ZOMBIE NATION

This is how i roll.

The Rise And Fall Of Acclaim Entertainment

Believe it or not, Acclaim Entertainment, a company now synonomous with lizards and bad PR stunts, used to be an industry trendsetter. Not only were they a heavyweight contender in the developer division, but they also brought the likes of Mortal Kombat, Burnout, Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX and Turok into our lives. Not bad for a company that has been defunct for seven years.

Although it was founded in 1987, Acclaim Entertainment didn't start out as the jack of all trades corporation we've came to familiarise ourselves with. It started small, publishing and localising titles, and with increased revenue came increased expenditure, leading to the acquisition of both Sculptured Software, mostly known for their solid porting and localisation work, and Probe Entertainment, makers of sleeper hits Die Hard Trilogy and Alien Trilogy.

As a consequence of the output of these newly acquired studios, crossed with Acclaim's own insistence on gaining the localisation and publishing rights to titles whose developers had no western publishing branch, such as Double Dragon 2 and Bust-A-Move, the company was able to solidify its position within the industry.

It was only in the mid-90s when we started to see a downworld spiral in what can only be described as their development allocation. It began with the Bart VS series. To those of you not old enough to remember the multiplatform shameful Simpsons licensing atrocities, count yourselves lucky. Some things are better left in the past.

Due to the frequency and volume of these Simpsons titles, with nine games being released between the period of 1991 and 1994, even at that time, it didn't take an industry analyst to figure out not only that the brand had hit saturation point, but that similarly, there was something amiss at Acclaim HQ. You see, it was also around this period that a little known series known as Mortal Kombat dropped into Acclaim's proverbial laps.

Mortal Kombat was something of a paradox in the arcades and because Acclaim and Midway had a long-standing working relationship, they got first dibs. Not only did they promote the game, but they did it with a bang, running non-stop promotions and advertisements, in what many pundits claim to be the first big, slashy product launch promo, demonstrating steadfast innovation at a time when Sega was still trying to capture the Generation X audience with its 'AGES' advertisements and Nintendo were scared to put blood in their games.

The fundamental problem with Mortal Kombat's success stems not from anything relating to Midway or Ed Boon's vision, but instead by just how polished the arcade title was (begin laugh track.... now). Taking only 6-8 months to port to consoles, Acclaim started to get a little notion that this was possible with all titles.

They tried the same tactic with Mortal Kombat 2, segregating Sculptured Software and Probe Entertainment to development duties on the two biggest ports, SNES and MegaDrive, and, what do you know, it was not only a success, but it smashed records and was deemed as a cultural phenomenon. With over $50 million cartridges sold in the first weekend, outselling the likes of True Lies and The Lion King at the box office, no one could deny its runaway commercial success.

In many regards, this can be considered the beginning of the end for Acclaim because although they continued operating for another decade, rather successfully I might add, this was the turning point in their business mantra. The rules had changed and so had Acclaim.

On 1st January 1995, Acclaim acquired NBA Jam developer Iguana Entertainment and began a new chapter of their history. By this point, the next generation was about to begin, with Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's N64 about to go head to head in the public domain.

To usher in this new era, Iguana began developing a brand new IP for the N64 entitled Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. Having been given an early technical demonstration and being impressed with the talent of the studio, Nintendo of America began working with the team and later offered Acclaim into their 'Dream Team' collaborative effort, a scheme where partners with Nintendo would develop exclusive titles and receive technical and game support from the Big N in return. Naturally, despite its lack of analog support, Turok was a commercial smash, becoming one of the top selling launch titles.

Despite the success of Turok, however, it was at this point that Acclaim initiated their timed self-destruct mechanism. After a series of poorly received WWF licensed titles, Vince McMahon decided to take the license elsewhere, instead capitalising on the success of THQ's WCW titles. Although this was a significant blow at the time (bear in mind, this is the Attitude era we're talking about), it was by no means an insurmountable obstacle to Acclaim's rise to the top. Licenses are lost on a yearly basis, right? Well, yes and no. The loss of the brand itself was a deep, but recoverable wound, however, its Acclaim we're talking about. They're their own worst enemy.

Steve Perry is a name most of you will have been unaware of, but in spite of this factor, its also a name which is irrevocably intertwined with the self-destruction of Acclaim. During his tenure at the company as an executive, he rather infamously made some of the worst PR decisions in the history of the industry.

Oscar Wilde once said that "the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about," and if you really take the time out to think about it, he's bang on the money. The problem is that Steve Perry took the saying a little too to heart and made some morally unethical and frankly absurd promotion decisions, no doubt in some desperate attempt to return to the creative highs of the Mortal Kombat days.

