Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[J.Cornelius]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

The general concensus has been that physical rental is choking its last, but that when it comes to actually paying for something to OWN it, Physical is definately not dead or even hurting by a long shot, nor is it likely to be any time in the near future. People psychologically don't assign value to things they can't touch.

This statement has me a bit confused and I do not want to take it out of context. Jeff, did you mean this to apply just to the movie industry?

If you look at the Electronic Book industry, revenues for Q1 2010 are approx. 91 million according to industry statistics (International Digital Publishing Forum in conjunction with the Association of American Publishers). The revenue is a bit less than double Q4 2009. That seems like a lot of value assigned to something that can not be touched.

If Electronic Books have the potential to grow exponentially is it a big leap of faith to assume movies are not far behind?

[Nick Graham]

Originally Posted by Banjo

I'll have to agree with that one. Video rental stores are closing down everywhere. At least two major video rental stores closed down in the area this year.

I'm not sure about that - I think it greatly depends on the fiscal management of the chains in question. For instance, Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video is dead, and Blockbuster is soon to be, but at least in this area (SE KS, SW MO, N OK) for every Movie Gallery or other store that dies, a new Family Video (the largest privately owned chain) takes it's place, many times in the same building. Family Videos are springing up like weeds all over the four state area.

[Jeff Kleist]

If you look at the Electronic Book industry, revenues for Q1 2010 are approx. 91 million according to industry statistics (International Digital Publishing Forum in conjunction with the Association of American Publishers). The revenue is a bit less than double Q4 2009. That seems like a lot of value assigned to something that can not be touched.

Books have one big problem that movies do not. They're big, bulky and weigh a ton. There is absolutely a market, especially for people who travel a lot to be able to load up the kindle and run. Just like there's a market for the Slingbox app that costs $30 when it's free on your PC. They make a pile off of it because their market is middle high income business travlers who are hardly ever home.

The problem is going to enter once they grab that 25-30% of the market who buys a book, reads it and then never picks it up again. Personally I think Kindle style devices are great for periodicals, especially newspapers. The ability to get pretty much any one you want for a low subscription fee is AWESOME. I think they're also great for libraries. They have 3 copies, and when person 1 presses "return", it automatically pops up on person 2's machine..

The problem hits when you cross that magic $10 mark when a purchase stops being the equivalent of lunch. I know that when a $15 game pops up online I'm VERY selective about which ones I buy. GTA4's DLC didn't do NEARLY as well as people thought, and while there were other factors such as some people not liking the changes from 3, andthe fact that big numbers had already sold back to gamestop by the time they actually got something out, a huge percentage said "$20 for DLC? Screw that".

So while there are definately people that are all about that digital locker and cloud stuff, the first time there's an outage and people can't get to their stuff they're going to sour on that cloud real fast.

[J.Cornelius]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Books have one big problem that movies do not. They're big, bulky and weigh a ton. There is absolutely a market, especially for people who travel a lot to be able to load up the kindle and run. Just like there's a market for the Slingbox app that costs $30 when it's free on your PC. They make a pile off of it because their market is middle high income business travlers who are hardly ever home.


So while there are definately people that are all about that digital locker and cloud stuff, the first time there's an outage and people can't get to their stuff they're going to sour on that cloud real fast.

You make some very valid points. Look at a physical medium that is less bulky, the Compact Disk. Today sales are approx. half of what they were 6 or 7 years ago. I just think the next generation of consumers who have spent their whole lives in the “digital age” will gravitate towards any digital medium, especially movies. I remember when we first got cable as a kid and were watching MTV 24/7 and periodically it would go out, on the fritz, but it would always be back sooner or later. I envision the same thing with a cloud structure, yes, it will definitely have its kinks to be worked out and will go offline from time to time but it will be back sooner or later. I think it is just a matter of time (not in the so distant future) that I am packing away my Blu-rays in the attic as I did with my CD collection with a mix of trepidation and excitement.

[disneyboi81]

"Samsung and DreamWorks Animation bring together the best creative talent in animation and the strongest 3D TV technology in order to offer a new dimension of home entertainment. We believe that 3D TV adoption at home will increase as more global 3D hits, such as How To Train Your Dragon are made available to the consumer for 3D home viewing," said John Revie, senior vice president of Home Entertainment, Samsung Electronics America, Inc. "We look forward to a continued collaboration with DreamWorks Animation to deliver such rich content to the living room."

