Riccitiello Disses Call of Duty Again

As we near the end of October and the beginning of November, a large majority of gamers will have their attentions trained on two juggernaut FPS franchises: Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3.

While the real battle between Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 will take place on the NPD charts, each of the game’s publishers have made preemptive attacks on the other -- criticizing every thing from the quality of each other's game to their ability to appeal to a console gamer.

Most figured that the verbal jabs would stop there, but it looks like EA boss John Riccitiello is at it again, this time saying that he wants the Call of Duty franchise to “rot from the core.” More specifically, Riccitiello feels that the franchise, while still wildly popular, has become disingenuous and can best be likened to a Disneyland abstraction.

EA’s boss didn’t discount the fact that Modern Warfare 3 will be a success, he just feels that what the team at DICE are doing with Battlefield is much more authentic — one of the key reasons gamers are chomping at the bit to get their hands on the game. Riccitiello goes on to talk about how the game’s physics and animations are all top notch, and clearly a cut above what Activision’s various Call of Duty teams are doing.

It’s hard to dispute Riccitiello’s claims about Modern Warfare 3 in certain regards, most specifically with his claims of Frostbite 2.0’s superiority, but saying that the franchise has ostensibly “jumped the shark” might be taking it a bit far. Sure Infinity Ward hasn’t revamped their graphics engine for the series in a while, but that is only a direct result of pressure to deliver yearly releases and to provide a uniform experience gamers can recognize.

As, in a way, the new kid on the block, Battlefield 3 has a lot going for it, and is therefore going to have many advantages when compared to Modern Warfare. That doesn’t mean that the Modern Warfare franchise is devoid of quality, or that it should rot from the core, it’s simply a game series that is well aware of its economic implications.

The best scenario that could come out of this whole competitive scenario is that each franchise pushes the other to improve year-to-year. If next year Call of Duty was to come out with an overhauled graphics engine and try to outdo Battlefield and EA, then that would be a win for the gamers.

Would you like to see Call of Duty and Battlefield continue to push the other to improve iteration to iteration? Do you agree with Riccitiello’s claim that Call of Duty has jumped the shark?

Battlefield 3 releases October 25, 2011 on the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Source: Industry Gamers