I like to call this the 'Fake Apology' Strategy. Knowingly do something wrong you know you can get away with it starts to show signs of frustrating someone and then 'apologize' by doing something else in the same fashion. It seems sincere in the moment but slowly reveals itself to be a manipulative trick to get away with more without pushing your luck to much. Like a teen staying out after curfew, but three or four times before they would really be really scolded for it they stop and instead start cutting class. Since you aren't pushing their good will to its absolute limits, the diminishing returns of trust from this are lessened than if you went hard on tiring out one venue. Its a real interesting, if not admittedly insidious, type of mental manipulation.
Cliff Pierre big fan of Destiny here, they might of gotten that idea from that, or tested it there. Destiny 1 and season pass, where a lot of people bought it, got bored sold physical copies. Taken King "fixes" everything, people come back, people rebuy game with taken king, game is praised. D2 has a similar broken start, expansions were disappointing, Forsaken comes with "fixes" people will praise it and it will take us by storm. As much as I will buy Forsaken, everything in this video just seems to remind me of what Bungie pulled with Destiny and how it feels like deja vu. Same with CoD, everyone hated the futuristic setting, went back to WW2 sold very well, and now Black Ops 4 is going back to the future and the most controversy I've seen is the armor mechanic. Game will be the game of the year, despite what we show in a goty show, it will be a bestseller, and everyone will have a copy even if they don't play it as much idk though....
I would equate it more to a "Let down strategy" basically not giving a shit half asking everything just to get by and then cherry picking where to excel at so no one notices. Like a bad boyfriend that brings home flowers and the right gifts at the right times so the girl has no technical reason to break up. Whether its Activision or Chad it's still an abusive relationship.
Spent the last few weeks working on a project about Turn-Based games that just wasn’t coming together, ironically leading me to revise something I scrapped last year, but constantly thought about since then. It's more speculative than I’m used to and I doubt I’ll be making a video like this again soon, but I hope it’s enjoyable for as many of you as possible.
Raycevick As long as its interesting and feels cohesive Im totally game for it. And turn based games is such a nice topic because noone really talks about them except when raging about xcom. Also you just rambling about a topic your interested is more than enough for me to enjoy. Hey thats just me
I enjoyed the video, but I have to say I really don't think the intention was to frustrate fans with a futuristic setting. There hasn't been any examples of this being a successful strategy before now so there was no confirmation on whether it would work. I think the issue is that Black Ops 2, often seen as a peak in Call of Duty, was somewhat an ending to new settings. Sure, they are other conflicts, I'm not pretending there isn't more room for exploration but there is limited room for a new setting now that is totally new AND financially recognizable enough. I think they saw pushing further into the future was a new setting when all these games were coming out. I also believe releasing the handful of futuristic settings wasn't Activisions plan necessarily, but simply Activision granting the wish of 3 studios who wanted to pursue somewhat similar settings. I think they simply wanted the more open choices for gameplay ideas futuristic settings grant. Its also worth noting Black Ops 2 was a mega-hit, so the intention may have been to simply release futuristic games with the intention of initiating that success. The points you raise aren't wasted in terms of apathy in relation to the release and reception of games, but I think Activision doing this intentionally (at the moment) is a bit silly.
Raycevick well cant really blame for not wanting to participate in a game that you wont find interesting for I'm sure I'm not going to get many new game's beyond metro exodus but what new game are you really wanting to get out side of major franchises?
"All I can do... is not participate." I can't believe how hard it is for video game consumers in general to realize this in order to see the change they want to see in the industry.
If it's dead Island 2, I'm in, if it's another Day Z/H1Z1 "super serious and gritty" nah I'm good, even dying light hasn't got my attention because of this
I really think you're missing out when it comes to Dying Light. That game took everything that made Dead Island great (apart from the setting, of course) and mixed it with many new gameplay elements (many from Mirror's Edge) and a set of huge environments to play in. It may have a darker tone overall, but it definitely feels like Dead Island with more mobility, enhanced sandbox and a larger environment. Great soundtrack, too. The game is a real gem, and I highly recommend it.
it also eliminated the personalities of each character instead replacing it with generic paramilitary guy and the setting felt much more generic south/central American tropical feel, which dead Island counter acted by having a more colorful resort theme.
It's not set in the Americas. It's set in a city in Turkey, called Harran. Harran is also a very distinct environment, and I found that I quite liked it. Anyway, I do understand why you would be disappointed with the use of Kyle Crane as the protagonist of Dying Light. While he was very well voiced and I thought he had good interactions with other characters within the game, I do agree that he was rather generic and forgettable. Not that much of an issue, though, IMO. Dying Light has many more qualities that make up for a forgettable main character.
“All I can do, is not participate.” That’s the solution all along. I only bought CoD from MW1 to Ghosts on sale and never on release. I won’t be getting anything CoD from here on.
True. You can have your cake and eat it. Activision is most concerned about the numbers coming out of the first 90 days of release. Waiting that time and buying either Used or New at a discount means you get to play, the store doesnt get their $59.99 and Activision doesnt get their estimated sales figures.
You know what makes cod succesful? ridiculous marketing campaigns bombarding casuals who simply arent deeply invested in gaming. Those dips you get in sales are the actual gamers which didnt buy.
Problem is that the uneducated fucks that buy every COD, fifa and Malden shield those companies of any consequences. They always get their money back so they are free to scam everyone else
This video is short but it’s probably one of your best, or at least your most important. The way companies exploit consumer apathy and nostalgia needs to be said and exposed.
@@mobiuscoreindustries yeah i agree. Super Mario Odessey is basically just a copy of Super Mario 3d land... oh wait. uhhmm Breath of the Wild is just a copy of Skyward sword... oh wait.
That is literally what you do with a baby. They throw it across the room in a fit, you take it away for a week, and it's a "new" toy when you get it out again. Saves mom and dad money.
