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Bobby Kotick speaks at DICE convention, reveals he isn't Lucifer.

S

Segata Sanshiro

Member
bdouble said:
Don't really have an opinion on the guy. They do what they want. Very few publishers are in touch with their community. Hell few developers have insight into the community but to us it usually just comes of as being evil but w/e. Give me good games. I don't see them loosing many blizzard game sales over the guy.

And if you ran the company it wouldn't exist any more and even more people would be without work.

Layoffs are a part of growing a business. Its a constant state of flux and things change. With small changes come inefficiencies and over a period of time they become out of hand. Overlap in management and horrible structure.

Its not the end of the world for these people. As an employee you need to realize your expendable. Just like a piece of machinery. Thing is in this country we have a chance to do something else.
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Qualities that arguably make him a good business man, but he still looks like a shithead trying to set up Activision as a publisher where creative devs can work without interference and with good support. They killed Shaba just for not having a yearly franchise to work on.
 
W

whatsinaname

Member
Archie said:
Kotick might not be a hellspawn as originally thought.
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VerbalKint.jpg
 
I

iammeiam

Member
In other news, Darth Vader himself held a press conference today, in which he explained that he really, really regretted using the phrase "dark side" when referring to his side of the Force, as he was just trying to inject a little levity into the uber-serious Empire.

He also apologized for the destruction of Alderaan, saying that in retrospect he wouldn't have pissed off Leia had he known in advance her side was actually going to win, but blamed an aide who'd insisted the Empire had the advantage. He did not comment on rumors of the existence of yet another Death Star.
 
Q

Quasar

Member
So Kotick wanted to buy Commodore. Interesting. maybe it would have survived. Of course I don't think I'd want a Commodore around that wasn't a computer company.
 
K

KaYotiX

Banned
Kotick pitched Activision as a better creative partner than other industry players. “If you want to retain your identity and culture, we’re a really great mothership,” he said. “If you want to sell out … there are definitely other companies to talk to,” he continued, to scattered applause.


People dont beleive his lies...that was taken from the Wired.com article
 
F

Frank "Trashman" Reynolds

Banned
So basically... He hates the fact he missed out on a ton of money with Harmonix and The Sims. He then blasts EA for running developers into the ground, and displays his love for creativity in the games business, just after Activision has closed a bunch of studios. All while trying to look like the good guy.

Yeah, we're dealing with the fucking Lucifer of the videogame world.
 
D

DMeisterJ

Banned
Ultimo hombre said:
A good CEO would be forward looking. If the industry outlook for 2010 steers towards contraction it would be his job to foresee that and make cuts ahead of time to maintain profits. THese aren't charities.
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Finally someone who gets it.

Axing studios and workers is what they had to do considering that CoD7 will not do 550 million in revenue in 5 days like CoD6, and GH6 will do less than GH5, and further contraction in the economy will definitely make it hard to make money in 2010.

I'd say he's the smartest CEO in the bunch. (Third party wise)
 
T

ThusZarathustra

Member
DMeisterJ said:
I'd say he's the smartest CEO in the bunch. (Third party wise)
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The accuracy of this statement depends entirely on how long Activision can maintain slash and burn development practices. If it's for the long haul Kotick will have been proven both an excellent businessman and the current incarnation of Lucifer. If the strategy fails in the next few years and Kotick gets out with a golden parachute he will be proven both a poor businessman and the current incarnation of Lucifer.

EDIT: Him being the devil and him being a good businessman are not mutually exclusive.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
that wasn't even kotick under the mask.
 
S

Segata Sanshiro

Member
DMeisterJ said:
Finally someone who gets it.

Axing studios and workers is what they had to do considering that CoD7 will not do 550 million in revenue in 5 days like CoD6, and GH6 will do less than GH5, and further contraction in the economy will definitely make it hard to make money in 2010.

I'd say he's the smartest CEO in the bunch. (Third party wise)
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But again, what part of this makes Activision a welcoming home for creative developers?
 
B

BloodySinner

Banned
Smash88 said:
Nice try dick head. I'm sure no one will fall for that anymore.

One of the ways to even start gaining fans back is to fix what you have ruined and what has made Activision, PC gamers. Start from the source. I still haven't play MW2 to this day, but hey guess what I'm going to be playing soon, Battlefield Bad Company 2.
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You still bought the game knowing full well of its lack of features.
 