OK, this guy has it all wrong? Anyone have an e-mail address that I can let them know that keeping 3D titles as exclusive does not increase the adoption but only hinders it. Gees...

[Jeff Kleist]

ou make some very valid points. Look at a physical medium that is less bulky, the Compact Disk. Today sales are approx. half of what they were 6 or 7 years ago

Music is the exception. To 90%+ of the population, music is disposible and random 4 minute experiences. Marketing executives stabbed the album with focus grouped crap soundalike artists that would churn out one or two good songs and charge you $15 for it, and cherrypicking iTunes finished it off. People buy songs now and they listen to music very passively. Most modern stuff is so disposible, it's no wonder it fits well into the digital culture (and at $1 a song, is like buying a pack of gum anyway)

That's a big reason why the music business is moving their model toward the live shows and merchandise, you can't download the experience or the T-Shirt.

The market is so small for 3D content right now it really doesn't matter. It's not like these are exclusive forever.

It's unlikely a lot of these titles would even be available in 3D at this point if companies like Samsung weren't paying for the discs to be created. No one is expecting 3D to become really affordable or take off in any signifigant way until next Christmas anyway, this year is softlaunch.

As I've said many times before, yelling at the wall is more effective than sending an email. You need to contact studios directly, politely via snail mail for maximum impact, and in this case, I wouldn't bother either because there won't be exclusive deals like this by the time there's enough critical mass for it to matter.

I do feel that the TV manufacturers should allow those who have purchased the TVs and have them registered with the company to purchase their exclusives however, and I'll certainly bring that up next chance I get

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

The problem hits when you cross that magic $10 mark when a purchase stops being the equivalent of lunch. I know that when a $15 game pops up online I'm VERY selective about which ones I buy. GTA4's DLC didn't do NEARLY as well as people thought, and while there were other factors such as some people not liking the changes from 3, andthe fact that big numbers had already sold back to gamestop by the time they actually got something out, a huge percentage said "$20 for DLC? Screw that".

All the morons that paid $15 for those stupid Modern Warfare 2 mappacks would like to have a word with you.

[Jeff Kleist]

All the morons that paid $15 for those stupid Modern Warfare 2 mappacks would like to have a word with you.

Fortunately because I didn't spend $15 on mappacks, I can afford to hire security

Activision is headed for a major bubble burst that's going to make EAs look silly, and I don't think they'll learn from it like EA did. Their next step is almost certainly looking to go exclusive to one console with the MAG style persistant world MMO Call of Duty game, to get a massive upfront payment and get to keep most if not all the subscription fees they want to charge. They're really mad that people are playing COD months later and not paying them for the privilege. Will it happen? Don't know, do they want it to? Most definately

Of course without the real Infinity Ward in the stable any more, COD no longer interests me in the slightest.

[Doctorossi]

Yay! I've been waiting for that Mad Max date announcement. Any word on original Australian English dialogue track inclusion?

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Fortunately because I didn't spend $15 on mappacks, I can afford to hire security

Activision is headed for a major bubble burst that's going to make EAs look silly, and I don't think they'll learn from it like EA did. Their next step is almost certainly looking to go exclusive to one console with the MAG style persistant world MMO Call of Duty game, to get a massive upfront payment and get to keep most if not all the subscription fees they want to charge. They're really mad that people are playing COD months later and not paying them for the privilege. Will it happen? Don't know, do they want it to? Most definately

Of course without the real Infinity Ward in the stable any more, COD no longer interests me in the slightest.

These stupid mappack buyers are living PROOF that there is NO easier crowd to exploit than gullible gamers and all they do is give Kotick MORE excuses to microtransaction the hell out of gamers. I looked at gameshelf and I don't have many Activision games on there. Thanks to Kotick they are running out of original IPs to bring in. Sadly, whenever Activision DOES release an original IP they don't give it much promotion. Singularity, anyone?

I bet there have already been 10 maps picked out of Call of Duty Black Ops that they plan to charge $15 per 5 for.

Bobby Kotick's days may be numbered because all these days of racking in tons of prophet from gullible gamers may be coming to end like you said. Look what happened to Guitar Hero. People got tired of it and that is what is going to happen to Call of Duty.