Saransh Oberoi not really, a baby doesen't have a properly developed prefrontal cortex, adults do, by definition if you are a manchild, you are not an adult.
I thought UA-cam glitched or lagged when I saw Angry Joe when the video started XD Also great video, I am sick of movies and games just redoing the same thing over....and over...and over.... Yet we keep buying it....over and over....and over.....and over. So if they are peddling crap we are just as guilty for eating it.....then complain there is "noting better!"
But let's face it, most people watching these videos don't buy into CoD. A lot of the market I feel are the dude bros and people who just want a video game to play and don't know too much about them.
Of Course, we need to show them it is worth at least reserving SOME of their company's effort per gaming session in trying new IPs or ideas or even just listing to the fanbase more. And we do that by not buying CoD 54 or AC: Infinite Revolution 5. But people buy them anyway, because we dont speak for everyone...and it seems the bulk of everyone does not care if there is lootboxes or the same zombie wave shooter or fewer features per game that are brought back in as "extras" they can charge you for. Simply put, those of us who want something better are outvoted by the rest that want more of the same :/
Which is fine those "filthy casuals" are the bread and butter for most companies these days....but that means they tailor more and more to them until thats ALL they do. You can make fantastic games on much smaller budgets, even if the edges are not as smooth. Frankly I play most games for the dept and story and while some in the industry mite see that as a "dying art" it is not, just look at Skyrim lasting on like some radioactive bug. When Elder Scrolls becomes online only, when Dragon Age "Arena" becomes a thing, when you cant even play Crusader Kings single player...then ill put all my time and effort out of gaming because I will be done! just...done!
Unfortunately every single creative product has been derivative of something else. That being said, the quality of older derivaties could be in that they don't make the inspirations as blatantly obvious as it is in current products.
Well, in regards to movies : nope. Re-hashes have been blown to shit while more original content has been doing quite well in the current "fuck movies, they cost too much" era. I'll agree with the video games bit though...even indie devs are stupid on pixel-junk still even though it doesn't sell well unless backed by some awesome mechanic or gameplay.
I've known for years that Activision manipulated their generally unthinking, bro shooter seeking audience by skewing their marketing and presentation to make it *seem* every few years that the franchise was doing something new and exciting to keep burned-out fans (like me in 2013) interested enough to purchase the next installment, while trying to pull people who've jumped ship (me in 2017 with WW2) back into the franchise. However, this video really puts things in perspective. It's almost as if they've planned the course this entire franchise will take for the next decade or so, and are legitimately making themselves look bad at times on purpose, just to set up a totally fabricated redemption story for people to make stupid reaction videos and poorly written articles about, therefore generating billions of dollars of free positive advertisement so people then continue to buy their games, until they get fed up with Activision again, and the cycle repeats. If the Illuminati is real, they're not trying to take over the world, they're selling us CoD games.
The part where they wait for a new generation to step in, having missed all the WW2, resembles me of Disney... Which only re-release their animation classics every ~6 years.
"Over-saturated" is how I would define the video game industry today. Money has simply outweighed quality and content in games when it comes to the center of attention.
I think ACTIVISION and EA's chickens will come home to roost in the long run. They're already widely acknowledged as two of the most untrustworthy companies in existence, and I think that sentiment has lingering effect that's difficult to shake.
probably not activisions had that reputation for over thirty five years. they helped the gaming industry crash in the 1980s and they got off scott free.
Sadly it will never happen. And one part is from gamers themselves. We launch at the developers, always the developers, and the publisher gets away almost every time. It's by design. We don't see the tears and sweat and pain the devs go through for the game, so the causal morons think that the devs where just lazy and made the game in 5 mins like the self entitled douches they are
If there is ONE franchise that needs to be put out of its misery, Its Call of Duty. Once a juggernaut and absolute classic. Now nothing more than a former husk of itself trying to keep itself alive by scraping the last bits of food from the floor.
Just got around to watching this now, and I have to say I am shocked that this is so accurate about how activision marketed the new Modern Warfare game. You are a genius my man.
"All I can do, is not participate." That's it! That's the argument against this kind of business practice. When you become of aware of what it really going on, you check out. It hurts the whole market in the long term. I don't buy games from EA or Acitivision anymore. Spending 40€ on Overwatch is the biggest regret I've had in years. I will NEVER buy anything from them again. I'd rather die or go to jail, than ever give them even a single cent.
Overwatch is kind of a poor example no? a $40 game that is constantly getting content, developer updates, tuning and is generally well taken care of sounds like a decent value proposition.
Well constructed as always. It's sad seeing the industry slowly turn into that of the film industry. Pumping out low tier products hoping to please the the general mass audience, after which they release a mediocre one, and its held to critical acclaim.
Man this guy knows what he is talking about. They did it with modern warfare. They made you Pat for Black ops 4 but gave you warfare for free and now they can do no wrong.
4 years later and still just as relevant. It’s astounding to see how EA, Ubisoft, SquareEnix, and other AAA, have incorporated the “comeback” into their development cycle: put out a game that’s clearly unfinished, then claim you listened to the community by putting in features that should have been in the original launch of the game. And gamers fall for it again and again. No Man’s Sky and FFXIV have basically ensured that games can launch unfinished, but gamers will still purchase and play in the hopes that said game can redeem themselves.
This is like the gaming equivalent of an abusive relationship. String the partner along with a persistent attitude of mediocrity, the bait them back in by promising to do better so they never leave.
This is what I call the "Abusive Boyfriend Strategy" basically not giving a shit half asking everything just to get by and then cherry picking where to excel at so no one notices. Like a bad boyfriend that brings home flowers and the right gifts at the right times so the girl has no technical reason to break up. Whether its Activision or Chad it's still an abusive relationship.
