[General] EA Vs Activision War is start of a new golden era

EA was the market leader in third party publishers for many many years, because they had no real competition they only released average games as people would buy them regardless. Activision then challenged EA, with Call of Duty to answer to Medal of Honour, EA released Rock band to counter Guitar Hero. Both company's are trying to one up each other, creating new franchises and vastly improving old ones.

Call of Duty Vs Medal Of Honour

One of the most notable battles of the two publishers is the desire to create the best World War 2 franchise. The two franchises have battled it out since 2003 when Activision first released 'Call of Duty'. Since then the Call of Duty and Medal of Honour games have both improved ten-fold each instalment. Activision was first to break ranks, when Call of Duty 4 was released in the modern day, winning multiple game of the year awards. EA then began development on, 'Medal of Honour: Operation Anaconda', believed to be set in modern day Afghanistan. With the Medal of Honour team being pushed to outdo Call of Duty this game may very well see the same success as Call of Duty 4.

Guitar Hero Vs Rock Band

Activision first released Guitar Hero to universal praise in 2005, prompting 2 more sequels and many more spin-offs. EA couldn't sit back and let this happen and then answered with their very own 'Rock Band' series. Rock Band revolutionised the musical gaming genre, for the first time you could play drums, guitar and sing all in one game. With an impressive track list and great multiplayer Rock Band outdid Guitar Hero 3 and left Activision with no choice but to overhaul the series. Guitar Hero: World Tour also has drums, guitar and a microphone, for a whole band. Activision have also introduced a track making facility and a great track list. EA also anounced Rock Band 2, which has an impressive track list. Since anouncement both EA and Activision have added more songs to the track lists of both games simply to outdo the other, without the competition Guitar Hero may have stayed as a Guitar only game and the track list would be alot smaller, only competition guarantees innovation.

Tony Hawk Vs Skate

Since 1999 Tony Hawk dominated the skating genre, as it was the only widely adopted game series. Even a franchise as small as Tony Hawks EA must answer to, which they did with their 'Skate' series. Skate introduced many new elements into the skating series, and then outsold Tony Hawks latest title by a ratio of 2:1. Activision then announced that they would bring whole new innovation with their new DS Tony hawks game and will incorporate motion control. EA are also going to improve upon Skate on their new Wii title, 'Skate it', by allowing gamers to use the Wii balance board to control the board. Innovation that otherwise may not have come around if it wasn't for the competition.

Need for Speed and Bizarre creations un-anounced game

EA have always had the upper hand on the racing genre, with little competition from Activision. When Microsoft Game Studios let Bizarre creations go, the creators of the Project Gotham Racing franchise, Activision was quick to snap them up and begin development of their own racing franchise. The Project Gotham Racing series has had generally favourable reviews, on par with those of the Need for Speed series. With Bizarre creations now working at Activision and an unanounced racing game in development expect many more improvements and innovations to come to the racing genre as EA and Activision do battle.

New Franchises

Not only are the two companies trying to outdo each other on old franchises, but they are also creating new ones. EA have recently published, 'Dead Space' a survival horror sci-fi game which has arrived to critical acclaim and revitalising the horror genre. Spore too has also been newly released allowing you to evolve and build an entire civilisation, a game like it had never been done before and both of these franchises may be an attempt to get an upper hand over Activision's inevitable entry into those two genres.

These are but five examples of what has happened in the gaming world, with other franchises such as Quake, Doom, Command and Conquer, the Sims etc. unanswered too it won't be long before the strategy, simulation, sporting and other genres are all pulled into the struggle for supremacy.

And both of them are responsible for the majority of Film Based Games.

Cod4 v MoH? Cod4 by miles.

Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band? Guitar Hero.

Tony Hawk vs Skate... Tony Hawk ftw

I thought MoH was better actually, just more fun and better controlls. Plus COD4 was pretty crap.

I aggree with Tommy, COD4 wasnt crap.. I just preffer MOH (H2) =]

Originally Posted by Tommy

And both of them are responsible for the majority of Film Based Games.

Yes that needs adding to the list.

I agree on this completely! Well spotted!

EA are great for sports game, ie racing (NFS), football (FIFA).
But since Activision teamed with Treyarch to make CoD:WaW I feel EA have slipped on the FPS front, but I'd live them to correct me wrong and come up with something amazing.

Well, now we just sit and wait to see what happens next