Shadowman, a title with an intriguing premise fused with middle-of-the-road gameplay, was one of the first franchises to get the PR treatment. Although the game was unremarkable, the PR gamble with its sequel most certainly was not. Acclaim offered to pay for the funerals of the recently deceased if their relatives allowed them to plant a small billboard on the headstone advertising Shadowman: 2econd Coming. Understandably, mourners were furious, and the Church Of England issued a statement basically stating that there was no chance in hell (see what I did there?) they'd allow such activities within their grounds, which ultimately led to the campaign falling apart.

Not content with possibly the biggest misfire in gaming history, Acclaim went a step further, offering prospective parents $10,000 in US savings bonds to name their child 'Turok' for a year. If this wasn't bad enough, a 25 year-old gamer named Jason Read claimed he was planning on breaking the world record for the longest time spent standing in line. What was he waiting for? The shockingly abhorrent Turok: Evolution. Of course, by the time the papers had published the story the next day, he'd vanished.

These tactics are ofen referred to as 'guerrilla marketing,' wherein a product can be promoted via the attraction of attention, often in irregular circumstances. A foundational issue with this type of promotion, however, is that real creativity is not only a requirement, but its a necessity. In the words of Darren Paul, managing director of Night Agency, "the field of guerrilla marketing is similar to advertising. There’s good and bad marketing. There’s good and bad execution. And there are negative case studies of companies crossing the line.”

Acclaim was one such company. Unfortunately in the upper hierarchical structure, executives adopted their already fledging process of a 6-8 month development lifecycle and applied it to the PR department, resulting in ideas such as the aforementioned 'world record attempt' and their intention to install billboards which had seeping blood pouring out of them at bus shelters. In both scenarios, nothing transpired, almost certainly deliberately, but the product was out there and that's all that matters (in Steve Perry and his corporate lackeys minds anyway).

You'd think that with the success of Dave Mirra's Freestyle BMX, Acclaim would find some way not to fuck it up. Wrong. Didn't I say already this is Acclaim we're talking about? Despite the resounding success of the franchise in the wake of Tony Hawk's meteoric rise to super stardom, they went ahead and attempted to create a spin-off brand, originally called Dave Mirra BMX XXX. Expectedly, Dave Mirra wanted nothing to do with it and insisted his name and likeness was removed from anything to do with the game.

The publisher and Dave 'The Miracle Man' Mirra came to an agreement on July 31st 2002 to stop using the BMXers name. Unbeknownest to him, however, despite the legal binding, they'd no intention of stopping to use his name or likeness in order to market the title and went ahead and did so anyway, which resulted in Mirra suing the company and asking for over $20 million in damages.

To add insult to injury, somehow the Olsen twins got word of how shoddy and dilapidated their Acclaim licensed titles had been, and claiming that the developer/publisher wasn't giving their brand enough support, ended up suing.

It's around this point that any CEO who knows what they're doing would settle the jumped up executives down, overcome any development obstacles that had previously proved to be a thorn in their sides and integrate their development studios in order to create something that would put them back on the map again. Whilst keeping a low profile, they could churn out sequels to established IPs that would get the critics, and more importantly, the customers back on their sides.

What did Acclaim do? Nothing. Or more specifically, at least, the same thing they'd been doing since they first pioneered their 6-8 month development cycles back in 1992. Turok: Evolution was a rushed mess, the less said about Batman Forever, the better, the ECW games were lacklustre and Legends Of Wrestling was understated but flawed.

Speaking of Turok: Evolution, you'd think it couldn't get any worse than the whole baby bribes thing, but somehow it did. Whilst promoting Evolution, Acclaim put into practice 'Identity Marketing'. In other words, the company offered to pay five gamers to be called Turok for an entire year. They originally claimed the promotion was the idea of a Dr. Simeon Cantrell of Australia's Marketing Science Centre, author of a book called Market Their Pants Off, but this turned out to be an elaborate lie. Dr. Cantrell didn't exist. The book's ISBN number actually turned out to be a book of 'knock knock' jokes. Funnily enough, in retrospect, the joke was on you, Acclaim.

One of their last truly awful PR stunts was the Burnout 2 fiasco. To celebrate the launch of the sequel, they offered to pay the speeding fines of anyone caught on speed cameras for that day. Not only is this highly irresponsible but its also illegal, leading us to believe that at this point, they'd lost their marbles.

The straw that broke the camel's back, however, was the firing of Iguana Entertainment founder, Jeff Spangenberg, who decided, rather than to take it lying down, to take them to court over breach of contract and fraud. He believed they were trying to cut costs by cutting management, and in his words, "Acclaim had also been on a mission to cut entrepreneurial managers in their acquired units and replace them with more corporate types."

In his suit, he claimed that CEO Gregory Fischbach urged him to buy $20,000 in stocks then abruptly fired him, resulting in him losing stock options. Another area of interest within the suit was Sprangenberg's allegations that Fischbach put pressure on him to speed up development production to cut costs. Though Sprangenberg claims to have pled with him not to release another flawed game, "Fischbach was unrelenting in his demands for a product release -- with or without bugs -- in an apparent effort to post short-term profits." When the count case was finalised, Sprangenberg went on to found Retro Studios, creators of the Metroid Prime trilogy and Donkey Kong Country Returns. The rest, as they say, is history...

