Well this was unexpected.
Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling, known as fourzerotwo, recently posted some
choice words about
Activision producer Noah Heller. Specifically, Bowling asks Heller to "stop doing interviews," saying that he needs to stop comparing
Call of Duty: World at War to
Call of Duty 4 and that the game can "stand on it's [sic] own merits." Bowling then cites a "bullshit quote" from a recent
CVG interview in which Heller states that previous
Call of Duty titles required several shots with bolt action rifles to make a kill and says that Treyarch has corrected this in
World at War. Responded Bowling: "WTF are you talking about?! ... First of all, you didn't work on 'previous
Call of Dutys', so don't talk as if you're down with how / why things were designed the way they were. Second, you're completely fucking wrong."
Bowling concludes that
World at War has many good features and that Activision would be better off promoting them instead of comparing the game to previous titles. He notes that the media should interview someone from Treyarch that "knows what the fuck they're talking about" and not "Senior Super Douche Noah Heller from Activision - who apparently has never played the game and doesn't even work at the developer." Yowch. Soap operas aren't this good.
[Via
LockoutGaming]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Trogdor @ Nov 10th 2008 1:38PM
Censorship is your friend...
melloncollie @ Nov 10th 2008 1:40PM
Shut the fuck up.
OptimumEDGE @ Nov 10th 2008 1:41PM
Hahaha, that was priceless.
Bolt action takes one shot? Yeh f'in right. In hardcore maybe.
Dirty @ Nov 10th 2008 1:44PM
Oh snap!
andyg8180 @ Nov 10th 2008 1:45PM
pwnage??
of
BOOM headshot??
lay the smackdown fourzerotwo!!
COD Phwoar @ Nov 10th 2008 1:59PM
Maybe Infinity Ward are just upset that Treyarch have made a pretty good (if uber short) game.
Is this another Bungie/microsoft, Sports Interactive/Eidos franchise divorce in the making?
Eric H. @ Nov 10th 2008 2:26PM
He wasnt dissing Treyarch...he was dissing activision.
They even wrote that he had positive things to say about the game...
BananaBoat @ Nov 10th 2008 3:10PM
I love fourtwozero, I hope Activision doesn't throw a hissy fit and get him fired. It takes a lot of balls to completely call out another guys bullshit, but it takes even more to call out a corporate overlords bullshit.
Noone should make the mistake of assuming that Treyarch can develop their way out of a paper bag. They started with the engine ready made from COD4, so it's not as if they put a game together from scratch like IW did. Then again, the game did turn out alright (in multiplayer, I found single player to be bland) in spite of the company that developed it, so miracles do happen.
NvM @ Nov 10th 2008 2:02PM
And this is why Infantry Ward has my respect despite being owned by(or just gets published by?) Activion.
Arnie @ Nov 10th 2008 2:04PM
That was one tight bitchslap!! Ouch is all I can say.
Nick @ Nov 10th 2008 2:04PM
whoa.
I'm an adult. Swearing is fine.
But on a public blog?
I think some censorship might not hurt right 'bout now.
ZEBRA NINER @ Nov 10th 2008 3:11PM
F-bomb FTW.
You can't get enough obscenities in your internet reading. It's like cereal with no milk.
wako @ Nov 10th 2008 3:49PM
grow the fuck up.
the internet is public, why dont you go police porn sites and tell them to censor stuff.
Nick @ Nov 10th 2008 4:32PM
So being immature is okay?
When have there ever been topics NOT censored?
It doesn't need to be so blatant.
ZEBRA NINER @ Nov 10th 2008 5:18PM
I get what you are saying, man. You wouldn't see the word "fuck" on CNN or Xbox.com. Not saying they should censor this stuff, but it's just not that common on a big site.
Also, why is everyone so hostile about this?
halo 3 sucks. @ Nov 10th 2008 2:18PM
Hmmmm. im used to 360 fanboy censoring the word "cr*p"
SadisticHam @ Nov 10th 2008 2:20PM
Big words considering IW is owned by activision, i certainly wouldn't march into my bosses office and call him a douche. ;$
DBoyFlex @ Nov 10th 2008 2:20PM
Wow, amazing. Censorship is good, but reading it here means there are certainly strong feelings about the topic. wow, what a slap in the face.
KC @ Nov 10th 2008 2:24PM
A head shot in COD2 with a bolt action was definitely a one shot kill.
It never seems to work for me but last night I was getting killed in the COD:WAW beta with one shot from a bolt action.
Neuromancer @ Nov 10th 2008 2:37PM
Yeah but they're talking about a hit in center mass (chest), not a headshot
joeybeast @ Nov 10th 2008 2:40PM
It only seem to work when you have the scope on.
Octantis @ Nov 10th 2008 2:35PM
Ooh burn.
Mazrael @ Nov 10th 2008 2:41PM
The bolt rifles felt fine on number 2.. sure they did too on number 3 though it was no where near as good..
Do you think they fixed the overly bias & 'see through walls' AI? surely there's better ways of upping the difficulty on Veteran
BKB @ Nov 10th 2008 2:51PM
It is seriously lame that anyone knows/cares who cliffy b, hmxsean, fourtwozero, EA community manager blah blah blah, and forum moderator etc etc etc are. Let the games speak for themselves and let fans form their own opinions. Call of Duty World of Warcraft multiplayer beta was weak compared to Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta IMO.... but I'll wait to form a final opinion until playing the WOW campaign.
the awesome @ Nov 10th 2008 3:02PM
I don't think you should let the Lich King affect your decision, they're completely different genres.
