| Squilliam said: This game is a little more complicated than what it appears to be on the surface. Activision are the largest 3rd party publisher in existance right now. They have games which hold a lot of sway with consumers -> Diablo, Call of Duty/Modern Warfare and Guitar Hero are the main ones. They also hold a lot of sway with other publishers as well, when they jump one way they will definately send ripples amongst the others. Since we don't know precisely whats going on behind the scenes to motivate them to make such statements its hard to determine exactly what they want to happen behind the scenes. Its further complicated because we don't exactly know what conversations they are having with Nintendo and Microsoft regarding their games as well. Long term, I would say perhaps they may consider themselves better off with a two horse race than a three horse race, especially if the other console manufacturers make it worth the trouble. This is considering that perhaps Sony is unwilling to cut the price significantly enough for their liking and because of that they feel that the future profitability from the PS3 platform is being hurt so they would wish to act now and aquire a positition which is in their own best interest with platforms which are selling much better in their key western markets. |
I sniff fear all over Activisions statments. I think its more likely that Activision bought way too much property and its not profitable for them to remain as large as they are. In order to do so they need to drive up game attach rates across the board. Threatening Sony is a bad idea for them and shows their desperation.
We know that M$ will buy their way through any situation and make it beyond profitable for them to develop for their console and Nintendo is in excellent standings, so they are bullying the underdog to keep from eating the costs of too much investing in a unstable market. I wouldn't take Activisons threats lightly, but at the same time I don't think they carry much weight. If I'm right and there sales are low, they may follow through thinking that less development cost will offset the loss of sales on the actual product.
Sony made the smart move by blasting numbers all over the place to let them know, they can survive without them. If Sony remains strong on this, Activison is going to have to consider their numbers and make choices internally rather than externally.
My point: Activision's motives for this are not what they appear to be. I'd be willing to bet that their profit reports will reflect a better idea of what their situation and reasons actually are.
-- Nothing is nicer than seeing your PS3 on an HDTV through an HDMI cable for the first time.
