Another Reason why Activision Sucks

[Dark Victory]

Who gives a **** about Kurt Cobain anyway?

Na but seriously, it's a character in a computer game. I don't see how that disrespects him.

So if you saw Nazis ordering people into a crematorium in a comedic and cheerful way, it wouldn't seem offensive because they'd just be characters in a game?

 

[BlackLantern]

that's a ******** comparison and you know it....get mad at whoever manages his estate for signing off on it

 

[Raiden]

Hasn't Guitar Hero been doing this for awhile now, using famous musicians in their games. I remember being able to unlock Slash in Guitar Hero 3 and playing as him in number of songs that weren't worthy of Slash's talent. Or is it different because Slash is alive and Cobain is dead.

Who's to say John Lennon would approve of his likeness being used in a video game that takes far less talent to play than to actually play the songs for real

I do think that there's a world of difference between what HMX for Beatles in their The Beatles: Rock Band game and what Activision did for Cobain in GH5. But I also agree that Cobain's estate should've known better than to give in to the almighty dollars and let Activision do whatever they want with Cobain's likeness in the game.

 

[Joker]

that's a ******** comparison and you know it....get mad at whoever manages his estate for signing off on it

Oh, don't worry, everyone is pissed at Courtney Love for signing the papers, apparently without even reading them. But the thing is, this never should have been an issue in the first place, as Activision should have shown some f**king restraint.

 

[BlackLantern]

Oh, don't worry, everyone is pissed at Courtney Love for signing the papers, apparently without even reading them. But the thing is, this never should have been an issue in the first place, as Activision should have shown some f**king restraint.

why?? she could have said no....activision is a company, not a plaid wearing, coffee drinking music fan

 

[Tron Bonne]

Being a business or company does not somehow excuse or justify disrespectful actions and behaviors. Corporations may not be a person, but despite what they and others may want us to think, they are run and composed of people who aren't just mindless robots programmed for one thing. They are fully aware of what is wrong, what is disrespectful, and so on.

Cobain may have just laughed off this if he were still with us, he did have a good enough sense of humor, but he also seemed to not be so fond of the way big Corps., like this one, distorts, disrespect, and exploit artists to make a quick buck. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy would have been against this whole genre, since that's basically all it is.

Some fault should definitely be held in the right owners, but that doesn't somehow negate what's being done on Activision's side. It's just sad that we see stuff like that, that is so blatantly a quick exploitation of something in a series that's already wildly popular and profitable, and just shrug it off as, 'just business'.

And, as far as it goes with Rock Band and not so popular music, is there really some suggestion that exposing people to different bands, and potentially helping these bands to further their audience, is a bad or strange thing? Seriously, I mean, seriously. Even if there are less than clean ulterior motives behind some of those actions, like the Freezepop thing, there's a lot to be said for wanting to expand something. **** me flat out silly if that's not a good thing that should be done, even if it means stepping out of the grounds of the sacred practice of usual business.

 

[Joker]

why?? she could have said no....activision is a company, not a plaid wearing, coffee drinking music fan

Yes, she could have said no. And she SHOULD have said no. She SHOULD have read the papers before signing them. But that doesn't excuse the fact that Activision is doing something that Kurt would more likely than not have been against. He had a sense of humor, as was mentioned above, but it usually manifested itself by him having Nirvana do hilariously awful covers of KISS songs live, to show how much he detested that kind of glitzy over the top rock BS. Him singing Bon Jovi and Flava Flave in this would probably make him blow his brains out again.

 

[BlackLantern]

Being a business or company does not somehow excuse or justify disrespectful actions and behaviors. Corporations may not be a person, but despite what they and others may want us to think, they are run and composed of people who aren't just mindless robots programmed for one thing. They are fully aware of what is wrong, what is disrespectful, and so on.

Cobain may have just laughed off this if he were still with us, he did have a good enough sense of humor, but he also seemed to not be so fond of the way big Corps., like this one, distorts, disrespect, and exploit artists to make a quick buck. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy would have been against this whole genre, since that's basically all it is.

Some fault should definitely be held in the right owners, but that doesn't somehow negate what's being done on Activision's side. It's just sad that we see stuff like that, that is so blatantly a quick exploitation of something in a series that's already wildly popular and profitable, and just shrug it off as, 'just business'.