I am not particularly a fan of the likes of EA, Activision and so on, but I gotta admire how they are able to make more and more profit in the reality of what games are: an industry. Especially because they manage to trick gullible consumers on the internet into playing right into their hand. For the best part of a decade now have Acitivision and EA been criticised as video game devils by the entire internet community with many many calls for boycotts and "I am never buying from XY again" and yet when one of the mentioned redemption games like BF1 comes out everybody is in hype mode again. And the people that actually do fall by the wayside and don't buy big publisher games anymore are milked for all their money as well, just by the smaller studios. They achieve this by acting like they care about their customer, when they only care about the money in your wallet not going to any other developer than themselves.
Agent 005 Cynical, but true. Indie studios can't survive without your money. And once they get your money, usually a bigger studio (Microsoft/Sony) will just buy them and the cycle repeats.
great video as always Ray, it really saddens me how companies are able to get away with such practices or the fact that the consumers never learn their lesson either way its good to see you still alive.
Companies go hand in hand w/ psychology & mass surveillance. welp -- glad to hear this is finally addressed, and hopefully expanded upon before the plethora of incoming offenses; you go Raycevick
Dumb kids can't buy these games, though. It's the parents of kids who don't know much about games, and working adults who don't have the time to worry about games or try to find better games or learn a game that is technically better but would take too much time to learn, but they will buy the new COD every year because it's the game they see and understand, and only play to relax after work to mindlessly blast some fools with their buddies. I don't necessarily like COD and Battlefield, but you can't deny that it has it's place in the gaming world and it fills it well.
Wow! This video was poignant. Your assessment of the exploitation of nostalgia was spot on. I feel as though what you've said here is more applicable now than ever.
Oh my god, you're a genius. Of _course_ this is what they're doing. This is also why movie franchises get rebooted, old songs get remade long after anyone who loved it in their youth stopped keeping up with pop, and the same seven stories get rewritten over and over again. People age out and the company can resell the same shit to a new generation and laugh all the way to the bank.
One wrong fact in the video is that BF3's production started in 2009 way before BC2 actually came out and became a major hit. They planned BF3 to be a big-scale all out war game as a BF2 successor before they shipped BC2, so it wasn't an attempt to capitalize on modern setting hype, but rather a direction for the series DICE picked in the middle of 2000s. BF4, however, was rightfully called BF3.5 as it was clearly rushed in development and needed a full year of patches and community assistance before it became a really decent successor.
Good on you good sir for pointing that out. I should've remembered and mention that. I'm sure there's still an argument related to EA's goals - especially the closer it got to launch - but it's true. BF3 started while Bad Company 2 was in its final stages.
Appreciate your content, good sir Lucas) Always a pleasure to watch entertaining and high-quality videos on interesting gaming-related topics. Best of luck to you in your day!
I really like how, in the end, he respected the company's right to this, admittedly, shady strategy rather than ranting and raving about how they should be stopped at all costs.
This is depressing. It's also depressing to think that these absurd release schedules have trained a lot of (esp. younger) gamers to expect AAA games to be developed in a matter of months.
They used to be fun fast paced shooters that everybody would play, so you had no shortage of people to play with... The problem is that the experience is still the same years later, every year you are just getting a reskin of the. same game, I used to like zombies a lot, now I don't care about them anymore, multiplayer used to be fun to me, now it's just stale and the campaign... Well that's gone... Also, back in the day they used to innovate, they would bring in mechanics that other games would then take inspirations from... Now on the other hand, every new CoD game just takes some mechanics from other popular shooters and tries to integrate them, but they still don't come out as good as in the original game...
Mizaris I heard that the campaign in that game is indeed pretty good, but in that case I would be getting the game just for it, which I'm not sure if it's worth it since CoD games don't really drop in price that much...
Brilliant!!!We,as a gaming community need more serious videos like this!This is important!!!We need to let companies know what kind of games we want to play.If the developers creating the games we DONT WANT refuse to listen,I know there are others who will.Just look at some of the really good indie games we have had lately.DUSK,AMID EVIL,SENUA,WITCHER 3,BETRAYER,CALL of CHERNOBYL,ION MAIDEN and HEATHEN - which MAY be very good. People need to realize that we CAN get the games we like,IF we let perceptive (and ungready) developers know what it is that we actually want and dont want. Thank for sharing,man.
Really the only thing Activision had been able to keep with Cod is the commercial success. Critically and in terms of longevity in the gaming community, they have been struggling since ghosts, with the exception of bo3.
Be honest, some of you came here after the Modern Warfare reveal trailer. Edit: And now I’m back here cause of the news regarding micro-transactions. Edit 2.0: And now I’m back regarding the news that MTX in Modern Warfare are removed (for now). Edit 3.0: And now I’m back cause of the Warzone mode. Edit 4.0: Who’s here cause of the Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remaster?
“Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.” ― Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish
Still sad that there are so many blind people out there who blindly support this shit. I know a couple a people like that in person and even they always complain about these Cod games. But with just 1 trailer and they are back for more.
In a half-defense of this sort of business plan: People don't necessarily really want something "new" per se. They just want something different than what everyone else is currently doing. WWII shooters would be a perfect example of this. The WWII shooter genre became extremely oversaturated. People got sick of it, so companies began pumping something else out for a while. However, after going a decade without a ton of WWII shooters, it gets to a point where people are basically "recharged" and are willing to consume more WWII shooters. People can only be sick of so many things at once.
