Michael Pachter Says Call of Duty is a Failure

[Athinira]

What a world we would live in, when making a billion dollars is concidered a failure.

It's not about how much you made, it's about how much you COULD have made.

The management of a company isn't gonna give two sh*ts about you having made one billion dollars if they are convinced that you could have made two billion dollars instead (or three, or four). If you're the CEO of a company, your job is to optimize, and making less than you could have made is a failure at optimization, no matter what you achieved.

 

[OManoghue]

I seriously hope Activision doesn't buy Take-Two. Games like BioShock and Spec Ops would be totally fucked.

 

[New Frontiersman]

I hate this man with a burning passion.

This is basically my main thought about Michael Pachter.

I haven't heard a single thing that's come out of this guy's mouth that wasn't utterly stupid. I try my best to ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist.

And as a pretty loyal Nintendo customer, I hope that what he said about Nintendo becoming "completely irrelevant" is bull, too. Seriously, they're the reason I'm a gamer today. If they folded or faded into obscurity....brrr! I don't want to think about that too much. -.-

Don't worry about it. Pachter's been predicting Nintendo's downfall for years, he hasn't been right yet. I don't think I've seen a prediction of his that has come true about anything, let alone Nintendo.

Conclusion: Pachter is still an idiot. His stuff still isn't newsworthy.

And that is basically the gist of this thread.

I really wish they would stop posting Pachter stuff on here... or anywhere really. If we don't start ignoring him he'll never go away.

 

[tautologico]

"Prediction: The next Bungie game will be single-player only; the multiplayer aspect of that game will be subscription only," he said. "Activision's going to try it, because they're greedy pigs, and they're bold."

Pachter also predicted that Nintendo will become "completely irrelevant" with the Wii U, that Activision will buy Take-Two and that THQ is pretty much screwed.

...

Shit, if this is the future of the game industry, I think we're in for another collapse. Or, more hopefully, a grand "reckoning", if you could call it that, of consumers finally saying enough and bucking against the likes of EA and Activision and their shitty business practices.

He's right about Activision being greedy pigs, but that little comment about them buying Take-Two and that THQ is screwed sends more then a few shivers up my spine.

Unfortunately the situation for THQ is looking quite dire, and you don't need to be an "analyst" to see that.

 

[Kargathia]

So, if I understand this correctly, he not only takes $60 as the figure for publisher revenue (false), but also completely fails to even acknowledge basic economy (people tend to buy less when you charge more), and conveniently ignores the decided trend of subscriptions going the way of the dodo - unless of course SW:ToR going F2P in 6 months was not worth his expensive attention.

DLC, server operating cost, WoW expansion pack revenue, CoD Elite, initial barrier for CoD to take off as it did - so many reasons to ridicule him, so little time.

I really wish they would stop posting Pachter stuff on here... or anywhere really. If we don't start ignoring him he'll never go away.

Do keep in mind he is taken seriously - not by people actually paying attention to games, but by the suits paying attention to gaming revenue. It's always good to know what idiocy is in vogue with the ones in charge.

 

[Something Amyss]

Michael Patcher doesn't know what "failure" is. That's the more important point.

 

[Something Amyss]

Do keep in mind he is taken seriously - not by people actually paying attention to games, but by the suits paying attention to gaming revenue. It's always good to know what idiocy is in vogue with the ones in charge.

Keep in mind Patcher's job has little to do with these predictions.

Game sites see that he's an analyst and assume that because he crunches numbers in a gaming related field, he must have something to say.

Actually, at this point I'm pretty sure they know his unique brand of ridiculousness will get hits.

"Patcher says sky is blue" would probably get 50K hits.

 

[unacomn]

Subscriptions? Please, that's just another failure.
Chocolate covered meth cigarettes packaged with the game as a free sample, and then sold separately at a premium. That's how you make a successful gaming franchise.

 

[Notsomuch]

The old idea of what a game is is a complete failure, everyone knows customers don't want any real value, they just want to buy a box that they can throw more money into. I know business well, I'm so smart.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Jesus christ Escapist have some self respect and stop giving these ignorant twats the spotlight, the only reason he still makes a living with this sort of trolling is because you guys give him the power.

 

[Icehearted]

I've got the feeling he get's most of his information via a crudely scrawled circle in the dirt and an array of cast about chicken bones.

PRAISE THE BONES!

