Good job, gamers. You've definitely proven those people wrong who say that games breed an addiction to violence, yessiree.

Seriously, people, the man may be a dick but public stoning? He's making (crappy, admittedly)entertainment, not boiling babies in a vat of oil, laughing maniacally all the while. If being a dick works in terms of business, then it's his right to continue being one; after all, Rockefeller was well-known for his public gaffes and ruthless approach, and look at what happened to him.

Edit: Just wanted to clarify that I don't, in fact, believe that games make people into mass murderers or thugs.

to quote Left 4 Dead; "What a dick."

Let's hope this isn't the future of game companies, because that man is pure evil, he might be Satan himself.

Gabe Newell vs Bobby Kotick.

Gabe wins on EVERY level, often without breaking a sweat. Let's see how long Activision last when their Fisherprice "Simon Says" games run out.

I call for a ban on all things EA, who's with me?

DeathWyrmNexus:

PedroSteckecilo:
snip

This...

He pretty much understands the basic idea of economy but not the nature of the beast he is trying to control. There is a reason that Disney cranks out so much direct to video shit and why only idiots buy it. Activision is going to end up in that limbo of cranking out crap without Disney's legion of obsessive princess fans.

Unless, of course, he makes a deal with Disney to make video games about princesses.*shudder*

nerdsamwich:

DeathWyrmNexus:

PedroSteckecilo:
snip

This...

He pretty much understands the basic idea of economy but not the nature of the beast he is trying to control. There is a reason that Disney cranks out so much direct to video shit and why only idiots buy it. Activision is going to end up in that limbo of cranking out crap without Disney's legion of obsessive princess fans.

Unless, of course, he makes a deal with Disney to make video games about princesses.*shudder*

There has technically been games like that but due the fact that pretty much everybody has no clue about it gives me a measure of solace.

CantFaketheFunk:

Dash-X:

Assassinator:

ChromeAlchemist:

The_Oracle:

You mean he has a lot of blisters? :P

Heh, you know what I meant. :D

You mean you've never heard the word calloused used to describe one's attitude towards others?

Calloused? He sure as hell doesn't look and sound battered and worn through years of experience in the business. He just looks, well, evil. Really, he does. I can't look at that face (not joking here) without feeling, literally, slightly nauseous. How can someone be like that guy? I just learned that he was the CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, why does that nót come as a surprise? That company was just as vile!

I think he's that way because he's allowed to be that way. Sadly, assassination on the grounds that someone is a douche is illegal. It's the state of our society today. People like that only come about when the fear of getting an ass kicking is minimized. I guarantee you that if he had to worry about his head going up on a pike, he'd be more mindful of his words.

Oh come on. Don't you think threatening actual bodily harm is going a bit too far, here?

Yes. Yes I do think it is going a bit far. And, yet I know that it's the only thing that could stop such a person, or make such a person genuinely care about what effect his actions are having aside from his own bottom line.

He's the kind of people who treat others with disdain. He cares not for anything but himself. And if he seems to care so much for those corporate slugs, it's only for his own gain. The only thing that kind of person fears is harm or death.

He's a strange one, isn't he?

What an evil little man.

Such a nice face.

Wikipedia:
In responding to why Activision Blizzard chose not to publish certain games, he implied the company is not interested in games that "don't have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million franchises".

Such an unlikable character. Well, it's time to wait for Grenade of Duty: Modern Baldness Commando 7: Turbo Lover Edition.

Hey Bobby Kotick - YOU"RE A PRICK!
-300#Samoan

Okay, he's now officially on my "list", right after Stephen Conroy. =P

Seriously though, can he paint a bigger target on himself? I guess we'll have to wait and see what he says next.

It makes my blood boil to hear some of the stuff that dribbles out of this guy's mouth, like deadly evil vapor being discharged from his black, shriveled heart! However, that seems to be the consensus on this board, so to keep things interesting I will offer an alternative viewpoint:

This man is powerful. He directs the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars, and can get or do virtually anything he wants. He can say anything he wants, and his words will be carried all around the world. It is a well known fact that power corrupts, and so it is not surprising that this man seems pretty dang corrupted. Therefore, when he speaks, it is likely to be evil and vile things that come out. And we all get to hear them.

But do you know who put him there? WE DID! Sure, we didn't elect him. But it is OUR money that has made him that rich and that powerful. And we gave it to him willingly! It was not tax money! We were not robbed! We buy every stupid game this company makes! We work long hours at bad jobs and fight amongst ourselves to get the money to give to him!