And, as far as it goes with Rock Band and not so popular music, is there really some suggestion that exposing people to different bands, and potentially helping these bands to further their audience, is a bad or strange thing? Seriously, I mean, seriously. Even if there are less than clean ulterior motives behind some of those actions, like the Freezepop thing, there's a lot to be said for wanting to expand something. **** me flat out silly if that's not a good thing that should be done, even if it means stepping out of the grounds of the sacred practice of usual business.

but not every music fan out there considers it "disrespectful"....maybe the Nirvana fans and the hardcore alternative/grunge fans that are left

I didn't say it was a bad thing at all, but some here have made it sound like these companies should be obligated to do so with each music game

 

[Ace of Knaves]

You guys take this **** way too seriously. It's a frickin computer game.

Sure Activision is evil bla bla bla. But really, how does that effect any of us? If you have a problem with the way Activision conducts themselves the solution is really, really simple. Don't buy Activision products.

 

[Tron Bonne]

but not every music fan out there considers it "disrespectful"....maybe the Nirvana fans and the hardcore alternative/grunge fans that are left

That's why I wasn't talking about fans, I was talking about Cobain and the use of his likeness. It would be one thing to have his likeness in Nirvana songs doing something as a homage to his music, though I still don't think it's something that should be particularly be done, but to have him bopping and singing around to stuff that he was openly against and satirized often? Yeah, I'm sorry, I find that disrespectful to him, not just as a fan, but just as someone who can objectively look at a situation.

You guys take this **** way too seriously. It's a frickin computer game.

Sure Activision is evil bla bla bla. But really, how does that effect any of us? If you have a problem with the way Activision conducts themselves the solution is really, really simple. Don't buy Activision products.

What does it matter how it effects us? I'm just talking about showing a little respect to the memory of an artist. Is there something so wrong with not deciding to just shrug everything off as just business because I personally am not getting **** on?

And I don't buy these products, but I have no problems commenting on people trying justifying or excuse businesses when they do stuff that's either obviously disrespectful to someone's memory, or at least calls that into question.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

See to me, it would be disrespectful if Activision just though "Hey **** it, he's dead, we'll use his music and appearance in our game without permission"

But they didn't do that.

And by using him they are acknowledging that he is a legend. So how is that disrespectful.

 

[Tron Bonne]

See to me, it would be disrespectful if Activision just though "Hey **** it, he's dead, we'll use his music and appearance in our game without permission"

But they didn't do that.

And by using him they are acknowledging that he is a legend. So how is that disrespectful.

That's actually exactly what they did if you want to get technical. They didn't get his permission, they got the permission of Courtney Love, who apparently owns the rights to his likeness. I believe she even admitted to not reading the contract later (though she probably did, and is just covering because of fan reaction). He had no way to give it thumbs up or thumbs down since he's dead.

I just said why it was disrespectful in my last post. It's easy to see why where that can be perceived as disrespectful

 

[Brainiac 8]

That's actually exactly what they did if you want to get technical. They didn't get his permission, they got the permission of Courtney Love, who apparently owns the rights to his likeness. I believe she even admitted to not reading the contract later (though she probably did, and is just covering because of fan reaction). He had no way to give it thumbs up or thumbs down since he's dead.

I just said why it was disrespectful in my last post. It's easy to see why where that can be perceived as disrespectful

It's hard to read the contract when you show up to the meeting high and drunk.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

That's actually exactly what they did if you want to get technical. They didn't get his permission, they got the permission of Courtney Love, who apparently owns the rights to his likeness. I believe she even admitted to not reading the contract later (though she probably did, and is just covering because of fan reaction). He had no way to give it thumbs up or thumbs down since he's dead.

I just said why it was disrespectful in my last post. It's easy to see why where that can be perceived as disrespectful

Yea but they got permission. You wanna blame some one blame Love for being a stupid ****ing ***** who probably contributed to him topping himself anyway.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

Knowing what I know of both artists, I would think John Lennon would have much more of a problem seeing his likeness and music in a computer game than would Kurt Cobain. Lennon was much more outspoken about things like laissez faire capitalism, imperialism, etc. He was more of an activist and the voice of dissent (which more than likely lead to him getting shot).

Cobain never really said much publically. He pretty much kept to himself and people want to extrapolate things about him from the suicide note he left when all he really said was that he longer enjoyed his music and couldnt control his personal demons. While I'll say again I love Nirvana and credit them with changing my perceptions of music, the whole diefying of Cobain and what he allegedley stood for is a little much.

