Phone Detective

Q & A: Eric Hirshberg of the new console and portable discussed explains why Call of Duty \ won 't fade as Guitar Hero, Sledge Hammer Games' COD 'Action-Adventure "on hold.

LOS ANGELES - At this year 's Electronic Entertainment Expo Sony, Microsoft and Nintendoall held major press events. Including two major third party publishers: Electronic Arts Ubisoftand.

But the biggest third party publisher, Activision, didn 't stage a media event. It was the third consecutive year, the company didn 't hold a traditional press conference, although there are some games tease during a star-studded concert at E3 2010th The company has a booth in the massive Los Angeles Convention Center 's South Hall, promoted, according to Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: Elite Modern Warfare 3' s controversial online service.

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg.

One push of the responsible managers of Activision 's E3 is Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. (Not to be confused with his boss, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Blizzard be confused.) A former ad man Deutsch / LA Hirshberg is relatively new in his job after he just set last July. But he 's no stranger to the game industry, as his former agency Sony \ had' s PlayStation brand as a client.

For a discussion of E3, the state of the industry, the PlayStation Vita, the Wii-U, and all the latest Activision, GameSpot caught with Hirshberg in a small, quiet conference room away from the noise of the hall.

GS: My biggest question is, with Activision's number one publisher in the world, why don 't you guys have a press conference?

EH: Well, a hard seat. Watch this space. The honest answer is that we had to make some difficult decisions at the beginning of the year, you know. We have a decision to walk away from some games that were in production, and we thought it was very important for us to be here and part of the community and have a booth on the floor, and not the black sheep or the outliers. We all thought it was important just to be here and participate in our industry colleagues.

GS: So you can feel didn 't that it was worth it with the press conference?

EH: Well, there 's a few things about the way we approached our booth, that I think are mini-press conferences. All day we 're with these events, the games that really exists in a pretty theatrical way. We have three such stubborn areas where we 're too deep in the properties. And it 's kind of our approach reflects a total of more focus in fewer games.

GS: Do you think E3 is as important as it was now in the past years?

EH: You know, here 's like I' ll say. I think that I have an interesting perspective for the transition that the industry is through, because I went through it in my previous industry have. I have a bit of a knack for masochistic accession industries with large moments of disorder and riot, and when I got the ad companies, essentially it was right at the foot of the Internet to a consumer-oriented media. It was not 'ta day that I worked in advertising, if I didn' t read an article somewhere about the death of 30-second commercial and the death of the media landscape as we know it. It was very disturbing to a media landscape, which is stable at 50 years.

GS: Right.

EH: And the fact is, the predictions of the "Sky Is Falling" were wrong. The media landscape, as we knew it never died. It still hasn 't. What happens is that a number of new creative tools were added to and made more powerful old media and new media, a new tool to communicate more creative options.

So, I have a bit more rest, what 's on the game industry's happening now as a lot of people. You could remove the word "console" and the world "TV commercial, \ \ and I've read this book before. And I think if the experience taught me what it 's is that (a) the Chicken Little effect is often exaggerated the case, and (b) that what' s not rewarded in these moments. I saw many advertising agencies running around buying a lot of digital peer companies to go crazy multiples, and these investments are paid out only rarely.

What has been aware of pay, adding, upgrading our skill set from the inside, both to supercharge our existing businesses and create new revenue streams. It 's actually very similar to Activision' s approach right now, and we 're using social and mobile, and this type of new equipment, new practices, new technologies in a way to charge our existing business.

GS: Well, if there's one thing you could change about E3, what would it be?

EH: I 'll boat on that one. But your last question - I heard it, but never really answering it. I think that is the answer for me is that it 's really clear that this is an industry in transition.

If you have a film all three of the major console 's press releases could edit and watch them back-to-back-to-back, we saw three very different answers to this rebellion of new technologies and new media. Microsoft is clearly trying to be connected to the Xbox, cut off by the TV. PlayStation doubled on the core gameplay experience with Vita and say this more immersive, more high-production value game still in a portable landscape matter.