Figured it was a nice case study on how product life cycles, but admittedly didn't quite expect the twist at the end! That actually was a great thought starter! I would say this is a much more established and common strategy as most would expect and don't think this would change any time soon - especially in most forms of digital product development industries. When introducing a new concept (i.e.franchise or brand) it is just much simpler to manage the project and everything associated to it (teams & people, timings, cost implications, margins etc, etc), when letting it go for a while to develop gradually as a franchise or brand, while ultimately maintaining a similar shape and form. This should be observed closely in its reception, to, a few years down the line, inform a reimagnination/rebrand once the just established one has reached saturation. It is much more effortful, risky and resource demanding alone to constantly push for innovation, without the basis of feedback that a poorly received (yet due to brand equity financially still successful) product naturally generates - leading to a well informed rebrand. I empathize with your implied Boykott of this, but don't find it quite as necessary - even morally speaking - if I consider the naturally co-dependant relationship of studios/publishers that is required for a reasonably save, but consistent growth of brand within this the medium and industry. I like to consider the last days of a franchise as a testing and quality assurance period, which is to lead up to rebrand and hence continuation of it as a whole. And yes, I am aware this is a Utopian statement. I still stand by point though, because I like it as a framework (I'd think ultimately much the same as explained in the video, but with a more idealistic perspective on it). ;) Curious about opinions though!
Today on Raycevick: We going to delve deep inside the minds of the 2 most notorious game companies and their sly marketing strategy. Good videos as always, keep it up. 👍🏻👍🏻
I noticed this back in the day when I'd play the Madden games. It seemed like when the first Madden for the Xbox 360 came out it was a garbage version of the game and removed so many features the franchise built up. With each year after slowly trickling features that were removed for the '05 and earlier versions. Yet Madden is still here and the most popular sports game in the US.
Coming back to this after a few years I have some thoughts. A) I see you are now at Howard Stern levels of voice modulation that I wouldn't surprised that if, like Lobos Jr, your real live voice is something of a shock. B) I think you doing a follow-up, even if brief, to see how the past few years have gone, would be interesting. C) while typing the first two, I forget what C was supposed to be.
5 years later watching again, It kinda sucks that the only options for shit like this as a consumer are either: buy or don’t, or in voting terms for or abstain, with no direct way to actively make the market move away from practices like this. It’s the biggest issue with voting with your wallet I find, which I’ve been doing for like a nearly decade now (last CoD I got was BO3, and even that wasn’t at launch and on sale) and shit’s only managed to get worse in that time, so it’s clearly not working.
So it basically boils down to "people are stupid" again. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; this cycle has been going on for a while without a significant backlash from the audience that actually keeps buying this stuff. So it works even though it is very clearly exploitative, cynical and strangles the creativity and motivation of the studios that are under the grip of Activision or other publishers that follow a similar game-plan. But it is nontheless disappointing.
An fps thats ran out the door like a sports game title. I played the Beta of BO4 and had a small dose of BO2 nostalgia back when all I had was an xbox360 and computer that could only handle counter strike source. Then the numbness of spawn, run, shoot, die and repeat kicked in. It's a short high that requires constant chasing or you have to quit cold turkey.
I think Call of Duty would've been better off releasing titles sparingly, rather than annually. While I don't hate COD as much as everybody else does nowadays, I feel like they can get stale after a while.
Raycevick is the only guy who would try and over analyze a scene from an angry joe skit
I actually thought I clicked on the wrong video for a sec lol
and the only one to pull it off too
Skitarii Soldier And why is this relevant?
The only guy which would watch Angry Joe.
He is... But its not relevant
I like to call this the 'Fake Apology' Strategy. Knowingly do something wrong you know you can get away with it starts to show signs of frustrating someone and then 'apologize' by doing something else in the same fashion.
It seems sincere in the moment but slowly reveals itself to be a manipulative trick to get away with more without pushing your luck to much. Like a teen staying out after curfew, but three or four times before they would really be really scolded for it they stop and instead start cutting class. Since you aren't pushing their good will to its absolute limits, the diminishing returns of trust from this are lessened than if you went hard on tiring out one venue.
Its a real interesting, if not admittedly insidious, type of mental manipulation.
Cliff Pierre big fan of Destiny here, they might of gotten that idea from that, or tested it there. Destiny 1 and season pass, where a lot of people bought it, got bored sold physical copies. Taken King "fixes" everything, people come back, people rebuy game with taken king, game is praised. D2 has a similar broken start, expansions were disappointing, Forsaken comes with "fixes" people will praise it and it will take us by storm. As much as I will buy Forsaken, everything in this video just seems to remind me of what Bungie pulled with Destiny and how it feels like deja vu. Same with CoD, everyone hated the futuristic setting, went back to WW2 sold very well, and now Black Ops 4 is going back to the future and the most controversy I've seen is the armor mechanic. Game will be the game of the year, despite what we show in a goty show, it will be a bestseller, and everyone will have a copy even if they don't play it as much idk though....
I would equate it more to a "Let down strategy" basically not giving a shit half asking everything just to get by and then cherry picking where to excel at so no one notices. Like a bad boyfriend that brings home flowers and the right gifts at the right times so the girl has no technical reason to break up. Whether its Activision or Chad it's still an abusive relationship.
Manipulative Burnout
Someone go create a wiki page about this. Lol
Cliff Pierre Wyodjglyllgn
Spent the last few weeks working on a project about Turn-Based games that just wasn’t coming together, ironically leading me to revise something I scrapped last year, but constantly thought about since then. It's more speculative than I’m used to and I doubt I’ll be making a video like this again soon, but I hope it’s enjoyable for as many of you as possible.
Raycevick As long as its interesting and feels cohesive Im totally game for it. And turn based games is such a nice topic because noone really talks about them except when raging about xcom.
Also you just rambling about a topic your interested is more than enough for me to enjoy. Hey thats just me
I enjoyed the video, but I have to say I really don't think the intention was to frustrate fans with a futuristic setting. There hasn't been any examples of this being a successful strategy before now so there was no confirmation on whether it would work. I think the issue is that Black Ops 2, often seen as a peak in Call of Duty, was somewhat an ending to new settings. Sure, they are other conflicts, I'm not pretending there isn't more room for exploration but there is limited room for a new setting now that is totally new AND financially recognizable enough. I think they saw pushing further into the future was a new setting when all these games were coming out. I also believe releasing the handful of futuristic settings wasn't Activisions plan necessarily, but simply Activision granting the wish of 3 studios who wanted to pursue somewhat similar settings. I think they simply wanted the more open choices for gameplay ideas futuristic settings grant.