M

MattyGrovesOrMe

Member
ThusZarathustra said:
The accuracy of this statement depends entirely on how long Activision can maintain slash and burn development practices. If it's for the long haul Kotick will have been proven an excellent businessman. If the strategy fails in the next few years and Kotick gets out with a golden parachute he will be proven both a poor businessman and the current incarnation of Lucifer.
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Bobby Kotick doesn't need a golden parachute. He personally sold off $60+ million in Activision stock in mid-late 2009, stock whose value was significantly generated by the work of people he's now laying off.
 
T

ThusZarathustra

Member
MattyGrovesOrMe said:
Bobby Kotick doesn't need a golden parachute. He personally sold off $60+ million in Activision stock in mid-late 2009, stock whose value was significantly generated by the work of people he's now laying off.
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Even worse!

But hey, it was good business right?

Excuse me whilst I vomit.

speculawyer said:
Well played.



He still sounded like a dick. A dick who knows he is being called a dick and tries to weasel out of it.
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No no no. He's not trying to weasel out of it at all, he's actually rubbing it everyone's face! He's showing off!
 
A

Anerythristic

Member
Kotick was never an asshole, he came across as a nice guy in the GI interview as well. He is a businessman first and a gamer four hundred and sixty fifth.
 
F

Fredescu

Member
Anerythristic said:
Kotick was never an asshole, he came across as a nice guy in the GI interview as well.
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No ones really naive enough to think that evil people are always rude and lacking in charisma? Are they?
 
B

Brannon

Member
Tsk, words. Words that turn into bitter orange earwax in my ears. I'll bet that after he burns Activision out and cuts and runs, that his only regret is that he has bone-itis.

And other Futurama quotes that apply.
 
S

seady

Member
The contest is just another marketing scheme trying to help recover the image of the company. It's all in the equation.
 
M

MattyGrovesOrMe

Member
Cartman86 said:
This idea of not playing videogames because "I'm afraid I'll get addicted" is so weird.
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It validates a frequent (and frequently unjust) criticism of the medium, which is strange coming from the CEO of a multi-billion dollar video game producer...

Selling games like packaged goods: Fuck yeah!
Consuming games like packaged goods: Might negatively impact me... oh noes.

At least the best capitalists are consistent: The executives and chief investors of McDonalds make a lot off producing food they won't eat either.
 
T

Tiktaalik

Member
bdouble said:
Layoffs are a part of growing a business. Its a constant state of flux and things change. With small changes come inefficiencies and over a period of time they become out of hand. Overlap in management and horrible structure.

Its not the end of the world for these people. As an employee you need to realize your expendable. Just like a piece of machinery. Thing is in this country we have a chance to do something else.
Click to expand...

No.

Layoffs injure companies, the economy and communities. Mass layoffs are almost always a terrible idea.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/233131
 
T

TheGreatDave

Banned
Affeinvasion said:
This is one of Archie's best trolls to date.
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By shifting the conversation to "Kotick isn't the devil", the Archie is able to lead his pray in to a state of confusion. It is then he takes the chance to strike.
 
K

kuYuri

Member
Even without reading the thread, pretty much most people who respond will not give a shit about what he says and think he's a dick anyway.
 
C

crops55

Member
Why is this guy even trying to clear his name? He has to know he's in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" position. Being compassionate rarely makes the kind of money he sees, but don't try and hide the fact that it's not all business. The business angle is something I can, at the very least, honestly believe.
 
CamHostage

CamHostage

Member
DMeisterJ said:
Axing studios and workers is what they had to do considering that CoD7 will not do 550 million in revenue in 5 days like CoD6, and GH6 will do less than GH5, and further contraction in the economy will definitely make it hard to make money in 2010.
Click to expand...

Still a dick, but anybody who thinks that corporations can just coast like it's still a glorious time doesn't have a real grasp on what it's like out in the market right now. There's no sign yet that things are getting better. Pink slips and cutbacks have I'm positive gone out at companies that aren't evil (but also aren't big like Activision or EA so it's a smaller scale and things fly under the radar) and more studios, independent and affiliated, will close this year.

Nirolak said:
I feel this might hold more weight if they had not just shut down Neversoft, RedOctane, Luxoflux, Underground Development, and laid off half of Radical.
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Wait, Neversoft? You mean that they were slashed, not shut down, correct? RO, Luxo and UD were shut down (two of which make sense, unfortunately; the RedOctane move is the one I'm still seeing as far too cowardly of market futures.) Neversoft still is open unless something has changed.
 
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