Finally we got 've Nintendo for the first time speak a digital back-end and high-definition and nature of the interconnection universe on the back of their console. Three very different answers, but three very interesting approaches to I think the way the world is changing.

GS:Now, let 's talk about the PlayStation Vita. You guys came early in support of the CV and you 've got a Call of Duty game in development for the platform. Who 's really that development?

Activision brings Call of Duty on PlayStation Vita.

EH: I 'm not sure that we' ve made that public yet, so I can answer 't. (Looks couple PR minders on the table.)

GS: I think this is where the censorship starts'

EH: It 's not censorship - I' m just a leaky bucket as I always tend to answer the questions. You 've been saving a small electrode in the neck.

GS: So Call of Duty will go on a vita launch title?

EH: We haven 't yet announced the details.

GS:It Activision 's property is in development for the Life?

EH: Yes.

GS: What 's your reaction to the Life' s price?

EH: Well, it clearly has a great response to the price. I know nothing about the return or the business model, but clearly, was that a very attractive price, and I think it was very pleasing to the audience. And I also think that PlayStation has been through a rough launch of the PS3 if the price points kind of key pain points were.

GS: Do you think it 's doing better than the PSP?

EH: I think it is a big bet on the core gamer experience, and I think that the fact that it is a pure gaming device, which means no phone, no -

GS: But it 's got some social issues.

EH: That 's true. You know, I think I at that price they show 's got to think a good shot. I do. There are plenty of novelty, enough new tricks for developers to play with. It 's all come down to the software.

GS: And that 's where you come in.

EH: Yeah. And at the end of the day, that 's always the equation. I think it looks like a very stable platform.

GS: So Sony is doubled on the core portable experience with Vita. But a large part of the sums at the moment I have with playing on the iPad, iPhone and tablets. If you believe that true gaming or not?

EH: Well, it 'sa very different experience. It 'sa totally different input device. And so the best games on this platform are the games that are designed to take advantage of this input device 's tool and the interface. You know, I think gaming gaming. I think people pay money for interactive media is a great thing and I do not think the man is more interested in interactive media good for the industry as a whole receives.

GS: But Activision hasn 't really embraced her. Your friends at EA are iPad and around the iPhone. Why haven 't you all so fully embraced her?

EH: I think that what we 're doing is, we' \ re want to use to build social, mobile as a way of our core business and strengthen our corporate image. What we 're trying not to do is play Roulette App. There are hundreds of thousands of applications at a price that 's a very different set from a development perspective in a business model quite a different matter.

So, we don 't want to rush into a new category before we figure out what will be our competitive edge shape. It 'sa very small percentage of the company, the games for these platforms that are profitable. It 's great for Apple. There are hundreds of thousands of games on the platform. But as game developers, we want the games, we know we can do better than everybody else in the world. And to a certain degree, and I think Apple would agree, if you asked, I think the things you do not choose to do you define as a company do as much as the things they. We want to do what we do with excellence.

So, I think you'll see us move differently to mobile and social, but as I previously described, with my experience in the advertising industry, we 'will re do so consciously, and we' re doing so intelligent, and We 're not to rush in and compete in any category on any platform, just because they exist now. We 're going to compete in areas where we have a competitive advantage.

GS: Speaking of new platforms, I didn 't notice the Activision developers or help with the Wii-U-presentation. Are you the use of the Wii-U?

Activision is backing the Wii U too.

EH: We will support them. We will use the Wii U.

GS: Do you have products that are currently in development for it?

EH: I don 't think I can tell you know that careful, dass

GS: OK, let 's even more broad scope of questions to ask. With the Wii, Nintendo went to the "Blue Ocean" of casual gamers and non gamers. During his presentation U Wii, the company has realized that for the core gamers, some go by pretty hardcore material. Do you think they 're will succeed with this approach?

EH:You bet against Nintendo's own risk. You 're a pretty strong company, and they obviously killer apps - their killer apps. You have great IP's own I think that will always set the tone for their platform. That 's the only place you can get it, and it' s mistress, and it 's stood the test of time, and they have to use great intellectual property. The fact that they 're a more connected, more HD, more state-of-the-art platform, is music to our ears.