 

[BlackLantern]

I think this whole genre of music games is disrespectful to gaming in general....playing video games used to get people ridiculed and beat up, call me a purist but video games should be played with a controller or joystick....not a cheap ass plastic guitar and cheap ass color coded plastic drums

 

[Ace of Knaves]

Yea but gaming is about fun really.

And there is much fun to be had when getting home from the pub pissed up and having a crack at Guitar Hero with a few of your mates

 

[BlackLantern]

then your idea of fun is terribly pedestrian...why don't you just buy a Wii and complete the decline into mediocrity

 

[Brainiac 8]

then your idea of fun is terribly pedestrian...why don't you just buy a Wii and complete the decline into mediocrity

Oy...

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

This has become the "show your gamer online muscles" thread

 

[Tron Bonne]

Yea but they got permission. You wanna blame some one blame Love for being a stupid ****ing ***** who probably contributed to him topping himself anyway.

Yeah, I said that she should be to blame, but Activision still did it. They knew what they were doing, I don't think they should be excused for their part.

Knowing what I know of both artists, I would think John Lennon would have much more of a problem seeing his likeness and music in a computer game than would Kurt Cobain. Lennon was much more outspoken about things like laissez faire capitalism, imperialism, etc. He was more of an activist and the voice of dissent (which more than likely lead to him getting shot).

Cobain never really said much publically. He pretty much kept to himself and people want to extrapolate things about him from the suicide note he left when all he really said was that he longer enjoyed his music and couldnt control his personal demons. While I'll say again I love Nirvana and credit them with changing my perceptions of music, the whole diefying of Cobain and what he allegedley stood for is a little much.

I agree on Lennon, I really am not fond of this kind of practice with any artist, to be frank. Though, I will say, at least in Rock Band: Beatles I don't think you will see Lennon or the others jumping and bopping to a rousing round of 'Hollaback Girl'. And, I will say, that with that they did try to really capture a lot of the inventiveness and imagination of the Beatles. Even if Lennon is rolling in his grave for them exploiting him for Rock Band, I think it would at least take a nod to that

You're right about Cobain, as well. He wasn't outspoken like Lennon or anything, but he commented and wrote about how he disliked the way big corporations treated artists and their work. Plus, as Joker pointed out, he took a lot satiric jabs at those over glamorized, sugar pop type of music (which is more or less what Flava Flav is). No one can really comment for him obviously, but I have doubts that he would have been fully okay with what's been done with his likeness. It seems to be a good example of multiple things he was against.

 

[BlackLantern]

but pop music (regardless of what it sounds like) has been part of the music landscape for decades....much, much longer than grunge or alternative...just because the almighty Kurt Cobain didn't like it doesn't make its presence any less valid

 

[Brainiac 8]

Well to be fair, Cobain doesn't bop around to "Hollaback Girl" either.

He's more of a Stan Bushes "The Touch" type of singer. At least that's what I have him sing in mine....with Johnny Cash on Guitar. Now if only I could get Hendrix on that action.

 

[Tron Bonne]

but pop music (regardless of what it sounds like) has been part of the music landscape for decades....much, much longer than grunge or alternative...just because the almighty Kurt Cobain didn't like it doesn't make its presence any less valid

I wasn't meaning pop per say, since Joker's example was that of Kiss. Just all that over glamorized type of music. Let's also not totally take what I say out of context. I never said that pop's presence was less 'valid', nor did I refer to Cobain as anything that would imply Almighty. I was just commenting that he was against those things, and whether you care or not, it's questionable as to whether he would approve of his likeness being used in this way, unless it was satiric in some way, but I am pretty sure it's not.

I'm just talking about a simple issue of respect for an artist, and his opinions and views, and how he would have wanted his own likeness to be utilized. Don't try to make it something else

Well to be fair, Cobain doesn't bop around to "Hollaback Girl" either.

Yeah, but Flava Flav is as bad, if not worse

He's more of a Stan Bushes "The Touch" type of singer. At least that's what I have him sing in mine....with Johnny Cash on Guitar. Now if only I could get Hendrix on that action.

Hah, well, that sounds pretty good

 

[Brainiac 8]

Now if they could carry over all three of those artists to Guitar Hero 6, and add in Buddy Holly, I could have the greatest Celebrity Zombie band in the history of zombie bands.