Pachter: Black Ops Success Hinges on Biased Press

[Canid117]

In all fairness, he right with at least one example. WaW was miles better and less broken than MW2 but it did get worse reviews, whereas MW2 got rave reviews despite it's horrible brokeness simply because it was made by IW and was a sequal to the excellent (and better than both WaW and MW2) CoD 4. Still, overall he's wrong. IW games tend to get better reviews and sell better than Treyarch because they are usually better. I do like Treyarch games though and they do seem to be learning extremely quickly.

The flaws in MW2 didn't really show up until after reviews. No one had unlocked the most broken weapons and perks until after the reviews were all submitted. It looked like a glorious gift from the gods in the first two weeks until people started unlocking akimbo and combining commando with the perks that truly turn it into a game breaker.

So that's the purpose of weapon unlocks.

If it wasn't the original intention it had a damn helpful side effect for devs.

 

[MrMoustaffa]

To be honest, almost every single Treyarch Call of Duty game I've played has been better than the Infinity Ward counterparts. They seem to make more interesting games, at least for me...

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Pachter is hardly the one to talk about bias. He has been spewing nonsense regarding the Wii for years and has no clue about PC gaming.

 

[jackanderson]

I apologise for the fact that I'm about to drag out an old and unfunny joke I made on the last Pachter story, but you should've listened to me, internet! Now you will pay for your insolense!

"It is I! Clairvoyant Gypsy Pachter! I can foretell the future! I sense... I sense that... I sense Call Of Duty: Black Ops will sell less than Modern Warfare 2! Why? Because it's not made by my beloved Infinity Ward! ... ... What do you mean that's not a real reason? ... Urm... It will sell less because it will get middling review scores! ... ... What do you mean the press aren't all powerful beings? I'm Clairvoyant Gypsy Pachter! The world listens to me! You people listen to meeeeeeeeeeeeee!! (Gets thrown down a well)"

Seriously internet, just ignore him and I'll make the pain stop.

By the way: Vanquish? A serious competitor? Wishing no offence to Platinum Games (I played the demo, it was alright) but they'll be lucky if they break the Top 10 here in the UK (it entered at no. 12).

 

[Alandoril]

I tend to agree with Logan here. I don't see a bias as much as Treyarch having just been living in the shadow of Infinity Ward. However, I think Black Ops is Treyarch's opportunity to break out of that. Black Ops looks like a really solid and polished experience, and personally, I'm way more excited for it than I was for MW2. If it's a good game, it'll get good reviews, and if it delivers on all the hype and promises, Black Ops won't have a problem stealing the limelight from MW2.

If it's a good game, it'll get good reviews? That's a bit naieve isn't it?

 

[Snotnarok]

I dunno why everyone hates Treyarch I liked World at War FAR better than MW2, they did action at far better pacing and even had more in their game.

 

[VanBasten]

I've asked this question before, and I guess I'm asking it again: Why does Pachter get press? He's harmless, but inevitably completely wrong about everything he says regarding the games industry.

This.

Seriously, who is this Pachter guy?
And why is his every thought reported as news?

Might as well pick a random forum poster here and report "news" based on their posts.

 

[hansari]

A special favour for his best buddy Bobby? Not sure that most of the people who buy CoD games read reviews anyway.

This.

I mean what percentage of the gaming market actually undergoes research and waits to hear the review on a website before purchasing a game?

Marketing = win.

 

[hansari]

I tend to agree with Logan here. I don't see a bias as much as Treyarch having just been living in the shadow of Infinity Ward. However, I think Black Ops is Treyarch's opportunity to break out of that. Black Ops looks like a really solid and polished experience, and personally, I'm way more excited for it than I was for MW2. If it's a good game, it'll get good reviews, and if it delivers on all the hype and promises, Black Ops won't have a problem stealing the limelight from MW2.

If it's a good game, it'll get good reviews? That's a bit naieve isn't it?

No, it isn't.

Saying it'll sell just as well is another story. Right now Super Meat Boy is getting rave reviews, but I doubt it'll surpass any AAA titles...

 

[Zagzag]

Since when has 90% been an AVERAGE review score?

EDIT: It is quite possible that I completely misunderstood that sentence! Sorry!

 

[The Journey]

I always liked Treyarch´s Call of Duty games. But after Mw2 it looked like i was never gonna play a cod or activision game again.

Not that it was a bad game, i was more disapointed over the lack of maps/dlc and the time that went before they actually released any.

The past few months i gradually grown from indifferent to quite hyped about this titel, and it all stated when they confirmed that Zombies will return.

And if not surpassing MW 1-2 its probably gonna giv em a run for the money, not that i care about Kotics money, i just want a great game.

Im hopefull.

This is pretty much what my process has been too. Well said.

 

[Arehexes]

Atlus games get high marks but sales went epic.

 

[Sh0ckFyre]

Quite honestly, I feel bad for Treyarch. They made a fucking stellar game and it'll get smashed in the press because Infinity Ward didn't develop it. Same happened with World at War: They did a great job, but it got marked down because it wasn't Infinity Ward. Granted Call of Duty 3 wasn't a shining entry in the series, but a good effort nonetheless.

 

[Karma168]

I think that people are right saying the MW series is better than WAW, yes MW2 was glitchy as hell online (I personally gave up on it due to the huge numbers of modded controllers and 10th hacks) but the campaign and spec ops were fun and varied. one mission could be a hectic run and gun and the next a silent stealth mission.

WAW never really bothered with that. if your the americans you charge the enemy in a big group, if you the russians you charge the enemy in a big group. having 2 campaigns was pointless as they were exactly the same.

another fault was the replay value, MW and MW2 were well balanced for difficulty (easy enough at the lower levels and a decent grind at veteran) wheras i found veteran on WAW to be the equivilent of just throwing up brick wall after brick wall - low damage/ health and enemies with high health and damage mixed with bad guns to start with just ruined it for me.

all BO needs to do is have decent variety of missions and a way of stopping the hacks online and i'd forget all about the let down of WAW