Activision Wary of Call of Duty Going the Way of Guitar Hero

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Activision is flying high with all things Call of Duty, but fellow Activision property Guitar Hero also once had a seemingly limitless future before it flamed out. How is Activision responding to this potential trap?

An internal Activision memo from back in February obtained by Giant Bomb from CEO Eric Hirshberg shows that he and the company is aware of what can happen to even the biggest of franchises like Call of Duty. "Isn't Call of Duty today just like Guitar Hero was a few years back?" asks the memo to itself. "This is a great question," answers Hirshberg, "and one we have thought about a lot. But there are several key differences between the two franchises worth considering. Guitar Hero quickly reached incredible heights, but then began a steady decline. Call of Duty, on the other hand, has steadily grown every single year of its seven-year existence."

To Hirshberg, the key in sustaining the Call of Duty is simple: Quality. "...We need to focus: on making games that constantly raise the quality bar; on staying ahead of the innovation curve; on surrounding the brand with a suite of services and an online community that makes our fans never want to leave. Entertainment franchises with staying power are rare. But Call of Duty shows all of the signs of being able to be one of them. It’s up to us."

Beyond that, Hirshberg says that there other factors that currently help the Call of Duty brand. He believes the fact that the series is an FPS and the online community are factors that help make the franchise "perhaps the 'stickiest' of all time."

While time will indeed tell whether Call of Duty really is here to stay, fans should be heartened by the fact that Hirshberg's memo appears to show a company that knows that making good games is the win-win scenario for everyone that will ensure any series' continued success. Then again, consistent quality is no easy task, and that's made even harder the more games you put out for a franchise.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/04/20/activision-wary-of-call-of-duty-going-the-way-of-guitar-hero.aspx

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"Activision Wary of Call of Duty Going the Way of Guitar Hero" :: Login/Create an Account :: 32 comments

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RhadamanthinePosted:

Elax028 when or if they stop making cods then there is a chance that they'll go down the path guitar hero did :(


Understanding Fail

JordanBeTrollinPosted:

Well i pay cod but its just the same every game
Campaign:training, awesome, betrayed, end
multiplayer:meet peeps, meet hackers, get angry, end
zombies:find a game, end
fun:end
i miss guitar hero :'(

Elax028Posted:

when or if they stop making cods then there is a chance that they'll go down the path guitar hero did :(

PozedPosted:

Yeah i can see Call of Duty Going Down, But not for a Couple of Years yet..... Because there are more and more people who want to play it

shadow1Posted:

Im only going to buy MW3 to see what its like, if it sucks (80% chance it will) Then im never going to buy another cod. People are talking sht about every other shooting game and BO because they think MW43 will be good because it has Modern Warfare in it. The only modern Warfare was Cod 4. The cod series got its decline after WaW because its just been the same game over and over and over and over again. Nothing new to multiplayer. Nothing new to the game at all. People may say its the same with halo, but halo adds new things like armour abilities. Blacks ops was a little bit good with operational things like zip lines and all that, but the rest is just the same. I swear, is MW3 is the same like MW2, im not buying another cod.

JerryTheWarlockPosted:

ITzZCraigxX hmm but since MW2 every call of duty has been the same has it not ??


Theres been one cod since mw2 and its not even close to the same

ITzZCraigxXPosted:

TTG SEAN
RemeAmaze i don't know why everyone hates on world at war it was a quality game besides some mistakes jugga mp40 dual mag etc but sniping and semi automatic guns were sick and i thought that most of the maps were well made. The fact is that every cod has mistakes that should be fixed in the testing stage black ops has the worst bullet detection and everyone seems to see everyone in a different position even with everyone on 4 bars. Battlefield would be the best by a mile except the fact that it feels like your carrying a truck on your back the whole time just pisses me off and the movement is so sluggish its a joke


one of the reasons i dislike battlefield its very sluggish call of duty has more of a fast moving feel to it


And thats the type of gamers either fast pace FPS or slow paced "realistic" games

I like both though Cod and battlefield

ITzZCraigxXPosted:

hmm but since MW2 every call of duty has been the same has it not ??

sloshedtrain2Posted:

AJTeamkiller Call of Duty now was nothing like Guitar Hero in say 2005. It allows for mass's of ones friend to get together and play whereas Guitar hero at its prime allowed up to 4 players leaving some of your buddies to sit and watch. Plus CoD nowadays is the game everybody hates to love and loves to hate. Regardless of the quality of the game itself people think its cool to hate the game when they really don't and when you ask them why, Its the same thing. "Oh it takes to long to kill somebody" Well no its called get some skill and then you kill more often. The gun balance made it lame. Well no again, I think a larger selection of weapons is a good thing not a bad thing. And other lame excuses about why they don't like it, Most people just to afraid to admit they got butt hurt by me and my 4RUM buddys. But I'll admit Black Ops is kinda sluggish in the flow of things but it doesn't suck

I will admit is suck at call of duty but I still enjoy the game especially black ops. I really hate all these people bitching on how they took out quick scoping or how they altered they even go as far as to bash the company the made the game.

MW2 FAN BOYS DO US ALL A FAVOR AND STFU!!!

slaughtercellPosted:

MW2 Engine IW 4.0,Black Ops Engine IW engine (improved from World at War)... MW2 has the better engine and True facts... "Despite it being available at the time, Treyarch continued to use the older version of the IW engine in Call of Duty: Black Ops" quoted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IW_4.0#IW_4.0


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