Having played Counter-Strike since it's release, I love using "pwn". It just feels natural to say "YOU GOT PWNED!!!!", rather than "WOW THAT GUY REALLY GOT YOU GOOD!!"
@vickers
When your console of choice starts resurrecting classic games with vastly improved graphics, physics and controls, you let me know.
This is proof of why PC is better than consoles. Period.
People on N4G are incredibly ignorant and uneducated when it comes to the business of video games. People give Activision Blizzard a lot of lip for their focus on profitability (just like every single other company in America). So now that you all have seen that their profitability was low even though MW2 prices were kept high and franchises were milked, what does that tell you? It should tell you that the company did everything it could to increase shareholder wealth and it still came up sho...
I handle most of it online through E-Trade. It's very easy. It is always smart for ANYONE, especially younger people, to invest in stocks. I would strongly recommend it. Be sure to do your research though because it is just as easy to lose money. While I can personally recommend Activision Blizzard based on my research, most beginners would be safer by investing in an ETF of the S&P 500 index.
I have owned shares of Activision Blizzard for some time now, and my personal recommendation would be to buy now. The stock price is incredibly low now mainly due to weakness in the gaming industry overall. Individually, AB is still just as incredible as ever with fantastic future prospects.
Buy it up!
Finally, N4G users get to see what actually matters.
Growth %'s, revenues, profit, market share, etc.
Now stop calling Activision Blizzard evil and realize that it is indeed a company competing in a global economy.
EDIT: If you really want to see the kind of pressure these companies are under, listen to the entire earnings call and then listen to the Q&A at the end. You will soon realize that there is a small army of financial analysts standing read...
Why would ANY company "be happy" with the money they are making? Do you even realize that the entire PURPOSE of a publicly-held company is to not only generate a profit, but to BEAT LAST YEAR'S PROFIT and show growth? If a CEO woke up one day and said, "Yeah, that's enough money", the company's stock price would plummet and guess what? They would no longer have the funding necessary to make the world's favorite RTS's (SC and WC3), favorite MMO (WoW), and favorite FPS (MW2)...
Must-haves for any All-Decade list must include:
World of Warcraft
Half-Life 2
Counter-strike
After that, things get a little fuzzier.
On max settings? The game was so far ahead of its time. Not only were the graphics better than anything else available, but the physics were also revolutionary. 6 years later, I haven't played a game since HL2 that had better physics.
@tehk1w1:
First, video games are not commodities. Rice/wheat/milk are commodities. Mass Effect 2 is not. Second, who said video game prices are fixed? Just because most sell for around the $60 price point doesn't mean they are fixed. If you watch prices, many games are heavily discounted even just 1 or 2 weeks after release. As for customer loyalty, how many people out of the millions that bought Modern Warfare 2 do you think have even HEARD OF Activision?
@emkize:
An...
Well clearly this article was written by someone who has yet to graduate from high school. The other possibility is that they have never taken even a basic economics class.
Charge people more money because you know they will pay it? ITS CALLED SUPPLY AND DEMAND.
Who let this author post articles anyways?
I own Activision Blizzard stock.
Meh, almost every new game that comes out already sells for at least $5 off at Amazon. Figure in the price drop later, and you can get games significantly cheaper. For example, Darksiders is already $42.99 on Amazon.
Great, now other companies will follow their lead by producing cheap, ugly looking games in hopes of making a quick buck.
Oh wait... they are already doing that. More to come with Natal/Arc.
Personally, I have zero interest in 3D television or 3D gaming and will not be purchasing any of those products. I would rather not turn blind by age 30.
By the way, just about anyone who has one eye that functions worse than the other will not be able to enjoy 3D. This would make up a sizable population, and that is not even taking into account older folks who generally have very poor eyesight.
I'm betting their next game is a CoD MMO. Activision has already stated that they will be creating a subscription-based version of CoD. Who better to make it?
It's considered cool right now to bash on Call of Duty or anything produced by Activision Blizzard. Funny, because it just so happens that Activision Blizzard is responsible for some of the highest quality games of the past decade.
I predict that Infinity Ward will be making a Call of Duty MMO. My main evidence for that prediction is:
1. Activision has stated openly that they plan to have a monthly subscription service for the Call of Duty franchise, not unlike World of Warcraft.
2. Activision would need a trusted developer to work on this. They know the kind of quality that IW puts out, and seeing how quality was the reason for World of Warcraft's success (Blizzard Entertainment), they would b...
Vehicles in multiplayer = noob.
And no, I don't play COD.