If I can Facebook while working on my chem problems, I can Facebook while playing Portal. Call of Duty online is kinda hard though.

Yeah, Facebook isn't Rocket Science, really, I promise.

I haven't played video games in 6 months since discovering facebook zombies.

Facebook applications are generally more pesky annoyances than playthings. They don't substitute games at all, and yes, we are a generation of multi-taskers. Worry not, Bobby Kotick.

@slomo788: Wimp.

Really though, those applications kind of pale in comparison with the actual social part of facebook. Why do I want to spend my time sending my friends flair when I'm too busy checking changes in relationship status.
I'm just sayin'

@goodbadorugly:

I know right! I've completely abandoned my entire entertainment system and upgraded my internet to a T3 connection so I can load Facebook faster as I spam F5.

"Mark Wilson ...is writing about Facebook."

ROFL.

Note to Mr. Kotick: Start thinking about ways to integrate console games with web apps. Like, a Facebook app with which you could access or update online multiplayer stats... the internet is your friend.

Sorry Mark, but you just wrote "Gen-X" in a non-sarcastic manner. I'm going to have to revoke your "Reasonable Human Being" card.

Wow, I really feel old when people talk about the roaring popularity of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

I'll probably catch a lot of flack for this, but I think these kinds of sites are kinda dumb.

I'll never understand how people can stay up till 2 or 3am fooling around on facebook. If I remember to log in once a day to poke my gf back and raise my pet dragon I consider it a good visit. I'm usually in and out 5 minutes tops.

Maybe Activision could make a decent game in a while first.

thats a great quote, i hope he is joking, because he is comparing some rubbish application to a video game experience. How bad are activision's games getting?.

I can Kotaku while studying that crazy Robbins book =D

I declare this thread derailed.

@PissedPS3Fan:

No you're right. Facebook and Myspace are both pretty dumb.

@Communist_Gamer:

whutt??

That's like saying video games compete with eating meals. People can do both, and this is dumb.

@Communist_Gamer: Activision is a publish.

@balls187++: publisher*

If you have to worry about Facebook applications being more exciting than your game, either you're developing Math Adventure 4 or you've never actually used Facebook.

I personally think that Bobby Kotick should definitely be more worried about Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero sucking. I can assure you that Skate and Rock Band are kicking their ass way worse than a social networking website ever could.

@balls187++:

Publisher* and yes I know it is I know they don't make games but rather than go into the ins and outs of developers vs publishers I thought lets put it simple terms. Ok Mr Pedantic/Smartass? :)

@enewtabie:

101 teh internetz pwns all whutt he talk bout?

Background story: Activision are publishing tripe and the last good game they published was Guitar Hero 2. OK?

I don't know, it seems like a legitimate thing to worry about: Quite a few girls at my school will literally spend all of their freetime looking at their own photos on facebook, then sending eachother silly glittery-images, then go back to looking at themselves.

I like facebook, but some people are... really into it.

(also, all those silly applications are just stupid. A few of them are interesting, but nobody ever has just a few-- they get a metric fuck-ton of annoying shit which takes up the entire page :P)

@PissedPS3Fan: Well let me agree with you then. While I find the theory if the sites quite appealing, just like MMO's, in practise the hordes of illiterate users and ridiculously constant nature of using them appeals to me not in the slightest.

But come on Acti: 'Guitar Hero: Facebook Edition TM. '

By the time you've exhausted all major 1970's onwards rock, you're going to have to create a new idea. Strum along to the furious friend requests! Boom! Admin Power on the whammy bar!

@LittleBigPlaneteer:

Agreed. However, I attended an out of state military school and back when Facebook was closed to just people in schools, I had a means to keep in touch with friends I had known there. Now though, its just deplorable. And Myspace, don't even get me started on Myspace.

@Communist_Gamer: Have you not played Call of Duty 4? I would say that the title is quite a bit more than tripe.

@Communist_Gamer:
COD2/4 ?
Yeah,I know a little about Activision..lol
Yeah,well it's your opinion..lol

Myspace.... I only have it for my family.. Last log in date 3 months ago. The day I got pissed at myspace was when a movie used it as its offical website.

@PissedPS3Fan: Your not getting old, your being REAL. I find facebook stupid. I spend my time best playing games or reading blogs.

Send Your Friend an Egg: The Game.

@JohnnytheFuture: That's why I avoid the majority of applications, facebook to me is a communications tool, not a replacement for my DS, PSP or PS3.