I am REALLY hoping that the new Medal of Honor game ends up being awesome and takes a lot of people from the Call of Duty crowd. If EA REALLY wants to set a tone they could give away mappacks.

Its really ironic how EA and Activision have completely switched roles. Its sad that EA still seems to be operating at a loss when judging by my shelf has released a lot of nice original IPs.

I have NEVER paid for multiplayer mappacks and NEVER will.

Single player or Coop? Maybe but when they go on sale. The Borderlands and Fallout 3 DLC was pretty good.

[MerrickG]

I also suspect that Kotick had a HUGE hand in forcing Blizzard to split Starcraft 2 into 3 seperate games. I just finished Starcraft 3 and eventhough it is quite good and long for one race, it feels like there were a lot of tack on missions that wouldnt have been there had they chosen to release it all as one game with each race having its own playable campaign.

[Constitution 101]

Originally Posted by merrick97

These stupid mappack buyers are living PROOF that there is NO easier crowd to exploit than gullible gamers and all they do is give Kotick MORE excuses to microtransaction the hell out of gamers. I looked at gameshelf and I don't have many Activision games on there. Thanks to Kotick they are running out of original IPs to bring in. Sadly, whenever Activision DOES release an original IP they don't give it much promotion. Singularity, anyone?

I bet there have already been 10 maps picked out of Call of Duty Black Ops that they plan to charge $15 per 5 for.

Bobby Kotick's days may be numbered because all these days of racking in tons of prophet from gullible gamers may be coming to end like you said. Look what happened to Guitar Hero. People got tired of it and that is what is going to happen to Call of Duty.

I am REALLY hoping that the new Medal of Honor game ends up being awesome and takes a lot of people from the Call of Duty crowd. If EA REALLY wants to set a tone they could give away mappacks.

Its really ironic how EA and Activision have completely switched roles. Its sad that EA still seems to be operating at a loss when judging by my shelf has released a lot of nice original IPs.

I have NEVER paid for multiplayer mappacks and NEVER will.

Single player or Coop? Maybe but when they go on sale. The Borderlands and Fallout 3 DLC was pretty good.

I bought all the map-packs and so did all the people I play with. No one was exploited or gullible. No one is FORCED to buy anything. Consumers all day every day all over this planet make billions of decisions w/ the resources they have as to whether to engage w/ a service/product provider. For my group, we found that the hours of fun provided by the map-packs was well worth $15 a piece. You may feel differently than my social circle, and that's fine. People have different priorities when it comes to making purchases. Hell, a movie is $10 bucks and that's over in a couple hours. Many people would say that's worth it to them, but not the map-packs. I wouldn't say they've been exploited or are gullible. I've a friend who's wealthy enough to buy almost any car he wants, but won't spend over a certain amount. I've another friend who's independently wealthy and doesn't think twice about the $150,000 car he just bought. It's a matter of what each consumers values more. The map-packs for some people are something THEY FEEL IS WORTH $15. It's really just that simple. You may not, more power to ya I say. You have the power of the purse, which is more powerful than any product/service provider. These companies are held by the market forces or "going rate" so to speak. They don't charge $500.00 for the map-packs cuz too small a % would buy it. If enough people refuse to buy the map-packs for $15, the market forces them to lower the price(or obviously they wouldn't sell any). That may come in time w/ these new charges the gaming industry is floating around. Who knows? When that time comes, consumers will have the final say if "it's not worth it".

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by CraigW

I am not saying I am huge fan of it, but it is extremely convenient especially for those older titles or titles that I really don't care if I see them in the best quality.

I was not passing judgement, so there is no need to explain. I just meant that you might like it but obviously with a bit over 20% growth there are a lot of people that don't use it. Maybe it is because they don't have a player, maybe they don't have the BW, maybe it is quality, I am sure there are many different reasons.

Ideally everything would have BD quality, but I do think that Netflix will step up their game as demand for quality increase (at price increase of course).

agree, that is one of my issues with DL fanboys, they don't realize that virtual or physical, upgrading is a fact of life.

It may look like it is barely growing, but many manufactureres are now incorporating the services and capabilities into their devices.

