The Stupid Gamer » Bad news

Call of Duty franchise to be ran into the ground

Jeff Rivera — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:24:56 +0000

Statements released by Activision today should be quite alarming to Call of Duty fans. In a nutshell, Activision has announced that they plan to dilute the brand as quickly and thoroughly as possible by ensuring yearly releases, multi-genre releases, and a continued push into the MMO realm. Activision today announced that in 2011 a game in the Call of Duty franchise would be coming from a newly formed studio, known as Sledgehammer Games.

It’s all speculation at this point, but it looks like Infinity Ward was getting a little tired of the Call of Duty franchise being their only product, so Activision formed another studio to help carry the load (as they have been doing with Treyarch). Inifinity Ward is currently developing the two map packs for Modern Warfare 2 that are due out this year, but after that it would be hard to imagine that they are doing much with Treyarch responsible for the 2010 game and Sledgehammer being responsible for the 2011 release.

In a statement regarding the future of the franchise, Activision had this to say:

“2010 will be another important year for the Call of Duty franchise,” stated Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing. “In addition to continued catalog sales, new downloadable content from Infinity Ward and a new Call of Duty release, we are excited about the opportunity to bring the franchise to new geographies, genres and players.”

Typical PR blabber, for sure. As the details come out more fully we’ll all know more, but for now it really feels like the best days of the Call of Duty franchise are behind us. Just like Activision ran Guitar Hero into the ground, I see the same happening to Call of Duty.

Activision is obviously run by idiots

Jeff Rivera — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:36:19 +0000

Modern Warfare 2 has sold enough copies to line the coffers of Activision for quite some time, so how does Activision show their appreciation to Infinity Ward, the developer of the game? They do it by firing Jason West, head of the studio. Not only that, security guards were sent over to the Infinity Ward studio without explanation of what was going on. It’s unclear if other people were sent packing, but it’s obvious that Activision’s top executives are drunk on pride and power. If this sort of thing eventually leads to a split between the studio and the publisher, I think it would be for the best. More than likely, however, it’s going to just be a rough few weeks for Infinity Ward before everybody starts falling back in line. With the economy as it is, it’s not the best time to rock the boat.

R.I.P. Lou Albano

Jeff Rivera — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:13:17 +0000

Lou Albano, the man most well known among video gamers for his portrayal of Mario in the live action segments of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show cartoon, passed away on Wednesday due to continued complications of an illness that he had been battling under hospice care for some time. The cartoon, which is available on DVD home release, was something that young fans of the NES looked forward to each week, and it remains a lasting symbol of Mario’s huge impact on pop culture.

One last time, I suggest that everybody should “do the Mario” for Captain Lou. Just wait until nobody is looking, it’s okay.

Oh man…why not, Nintendo?!

Jeff Rivera — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:57:20 +0000

Nintendo is the publisher for Tecmo’s Fatal Frame IV over in Japan, and earlier this week they announced that they have decided not to bring the game to North America. Because of region locking on the Wii, that means that unless you have a Japanese Wii, you won’t be playing this game. What a bummer. Fatal Frame is one of the more enjoyable and definitely one of the scarier survival horror series out there. Fatal Frame II still ranks up in the top 3 scariest games of all time in my book, so I was really hoping that the fourth game in the series would make its way here.

I’m guessing that Nintendo has chosen not to bring Fatal Frame IV over to North America because they feel that it either won’t be profitable or that it doesn’t jive well with their current lineup of games. If you ask me, either reason is total crap. Sure, the game may not be a blockbuster seller, but at least you’d be helping out our relationships with a 3rd party developer that is willing to produce engaging and complex content for your system. I think Nintendo is sending a very bad message to developers, its fanbase, and to potential buyers that may be weary of the console’s hardcore game offerings. I love my Nintendo Wii as much or more than most people out there, but I honestly can’t deny that the lineup could use a few more games like Fatal Frame IV.

No podcast this week, intermittent downtime explained

Jeff Rivera — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 23:03:41 +0000

First of all, there won’t be a podcast this week because I’ve not been able to sleep the past 4 nights due to a terrible toothache (broken tooth, now infected), and I’m barely getting through my work days, let alone having the time to put together a show. Sorry to both of you listeners out there.

Secondly, some of you have probably noticed that the site has been going down for 10-20 minute periods lately, with some lasting up to an hour or two. Well, it appears that our site is outgrowing it’s humble hosting environment and we’ll probably have to find a more robust and reliable option soon. This is both good news and bad news. The good news is that we’re obviously getting a lot more readers, but it’s bad because it’s obviously going to cost us more, and we don’t make enough on ads to offset that cost. Heck, we don’t make anything on ads, they just look cool over there. So until these downtimes become more of an issue, we’ll just deal with them, but we’re aware we’ll need to make a move eventually.

Thanks, for the continued support, and look for a new podcast next week. For now, I suggest catching RebelFM and the Giant Bombcast.

EGM is no more, 1up sold to UGO, lots of notable layoffs

Jeff Rivera — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:11:15 +0000

Ugh, I feel like the last remnants of my childhood have been dragged out into the street and had a bullet put right between the eyes. With the acquisition of 1up by UGO, many notable and talented people have been layed off and EGM is no more. What is undisputably the best gaming magazine ever published in the United States is finished, as the January issue (currently on sale) will be the final issue. GAF users have managed to compile a list of the journalists and staff members that have been layed off so far. Below is the list (bolding indicates the ones that I was particularly fond of):

Adrian Frieg
Amy Mishra
Amy Moran
Andrea Garcia
Andrew Fitch
Andrew “Skip” Pfister
Anthony Gallegos
Cesar Quintero
Christina Rosa
CoyLou Steel
Derek Chinn
Doug Parsons
Eric Ellis
Giancarlo Varanini
Greg Ford
James “Milkman” Mielke
Jason Bertrand
Jason Wilson
Jervilyn Jaramillo
Justin Frechette
Leslie Gelfand
Marci Yamaguchi
Matt Chandronait
May Tong
Meredith Stowe
Michael Donahoe
Monique Convertito
Ndubuisi Madu
Nick Suttner
Norris Boothe
Philip Kollar
Rey Serrano
Robert Bowen
Rosemary Pinkham
Ryan O’Donnell
Ryan Scott
Shane Bettenhausen
Simon Cox
Tammy Ross
Tipler Ubbelohde

I’m sure as the dust settles the list of casualties will expand, but some of those names up there are really quite shocking. Game coverage isn’t going to be the same without many of these guys being a part of the EGM/1up team, that’s for sure. Also, and this is where gamers are most going to feel the gut punch, is that the 1up podcasts are going to be done away with, at least for the time being. Right now, it’s been confirmed that 1up Yours (Best. Gaming. Podcast. Ever.) and the 1up Show (Best. Gaming. Video. Podcast. Ever.) are dead for good.

If you feel like it, you can hit up GAF and Twitter and read all sorts of farewells, comments, and musings from current and ex-1up staff about the situation. I’m still a little in shock that all we have left in the print publication market here in the US is Gamepro, which is terrible, and Game Informer, which has no journalistic integrity.

Good luck to everybody who is personally affected, and good luck to gamers trying to find a publication/network to fill the void left behind in their gaming news coverage and editorial needs.