Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Activision....Returns! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Caruthers who wrote (1265)	10/10/1998 3:35:00 PM
From: Tom Caruthers	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1992

It doesn't sound like ATVI should make a play for Radical (previous developer of ESPN) in its current form....sounds like lots of bad management and fiscal troubles. headline.gamespot.com But if ATVI wants to do something, it should probably act soon, as ERTS has been eyeing the ESPN license. headline.gamespot.com But that Disney has put the brakes on so far: headline.gamespot.com Although "Activision Sports" has a nice ring to it, Disney seems to be pretty tightfisted with the license terms. But according to these sources, Disney is looking to license the ESPN brand and not develop the games itself... One can always speculate... Tom

To: Tom Caruthers who wrote (1265)	10/13/1998 4:34:00 AM
From: Asymmetric	Respond to of 1992

Gets lonely on this thread, don't it? Two of the more daunting challenges for Activision IMHO are the sheer number of good action titles out there fighting for shelf space, and the fact that consumer confidence is trending down, meaning they will probably be tightening their pocketbooks down the road. While this won't affect the "enthusiasts", it does mean continued slowness regarding broadening ATVI's reach into 85% of computer users who don't normally buy PC games/entertainment software. Regarding ABC, from what I've heard from someone who does occaisional projects for ABC, things are pretty tough there, and when people leave, positions aren't being filled. Agreed with your comment: <<Kotick has said in the past that they have focused on prim- arily on action/strategy games for the teen male generation. This however, was when ATVI had limited resources and needed to focus on core brands. The problem with this segment is that many of ATVI's own games cannibalize sales from each other.... ex: Hexen II, Quake, Heretic II, etc. because they feed on the same group of consumers.>> One of the main problems seems to me is that just about every software developer piles into this area as well. I guess it makes sense when you look at the movies that are out there and how many of them are action/violence based. Maybe someday ATVI (or someone else) will think of a way to tap into romance/soap opera area where legions of housewives spend hours watching the soaps, and money on romance novels...or a Jerry Springer game, where you have video clips with varied outcomes, and you play one of the characters, and if you mouth off to the wrong person you get hit over the head with a chair. Anyway, that's what I liked so much about the Deerhunter article. Deerhunter broke a lot of new ground (even though it was at Walmart!), and didn't cost a lot of money to make. Was wondering if you went to the ATVI annual meeting last month or heard what may have transpired there? Peter.