GS: Is this going Activision 's support to promote? If you guys allow more direct ports of the Xbox 360 or PS3 games do?

EH: Direct connections are an excellent experience in many categories that you weren 't be able to on the Wii. Obviously, [the Wii-U] is more compatible with the graphics and the type of processing level with the other platforms. This 'll be a similar experience.

GS: So the Wii is U next year. Do you think that 's too early to come to a console? Do you think that this life cycle already done?

EH: It 'sa good question. \ We see 'll. As I said on the Vita, I think it really depends on the software. It depends on what she ready to start.

GS: Elite: Well, about Call of Duty. You are aware that it will not last week, and since then there 's was a bit like a game of people to pay for it. Given the fact that you came out and had a large amount of features for free people get to Elite - things such as system statistics, rankings, access to mobile devices, etc. - why would you pay for the premium service?

EH:been Well, as far as playing with Call of Duty there 'speculated that much. "They 're going for multiplayer free!" I can' t know how often I 've answered this question because I' ve been on the job you say, and we 're not doing what .

We 'none of these things have taken away with the elite. We 've added an incredible number of new features for free for all. What we tried to do a service with enough horsepower and enough value and enough appeal to players that they find it worth the premium membership to create. If we achieve that, then people. If we don 't, then we' ve managed to get a free service on the market call of duty to make them more attractive as a whole, and either way it won 'sa for us.

GS: I know one aspect is the video series that's coming out of Hollywood. Can you talk about that at all?

EH: Well, that 's one of those things that it' s kind of pointless to talk until we have to show it. We have to 'do re some content specifically for the Call of Duty community, and one of the things that' people know that we \ is over s strangest call of duty as a franchise, that this social network that we 're now trying to make some kind of tools and some formalities around already in man' s behavior.

When you click on YouTube and look at the number of Call of Duty videos that were uploaded and the number of views that they 've created, it' \ s huge. And there 's to any organization. It 's no place where it all together types of thread, and there' s no type of formal community around him. It 's no one really packing and loading it and it does it better.

GS:

EH: I don't want to describe something that you will get immediately when you see it. It will be cool. It will be something that's dedicated to the Call of Duty community.

GS: Let 's talk about Modern Warfare 3 for a second. Some people were a little surprised when the trailer came and showed that the Sledge Hammer Games is a complete co-developer of the game. Were they there from the beginning, or they have such only on board to Infinity Ward Infinity Ward as part of the whole brain drain in the past year to get help?

EH: As far as the timing had begun with a view to rolling out the development that happened before I came here, so I can answer 't. What I can say is [Sledge Hammer] is absolutely a co-developer.

GS: Yeah. What 's to the state?

EH: You 're specifically on 3rd Modern Warfare

GS:

GS: Do you see Modern Warfare matching 3 Black Ops in terms of sales?

EH: We 're a lot of marketing is behind him. We 're a lot of investments will be left behind, starting with the development itself. You know, we 're throwing more innovation and investment in this game than ever before.

I don 't want to answer your question directly to sales, but I will say. By every metric, if you just step back and just passionate look at this franchise, a measurement of whether the 's sales of the last iteration, DLC sales, spent some time in the multiplayer environment, YouTube views, Facebook Fans There 's only evidence that there' s even more appetite for this and that there 'sa brand still on the rise. I know that 's hard to imagine, because it' s reached such incredible heights already, but we 're sure that if we continue great product that will supply it' s appetite for more.

EH: I get asked that all the time. They're such dramatically different situations. Guitar Hero was a new genre with a novelty input device that had a guitar shape controller strapped around your shoulder, and you can stand up and literally take the pose of a rock star. And that had tremendous appeal and became a tremendous phenomenon.

It 's the exact opposite situation, where a proven genre is growing from year to year, and we' ve got better and better to make the games from year to year, and we 'a real momentum with consumers outside developed have with the franchise.

This 's very different from Guitar Hero Guitar Hero used to be this phenomenon, and the games were in development for the year 2011, we stopped at this development. So, I know why people ask, but it 's so different.

GS: Now tell me about the Bungie game.

EH:

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