 

[thiosk]

Epic double post

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Conclusion: Pachter is still an idiot. His stuff still isn't newsworthy.

And that is basically the gist of this thread.

I really wish they would stop posting Pachter stuff on here... or anywhere really. If we don't start ignoring him he'll never go away.

I have to wonder how it is that that man still has a job.

You know, as much as Jim Sterling annoys me sometimes esp. with his "Thank God for me." shtick, I have to say that I think what he said about Collector's Editions and "Complete Editions" rings more true than anything this idiot says.

EDIT: You know when it comes to breeding bad habits into gamers.

 

[lacktheknack]

Pachter also predicted that Nintendo will become "completely irrelevant" with the Wii U, that Activision will buy Take-Two and that THQ is pretty much screwed.

GUYS! BUY UP STOCK IN THQ! GET OUT THE TRUMPETS! GET OUT THE CAKES AND WARHAMMER GAMES! THQ IS GOING TO LIIIIIIIVE!

(I love Michael Pachter, his predictions are always dead on target, if he were facing the opposite direction.)

 

[Trishbot]

Isn't there the "Patcher Rule" that anything he says tends to have the exact opposite impact? So, in reverse-Patcher speak, Call of Duty is a "failure", Nintendo is "irrelevant", and Madden is "totally original".

I guess this can only mean good news for Call of Duty and Nintendo.

 

[Strazdas]

Um...he didn't say it was the CoD series was a failure. He said they made a mistake in one regard. Why the misleading, sensationalist headline?

\
because this is escapist. duh.


So, they are going to go with subscription for shooter multiplayer, which, COD being huge, sets a standard for next gen online gaming.
i am dissapointed.
Wont touch me though, i only care about singleplayer.

(I love Michael Pachter, his predictions are always dead on target, if he were facing the opposite direction.)

wait, are you claiming that nintendo is going to remain a big company? after the failure of WiiU?

 

[LG Jargon]

And as a pretty loyal Nintendo customer, I hope that what he said about Nintendo becoming "completely irrelevant" is bull, too. Seriously, they're the reason I'm a gamer today. If they folded or faded into obscurity....brrr! I don't want to think about that too much. -.-

Don't worry about it. Pachter's been predicting Nintendo's downfall for years, he hasn't been right yet. I don't think I've seen a prediction of his that has come true about anything, let alone Nintendo.

Phew! I was more than a little worried. I could kiss you....I won't, but...you get what I'm saying. >.>;;

"Prediction: The next Bungie game will be single-player only; the multiplayer aspect of that game will be subscription only," he said. "Activision's going to try it, because they're greedy pigs, and they're bold."

Pachter also predicted that Nintendo will become "completely irrelevant" with the Wii U, that Activision will buy Take-Two and that THQ is pretty much screwed.

...

Shit, if this is the future of the game industry, I think we're in for another collapse. Or, more hopefully, a grand "reckoning", if you could call it that, of consumers finally saying enough and bucking against the likes of EA and Activision and their shitty business practices.

He's right about Activision being greedy pigs, but that little comment about them buying Take-Two and that THQ is screwed sends more then a few shivers up my spine.

Unfortunately the situation for THQ is looking quite dire, and you don't need to be an "analyst" to see that.

Urgh...I hate to ask this, since I don't want to instigate something, but...how so? I mean, what makes you figure that? Most of their games seem popular enough to keep them afloat, and they just got done with that Humble THQ Bundle. I'm sure they're not in too dire of a situation...right?

 

[surg3n]

So the jist:

To make more money with videogames, make the consumer pay more for them.

Sounds legit. Who's to say that the umpteen million teenagers playing COD are playing it because they only have to buy it once per year, they can probably convince parents or a sibling to buy it for them. Paying a monthly subscription can be difficult for people too young to have paypal or credit cards. I like how he just skips that part in his glorious equation.

It's like saying girl scouts would be rich if they just charged 10 times as much for their cookies.

He also fails to recognise the growth in free multiplayer shooters like Planetside2. Gamers are not stupid, if we get ripped off then the games publisher ultimately fails, they need the loyal fan base to make their billions - we already know that games are expensive, and they are about as expensive as they should ever get. People who play WoW probably don't play as many other games, don't buy as many other games as COD players, because their gaming budget all goes into Blizzards bank account. Really I think he assumes that all gamers are the same, gamer=consumer=muppet.