Activision games are the video game equivalent of Hollywood movies. Most people don't think that Hollywood movies are great art. Lots of people come out of the theater talking about how bad the movie was, and fill entire web pages with critiques and analyses of how bad they were, but any time a movie maker releases another Spider Man movie or another Transformers movie people flood into the theaters and make the movie maker rich. Why do we do this?! At this point expectations are so low that it is almost impossible to fail if you have special effects and the name of something that people recognize. I have come out of movies spouting criticism and been told that I expect too much, that people are just supposed to ignore plot holes and terrible dialog and murderously-annoying characters and total pointlessness. That is NOT expecting too much! Movies are expensive! And so are games! If Kotick had his way, games would be MORE expensive! Wake up and realize that you do not have to buy things just because they are aggressively advertised. You are not obligated to buy the fourth installment in a franchise just because you own the first three. Activision and lots of other companies are getting very good at manipulating consumers, but it will only work on us if we let it! Expect more than transitory sensory stimulation! Don't be a textbook example of psychological conditioning!

Kotick is rich and powerful because we give him money. If we stop paying him, he will cease to be rich and powerful. He may keep saying stupid and evil things, but at least we won't have to hear about them.

Time to find out who Bobby Kotick REALLY is.

I knew it.

Helmutye:

But do you know who put him there? WE DID! Sure, we didn't elect him. But it is OUR money that has made him that rich and that powerful. And we gave it to him willingly! It was not tax money! We were not robbed! We buy every stupid game this company makes! We work long hours at bad jobs and fight amongst ourselves to get the money to give to him!

Well...more like you did. I don't own any Activision games :P.

Is it just me or do most evil people look like pretty nice folks? For the exception of the current pope, dick cheney, and hitler. The others I can think of, compared to people of their region, looked like pretty swell people.

Kim Jong Il for instance looks like he'd be a great penguin in a Korean version of Batman. Or like he'd be the kind of dude who would be the tank in DnD.

I dunno...just an observation.

Insurance Salesman:
Good job, gamers. You've definitely proven those people wrong who say that games breed an addiction to violence, yessiree.

Edit: Just wanted to clarify that I don't, in fact, believe that games make people into mass murderers or thugs.

Correlation does not entail Causality. Or the other way around I forget.

Just because the violent people in this thread play games does not mean there is any direct connection between the two. There is nothing to prove because there hasn't been a study done by a third party that has shown ANY correlation between violence and video games.

In fact since video games were invented violent crimes in teens and youth have been on a constant drop. Which would mean if we were making the error of connecting them it would appear that games reduce violence.

Which from personal experience is true. Goldeneye is what kept me from killing a few bullies in Elementary school.

I never thought I'd say this but thank God EA publishes Rock Band.

He's got to know that he's the most despised guy in the history of video games, yet he doesn't seem to care. It's almost like he enjoys it.

Malygris:
...it looks to me like he's slowly and methodically edging his way from "hard-ass CEO" to "that guy who's on the cover of the Overlord 2 box."

Activision was founded with the idea of keeping the wellbeing of the game designers at heart.

in the late 70s, Atari execs were pissing on their employees with exactly this sort of bullshit rhetoric of profits before their employees, and eventually they had enough and ceded from Atari and formed Activision.

What the fuck Kotick?

Fuck you.

This man... did realize that his statement would probably reach his target audience, and that they would be less than pleased about it, right? Not only is he evil, he's stupid. He's almost intentionally hurting the cause that he so passionately calls his main interest...

Unless...

HIS TRUE PLAN IS FAR MORE DIABOLICAL!!!

iamthehorde:
hell yeah. must be cool to work for him. he basically hated on his developers. asshole. still, he shits money as it´s the only thing he seems to eat all day.

And puppies, don't forget. Money and live puppies.

guys like that when they are eventually either offed... or die from something... they give a reason to cheer on someone's death.

of course they're almost always replaced with someone worse... so those sorts of celebrations are often brief.

Jack Thompson was the enemy of game companies, this guy is enemy to ...what anyone who has a controller lying around? Christ I haven't heard one thing positive from him or Activision.

I hope you rot in hell asshole, games are about fun and are (usually) an artform, not just for money suckers to ruin peoples lives.

The_root_of_all_evil:
Gabe Newell vs Bobby Kotick.

Gabe wins on EVERY level, often without breaking a sweat. Let's see how long Activision last when their Fisherprice "Simon Says" games run out.

I call for a ban on all things EA, who's with me?

I'm pretty sure you mean Activision, because John Riccitiello isn't even a roaring douche. The fact that he's not publicly insulted gamers and has called for new IPs means he's Jesus compared to Kotick.

Also, EA boycott vs. Activision boycott: two evil companies, one of which publishes xeroxed Guitar Hero games and one of which is publishing Mass Effect 2...

