Alan Miller: Part 2

I'm happy to comment on that, but I've not been associated with Activision for 25 years, so my perspective is entirely as an outside observer.

I was sad to see the Guitar Hero franchise drop, because it was such an enjoyable product, and I think it brought a lot of new players into the games industry that might not otherwise have been attracted to videogames.

But it's hard to be a game publisher, and constantly create entertaining products. Activision has actually been pretty prescient about the importance of online through the merger with Blizzard - that's the most highly-valued independent publisher now, with a stock market valuation of $13 billion as of last week, which is two or three times more than others such as Electronic Arts.

The problems that Activision is having right now in the limited area of Guitar Hero is reflective of the massive change going on in the games industry, as it transitions from retail to electronic distribution.

Guitar Hero specifically had a big problem in that it required pretty expensive peripheral prices to really enjoy it - and that's a much more viable sale at retail, where the peripheral can sit right next to the box. It's hard, in my opinion, to get a lot of the more casual players to spend $100 for a guitar, just to play a game.

And additionally, a lot of the new platforms - like the iPhone and iPod Touch, and others - don't really accept complex peripheral devices very well for games. But I'm sad to see Guitar Hero go.

Well, I think it's a little bit strong, that reaction. It's very difficult to be a games publisher - your objective is to make enough money to continue in the business and make new games. I know they're not a very extravagant company; I know several people that work there who don't have plush offices - and they try to create wonderful products.

But as a publisher, you're taking the risk - and it's not just the development risk, it's also the marketing risk. It's a very expensive proposition, and you don't have the luxury of putting products into the market that you don't think are going to perform and be profitable.