Dynasty
Space Core
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2004
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The numerous problems with the PlayStation 3 and PC version of Call of Duty: Black Ops' have prompted action from UK consumer group Gamers' Voice, which is planning to report Activision to the Office of Fair Trading.
Call of Duty: Black Ops, which racked up over $1 billion for Activision after its first week on sale, has been plagued by network issues on both the PlayStation 3 and PC, and while patches have been issued the problems reportedly persist.
Gamers' Voice, an independent pressure group set up by MP Tom Watson, has since expressed its intention to report Activision UK to trading standards about the issue.
"Clearly, CODBLOPS was the one of the biggest, if not the biggest release of last year, which obviously leads to more people playing and more chances for bugs to be found. Our view is that it doesn't matter how big a game is, it should not be released 'unfinished' or with bugs that make the game unplayable," said a statement on Gamers' Voice's official site.
"Problems arrise [sic] when, in the case with CODBLOPS, entire sections of the PS3 and PC gaming community are apparently being used as game testers for an extended period after a game's release, yet being asked to pay for the privilege," it continued. "This is not a tenable way to treat us as consumers of video games and it will not be tolerated."
http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/114/1145600p1.html
Can't really say I'm surprised at this, what with CoD being arguably the biggest release each year now (in sales anyway), so like you do, you go for the biggest guy you see first, in an attempt to cause a ripple effect down to other developers.
Do the issues make the game unplayable? Surely not. The game still works, it's just hit-and-miss for the MP side. People going up in arms about it just solidifies the now almost manditory MP segment of games released these days. ESPECIALLY in CoD and Halo etc.
I understand where the gamers of CoD are coming from but I dont feel all that sorry for them.
Simply because this issue, to me, has stemmed from the simple fact that Activision are crapping out CoD games each year, not stopping to check if it actually works 100% or not through testing. ''Screw the testing, just get it to somewhat work, they'll buy it anyway, we can sort the problems later.''
Now obviously they would never SAY that for ''PC'' reasons or whatever, but we wont know if they ARENT thinking it or even doing it.
But at the same time, if testing regulations are improved/added in some way, or however the system works, surely developers like Bethesda would never release a game. Oblivion, Fallout 3 and now New Vegas; some of the buggiest games Ive ever played, and Im sure the upcoming Elder Scrolls 5 will be exactly the same old tired formula using a busted engine on release until they patch the crap out of it.
Should testing be forced upon developers until the game works exactly the way the consumer will expect it to without hickups, though probably increasing the time-span between release dates (Activision and EA wont like that...), or should the bugs be let to slide and be patched once enough people complain?
Personally, I'd welcome the longer wait for a better quality game. Developers like Media Molecule that have just released LBP2 have twice now created amazing games without any real performance issues or faults, maybe one or two here or there, but otherwise they're stellar releases, and its been years since LBP.
Or do the developer's stock holders and board executives need to keep their salaries up by crapping out a new sequel every 12 months?