I always come late to the fun threads...

If Infinity Ward would break away and took Modern Wafare with them, I wouldn't buy anyother game from Activision.

GyroCaptain:

The_root_of_all_evil:
Gabe Newell vs Bobby Kotick.

Gabe wins on EVERY level, often without breaking a sweat. Let's see how long Activision last when their Fisherprice "Simon Says" games run out.

I call for a ban on all things EA, who's with me?

I'm pretty sure you mean Activision, because John Riccitiello isn't even a roaring douche. The fact that he's not publicly insulted gamers and has called for new IPs means he's Jesus compared to Kotick.

Also, EA boycott vs. Activision boycott: two evil companies, one of which publishes xeroxed Guitar Hero games and one of which is publishing Mass Effect 2...

I always come late to the fun threads...

I dunno which ones worse... Activision and Kotick spit on gamers in public, EA sells Army of Two.

DeathWyrmNexus:

PedroSteckecilo:
I can understand where he's coming from... but I disagree.

He wants to make Videogame Making an entirely corporate, profit based persuit rather than the mad collective of Programmers and Artists that currently make up many games studios (yes even casual ones, I know someone working in a local studio and they're still all crazy artists and programmers, not corporate hot shots).

He wants to make Activision the Disney of Videogaming, cranking out generic, intensely "focus group designed" games, which is not "fun" so to speak. He wants a videogame assembly line to maximize profits and what he described as his work environment is one way to do that.

However, my girlfriend works for a man with the same outlook as good old Bobby... and this gentleman's company is failing due to his inability to hold on to knowledgable staff, the unmotivated nature of the workers (people won't work REALLY hard for you if they hate you) and the environment of extreme favoritism and backstabbing that leads to the occasional "sabotage" of jobs.

This...

He pretty much understands the basic idea of economy but not the nature of the beast he is trying to control. There is a reason that Disney cranks out so much direct to video shit and why only idiots buy it. Activision is going to end up in that limbo of cranking out crap without Disney's legion of obsessive princess fans.

Disney, Darth Vader, and Haliburton once had a baby.
The Angels/Economists/Psychologists/anyone with a brain, called it an abomination in the eyes of the Lord.
It ate Creativity and shat out Maddens.
It laid waste to Hope.
It arrogantly claimed Capitalism was not striving hard enough to make it's Proletariat suffer on off hours used for "fun".
It said artists were usurpers of Righteous Tyranny and they must be enslaved and de-tongued.
It said it was Goodness and deserved the same respect as The Great Ford and Edison.
It is said "Evil does not exist.
That is a falsehood.

I call it "Kotick". You will call it, "Master".

Buy/build a PC(not Apple, even thought they are shiny). Consoles are a system design that limits Freedom. And now you hear what a creature the Industry is.

why, why do we have to put up with this dick

Crimsane:

Booze Zombie:
Funny thing is, taking fun out of video games renders them not games, thus, not good money.
His philosophy is flawed.

He's not taking the fun out of video games, just out of making them.

Which makes me think from him we'll have "technically" good games that tick all the right boxes such as co-op, online versus, duel wielding, custom soundtracks etc. but they'll lack "soul". There won't be poeple who generally like their games, and it'll just become a job to them.

Like how a jewellery carved by a computer carved by a computer guided laser may be technically better then a Fabergé egg, but wouldn't your prefer the original?

The_root_of_all_evil:
Gabe Newell vs Bobby Kotick.

Gabe wins on EVERY level, often without breaking a sweat. Let's see how long Activision last when their Fisherprice "Simon Says" games run out.

I call for a ban on all things EA, who's with me?

What does calling a ban on EA have to do with hurting Activision's business?

I have an extreme emotional attachment to my characters. From spending an hour of sculpting Mass Effect's main character's face, Fagballs Shepard, to my bromance with Captain MacMillan, I think our buddy Jack Thompson Bobby underestimates the power of a game, especially in its ability to draw in gamer.s

hypothetical fact:

The_root_of_all_evil:
Gabe Newell vs Bobby Kotick.

Gabe wins on EVERY level, often without breaking a sweat. Let's see how long Activision last when their Fisherprice "Simon Says" games run out.

I call for a ban on all things EA, who's with me?

What does calling a ban on EA have to do with hurting Activision's business?

GyroCaptain:

I'm pretty sure you mean Activision,

Shush, that was a deliberate mistake to see if you were looking.

Honest

I'd like to take a Lancer to his neck!

Machiavellianism - look it up!

There are a lot of complaints here about how evil he is but this guy is the american dream. Free market Capitalism working well.

The American kids on this forum should want to be this guy.