When a story like this comes up, its difficult to identify with the corporate and industry types, the executives who try to sell a game based on Giant Enemy Crabs. Call us cynics, but the real cynics are those who try to sell a medium we love to us with fresh gimmicks and marketing stunts that, frankly, insult our intelligence. Although I was opposed to the removal of the booth babes at E3, there was no chauvinistic or immoral undertones to my reasoning, instead factoring in the fact that they'd been such a staple part of the show for so long that removing them would also be removing a part of the cultural history. Thankfully, I was proven right, and, on another level, in the future hopefully companies out there look at exactly how Acclaim managed to shoot themselves in the foot so many times that they had no toes left through their undeserving and unwavering arrogance and 'shock factor' and learn from it.

September 29th

Many of you will know this date and its significance already, it's only 4 days from now and it's ultimately the date of the fully open beta test for Battlefield 3's Multiplayer. If you want to play the beta and you're playing on the 360 or PS3, just go to your respected dashboard on the 29th and look for the beta, you may have to look through the games list to find it, but I'm 99.9% certain that they'll be featured in the spotlight, making searching irrelevant. If you're on the PC, just go here. If you purchased the Limited Edition/Tier 1 Edition of the recent revamp of Medal of Honor then you'll have access to the beta on the 27th at some point.

Details of the beta were kept under wraps until only very recently, with only scraps of information available around the internet, mostly being unconfirmed rumors. It was under the general assumption of the public that the only way to access the beta was to buy one of the special editions of MoH, which many did. Then news started to spread around that it would be available to all and these MoH codes were in fact just early access codes. In my opinion this could be the crack that breaks the glass in the ongoing CoD vs BF war. Putting what is essentially a demonstration of the full multiplayer online for free with the only requirements to play being a console/PC and an internet connection is a genius piece of marketing by EA and my hat really goes off to them; mainly because other companies will more than likely follow suit after this. Crackdown did it first and began a fashion of games with "free" betas inside, a sales technique to sell, what the companies must believe is a shitty game and advertise a better one. Then EA came along and went, fuck it, we have enough money, here's a free beta for everyone.

Every member of CGN will be playing from the 29th onwards, so if you want to play with us hit up the beta and you may run into us. We'll all be on the 360 version, though I may dip into the PC version at some point, and one of us may hop onto the ps3 version for mere comparisons.

In the meantime here's a little montage I whipped up to tease your appetites, containing gameplay from myself and commentaries from the entire range of CGN's staff.

See you on the Battlefield!

The top five most anticipated XBLA titles

It's no secret that when the Xbox Live Arcade initially launched in 2004, it was a little underwhelming. Although the idea yielded promise, the original line-up left a lot to be desired. Aside from a few old school nostalgia trips such as Robotron: 2084 and Smash TV, there wasn't much else to write home about. How many times can we play Ms. Pac-Man and Gauntlet? The public yearned more. More diversity, more relevance and most importantly of all, more challenge. As the game library started expanding, so did the quality of the titles, in terms of Microsoft's selection of both stone cold classics and the more original, indie-flavoured sleeper hits.

With breakthrough smashes such as Bionic Commando: Re-Armed, Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night, Trials HD, Shadow Complex and the Geometry Wars series, a new era was ushered in with regards to downloadable content. As of August 2011, there have been 413 titles added to the marketplace, and an estimated 70% of Xbox Live users have downloaded at least one title, averaging out at roughly 6-7 titles per user. With statistics like this in under a decade of implementation, it's hard not to be impressed, and with the current 2011-2012 line-up, we're in for a few well deserved treats.


5. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (TBA 2012)

You'd be hard pressed to meet a gamer anywhere in the world who hasn't heard of the renowned Half-Life mod Counter-Strike. Originally 'developed' by Jess 'Cliffe' Cliffe and Minh 'Gooseman' Le, it was later adopted and expanded upon by Valve and both modders went on to work for the company. As much as IGN could be improved, the fact that they rank both original developers as number 14 in their top 100 game creators of all time list speaks volumes.

At one point, it was the most played first person shooter in the world, a claim it wore as a badge of pride for more consecutive years than almost any other shooter to date. Its immense popularity was so consuming, in fact, that in 2002 it was outselling all PC FPS counterparts at a 3:1 ratio. In recent years, its popularity has waned, but only slightly. It remains a heavyweight contender and somewhat of a phenomenon in the PC market.