It sounds to me like he is trying instead to win bonus brownie PR points by mentioning facebook since it's the hot thing these days.

Damn I'm old, I don't even know what it means to "facebook." Hell I'm not even sure I have ever visited the site... Get off my lawn!!

Facebook is a dangerous thing. I have deleted my account off of their site, or rather deactivated it (because you can't really delete them). The reason I did this is because these types of sites are evil, hopelessly addictive, and more importantly they are "drama" generators.

People write little updates about themselves that they think noone gets, but EVERYONE gets. They inevitably piss someone off or maybe make things uncomfortable with their friends they significant others etc. Same thing with myspace, livejournal, all of that. People write and act as though no-one else can read these things or wont understand. Trust us, we do, and your all idiots.

Don't get me wrong, these sits have a place and can be awesome tools. Soo many people abuse them, or get addicted that I just can't stand to be around them. The only one I ever frequent is Deviantart.

Facebook aps ruin Facebook. Video games don't ruin anything besides the lives of the families of school shooting victims.

Facebook is seriously starting to piss me off with all that extra crap. "X friend just got bit by a zombie"

I DON'T F'ING CARE.

I came to Facebook because it was the mature alternative to Myspace and it seems like it's just slowly going down the path of being a myspace clone. Blah.

@WhaleMenace: You can delete a Facebook profile if you delete every single little thing associated with your account, including pictures, profile information, wall writings, everything.

They're only drama generators for people who are already dramatic, though. xP If you put something on the internet that you don't want someone to read, you're just asking for it.

@Communist_Gamer: Okay numbnuts, if that's your definition of "Make games" then bend over and take in a large dosage of COD4--an Activision "Made game"

@Roto13:

Hmm, well I never put any pictures up. And my activity there was harmless enough.

I agree with you to a point about the drama generator issue. However, I think that the very nature of the internet in addition to these sites brings it out of people who are generally level headed.

I personally just find it much easier and more genuine to manage my relationships with people based on interaction, in person or maybe even a phone call, an email perhaps?

I don't see the convenience of bringing together all of your friends on a site like that because I can't imagine having real friendships with more than a handful of people anyhow, if I don't have the urge to call or write you directly its probably because I don't care. I'm probably in the minority though, or at least it seems that way to me.

@Roto13: Exactly... there's this thing called "common sense", it's a rarity nowadays but it works and works as a drama shield too.

I really hope this was a joke.

I definitely would not want my name going down next to this quote considering facebook apps aren't actually any fun. I mean, wow. Way to sell your game.

So is he trying to say his games suck or something? Cause I definitely do not substitute actual gaming for "Facebook Gaming." The day I can play MGS4 on Facebook, mabey we will have a deal.

Uhmm... I and a bunch of friends play games. Most people don't play a game and check face book at the same time. They do one.. and then the other. But I wouldn't say they have to worry about facebook taking away the attention from games. My friends do both... but never at the same time. shame on you if you do

What's FaceBook?

Also, I'm a master multitasker, and I'm also a Gen X'er

Seriously? That has to be the stupidest thing I've heard in quite some time. Has this guy ever USED any of the Facebook applications?

Most of them are laaaaaame. I think, out of the five hundred to six hundred invites I get to play "games" or other such nonsense on Facebook, maybe ONE has been good.

To honestly believe that your biggest competitor is something that is more glitchy, uninspiring, uninteresting, and less fun than the most basic Flash animated game on New Grounds... You've got to be either stupid, high, or both.

Easy answer, Activision: Don't try to take over the casual market... only Nintendo and Capcom can sell mini games successfully. No one else should really try.

He's trying to appear like a savvy businessman. He end's up looking like an idiot.

99% of facebook applications are like 1970s nylon pants.. the other 1% are more like lycra boxers.. a good idea but dont work quite as well as they should/could.

Are you kiddin' me? Facebook apps? They're about as much fun as licking the walls.

Facebook Scrabble is pretty kickass. It's true. 100% Fact.

Part of the reason Facebook is popular for so many people because, just like how people who play ranked online games or post on large message boards, they like, or rather want, the attention of others. These people want to be highlighted among their peers so that everyone knows who they are. Obviously, there's a whole slew of other reasons why people go on Facebook, it is an undeniably useful way to keep in touch with friends and family, and a way for them to see what's up in other people's lives across college campuses in an instant. Hell, roomate's on it right as I'm typing this...