Black Ops reported to Office of Fair Trading [PS3]

Issues affecting the biggest-selling videogame of 2010 have prompted lobbyists to haul Activision before the authorities.

‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ was the biggest game of last year, the latest in a long-line of highly polished first-person shooters. As with its predecessors that include the ‘Modern Warfare’ off-shoot series, ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ was highly praised for its gripping solo campaign, but most important of all one of the best online multiplayer experiences on console or PC.

Since launch, however, the PlayStation 3 and PC versions of ‘Black Ops’ have suffered technical problems relating to online gameplay. Indeed the ongoing bugs and connection difficulties have become such an issue for users that gaming lobbyist group Gamer’s Voice has decided to report ‘Black Ops’ publisher Activision to the Office of Fair Trading.

Gamer’s Voice, an independent pressure group formed by Labour MP Tom Watson in 2009, is contesting that ‘Black Ops’ fails to function as advertised. Indeed the problems affecting ‘Black Ops’ online are such that this aspect of the game is “rendered almost useless.” The list of highlighted problems in an open letter to the OFT reads:

"Sudden disconnections from online multiplayer game sessions"
"Inability to join servers that play host to multiplayer game sessions"
"Freezing of PlayStation 3 console, forcing the user to reset it"
"Main menu freezing as the game is started on the PC version"

After establishing that ‘Black Ops’ simply is “not functioning as intended”, the open letter presented to the OFT closes by saying “It is clear that Call of Duty: Black Ops for the PlayStation 3 and PC is not ‘as described’; of a satisfactory quality or fit for purpose i.e. to entertain, which was stressed at the time of its release.”

You can read “An open letter from Gamers' Voice to the OFT regarding Activision” on the Gamer’s Voice website, found at http://gamersvoice.org.uk/

It will be interesting to see how Activision responds, and ultimately find out where the responsibility lies.

Analyst Michael Pachter has branded those who complain about the PS3 version of Black Ops as crybabies. He explained that all games are buggy, and take Fall: Out New Vegas as a perfect example. He added that if people don't like it, they can just take the game back but most bugs are patched quickly.

Here's what he had to say:


“They sound like a crybaby to me.

”All games are buggy, some more so than others. Have you tried Fallout: New Vegas? Buggiest game ever.

“I suppose this helps to explain why the game sold only 20 million copies instead of 25 million, and why it received only a 90 metacritic rating instead of 95 (sarcasm intended, in case you didn't pick up on it).


“If people don't like it, they can take it back to retail for a refund. Most bugs are patched within a reasonable time, and any serious gamer expects bugs.”