With semi-pretenders Blacklight: Tango Down and Battlefield 1943 failing to ignite the market, it seems like there could be potential for a new competitive arcade FPS daddy. Providing Valve get it right and it doesn't feel constrictive or unsatisfying, we could see a trailblazer in action. With Doug Lombardi promising to "expand on CS' award-winning gameplay," its hard not to feel confident. After all, Valve are one of the few companies who have rarely put a foot wrong in their fifteen years in the industry, a feat accomplished by few, if any, others.

Whilst at the time of writing, little has been made official, it wouldn't be presumptious to assume Valve are intending on updating maps and gameplay modes, with perhaps the addition of a selection of newer maps. The old phrase 'if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it' comes to mind as CS 1.6 has remained the most consistent and enduringly popular out of all the mods and expansions. If you've yet to play it, or if you're a veteran of it, it doesn't matter. Buy it, appreciate it, enjoy it. You never know, you could be at the forefront of something very special, indeed.


4. Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection (August 31st 2011)

Okay, we admit it, this is a dodgy one. Remembered more for its fatalities, almost needless amount of gore and its abundance of borderline broken fighting mechanics, Mortal Kombat has been up until very recently a difficult sell. Even its publisher Midway, the undisputed king of the cash-ins, relied a little too heavily on it and ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2009.

With Warner Bros picking up the rights to both the franchise and a wide variety of other Midway assets, however, we've started to see a change of pace and direction for the franchise. By making the newest title, the self-proclaimed Mortal Kombat, a balancing act between accessibility and a deeper fighting experience, the series has achieved dual accolades for the first time in its existence via critical and commercial response.

This factor has no doubt been taken into consideration by Warner Bros, and the release of this port of the original three titles is most likely a response to the rapturous response to its predecessor. One of the main reasons anybody truly cares about this Kollection is the return of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. Cruelly taken off Xbox Live Arcade (before we realised it had been reduced to 400 points) due to licensing issues, this affected a small, somewhat niche band of fighting enthusiasts, including myself, who ended up feeling deprived of the simple yet satisfying combinations and the ability to rip your friends head off over Xbox Live Arcade.

The reasoning for this being that sometimes, not often, but nevertheless occasionally, broken games can be fun. Not fun in a Dynasty Warriors (excluding the original) or Serious Sam sort of way, but fun in a loop the same combo in a corner and watch your opponents reaction sort of way. How else could you explain the persistently groundless popularity of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Considering it first launched in 1992 and in many senses has progressively deteriorated over the years (excluding the newest title), that's almost twenty years of mediocrity. Bearing in mind that it only took one or two titles to sink Pandemic, Bizarre Creations and Realtime Worlds, all of which have more talent in their baby fingers than the entire NetherRealm Studio development team, it is puzzling if nothing else.

With this in mind, while the original two titles leave a lot to be desired, they are by no means unplayable. Of course, they lack the charm and allure of Street Fighter 2, but they are entertaining on a more basic level. Of course, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is where you should be directing your attention to, with its impressive roster of characters and least broken fighting mechanics, but the total package for 800 is a steal.



3. Guardian Heroes (Q3 2011)

In spite of its somewhat cult-like status, Guardian Heroes is widely considered to be both the best game on the Sega Saturn and the best scrolling beat-em-up ever made. With its branching pathes, multiple endings and karma meter (a meter which determines how the game concludes depending on your actions throughout), it really was ahead of its time.

Developed by the illustrious Treasure, makers of such critical darlings as Dynamite Headdy, Gunstar Heroes (no relation), Ikaruga, Sin & Punishment and Radiant Silvergun... Treasure remain a creative force to be reckoned with. Their mentality of smaller teams making tight and responsive titles which push the boundaries of innovation to breaking point bodes well for their output and reception. Sometimes less is more and with Treasure that's definitely the case. Their last original game, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor came out in Japan in 2009. Since then, the Call Of Duty/Modern Warfare franchise alone has released two new titles, with a third merely months away. That ought to put it in perspective.

Due to the rarity of the game itself, not a lot of people, particularly in Europe, have been able to get their hands on a copy, which is a crying shame because of the calibre of the mechanics and structure of the game. Many will (incorrectly) tell you that the Saturn had no good games. Naturally, such a standpoint is misguided at best, but its difficult to blame someone for adopting it.

Sega's European and American divisions left a lot to be desired during the 32-bit era. Instead of capitalising on their strongest developers in Japan, alteratively they attempted to port bad rehashes of existing games from competitive systems. Needless to say, this didn't end well, as the Saturn was optimised for 2D games first and foremost and the rest is history. We're not going to sit and list off every great game for the system as we'd be here all day but if you don't believe us, by all means give Guardian Heroes a play through.


2. Radiant Silvergun (TBA 2011)

Continuing on the Sega Saturn bandwagon, here's an example of another Treasure classic, the rich and rewarding Radiant Silvergun. In spite of how infamous its price tag has became in recent years, it is actually really good. The ability to switch between an assortment of weapons and the sheer domineering ferocity of the enemy attack patterns is something that has to be seen to be believed. Whereas it is by no means the hardest shmup of all time (that commendation goes to the frankly astonishing Mushihimesama Futari), it is still insanely difficult. Treasure also make a point of exemplifying what they do best: making bosses that defy the odds (and often gravity).