Matt Already Said That @ Nov 10th 2008 2:56PM
I find it really hard to believe/imagine that he would make comments THIS public about a well known producer in his (obviously) very public career field. Could this be a stunt or possibly a hacker?? It just seems so blatantly unprofessional...I know that if it were my call (based on just what I understand so far from the post) I'd be firing this dude on his conduct alone...
* Be a man and tell the dude to his face, in the privacy of your own life.
Rick @ Nov 10th 2008 3:13PM
I work in a similar field, motion graphics, and deal with producers all the time. I can tell you that they are almost always ego-maniacs who don't know jack-shit about how to do anything themselves, but will push creatives around and take credit for everyone else's work. I wish I was just being disgruntled, but that's the way these businesses work. If you happen to run into a good producer, stick with them, because they are rare.
Fire Fawkes @ Nov 10th 2008 2:59PM
It's nice to see a developer show a little frustration when they feel like something is being mishandled-airing it out in the public may not be the best of ideas, but whatever way IW can get their point across to Activision (so long as Activision will listen) is a good way. I've always felt that Activision really wasn't helping WaW by comparing it to the juggernaut that is Cod4, sell the game on its own merits, not on comparisons.
Rick @ Nov 10th 2008 3:08PM
Hilarious stuff. The marketing for COD:WaW is really pathetic..."see, it's just like COD4, which was great and when we at Activision saw how shitty Treyarch's multiplayer was, we shitcanned it and bullied Infinity Ward into handing over all the code so our greedy idea of pumping out COD titles every fall doesn't backfire on us. That said, fall 2009 is gonna be great!"
conrad23 @ Nov 10th 2008 3:11PM
I'm glad that this finally happened...Activision had it coming after completely stealing a game from Infinity Ward. Shoot, now they're even stealing the engine.
Dang...
Screw Treyarch.
R_Fusion @ Nov 10th 2008 3:16PM
I can see smoke coming from Activision's quarters.
Mister Servo @ Nov 10th 2008 3:32PM
Daaaaaaaaamn, that was brutal. I hope he doesn't get fired, seems like firing people for what they put on their blog has become a popular trend these days.
Brian @ Nov 10th 2008 4:06PM
Penalty for unsportsman like conduct!
Seriously, it's one thing to say these things in the a roundabout / witty way, but it's another to go name-calling your superiors to the public.
This guy must be calling out for attention... and it better work; He'll be out of a job, tomorrow.
Livi70590 @ Nov 10th 2008 4:26PM
While I'm not a fan of Call of Duty, I find this interesting as very few people in the games industry have the balls to say something like this publicly. And of course Heller is wrong. I've only played Call of Duty 1 & 2 on demo and 3 on multiplayer, but It only takes about 2 shots to the chest to drop a bad guy on normal, using a K98 or equivalent.
Boff @ Nov 10th 2008 4:47PM
Handbags at 40 paces!!!
KnoW @ Nov 10th 2008 5:05PM
Here, Here! It doesn't do either game justice to insult one over the other. They should stand up on their own merit. I think they are both awesome games and, as for the bolt action rifle thing, he wasn't playing the same game i played this weekend.
Clinton RRoD sept.3 @ Nov 10th 2008 5:32PM
OH DAMN seems like Activision just got b slapped
and it was funny
LaughingMan @ Nov 10th 2008 5:55PM
Well now when I argue that adults who play video games aren't all socialy retarded goons who still throw temper tantrums well into their 20's, I can say.........uh.....well there goes my argument.
How are you smart enough to be a programmer but dumb enough to sound like a 12 year old posting on Gamefaqs.com?
SSG Monty @ Nov 10th 2008 6:01PM
I would've talked about being sprayed with a couple rounds from an SMG in the foot and dying over any bolt action mishaps. But that was my only COD4 complaint.
On topic though, this sounds extremely childish. He's a grown man and he sounds like a 12 year old brat that got grounded for staying up past his bedtime.
Procris @ Nov 11th 2008 8:36AM
I bet hes going to get told off for this. Doesn't Activision own IW?
WaW bolt action guns are pretty weak to earlier CoD games, in my opinion. I never seem to get 1 hit kills with them (that doesn't mean it can't be done but its not as simple as that PR guy makes it out), i always need 2 shots, which is completely backward to CoD2 that, every shot was basically 1 hit kill. I remember the springfield was actually worth using in CoD2 but i just don't bother using it in WaW because it seems so weak.
Also, whats up with sniper scopes adding more damage to the bolt action guns? Why would a scope suddenly give it more power?
mietha CAG @ Nov 11th 2008 3:42PM
Ok, first off, unless I misunderstand what the job is, the "community manager Robert Bowling" didn't work on the game either. And secondly, isn't he, or at least, wasn't he soon about to be formally, an EMPLOYEE of activision? Unless Infinity Ward is totally independent, and I don't think they are, maybe HE should STFU. Just saying...
scott o. @ Nov 15th 2008 5:52PM
why not four two zero....? muuuuch better.
CoD4 = shi* @ Jan 6th 2009 6:08PM
Call of Duty 3 (Ps3,Xbox 360) kicks Call of Duty 4's (any system) ASS online
it's the best fu**ing game out there
and Call of Duty World at War is also quite good.
what i'm getting at is that CoD4 was a let down
and that Infinity Ward can suck my dick