Its also worth noting Black Ops 2 was a mega-hit, so the intention may have been to simply release futuristic games with the intention of initiating that success.
The points you raise aren't wasted in terms of apathy in relation to the release and reception of games, but I think Activision doing this intentionally (at the moment) is a bit silly.
how come this comment posted 7 hours before the upload
Raycevick well cant really blame for not wanting to participate in a game that you wont find interesting for I'm sure I'm not going to get many new game's beyond metro exodus but what new game are you really wanting to get out side of major franchises?
Love your work man, do you ever plan on doing a "Years Later..." on any of the Midnight Club games?
"All I can do... is not participate."
I can't believe how hard it is for video game consumers in general to realize this in order to see the change they want to see in the industry.
Hey Raycevick, wanna play a zombie game?
K-kill me!
If it's dead Island 2, I'm in, if it's another Day Z/H1Z1 "super serious and gritty" nah I'm good, even dying light hasn't got my attention because of this
I really think you're missing out when it comes to Dying Light. That game took everything that made Dead Island great (apart from the setting, of course) and mixed it with many new gameplay elements (many from Mirror's Edge) and a set of huge environments to play in. It may have a darker tone overall, but it definitely feels like Dead Island with more mobility, enhanced sandbox and a larger environment. Great soundtrack, too. The game is a real gem, and I highly recommend it.
it also eliminated the personalities of each character instead replacing it with generic paramilitary guy and the setting felt much more generic south/central American tropical feel, which dead Island counter acted by having a more colorful resort theme.
It's not set in the Americas. It's set in a city in Turkey, called Harran. Harran is also a very distinct environment, and I found that I quite liked it.
Anyway, I do understand why you would be disappointed with the use of Kyle Crane as the protagonist of Dying Light. While he was very well voiced and I thought he had good interactions with other characters within the game, I do agree that he was rather generic and forgettable. Not that much of an issue, though, IMO. Dying Light has many more qualities that make up for a forgettable main character.
“All I can do, is not participate.”
That’s the solution all along. I only bought CoD from MW1 to Ghosts on sale and never on release. I won’t be getting anything CoD from here on.
True. You can have your cake and eat it. Activision is most concerned about the numbers coming out of the first 90 days of release. Waiting that time and buying either Used or New at a discount means you get to play, the store doesnt get their $59.99 and Activision doesnt get their estimated sales figures.
Redbox is my go-to for Call of Duty. Rent it, beat the campaign in a day, give it back.
You know what makes cod succesful? ridiculous marketing campaigns bombarding casuals who simply arent deeply invested in gaming.
Those dips you get in sales are the actual gamers which didnt buy.
just buy activision games on g2a or cdkeys. g2a being the best since its activision
Problem is that the uneducated fucks that buy every COD, fifa and Malden shield those companies of any consequences. They always get their money back so they are free to scam everyone else
This video is short but it’s probably one of your best, or at least your most important. The way companies exploit consumer apathy and nostalgia needs to be said and exposed.
as for nostalgia, nintendo is the biggest player, how many times have they sold those nes games?
Just how many times have they sold us a game which at it's core is essentially the same just with minor additions?
Ha, and also bombing the emu paradise for that.
@@drstrangelove307 Its still big fun the new zelda and mariokart. And other games dont come close to it.
@@mobiuscoreindustries yeah i agree. Super Mario Odessey is basically just a copy of Super Mario 3d land... oh wait.
uhhmm Breath of the Wild is just a copy of Skyward sword... oh wait.
I was confused on how I ended up on the AngryJoeShow
Me too :-)
HEY JOE WANNA SEE A *Fortnite Clone* ?!
*play
Fuck I was half asleep
*Minecraft hunger games clone
Much better.
I mean Fortnite is already a clone...
Cmon Comrades it's clone not a God!
HYE JOE WANNA PLAY A BATTLE ROYALE GAME?
So if they complain about something take it away until they want it again?
Not only the people loyal to the brand. Normal consumers do this as well.
That is literally what you do with a baby. They throw it across the room in a fit, you take it away for a week, and it's a "new" toy when you get it out again. Saves mom and dad money.
we people are also nothing but grown up babies.
For a minute there I thought you were suggesting to throw babies across the room in a fit.
Saransh Oberoi not really, a baby doesen't have a properly developed prefrontal cortex, adults do, by definition if you are a manchild, you are not an adult.
You don't upload often, but man is it worth the quality and depth your video show.
One of the few UA-camrs where if you upload, I watch.
I thought UA-cam glitched or lagged when I saw Angry Joe when the video started XD
Also great video, I am sick of movies and games just redoing the same thing over....and over...and over....
Yet we keep buying it....over and over....and over.....and over.
So if they are peddling crap we are just as guilty for eating it.....then complain there is "noting better!"
But let's face it, most people watching these videos don't buy into CoD. A lot of the market I feel are the dude bros and people who just want a video game to play and don't know too much about them.
Of Course, we need to show them it is worth at least reserving SOME of their company's effort per gaming session in trying new IPs or ideas or even just listing to the fanbase more.
And we do that by not buying CoD 54 or AC: Infinite Revolution 5.
But people buy them anyway, because we dont speak for everyone...and it seems the bulk of everyone does not care if there is lootboxes or the same zombie wave shooter or fewer features per game that are brought back in as "extras" they can charge you for.
Simply put, those of us who want something better are outvoted by the rest that want more of the same :/
Which is fine those "filthy casuals" are the bread and butter for most companies these days....but that means they tailor more and more to them until thats ALL they do.