Few could present opposition to Treasure's boss design, attack patterns and graphical prowess. Those who've encountered Seven Force in Gunstar Heroes not only know what we're talking about, but could also most likely list in detail each form of the encounter, which is undisputedly a testament to their ability to construct a memorable boss character. What's even more interesting is the little homages and references contained within Treasure titles. The last boss, Xiga, in particular, should elicit some fond memories from more retro-orientated gamers.

Through the re-release of this seminal classic, Treasure has opted to include several new features. From a purely visual standpoint, it has been overhauled with HD visuals, which will undoubtedly deal with all the jaggies encountered in the Saturn version. On top of this, they've also decided to include leaderboards, online co-op and an Ikaruga-inspired shooting mode. We're excited. You should be too.


1. Street Fighter: Third Strike (August 24th 2011)

This article has been written to coincide with the release of what many consider to be the greatest beat-em-up ever made. Truth be told, we'd intended to get this out sooner, but time has a funny way of creeping up on you. It seemed like only yesterday that the word on the grapevine was that it was being re-released in HD. It felt like a dream then, it feels like a dream now.

Continuing on the HD trail, as previously mentioned, it has been overhauled in HD which despite not making a huge difference, is still a nice touch. A few other nice touches are the addition of challenges, online play and a theater system which allows players to upload their matches onto YouTube. To all five of you who haven't seen the Daigo VS Justin Wong EVO 2004 'The Beast is Unleashed' video, Capcom's Third Strike places a huge emphasis on technicality, which is best expressed through competitive play. Often imitated, and rarely, if ever, bettered, Third Strike set the benchmark back in 1999 when it was released.

Although we've progressed through a few updates, it seems the third (or fourth in this scenario) edition is the conclusive piece to the Street Fighter puzzle. Like a fine wine, it has aged well, and although it has remained suspiciously absent from some of the professional tournament scenes in recent years, hopefully this updated version puts the spotlight back where it should never have left.

It's mechanics, from the most basic level of parrying to cancelling into a Super Art, are flawlessly implemented and though at the start it can be a little off-putting to newcomers, if you're new to it, stick with it and the cogs will all eventually click into place.

The only main criticism comes from the limited character roster, which admittedly isn't its strongest point. The irony is that Capcom's biggest criticism in general is its ability to milk a popular franchise to saturation point. The multitude of different Street Fighter 2 titles by itself is cause of concern, as even some of the more preferred series out there are outmatched in number by how many times its been re-released. Third Stike is a breath of fresh air in this department, and while some (okay, most) characters could be improved, there are no Stryker's in there. Intriguingly, some of the best players in the world use the likes of Q, Necro and Oro - characters most would agree are completely useless.

The inclusion of competitive online matches should be sufficient enough to wet even the hardest critics appetite. Back in 2004, when it was released on the Xbox as part of the Anniversary Edition package, Xbox Live was still finding its feet and it was difficult to get matches with anyone but Japanese prodigies. These days, XBL is unmistakenly dominant in the online division and both Street Fighter and Third Strike are more popular than they've been in quite some time. This is primarily down to the success of numero four and its expansions but at the same time Daigo's incredible comeback video can no doubt be at least partially attributed to the increasing demand in player's curiosities.

Adding a tournament mode and customisable player matches (best two out of three rounds, matches and best four out of seven matches) should mix it up and keep the game on the online rankings list. Those new to it are in for the Knickerbocker Glory-style treat of their lives, something that looks horrifingly good yet somehow manages to taste even better. Appropriately, the old guard have similar benefits, primarily the ability to pulverise any and all who stand against them accompanied by a new soundtrack by celebrated composer Simon Viklund of Bionic Commando: Re-Armed fame. See you on the battle ground.

EA VS Activision (Round One)

As you've no doubt already heard, the war of words between EA, Activision and every internal developer associated with the Battlefield and Modern Warfare brands has reached boiling point, but the only question we can ask is, is it really necessary? As much as the general populace laps up a feud, whether its business or personal, it isn't always the right path to take and in some cases can end up damaging a product's accountability and leverage within the industry. Just ask Guerrilla Games, who rather infamously pronounced Killzone to be a "Halo killer" long before the product shipped, an accusation that the company, in many respects, has still to live down to this day.

