Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Boys Will Be Boys

By Alec Meer on September 27th, 2010 at 11:04 pm.

So Double Fine’s Tim Schafer said Activision’s Bobby Kotick was a prick and then Bobby Kotick said Tim Schafer was rubbish and he’d never even met him anyway and then Tim Schafer said Bobby Kotick was stupid and mean, and before that Bobby Kotick said EA were rubbish and mean and then EA’s Jeff Brown said Bobby Kotick was rubbish and mean and now I don’t know what to think about anything and everyone seems mean and angry and I’m so confused about who’s a goodie and who’s a baddie and I wish people would just make nice games instead of calling each other names across the internet.

For God’s sakes! How does this help anything? And we wonder why the games industry doesn’t get taken seriously by the mainstream media.

(Pic source)

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109 Comments »

  1. 27/09/2010 at 23:09 a.nye.123 says:

    I’d wager that there’s an equal amount of juvenile name-calling in banks, solicitors, hospitals, etc. It’s just that their media doesn’t report it.

    If websites like Kotaku didn’t report it, it wouldn’t be an issue.

  2. 27/09/2010 at 23:11 Phil H says:

    “If you do a really god job – and a lot of our studios do – you get to pick what is, in my view, the most difficult thing to pick in the industry: to make original intellectual property.”
    Original IPs at Activision? Really, Kotick? Really?

  3. 27/09/2010 at 23:11 Dances to Podcasts says:

    This is a horrible post. Now I have that Miami Sound Machine song in my head.

  4. 27/09/2010 at 23:13 Jimbo says:

    I think they should just fight. I bet Bobby would be up for it so long as it’s PPV.

  5. 27/09/2010 at 23:13 Vinraith says:

    Call me when any of these people are actually making a game I’m interested in and I might give a crap what they have to say about each other.

    No, wait, not even then.

  6. 27/09/2010 at 23:17 Fumarole says:

    No crying eyes tag? For shame.

  7. 27/09/2010 at 23:20 Skusey says:

    I think they’re all silly and should stop insulting each other so publicly. Why can’t they just put “X is a jerk and his Mum is fat” in the credits or something like that? That would be far funnier.

  8. 27/09/2010 at 23:28 Sunjumper says:

    I must say that I find this cat-fight oddly hillarious.
    I could watch them calling each other names all day. (Provided they still continue making good games. On the other hand hasn’t the Schafer betrayed the PC?)

  9. 27/09/2010 at 23:36 Duffin says:

    Then why give them even more media coverage over this crap?

  10. 27/09/2010 at 23:36 Pijama says:

    I don’t know if you guys are just being intentionally naïve or what, but yeah, such kind of behaviour doesn’t happen in politics, academia, sports etc because everyone of importance outside the games industry is professional and exemplar, right?

    That being said, Activision Douchebag Executive Officer’s vanity is such that he HAS to reply and add even more to his prick-factor. Any smart suit stays quiet and let his job do the talking and the PR for him.

    But noooo…

  11. 27/09/2010 at 23:37 ToxicDeepeyes says:

    There is no such thing as bad publicity,

  12. 27/09/2010 at 23:38 ChampionHyena says:

    SHUT UP ALEC, YOU NERD

  13. 27/09/2010 at 23:38 Blain says:

    “And we wonder why the games industry doesn’t get taken seriously by the mainstream media.”

    What!? Public figures in the music and movie industries are constantly in and out of rehab / jail. Your theory needs work.

    • 27/09/2010 at 23:51 Berzee says:

      It’s just one of their favorite things to say around here when people act stupid, “Bwhaaar mainstream media! Look lively!”

    • 28/09/2010 at 00:37 Sigma Draconis says:

      If Alec was being serious with that, he’s grasping at straws more than anything. Childish bickering and shit-talking occur in music, movies, and sports industries with far more frequency. Matter of fact, the mainstream media has shown on many occasions that they welcome any form of pointless verbal conflict between personalities with open arms. And like subedii questioned above me, I doubt the majority of it would recognize these two names in the first place.