You can make fantastic games on much smaller budgets, even if the edges are not as smooth.
Frankly I play most games for the dept and story and while some in the industry mite see that as a "dying art" it is not, just look at Skyrim lasting on like some radioactive bug.
When Elder Scrolls becomes online only, when Dragon Age "Arena" becomes a thing, when you cant even play Crusader Kings single player...then ill put all my time and effort out of gaming because I will be done! just...done!
Unfortunately every single creative product has been derivative of something else. That being said, the quality of older derivaties could be in that they don't make the inspirations as blatantly obvious as it is in current products.
Well, in regards to movies : nope. Re-hashes have been blown to shit while more original content has been doing quite well in the current "fuck movies, they cost too much" era. I'll agree with the video games bit though...even indie devs are stupid on pixel-junk still even though it doesn't sell well unless backed by some awesome mechanic or gameplay.
Just as planned...
Activate CRAB-17...
Everything is proceeding as they have forseen...
Hi Guts
Romulus Numa Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
all according to keikaku
I've known for years that Activision manipulated their generally unthinking, bro shooter seeking audience by skewing their marketing and presentation to make it *seem* every few years that the franchise was doing something new and exciting to keep burned-out fans (like me in 2013) interested enough to purchase the next installment, while trying to pull people who've jumped ship (me in 2017 with WW2) back into the franchise. However, this video really puts things in perspective. It's almost as if they've planned the course this entire franchise will take for the next decade or so, and are legitimately making themselves look bad at times on purpose, just to set up a totally fabricated redemption story for people to make stupid reaction videos and poorly written articles about, therefore generating billions of dollars of free positive advertisement so people then continue to buy their games, until they get fed up with Activision again, and the cycle repeats.
If the Illuminati is real, they're not trying to take over the world, they're selling us CoD games.
The part where they wait for a new generation to step in, having missed all the WW2, resembles me of Disney... Which only re-release their animation classics every ~6 years.
"Over-saturated" is how I would define the video game industry today. Money has simply outweighed quality and content in games when it comes to the center of attention.
Prophetic as hell with the new game being heralded as a "return to form" with an emphasis on the campaign returning.
I think ACTIVISION and EA's chickens will come home to roost in the long run. They're already widely acknowledged as two of the most untrustworthy companies in existence, and I think that sentiment has lingering effect that's difficult to shake.
probably not activisions had that reputation for over thirty five years. they helped the gaming industry crash in the 1980s and they got off scott free.
Activision ain't going no where especially since they're publishing the next from software game, re-releasing spyro and had released crash.
there are new people joining the gaming community all the time and a lot of them don't even care about these things, so i doubt.
Sadly it will never happen. And one part is from gamers themselves. We launch at the developers, always the developers, and the publisher gets away almost every time. It's by design. We don't see the tears and sweat and pain the devs go through for the game, so the causal morons think that the devs where just lazy and made the game in 5 mins like the self entitled douches they are
If there is ONE franchise that needs to be put out of its misery, Its Call of Duty.
Once a juggernaut and absolute classic. Now nothing more than a former husk of itself trying to keep itself alive by scraping the last bits of food from the floor.
Just got around to watching this now, and I have to say I am shocked that this is so accurate about how activision marketed the new Modern Warfare game. You are a genius my man.
Raycevick 100% called it with recent rumors of an Advanced Warfare sequel releasing after… 6 boots on the ground CoD games.
Hehe
"All I can do, is not participate." That's it! That's the argument against this kind of business practice. When you become of aware of what it really going on, you check out. It hurts the whole market in the long term. I don't buy games from EA or Acitivision anymore. Spending 40€ on Overwatch is the biggest regret I've had in years. I will NEVER buy anything from them again. I'd rather die or go to jail, than ever give them even a single cent.
dionysos739 overwatch is from blizzard tho
Purity fbi
...Which is owned by Activision.
dionysos739 me too :)
Overwatch is kind of a poor example no? a $40 game that is constantly getting content, developer updates, tuning and is generally well taken care of sounds like a decent value proposition.
Well constructed as always. It's sad seeing the industry slowly turn into that of the film industry. Pumping out low tier products hoping to please the the general mass audience, after which they release a mediocre one, and its held to critical acclaim.
Very interesting to watch this after MW 2019, BO Cold War and now Vanguard followed up BO4... Respect Raycevick!!
Rewatching this video while waiting for the new COD:MW. What you said is so true, it's sad.
You hands-down have the best, most crisp production on UA-cam. And I love that little Metro clip you threw in, perfect alignment with discussion.
Man this guy knows what he is talking about. They did it with modern warfare. They made you Pat for Black ops 4 but gave you warfare for free and now they can do no wrong.
4 years later and still just as relevant. It’s astounding to see how EA, Ubisoft, SquareEnix, and other AAA, have incorporated the “comeback” into their development cycle: put out a game that’s clearly unfinished, then claim you listened to the community by putting in features that should have been in the original launch of the game.
And gamers fall for it again and again. No Man’s Sky and FFXIV have basically ensured that games can launch unfinished, but gamers will still purchase and play in the hopes that said game can redeem themselves.
I was JUST thinking the same thing with Halo! Halo Infinite is the "trust-restoring" delivery after Halo 5 failed to rectify 4's shortcomings.
You always open my eyes to new perspectives and thoughts, thank you
Goddamn Rayce this one was a bite-sized beauty. Really hit hard at the ending there.
This is like the gaming equivalent of an abusive relationship. String the partner along with a persistent attitude of mediocrity, the bait them back in by promising to do better so they never leave.
TheGrayMysterious That’s really fucked.
"All I can do, is not participate".
Very well said. Great video.
This is what I call the "Abusive Boyfriend Strategy" basically not giving a shit half asking everything just to get by and then cherry picking where to excel at so no one notices. Like a bad boyfriend that brings home flowers and the right gifts at the right times so the girl has no technical reason to break up. Whether its Activision or Chad it's still an abusive relationship.
