Gaming News: "Almost Human"
Posted: Friday February 19th, 2010
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You guys know how I feel about Bobby Kotick. So when I read an article that painted him in an almost human light, I was stunned. It seems that during a speech he gave at DICE yesterday, he expressed himself as a Rebel Pilot who'd unexpectedly woken up on the Death Star. [more info]
Over the course of his monologue he admitted mistakes, such as dropping Harmonix without having ever met them face to face, having dismissed Maxis pre-Sims, and failing to buy Blizzard sooner. He even referred to himself as "a dick" whilst reminiscing over the single most damning statement he's ever made: "The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."
The issue I'm having however is that is all feels so... staged. I wasn't there. I didn't hear the delivery. So, my assessment is completely unfair. I just can't help these deep-seated feelings that his comments are wholelly manufactured for the sake of trying to make his company and himself appear softer, more approachable, less... evil. **shrugs** I admit my bias and embrace the notion that I could be wrong.
I encourage you to read the article, and any other coverage of his speech for that matter, and come to your own conclusions.
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For those of you that are concerned, I am not returning to a writing primarily about gaming news. I just needed to get away from what I've been doing for the last two months for a bit before striking a more palatable balance.
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