Uncompromisingly aiming for the jugular of an industry opponent has its benefits; it demonstrates that companies aren't just faceless, it builds hype and it tends to be a cataclyst for thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of arguments resonating around the world over which franchise is superior, thus keeping them both in the public spotlight and drawing extra attention to the developers behind them. On the other hand, however, it can have an opposite affect to the intended purpose. There's a fine line between competitive pot shots and borderline desperation. We're by no means suggesting that in this scenario that's the case, but simultaneously, on the other end of the spectrum, its difficult not to raise certain questions - is EA's seemingly constant browbeating really benefiting the Battlefield brand as a whole, or is this rivalry solely geared towards increasing sales, and by extension, taking marketshare away from the market leader? Chances are, it's a little bit of both.

One of the predominant issues lies within the fact that Battlefield has in many ways already surpassed Call Of Duty, or Modern Warfare, specifically, in the quality department. Aside from diehard Call Of Duty players (which, let's face it, is the majority of online console gamers), most would agree that Bad Company 2 is the premier online first person shooter experience. The Frostbite engine alone is near legendary in its capabilities, and the game just keeps delivering to those willing to get past those first few gruelling hours with no equipment. The sheer depth, customisability (that's not simply an aesthetic overhaul), balance and 'feel' enhance Bad Company 2 in such a way that it stands head and shoulders above the vast majority of titles on the market today, including in many respects Activision's behemoth franchise. In the words of EA CEO John Riccitiello, "a lot of people bought Modern Warfare more for the coffee table and didn’t play it for two months." Fighting words, indeed.

To really get a feel for this whole back-and-forth exchange, however, we must take it back to the beginning. Believe it or not, the instigator in this fiasco was DICE back in March 2011 when Karl-Magnus Troedsson, the general manager, stated in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine UK that their competitors were "getting lazy" and that Activision are "using the same engine, the same recipe for building a game" continuing "at some point you need to take that leap. I haven't seen them take that leap since a long time ago." If this wasn't bad enough, he signed off with a warning shot; "we're coming for you."

EA then proceeded to add fuel to the fire when, less than a month later, John Riccitiello claimed that there'll be "a couple of hundred million dollars [worth of] marketing against these two products," adding that Battlefield 3 is "designed to take [Call of Duty] down." Fast forward to E3 2011 and an admittedly overzealous Bobby Kotick, or at least his personal assistants, try to skip the queue at EA's E3 booth in order to get a hands-on playtest with arguably their biggest rivals title. After much deliberation and many phone calls later, the senior members of EA decide to block Kotick's entrance, claiming that "it would not be possible," essentially stipulating that he must join the back of the queue if he wants to get his hands on it like everybody else.

This can be considered the true beginning of the feud, with Kotick responding in a CNBC interview that "well so far I've only seen Battlefield 3 shown on a PC, so I haven't seen it on a console which is where the bulk of our business is," continuing, "if it's just a PC title as it looks like today, that's a very small audience to participate." This sort of belittlement is befitting of Kotick's general outlook on competition and of the industry he helped blossom; an industry which his company is now ranked number one in the world in (at least in terms of sales and profitability anyway).

Riccitiello's response? "If Bobby thinks that's PC footage, he's in real trouble," a sentiment later echoed by DICE on their official Twitter feed. From here on, it has been suspiciously quiet from the Activision camp, while EA and John Riccitiello have been going to town on Activision's most coveted brand, going as far to state that "our game is more authentic," adding that its "definitely going to do a lot of things better." Riccitiello has also taken it a step further by stating that he would be happy to see Call Of Duty "rot from the core."

Strong words from a company who were considered Public Enemy No.1 for the majority of this industry's lifetime, a fact Riccitiello has been doing his best to remedy with excellent titles such as Dead Space and Mirror's Edge since he took over as CEO. While he has almost unanimously taken the company in a better direction than the yearly updates it used to churn out and rely on despite a lack of significant updates, it should never be forgotten that at the end of the day he is a corporate man and he is there to help his company turn a sizable profit and remain sustainable, especially in a business as turbulent as this one.

The seemingly inherently evil Activision have remained reasonably tight-lipped on the subject, with Activision Publishing's CEO Eric Hirshberg even going as far to state that "we focus on what we need to do to make the best games we can. We don’t pay much mind looking at what the competitors are doing. I know they are focused on us… well that’s all I’ll say." As much as the world loves to hate Activision, even their most staunch opposition, both in the business and outside of it, couldn't criticise their handling of this situation. Whereas EA have been virtually calling for blood, aside from a few pot shots, Activision has stayed judiciously classy. Being the number one publisher, with the two most successful franchises of the past decade affords the leniency and luxury of such a stance. Being at the top isn't easy but the install base is there and if their proposed Elite service for Modern Warfare 3 succeeds then many Call Of Duty devotees are even more mindless than we give them credit for.