I am not particularly a fan of the likes of EA, Activision and so on, but I gotta admire how they are able to make more and more profit in the reality of what games are: an industry.
Especially because they manage to trick gullible consumers on the internet into playing right into their hand. For the best part of a decade now have Acitivision and EA been criticised as video game devils by the entire internet community with many many calls for boycotts and "I am never buying from XY again" and yet when one of the mentioned redemption games like BF1 comes out everybody is in hype mode again.
And the people that actually do fall by the wayside and don't buy big publisher games anymore are milked for all their money as well, just by the smaller studios. They achieve this by acting like they care about their customer, when they only care about the money in your wallet not going to any other developer than themselves.
Do people really think everyone's just as bad as the big three
Agent 005 Cynical, but true. Indie studios can't survive without your money. And once they get your money, usually a bigger studio (Microsoft/Sony) will just buy them and the cycle repeats.
great video as always Ray, it really saddens me how companies are able to get away with such practices or the fact that the consumers never learn their lesson either way its good to see you still alive.
That THUG 2 gameplay brought up simpler times that I may never experience again in my life. God I miss that game.
I seriously thought I clicked on an Angry Joe Video initially with that intro, but I was pleasantly incorrect :)!
Companies go hand in hand w/ psychology & mass surveillance. welp -- glad to hear this is finally addressed, and hopefully expanded upon before the plethora of incoming offenses; you go Raycevick
Don't forget who is the main market for these games.
Dumb kids.
Normies
Space junk if you unironically use "normies"
You are one
Space junk NORMIES REE
Dumb kids can't buy these games, though. It's the parents of kids who don't know much about games, and working adults who don't have the time to worry about games or try to find better games or learn a game that is technically better but would take too much time to learn, but they will buy the new COD every year because it's the game they see and understand, and only play to relax after work to mindlessly blast some fools with their buddies. I don't necessarily like COD and Battlefield, but you can't deny that it has it's place in the gaming world and it fills it well.
Wow! This video was poignant. Your assessment of the exploitation of nostalgia was spot on. I feel as though what you've said here is more applicable now than ever.
Appreciate your videos. Always informative.
Oh my god, you're a genius. Of _course_ this is what they're doing. This is also why movie franchises get rebooted, old songs get remade long after anyone who loved it in their youth stopped keeping up with pop, and the same seven stories get rewritten over and over again. People age out and the company can resell the same shit to a new generation and laugh all the way to the bank.
With the announcement of modern warfare this becomes more and more plausible
Some certain things in life:
1. Death
2. Taxes
3. Annual CoD games
Even in a se7en minute video this mans can still drop the mic better than most public speakers and be correct.
love this dying light music in the background
One wrong fact in the video is that BF3's production started in 2009 way before BC2 actually came out and became a major hit. They planned BF3 to be a big-scale all out war game as a BF2 successor before they shipped BC2, so it wasn't an attempt to capitalize on modern setting hype, but rather a direction for the series DICE picked in the middle of 2000s. BF4, however, was rightfully called BF3.5 as it was clearly rushed in development and needed a full year of patches and community assistance before it became a really decent successor.
Good on you good sir for pointing that out. I should've remembered and mention that. I'm sure there's still an argument related to EA's goals - especially the closer it got to launch - but it's true. BF3 started while Bad Company 2 was in its final stages.
Appreciate your content, good sir Lucas) Always a pleasure to watch entertaining and high-quality videos on interesting gaming-related topics. Best of luck to you in your day!
I really like how, in the end, he respected the company's right to this, admittedly, shady strategy rather than ranting and raving about how they should be stopped at all costs.
Thanks for this video! Thank you for your time and your work :)
Raycevick just predict the future.
Yay, popcorn time!
Keep up your great work, greetings from Germany!
This is depressing. It's also depressing to think that these absurd release schedules have trained a lot of (esp. younger) gamers to expect AAA games to be developed in a matter of months.
I never understand the appeal of CoD.
someone actually said it!
subject_17 its a casual arcade shooter that anyone can pick up and play and have fun with regardless if you've ever played an FPS game or not
COD4, MW2, BO1, BO2 and arguably MW3 were all really good games
They used to be fun fast paced shooters that everybody would play, so you had no shortage of people to play with... The problem is that the experience is still the same years later, every year you are just getting a reskin of the. same game, I used to like zombies a lot, now I don't care about them anymore, multiplayer used to be fun to me, now it's just stale and the campaign... Well that's gone... Also, back in the day they used to innovate, they would bring in mechanics that other games would then take inspirations from... Now on the other hand, every new CoD game just takes some mechanics from other popular shooters and tries to integrate them, but they still don't come out as good as in the original game...
Mizaris I heard that the campaign in that game is indeed pretty good, but in that case I would be getting the game just for it, which I'm not sure if it's worth it since CoD games don't really drop in price that much...
This was probably your best video so far
Ahh,the bo2 soundtrack in the begining is so good
Brilliant!!!We,as a gaming community need more serious videos like this!This is important!!!We need to let companies know what kind of games we want to play.If the developers creating the games we DONT WANT refuse to listen,I know there are others who will.Just look at some of the really good indie games we have had lately.DUSK,AMID EVIL,SENUA,WITCHER 3,BETRAYER,CALL of CHERNOBYL,ION MAIDEN and HEATHEN - which MAY be very good.
People need to realize that we CAN get the games we like,IF we let perceptive (and ungready) developers know what it is that we actually want and dont want.
Thank for sharing,man.
Really the only thing Activision had been able to keep with Cod is the commercial success. Critically and in terms of longevity in the gaming community, they have been struggling since ghosts, with the exception of bo3.