    • 28/09/2010 at 02:04 Robert says:

      I think gaming needs drive-by shootings or Christian Bale. But wait…. isn’t gaming supposed to be a violence-inducing narcotic? Why don’t be have those then…? :puzzled:

  14. 27/09/2010 at 23:43 James says:

    I totally like that this was written, I agree with the sentiment but it’s odd to think that in some ways this actually contributes to the problem. Paradox!

  15. 27/09/2010 at 23:44 Gap Gen says:

    Yo momma so fat she has to be split over 2 DVDs/Yo momma so stupid she lost a battle in Total War/Yo momma so ugly she make the life and times of Nico Bellic look cheery and uplifting/etc

  16. 27/09/2010 at 23:44 EthZee says:

    I thought a post of this tone would have been made by John Walker. Alec, we expect manlier things from you.

    Go and wrestle some bears and eat some steaks until you can’t remember what feelings are.

  17. 27/09/2010 at 23:49 Fred Wester, CEO of Paradox says:

    They’re both rubbish pricks.

    Fred Wester, CEO of Paradox

  18. 27/09/2010 at 23:51 niffk says:

    i will start publicly backing up tim schafer if he releases brutal legend for PC

    • 27/09/2010 at 23:59 Hmm-Hmm. says:

      Word has it it’s not that good anyhow. So I’m not sure we’re missing out. Well, unless you’re a fan of Jack Black..

    • 28/09/2010 at 00:26 subedii says:

      It was more that a lot of people were expecting it to be an action game when it actually turned into a Battlezone style RTS.

      I’ve heard as an RTS it’s actually pretty good, but then like you, I’m getting this from other people.

    • 28/09/2010 at 10:28 adonf says:

      yeah, brütal legend was an odd mix or RTS, action and open environments. i bought it for the humour and, err, stayed for the humour. there are a few great moments, but the RTS bits were tedious. jack black was tolerable. seriously, it’s probably one of his better roles.

  19. 27/09/2010 at 23:54 Bascule42 says:

    Bitch fiiiiggghhhht!

  20. 28/09/2010 at 00:05 Gritz says:

    Staring Eyes?

  21. 28/09/2010 at 00:05 bob_d says:

    Let’s sort this out, shall we? Bobby Kotick is a prick. Tim Schafer isn’t rubbish. Kotick and Schafer have never met, and top developers don’t want to work for EA, because EA are mean. (But setting up your own studio owned by EA is another matter entirely.)

    There. Sorted.

  22. 28/09/2010 at 00:06 skalpadda says:

    The comeback from EA was rather good though. Not as good as Tim Schafer quoting Beyonce, but still.

  23. 28/09/2010 at 00:08 Flaringo says:

    I think they should be more like the movie industry. Man up and settle this with a boxing match!

  24. 28/09/2010 at 00:10 Pancho says:

    What about bear steaks?

  25. 28/09/2010 at 00:16 Radiant says:

    I love Bobby Kotick he is proper DGAF

  26. 28/09/2010 at 00:19 Anthony Damiani says:

    “For God’s sakes! How does this help anything? And we wonder why the games industry doesn’t get taken seriously by the mainstream media.”

    Don’t be silly. The mainstream media loves pointless personality feuds. If we had more of them, they’d pay more attention.

    • 28/09/2010 at 00:26 Gap Gen says:

      We could make it more like WWE.
      “Schaferon! You’ve missed your last deadline!”
      “B-Kot! Sue my new publishers… IN HELL”
      *cue sweaty grappling*

  27. 28/09/2010 at 00:29 ynamite says:

    Although I agree with a lot of you I’m gonna take Tims side when it comes down to a good ol’ bare knuckles fight. For one, he’s responsible for a couple of awesome games, Kotick (co-dick or co-prick?) on the other hand hasn’t got much to show for himself, unless I’m missing something (and I might), and I just don’t have much sympathy for him and the company he owns.