No matter what way you look at it, EA is fighting a losing battle, but at least its something they can admit. EA's Vice President and General Manager of their UK branch, Keith Ramsdale has in the past addressed its direct competition when he answered when asked if they could beat Modern Warfare sales with a rather abrupt "no." If they already possess this knowledge, then the initial opening question still stands, why? There's little doubt that with its proposed $100 million marketing budget Battlefield 3 is guaranteed to take numbers away from the behemoth that is Call Of Duty, just like its predecessor Battlefield: Bad Company 2 did last year, but its still unlikely to be enough. If there's one thing that's been reiterated time and time in the games industry, its that we should never underestimate the power, allure and dedicated audiences of a brand. Every big hitter since the Atari 2600 has been franchised and replicated for decades and Call Of Duty is no different. The only difference here is that very few brands will ever be able to come anywhere close to the sales and record breaking statistics of Activision's baby.

This is something EA is no doubt already aware of, and in spite of their protests that Battlefield will overtake it in sales at some point, with EA's Jens Uwe Intat confident enough to insist "the only question is when that day will be" concluding "the sooner the better," it is not looking like something that is likely anywhere in the near future. EA's focus on Frostbite 2.0, and in spite of direct competition, their emphasis on the fact that they believe "lighting’s better, physics is better, animations are better, particle effects are better [and] vehicles are better," has also came under scrutiny, with Sledgehammer's co-founder Glen Schofield going as far to claim that "you ship a game, not an engine," adding "I've seen that trick and the bottom line is, this game [Modern Warfare 3] will run at 60 frames a second. Not sure any of our competitors will".

You can't help but assume that Frostbite must be making negative waves over at Activision HQ, being one of the most technically proficient and immersive engines we've seen to date, but brand recognition is the most important factor to consider and Call Of Duty is unmistakenly dominant in this department. EA and DICE seem to be concentrating on how much better their game is going to be, but an amazing game does not necessarily convert into amazing sales. There are dozens of fallen masterpieces littered throughout the battlefield that is the sales chart. Just look at Singularity, ICO, Okami and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath for inspiration.

Although critics mistakenly quoted DICE's Patrick Bach saying the two rival developers are not even "competing at the same sport" recently, this was taken out of context. What he meant was that the two franchises were competing at different levels and as a result aiming at somewhat different demographics. "It really comes down to personal preference. You choose based on the depth you want, the maturity level, your own personal taste ... it's all about how you get your fix," he was quoted as saying. In the single player department, Call Of Duty, with its grandoise set pieces, scale and 'epic' factor will no doubt be the more contained, but ultimately more refined story mode, but in the online game, where it counts, there is little doubt Battlefield 3 will win with ease.

Of course, its down to personal preference, but in terms of lastability, depth and gameplay (all of the things which matter), the Battlefield series is much more consistent. It appeals to the hardcore, the type of player who has no problem putting hundreds of hours in and still being taught new tricks and trades, those who want a more team-orientated focus. With EA going all out on Call Of Duty, its difficult not to be skeptical. The last thing any Battlefield player would want is the series to adopt the saturate-rinse-and-repeat mentality of the Call Of Duty series, its near perfect as it is. Everybody loves a bit of smack talking, just don't get lost in a haze aiming for a market that will have difficulty adjusting to the tactical yet rewarding methodology that makes Battlefield such a compelling and enriching experience.

Update:

Although I finished this article a few weeks ago, I decided to sit on it in order to let other articles sink in, however, during this period the rivalry has taken a tumultuous turn. If you're a gamer, there's no doubt you've heard about the http://www.modernwarfare3.com disaster. Right now, its up in the air. While most initially assumed redirecting this website towards the Battlefield 3 page was EA's handiwork, many in the industry have speculated that this would be breaking US copyright law.

This was further confirmed when a video embedded on the website had this choice quote for Activision: "Modern Warfare is crap. On November 6th, 2011, the most over-hyped first-person action series of all-time returns with the copy and paste sequel to the lacklustre Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2... Pre-order Call Of Duty MW3 today for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC to secure exclusive bonuses only available online for Modern Warfare 3 fanboys who don't know that Battlefield 3 is the better game."

Needless to say, Activision aren't happy about this embarrassing coup d'etat and have went as far as to file a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum in order to seize and secure the website. In order for them to succeed, there must be sufficient evidence that the website is "identical or confusingly similar to" its Call Of Duty trademarks. On the other hand, the complaint suggests that the only way the perpetrators can keep the website is by "making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or tarnish the trademark" We'll keep you posted on how this story develops.

Essential VGM #001 - Command & Conquer - Act On Instinct

Essential VGM is something I've wanted to do for a very long time but never had the patience, motivation or outlet to do so. The aim is to pick out the best video game tunes from as diverse a range as possible and showcase them via CGN and YouTube. The reasoning for this is because in spite of big name composers like Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams and Clint Mansell getting involved in scoring video game soundtracks, the medium isn't treated as seriously as it should be and this is something we think should be remedied.