1:32 SKATE 4 CONFIRMED XD
This video aged so well
The company that shows up ne- ACTIVISION. lol. *cries loudly
Be honest, some of you came here after the Modern Warfare reveal trailer.
Edit: And now I’m back here cause of the news regarding micro-transactions.
Edit 2.0: And now I’m back regarding the news that MTX in Modern Warfare are removed (for now). Edit 3.0: And now I’m back cause of the Warzone mode. Edit 4.0: Who’s here cause of the Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remaster?
you know its a good day when a Raycevick video pops in my subbox
BF2 and 2142 in a Raycevick video
Be still my heart
0:22 nice little instrumental u got there
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory... 13 Years Later! Pls Rayce!
Your videos are informative and fucking enjoyable. You’re fantastic.
When I get burned out on a product, I usually never go back to its publisher. No forgiveness for them in a world with so many options.
And this video aged like Wine. Nice!
Hey Joe wanna play another Call of Duty game
Great final message - VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS
Amazing work man, keep it up.
Damn, such deep analysis. Great work
"All I can do is not participate." Amen to that Raycevick.
this is a great look into activision's business practices. kudos, man.
“Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
― Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish
Great vid as always!
This is the exact reason why video games have such a hard time to be recognized as art. They're just business.
it worked
IT FREAKING WORKED
The new coke theory from futurama - replace a popular old thing with an unpopular new thing and reek the benefits when you bring back the old thing.
This is why indie and AA are huge now. There's just too much money to be lost in AAA that corporate just can't take risks like they used to
Still sad that there are so many blind people out there who blindly support this shit. I know a couple a people like that in person and even they always complain about these Cod games. But with just 1 trailer and they are back for more.
In a half-defense of this sort of business plan: People don't necessarily really want something "new" per se. They just want something different than what everyone else is currently doing.
WWII shooters would be a perfect example of this. The WWII shooter genre became extremely oversaturated. People got sick of it, so companies began pumping something else out for a while. However, after going a decade without a ton of WWII shooters, it gets to a point where people are basically "recharged" and are willing to consume more WWII shooters.
People can only be sick of so many things at once.
Figured it was a nice case study on how product life cycles, but admittedly didn't quite expect the twist at the end! That actually was a great thought starter!
I would say this is a much more established and common strategy as most would expect and don't think this would change any time soon - especially in most forms of digital product development industries.
When introducing a new concept (i.e.franchise or brand) it is just much simpler to manage the project and everything associated to it (teams & people, timings, cost implications, margins etc, etc), when letting it go for a while to develop gradually as a franchise or brand, while ultimately maintaining a similar shape and form. This should be observed closely in its reception, to, a few years down the line, inform a reimagnination/rebrand once the just established one has reached saturation.
It is much more effortful, risky and resource demanding alone to constantly push for innovation, without the basis of feedback that a poorly received (yet due to brand equity financially still successful) product naturally generates - leading to a well informed rebrand.
I empathize with your implied Boykott of this, but don't find it quite as necessary - even morally speaking - if I consider the naturally co-dependant relationship of studios/publishers that is required for a reasonably save, but consistent growth of brand within this the medium and industry.
I like to consider the last days of a franchise as a testing and quality assurance period, which is to lead up to rebrand and hence continuation of it as a whole.
And yes, I am aware this is a Utopian statement.
I still stand by point though, because I like it as a framework (I'd think ultimately much the same as explained in the video, but with a more idealistic perspective on it). ;)
Curious about opinions though!
Today on Raycevick:
We going to delve deep inside the minds of the 2 most notorious game companies and their sly marketing strategy.
Good videos as always, keep it up.
👍🏻👍🏻
I noticed this back in the day when I'd play the Madden games. It seemed like when the first Madden for the Xbox 360 came out it was a garbage version of the game and removed so many features the franchise built up. With each year after slowly trickling features that were removed for the '05 and earlier versions. Yet Madden is still here and the most popular sports game in the US.
This is a great dissection and I think you're right
Coming back to this after a few years I have some thoughts.
A) I see you are now at Howard Stern levels of voice modulation that I wouldn't surprised that if, like Lobos Jr, your real live voice is something of a shock.
B) I think you doing a follow-up, even if brief, to see how the past few years have gone, would be interesting.
C) while typing the first two, I forget what C was supposed to be.
D) happy you have walked back the something-something-"special"-said-then-"boom" endings.
Long time no see, LOVE U
4:04 Nice visual gag there
never fails to make a killer video. awesome work, as always
your voice is so soothing
5 years later watching again, It kinda sucks that the only options for shit like this as a consumer are either: buy or don’t, or in voting terms for or abstain, with no direct way to actively make the market move away from practices like this. It’s the biggest issue with voting with your wallet I find, which I’ve been doing for like a nearly decade now (last CoD I got was BO3, and even that wasn’t at launch and on sale) and shit’s only managed to get worse in that time, so it’s clearly not working.
Your vids are amazing you deserve more subs
NEW RAYCEVICK VIDEO
0:29 "Obviously it's gonna be Ubisoft"
0:33 "...okay, that works too"
Short and right to the point. Thanks
So it basically boils down to "people are stupid" again. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; this cycle has been going on for a while without a significant backlash from the audience that actually keeps buying this stuff. So it works even though it is very clearly exploitative, cynical and strangles the creativity and motivation of the studios that are under the grip of Activision or other publishers that follow a similar game-plan. But it is nontheless disappointing.
An fps thats ran out the door like a sports game title. I played the Beta of BO4 and had a small dose of BO2 nostalgia back when all I had was an xbox360 and computer that could only handle counter strike source. Then the numbness of spawn, run, shoot, die and repeat kicked in. It's a short high that requires constant chasing or you have to quit cold turkey.
I think Call of Duty would've been better off releasing titles sparingly, rather than annually.
While I don't hate COD as much as everybody else does nowadays, I feel like they can get stale after a while.