  28. 28/09/2010 at 00:31 Nick says:

    Bobby Kotick is a c you next tuesday. Simple as.

  29. 28/09/2010 at 00:32 Kieron Gillen says:

    (I disagree with Alec. I think developers should be in constant knife-fights. Anything short of east-coast/west-coast rap battles is frankly not trying hard enough.)

    KG

  30. 28/09/2010 at 00:45 pupsikaso says:

    Hahahha, best laugh of the evening. Thanks for compiling those links, Alec!

  31. 28/09/2010 at 00:55 dragon_hunter21 says:

    Bobby Kotick appears, if the evidence is accurate, to prefer franchises that can be used to release a game every year in order to maximize profits, potentially causing new and innovative ideas from reaching the market. ()

    Fair enough?

    (and yes, I realize the hypocrisy of posting a link to an article calling Kotick out, but golly is it hard to find his words exactly.)

  32. 28/09/2010 at 00:58 Sigvatr says:

    I would care about things like this if someone respectable in the industry was saying them, like John Carmack or something.

    In fact if John Carmack says you are a prick then you probably are because everything he has said came true.

  33. 28/09/2010 at 01:16 starclaws says:

    Except EA really is rubbish…

  34. 28/09/2010 at 01:20 Vodkarn says:

    I still cannot believe that Kotick – KOTICK – claims that EA sucks the life out of studios. Jesus Christ man, don’t give your enemy ammunition or anything…

  35. 28/09/2010 at 01:41 Rii says:

    I’ll take human beings acting and speaking like human beings over the bland, crafted output of corporate PR departments any day of the week, thanks.

  36. 28/09/2010 at 01:57 Tetragrammaton says:

    Dont be down Alec, this is frankly pedestrian compared to the drama of every other entertainment industry. Also its a little ironic that this has been pretty much the doing of journalistic shit stirring. But hey, as you say: boys will be boys.

  37. 28/09/2010 at 01:57 LintMan says:

    I care, because these people keep buying up game studios I care about, introducing idiotic DRM schemes, running franchises into the ground, making games I care about into console exclusives, and ever-seeking new ways to monetize games and extract more money from the cash cows, um I mean gamers.

  38. 28/09/2010 at 03:12 Feanor says:

    “And we wonder why the games industry doesn’t get taken seriously by the mainstream media.”

    That has absolutely nothing to do with it.

  39. 28/09/2010 at 03:43 DMoe says:

    Schafer is making a royal ass of himself. He apologized for his comment, then got all butt-hurt when Kotick called him a bad developer (which was true, Brutal Legend was a poor game) so he rescinds that apology to go all “he took our jerbs.”

    The EA/Activision stuff is gold though: An endless cycle of a pot arguing with a kettle.

  40. 28/09/2010 at 03:52 disperse says:

    John Walker’s childhood photo?

  41. 28/09/2010 at 04:08 Swef says:

    Fuck Eurogamer. They’re the only pricks that keep reporting on this trivial shit you’d expect to see in a celebrity gossip magazine. Literally half the items on their front page consist of nonsensical unimportant fishwife talk at any time.

    Also, the games industry doesn’t get taken seriously because every year budgets get bigger and products get worse. 2 man development teams are making a comeback as soon as this graphics craze pumping billions into the hardware market ends, and believe me it’s coming like a freight train.

    • 28/09/2010 at 11:01 Rich says:

      “soon as this graphics craze pumping billions into the hardware market ends”
      Since we’ve been sitting on essentially the same tech. for the last five years, that would be now.
      I’m not saying there isn’t a lot of money in hardware, but it’s been established that until the next generation of consoles, PC hardware is going nowhere fast. DX10 and 11 don’t count, as they make bugger all difference.

  42. 28/09/2010 at 04:52 bhlaab says:

    Who cares what the mainstream media thinks, and who are you to play the tutting mother anyway?

