I’ve been writing about video games, television and movies for Forbes for over 10 years, and you may have seen my reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. I cover all manner of console and PC games, but if it’s about looting or shooting, I’m definitely there. If I’m watching something, it’s usually science fiction, horror or superheroic.
GamesAuthor of Blood, Sweat and Pixels and Press Reset, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier is back with yet another deep dive into the industry, this time focused on one of its most storied companies, Blizzard Entertainment.spans the entire history of the company including a “break point” when “Old Blizzard” became “New Blizzard,” though Schreier says that’s not where you’d think.
Any fan of Blizzard games at any point in the company’s lifespan would be well to read Play Nice, and to get a bit more into it, I sat down with Schreier recently to ask him about some specifics.SCHREIER There are a few reasons. It's true that there are endless numbers of gaming companies, but few are as storied and are as interesting and inspire as many strong emotional reactions as Blizzard. In fact, I would say that they and Nintendo are probably the only two companies that have achieved what they have with that.
One of my favorite anecdotes in the book is about the Blizzard folks back in 1996, when Warcraft 2 came out, they knew they really made it because they got a customer service call and it was this guy calling to ask about some bug or something, and then his wife got on the phone and was like, are you on the phone with that stupid company? That game is why we don't have sex anymore.
Yes. And I think my answer is probably different than your average Blizzard fan’s answer, because my answer is that Blizzard changed irrevocably and completely the day that November in 2004 with World of Warcraft. That was the day the Blizzard changed entirely. Because when World of Warcraft came out and then it wound up exploding and reaching 5 million players within a year, which was beyond the even most optimistic projections of anyone at the company.
Gamers and also journalists and critics and people who just observe the video game industry tend to romanticize cancelled games, and I think there's a good reason for that because cancelled games exist in in amber, perfectly preserved, never to come out and reveal their flaws to us. There are a lot of times where we're like, oh, man, I wish that had come out. And if it had come out, it might have been terrible.
Play Nice: The Rise Starcraft 2 Microsoft Bloomberg
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Here’s how the Padres’ playoff-clinching triple play sounded in 3 languagesA look at the play-by-play call of Tuesday’s game-ending triple play
Read more »
Blizzard book Play Nice reveals dozens of canceled gamesDT Video
Read more »
Jason Kelce on the Eagles’ controversial third-down pass: ‘It was the perfect play call’Jason Kelce was all over South Philly on Monday night, but had already left the broadcast booth before he got a chance to weigh in on the Eagles' collapse.
Read more »
R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe & Jason Isbell to Play Kamala Harris Campaign Concert in PennsylvaniaR.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Jason Isbell are set to play a Harris Walz campaign concert in Pennsylvania. Get the details.
Read more »
Learn to Play Nice in Exclusive Spin the Bottle ClipComingSoon is debuting an exclusive Spin the Bottle clip from Paramount Pictures' new horror movie starring Justin Long and Ali Larter.
Read more »
Knicks reveal new radio play-by-play announcer Tyler Murray before highly anticipated seasonThe Knicks’ new radio voice is coming from the Red Sox.
Read more »