What a stupid man. It's not like it's a big deal for me since Activision, in my opinion, haven't published a good game in years, nor do their upcoming titles interest me. Still though, the guy should be whipped for such a stupid idea.
Activision Considers Selling Video Game Cutscenes
- Thread starter dmcg
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Caporegime
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Remember when you compare an expensive ticket in the UK at £12-14, its about $20 anyway(ish). Prices are different here to there,
However the idiot missed the point, a ticket to see Avartard would be £12 at the best cinema BECAUSE it has the whole distribution network, and everyone else involved, if they cut all the other people out, they'd also charge less, because if Avartard was delivered to you on your computer at home, not in a big screen cinema, not 3d, not with big sound, etc, then you wouldn't pay £12 for it, you might pay £5, which probably ends up being a similar amount to what they make out of the usual £12 with everyone else in the loop cut in on the profits.
Anyway, from the way he said it I got the impression that if he took the hour, hour and a half of cutscenes out of the current starcraft, how much would people pay to see it, they'd want the game with, rather than without.
But I think he was just saying that in a , thats how good our cutscenes are, they set the story so well(debateable of late, old C&C cutscenes were worldclass, new ones, meh, same with Activision titles, WOW advert type videos are awesome) and if we made an actual film based on one of the games we sell, it would do pretty damn well. I would think it would be an alternate, in this case, Starcraft story, nothing(probably) to do with any individual game.
Just saying, if Starcraft/WoW players love the cutscenes we make, surely they would all love a film made in the same style on the same subject, and they probably aren't wrong.
However, VERY few people would buy it at $20, long term, as a one off I can see many people trying it to see how well they did, and for the FIRST TIME, I can see people going to the cinema to see it aswell at a later date, I mean, a WoW film, then release it in cinema's, people still go to Star War showings dressed up as characters, WoW in a cinema would be hilarious, I'd sell tickets to a cafe across the road to watch people going in to see it.
But theres various ways you could take what he meant.
Long term, $20 isn't a sustainable model as a new animated and delivered straight to your home film industry, but then, they also wouldn't have the teams available to release 2 films a year, it would be one film every 5 years, tied into the big game release, Starcraft 2, and Starcraft the film, and if it was ONLY them $20 every few years as a one off, people might do it. However other game companies would jump on wouldn't they, Duke Nukem the game, and Duke Nukem the film, set just after or before the game, etc, etc. If you were watching 15 game films a year along with buying 15 games, $20 isn't going to cut it and almost no one would be going out to see it in the cinema aswell.
Its like anything, just because you can come up with content for 30 hour of cutscenes throughout a game doesn't mean you can create the same level of quality for a 90minute long film, and as seen by say the C&C team, what was great for a few games become tired and cliche'd, and eventually kept rehashing the same single "Kane" story over and over and over again.
Its an interesting idea, but if the normal film industry went the same way, content delivered at home to a small screen, not blacked out room, no 12ft tall speakers, then they'd be charging £3-5 a film, not £15.
For a few quid, I'd be tempted to watch a Blizzard type film. Of course their cutscenes are generally fighting, its creative, sure, but in a film with emotion, DIALOGUE, acting, lots more, well, cutscenes are a far cry from film quality yet, for $20/£15, I'd watch one, if it was the best thing I'd ever seen, ever, I might get another one, if its cliche'd rubbish I'd never see another one till the price dropped 2/3rd's to be "fair".
If they start removing story/content by removing cutscenes from games you have to pay for, or pay for longer versions (like a Lotro extended edition thing, but in game) I'd never touch another activision product again, for life.
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That people are willing to pay £10 for a few rehashed CoD maps should tell you someone will buy whatever Activision sell if it is marketed well enough.
Yes but sadly he's perfectly in touch with what the shareholders and investors want: Making money.
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Kotick is a suit. It's his job to make money for Activision. His passion isn't games or development - I read an interview where he was quite blunt that he was less than a casual gamer. Kotick makes money, that's what he's paid to do. And as much as I hate to admit, I can see the logic behind a lot of his outlandish ideas...
That said, Kotick's comments and Activision's business model both incense me so much as a consumer that they are the first publisher who's games I go out of my way to avoid paying them for. Assassin's Creed II is their only game I purchased in the last 12 months... and that was 2nd hand from an online auction. I'm sure I'm not the only gamer he's put off of his company.
That said, Kotick's comments and Activision's business model both incense me so much as a consumer that they are the first publisher who's games I go out of my way to avoid paying them for. Assassin's Creed II is their only game I purchased in the last 12 months... and that was 2nd hand from an online auction. I'm sure I'm not the only gamer he's put off of his company.
Can I sell screenshots of computer hardware and reviews of hardware and games?
Well, actually you can sell those if you publish them in a magazine, but even those are a waste of money when you can read them for free online.
WTS fraps videos too!
Well, actually you can sell those if you publish them in a magazine, but even those are a waste of money when you can read them for free online.
WTS fraps videos too!
There's no end of rubbish you can buy with games these day!
Take a look at Halo Reach, limited edition this and that, figures, soundtrack, books, strategy guides. I don't understand why anyone would buy half that stuff, but it's there, clearly there's a market for it.
Selling cutscenes doesn't seem anymore offensive to me than selling a soundtrack, or a book that tells you how to play the game.
Take a look at Halo Reach, limited edition this and that, figures, soundtrack, books, strategy guides. I don't understand why anyone would buy half that stuff, but it's there, clearly there's a market for it.
Selling cutscenes doesn't seem anymore offensive to me than selling a soundtrack, or a book that tells you how to play the game.
Directv own the broadcast rights to blizzcon, its them that charge. Blizzard cant provide something online for free that a TV company has paid money to charge for.
As for charging for cutscenes not a new idea, google Blizzard Entertainment DVD Collection, blizzard did this 8 years ago
As for charging for cutscenes not a new idea, google Blizzard Entertainment DVD Collection, blizzard did this 8 years ago
They will sell many tickets for online blizzcon. People with nothing better to do with their money and time
There is a gigantic difference between Blizzard then and now. That difference starts with an 'A'