The stats are for 2010. Netflix started DL in 2007 (on PCs). In 2008 it had stand alone players, BD players and the 360. In 2009 the PS3 got it. And even the Wii was added earlier this year. Is more choices in players a good thing? yes, but all the options have pretty much been there and have been in the stats for DL growth. Do you really think that it is at a bit over 20% growth now and will drastically change to something that anyone would deem fast just because there is one or two or more models of players?

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Constitution 101

I bought all the map-packs and so did all the people I play with. No one was exploited or gullible. No one is FORCED to buy anything. Consumers all day every day all over this planet make billions of decisions w/ the resources they have as to whether to engage w/ a service/product provider. For my group, we found that the hours of fun provided by the map-packs was well worth $15 a piece. You may feel differently than my social circle, and that's fine. People have different priorities when it comes to making purchases. Hell, a movie is $10 bucks and that's over in a couple hours. Many people would say that's worth it to them, but not the map-packs. I wouldn't say they've been exploited or are gullible. I've a friend who's wealthy enough to buy almost any car he wants, but won't spend over a certain amount. I've another friend who's independently wealthy and doesn't think twice about the $150,000 car he just bought. It's a matter of what each consumers values more. The map-packs for some people are something THEY FEEL IS WORTH $15. It's really just that simple. You may not, more power to ya I say. You have the power of the purse, which is more powerful than any product/service provider. These companies are held by the market forces or "going rate" so to speak. They don't charge $500.00 for the map-packs cuz too small a % would buy it. If enough people refuse to buy the map-packs for $15, the market forces them to lower the price(or obviously they wouldn't sell any). That may come in time w/ these new charges the gaming industry is floating around. Who knows? When that time comes, consumers will have the final say if "it's not worth it".

I'm glad that you feel these packs are worth it. As long as people like you are willing to pay these absurd prices for something so trivial as 5 stinking maps ($15 ought to get you 10 maps and some single player content) then that market will continue to be exploited more and more. All that is going to continue to happen from hear on out is that more and more pieces of the game are going to intentionally left out so more and more of it can be sold as DLC. How long will it be before you have to pay to finish the game? The ending will be sold as DLC. As long as gamers show that they can be so easily exploited this is where that path will lead.

I hope you enjoy spending another $90 (maybe more) on Black Ops and its content. Im sure those $15 mappacks will provide hours of entertainment. I'm willing to bet they already have the maps picked out they are going to charge you for.

I hope you enjoy paying for that Call of Duty online subscription fee coming up before too much longer.

I honestly hope that happens because it might be just the thing to make the CoD crowd revolt and might create just the crazy backlash that Activision needs to realize that they are going too far.


But hey, "its worth it" and "I don't have to buy it."

Yeah, you're right I don't and I won't.

BUT 10-15M of you WILL.

Its funny because there is a part of me that admires Activision for being able to rake in a lot of profit in a tough economy. Nevertheless, if they keep this up it will backfire on them dramatically.

No further comments.

[Jeff Kleist]

$15 should buy you 5 NEW maps at least. I'm glad you're having fun with it though

Here's a piece from ABC news on X Japan's Lollapalooza show for the curious and the already indoctrinated

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/japa...1370750&page=1

[MerrickG]

Jeff,

Any chance of Apple TV being successful this time around given that it will launch at $99?

Sony and MS would be wise to up their efforts to convince people to use their consoles as media devices since I really don't want to see Apple take over another market.

Apple and Activision are my greatest enemies right now! LOL

[aygie]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Jeff,

Any chance of Apple TV being successful this time around given that it will launch at $99?

Sony and MS would be wise to up their efforts to convince people to use their consoles as media devices since I really don't want to see Apple take over another market.

Apple and Activision are my greatest enemies right now! LOL

If its a great product why shouldn't it be successful

Why is Apple one of your enemies Merrick?

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by aygie

Why is Apple one of your enemies Merrick?

Ask Jeff.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by aygie

If its a great product why shouldn't it be successful

Why is Apple one of your enemies Merrick?

Overpriced and pretty do not a great product make.

[Jeff Kleist]

Overpriced, megalomaniacal, form over function, suppression of technologies for Lord Stevie's grand vision, non-replaceable batteries, list goes on and on

AppleTV 2 could be a wonderful addition to anyone's HT after you jailbreak it to do something useful at $99