Gaming industry analyst Michael Pachter, who operates under the umbrella of Wedbush Morgan Securities, often has many interesting things to say. His analyses and views have sparked many debates and discussions among gamers. His latest comments will likely irritate plenty of gamers.
A quick recap to put things into context: Last week a UK based consumer rights group named Gamer’s Voice announced their intention to report Activison to the UK Office of Fair Trading because of the bug-ridden release of Call of Duty: Black Ops – specifically the PS3 and PC versions. The group described the game as unfinished and unplayable, and stated that releasing a product in such a state violates laws designed to protect consumers.
IncGamers asked Pacther for his opinion on the matter, and he responded “They sound like a crybaby to me.” Undoubtedly, many gamers frustrated with the experience of Black Ops on PC and PS3 will feel they are well within their rights to complain.
Pachter seemed to suggest that the sales figures of bug-ridden games somehow justify the games making it to retail in that state, bringing up the example of Fallout: New Vegas.
”All games are buggy, some more so than others. Have you tried Fallout: New Vegas? Buggiest game ever. I suppose this helps to explain why the game sold only 20 million copies instead of 25 million, and why it received only a 90 metacritic rating instead of 95,” he quipped sarcastically.
“If people don’t like it, they can take it back to retail for a refund. Most bugs are patched within a reasonable time, and any serious gamer expects bugs,” said Pachter. He suggested that game reviewers should be giving low scores to games if bugs are present, informing consumers before they make a purchase.
He went on to share his belief that the move by Gamers’ Voice is nothing but a political attention grabbing stunt, by British MP and Gamers’ Voice founder Tom Watson. “In my view, this is a blatant stunt by a politician to grab attention. He should probably pay more attention to keeping gaming jobs in the UK than to pissing off a large company that can create or eliminate UK jobs.”
Gamers’ Voice has issued a strongly worded press release in response to Pachter’s statements.
“His comments are inaccurate and insulting to computer and video game consumers with his reaction describing Gamers’ Voice as little more than ‘cry babies’. This presents the gaming industry as both arrogant and uncaring to the audience it serves,” states the organisation through their press officer, Thomas Williams.
Addressing the accusations of a political stunt, Gamers’ Voice responds: “[Pachter] hasn’t even bothered to do any research into who we are, or what we do. Tom Watson did found Gamers’ Voice but what Pachter is obviously unaware of is that he did so in response to another political stunt by [MP Keith Vaz].”
“Since founding Gamers’ Voice Tom Watson has not been involved in the day to day running of our group since he is far too busy doing his actual job of being a politician and representing the people who elected him.”
“We are an independent group of gamers from all walks of life who decide our own policy. We are not influenced by politicians; we represent gamers who have a variety of concerns. We are reacting to Activision because we’ve had many, many emails about the game crippling issues from British (and international) gamers who are unhappy with the buggy product and poor service Activision have provided to PC and PS3 gamers.”
On the topic of consumers shouldering the responsibility for securing refunds for inferior products, Gamers’ Voice states: “This is not acceptable as the game should not have been released with such problems, hence our campaign. In the era of game patches, why can’t Activision rectify the fatal bugs in the game now?”
“On a related note, [Pachter] talks about seasoned video game fans [expecting] there to be errors in games and that they are patched out in a reasonable amount of time, failing to highlight that the ‘bugs’ in Call of Duty: Black Ops are actually show-stopping ones which have been present since launch last year. Fundamental elements of the game do not function at all and it is this reason we have reported Activision to the Office of Fair Trading.”
“[Pachter’s] comment that it is the specialist press’ job to highlight errors in code to developers is also laughable; would it be the job of a book critic to look for typographical errors? It is the job of the developer’s quality assurance (QA) department to discover bugs and remove them before the game is published at all, not the media that reports on it!”
Gamers’ Voice concludes by delivering an affirmation of their intentions: “All we can say is that this response from someone who is deeply ensconced in the corporate side of the video game industry only adds fuel to our fire, to the point where we will continue to pursue this issue until it is brought to a satisfactory conclusion.”
Is Michael Pachter correct? Should consumers shoulder the responsibility for purchasing an inferior video game? Do consumers need a rights group to act on their behalf? << Share your views on the MyGaming forum.
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