNET matchmaking system.   Robert “FourZeroTwo” Bowling’s on his own blog, posted some of the benefits of this new system, which were most likely crafted to quell the lynch mob forming in the shadows.  Here are a few highlights that got lifted for clarification:

• Matchmaking & Smoother Game play: Bowling says IWNET matchmaking allows players to find and join games much easer than scrolling through lists of servers, each with their own rule and mod sets. This new IWNET infrastructure will “automatically find you a game with the best performance, ping, and preferences based on your location and individual connection as well as matching you with players of your same SKILL.’

• Playlists and Private Matches: Bowling says the new playlist will allow for easier use to finding the type of game you want to play. “This now allows you to play custom games out of the box without the need to install mods, find a modded server with the rules you like, or worry about not being in control of the match,” Bowling explains.

• Party System and Friends list: IWNET’s friend list system allows players to see when your friends are online, and makes it easy to invite them into your party and move from game to game. Bowling highlights the fact this is great for Clan use.

• Cheat / Hack Free Games: “The biggest benefit of using IWnet by far is the fact that you don’t have to worry about joining a server full of aim-bots, wallhacks, or cheaters,” Bowling writes. He says this will allow them to control the quality of the game as well as utilizing the VAC (Valve-Anti-Cheat) system.

This has a large portion of the gaming community, especially those in favor of dedicated game servers in an uproar.  The short explanation is that this new matchmaking service basically turns their beloved PC into an Xbox or a PS3.  It eliminates or at the very least hampers the creation and implementation of mods for Modern War 2.  It takes a lot of control out of the gamers hands and places it firmly in the hands of the gaming company.  Why?  So  they can effectively control,  see and record everything thing the player does during their online play.

Sure that sounds very paranoid, but why else would they stifle creative control of the PC community in favor of a system that basically cuts players off at the knees?

-Oakstout

© Posted by Oakstout for Im Talkin Games with 3 comments on 10/30/2009.
Posted in: Commentary, Featured Tags: Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare 2