First to be showcased is Act On Instinct by the remarkable Frank Klepacki, composer of the Dune, Command & Conquer and Red Alert series. Even gamers who are unfamiliar with his work will almost definitely be able to recognise the opening chords of Hell March. The C&C/Red Alert series remains to be one of the greatest RTS titles of all time and a contributing factor to such accolades is the sheer industrial ferocity of the accompanying music, a sound that has yet to be matched or reproduced on almost every level.

Klepacki also has a reasonably successful solo career, and nearly unpredictably, his music has been featured as the intro music of several fighters on the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter franchise. Due to the calibre of his soundtracks, its highly likely more of his music will be featured in this segment down the line, however, the rationale for choosing this track was because not only do I think its an amazing and contemporary track but it also sparked the beginning of one of the greatest brands of all time.

Welcome

Welcome, bienvenue, willkommen. Welcome to our own interpretation of project mayhem. As you've probably guessed by now, this is a website which first and foremost revolves around videogames. The only major difference between this blog and more conventional publications is that we write the rule book, meaning there is no topic too big, no topic too small, and additionally any company, industry stalwart and, of course, videogame itself is subject to either adulation or condemnation. Obviously such judgement is circumstantial, but in this scenario, we judge via quality of output, and with regards to a more behind-the-scenes perspective, the general ideologies and/or business strategies of those associated with this ever-changing industry.

What we initially aimed for when conceptualising and drafting up this project was a website which very much called it like it is. It was originally intended as a satirical, destructive, damning amalgamation of thoughts and ideas from lifelong gamers who are fed up with certain tendencies and traits that have become or are becoming a staple part of one of our most cherished pastimes. Whilst the core values remain the same, some way through development the shift in balance changed. Instead of focusing almost unanimously on criticism, what we decided to do was dedicate a large segment to both optimism and pessimism. After all, its unlikely that anyone who has even a semblance of interest in this hobby could or would argue that the positives don't vastly outmatch the negatives when it comes to gaming on the whole.

The industry has contributed to an exponential amount of sleepless nights, it has tested the boundaries of friendship (at least online), and it is constantly encouraging us to challenge, and by direct extension, better ourselves in order to stay on top of our game. The beauty, and in many respects, geekiness of this activity is that for the most part it is achieved through pushing buttons. To an outsider, it is illogical. To an insider, it's natural, and it is this inherent social seperation that only serves to highlight just how much of a unique property we have on our hands. There is nothing like it and this is exactly the reason we love it.

Honestly, try explaining exactly why you want to maintain your K/D ratio in any number of online games, why you are spending dozens of hours searching high and low for agility orbs in Crackdown or why you want just one more attempt at beating your friends scores in Trials HD to someone who knows nothing of the industry and you'll almost undoubtedly be greeted with a look of bewilderment or a patronising smile. I've lost count of the amount of debates I've had concerning the artistic and entertainment merit of gaming. Such is life.

In all likelihood, you will have been unaware of our presence online because before now we have had limited exposure to the big bad world of the internet. Although some of us have created and written for websites, made videos and even helmed a music blog (R.I.P.), we have remained very much a niche band of creative outcasts. Until now. We've somewhat grand plans for this blog and while this may seem like a sudden thing, you'll just have to trust us that it couldn't be more opposite. We've been deliberating over this website for the best part of a decade but due to various commitments, obligations and general laziness, we've been unable to gain a foothold in this department.

Originally envisioned as the general gaming network AEN (Artificial Entertainment Network), in spite of falling just short of completion, it went on to inspire the AEN Outrunners clan. The Critical Gaming Network, on the other hand, came about like many things come about; as an inner joke, a borderline self-indulgent idea ingrained in controversy. We originally intended it to be a sister site of the more objective and news-based AEN and the founding principle focused upon its implementation as a vehicle to demonstrate our more critical, or as I like to put it, PR-less opinions and interpretations.

Despite some ideas becoming redundant due to the amount of time we've spent sitting on our laurels, in many ways its a blessing in disguise. As silly as it may sound, we're all very creative and opinionated people with a lot to say and it is these ideas we intend to share with the world, ideas that we have been stewing over for longer than we'd like to admit. This simply means that there is a backlog of articles, videos and concepts waiting to be unleashed onto the world which, let's face it, can only be a good thing. Expect semi-regular content. The reason for this is because half the reason our music blog has been laying dormant for a over a year is because we put too much pressure onto ourselves into delivering content on a weekly basis. It got to the point where we were writing a solid three or four dedicated articles per week before we could even begin to start writing other individual articles and it put a strain on us creatively.

In order to avoid a similar disaster, we've decided to adopt a contrasting approach with this website, preferring less regular articles that contain a higher standard of output. Ideally, we want to create something that is both professional and laidback, objective and subjective, with an injection of seriousness and humour, appealing to both masses and critics alike, and most importantly putting gamers at the forefront and knocking the corporations whose arrogance and unscrupulous agendas are having an adverse effect on a pastime most of us were born into. Enjoy.