    If the book industry can maintain its dignity despite Harlan Ellison, I think we’ll all survive this.

  43. 28/09/2010 at 05:51 fela says:

    Yeah, seriously, why should we care what the ‘mainstream media’ thinks? The same media that spews idiotic, pointless programming and propaganda daily? You wanna be taken seriously by these corporate lapdogs?

    The more the gaming industry remains underground, the better. Hell, I don’ even want gaming to be associated with any soulless sounding term like ‘industry’. Let’s try and keep it as a community.

    • 28/09/2010 at 06:03 Tetragrammaton says:

      Jez: Stealing things just makes everything very cheap. Plus, you know how I feel about capitalism.

      Mark: Yes, confused.

  44. 28/09/2010 at 06:49 Torqual says:

    Set Schafer and Kottick in a plane crashing on a caribean island. There they can fight each other to die or they learn to survive together.

    Have a nice ship wreckage

    P.S. Who takes the mainstream media seriously?

    • 28/09/2010 at 09:43 Tei says:

      The mainstream take the mainstream press serius. Thats the joke.
      Sports are *very important* stuff. Also hollywood movies, and wen politics insult each another.
      The mainstream is the joke.

  45. 28/09/2010 at 07:42 TheApologist says:

    Does God have more than one sake?

  46. 28/09/2010 at 08:22 Choca says:

    “For God’s sakes! How does this help anything? And we wonder why the games industry doesn’t get taken seriously by the mainstream media.”

    Agreed 100%, way to sound like overgrown kids.

  47. 28/09/2010 at 10:28 int says:

    Their whinging can only be solved in…

    THUNDERDOME!

    Two men enter, one man leaves!

  48. 28/09/2010 at 10:33 Tei says:

    Thats not a way to conduct bussines. Is unprofessional.

    I could, somehow, accept that a designer make these type of comments. A designer is somewhat like a artist, he has artist responsabilities over a product, and he is hired, in part, because of his subjectivity. But a CEO is a different thing. A CEO control the politic of the corporation, so his opinions can be seen as the opinions of the company. If the competence is awnful, thats good news for the CEO, and not something to make public fuss about.

    Also, I refuse to read what everybody say. I don’t read his comment, because I don’t see anything interesting in these comments.

  49. 28/09/2010 at 10:55 What? says:

    Yeah, i agree namecalling is stupid. but it’s completely acceptable in Rock Paper Shotgun to insult Stardock… Right?

  50. 28/09/2010 at 12:09 sana says:

    Is that title a reference to About A Boy or is it just standard British speech?

    • 28/09/2010 at 13:16 Jeffthewonderbadger says:

      Standard British speech. Generally used by browbeaten parents to excuse whatever act of antisocial ghastliness their mewling progeny has just committed.

  51. 28/09/2010 at 13:27 Samon says:

    Yeah, obviously the games industry won’t be taken seriously by mainstream media until they catch Kotick, Schafer et al in embarrassing positions, slipping in and out of their cars.

  52. 28/09/2010 at 13:34 Theblazeuk says:

    This is a really weird post for one of RPS. Yes its stupid and infantile but you lot (and Eurogamer) are way more geared towards industry news than any other games journalism I’d read beforehand, since overwhelmingly those focus on the end product rather than the development/business.

    This stuff is your bread and butter! Run with it.

  53. 29/09/2010 at 00:58 Taffer says:

    Is this going to hinder the mainstream taking games seriously? Maybe this will help instead. The most mainstream of presses is yellow press (I think?). Sites like Kotaku also look pretty yellow to me. People are used to reading this stuff about other fields. Maybe developers, gamers and game journalists should start distinguishing yellowness in games media as well, instead of just having basically one classifier “a games site”. And maybe non-yellow sites shouldn’t write about yellow sites writing yellow things.

    In other words, I blame NGJ

    (sorry for the stupid rant)

  54. 30/09/2010 at 01:34 laggerific says:

    “There are a lot of attitudes going on around here!”

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