It is true, I am among the admittedly relatively small group, consisting of thousands, who have decided not to give Activision Blizzard money in exchange for Modern Warfare 2. It's possible I'll play someone else's copy to see the Campaign, or pick up a used copy at a later date, but I have no intention of buying a new copy - whether at the full (And insultingly inflated) UK RRP, or at one of the many discounted prices being offered by supermarkets. And I know what you're thinking "oh Activision don't care, 2.5 million sales means you're not going to make a difference". True. But it's the principle of the thing.
 
A lot of people have been insinuating that those of us choosing not to purchase Modern Warfare 2 for non-financial reasons are insane, wasting our time or something to that effect. The fact is, as much as I loved Modern Warfare 1 and was looking forward to Modern Warfare 2, Activision Blizzard has spent the better part of the last year systematically destroying any goodwill I had for the game and for them. And I'm not alone. Thousands upon thousands of gamers - both boycotters and people still planning to buy the game - have been justifiably affronted by the crap Activision and Infinity Ward have been pulling.
 
Whether it's crippling the PC game - removing features and changing an entire culture purely on a whim (And then seeming to merely sneer about it as they casually mentioned all this and seemed surprised that the assembled PC gamers didn't like it) or deciding "European Gamers should pay more in this recession because, like, we said so" - even though a basic grasp of economics will tell you there is no justifiable reason for raising the price in Europe but not in America, Activision and Infinity Ward have demonstrated a reckless disregard for their customers.
 
It's insulting to think that they feel we are so guaranteed to give them our money that they can just do what they like. It's the same attitude Sony had with the PLAYSTATION 3 under Ken Kutaragi - and look where that got them. He's gone from the company and the console is now called the PS3 and it's planning to one day copy the Wii. Unfortunately, because Modern Warfare 2 is a game and not a console, there's no alternative in the way the Xbox 360 and Wii are alternatives to the PLAYSTATION 3. So millions of gamers and moderately casual gamers (People who insist CoD: WaW is CoD5 and somehow better than CoD4) are going to go ahead and buy it anyway, just the way Activision dreams.
 
And hey, that's fine. It's your money, do what you want. I'm sure it's way fun. The first one was awesome. But some of us just refuse to take this shit from Activision - there was a time when I genuinely felt some affection for Activision because of their great games. So to see them as a bunch of total dickweeds (Okay, maybe just led by the world's biggest dickweed) is kind of jarring. So it may not make a difference, but it'll make me feel better:
 
Fuck you Activision. You can blow your overpriced factory-produced sequel out your narrow white ass, I'm gonna play some Codemasters products.
 
Oh, and you can shove your "tax to play" bullshit that is WoW too ya money-grabbing dicks.

It’s a bumper edition of Counter Culture Weekly to make up for Jensonb’s gallivanting in France, leaving you to fend for yourselves! Get ready to join him and SteepInKline as they tackle such exciting topics as Pirates, Turtles, Detectives, LaLa Land and more! Iy’s the longest and most exciting Counter Culture yet! Grab it while it’s hot!
 
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Counter Culture Weekly is back for a fourth fantastic episode! This week, our intrepid hosts battle: 

• Sharks 
• Whoever the hell it is that's overhyping games like Uncharted 2
• Hordes of demons with a heavy metal flava
• Wild Things
• The estate of one Michael Jackson 

All this and more in your fourth dose of ironically named pop culture Podcast madness! Don’t miss your chance to get in on all this craziness, right here - with Paul “Jensonb” Douglas and Tom “SteepInKline” Kline!
 
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Counter Culture Weekly is back again with your (Kinda) regularly scheduled dose of pop culture news and banter with Paul “Jensonb” Douglas and Tom “SteepInKline” Kline! Join our intrepid heroes as they battle: 

• Cartoon Smut
• Zombies
• Perverts like David Letterman
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Warren Spector’s Epic Mickey
• Lily Allen
• Zombies
• (If there’s a difference between those two) 
• And much much more! 

 
Counter Culture Weekly Three is GO GO GO!
 
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FlashBackwards with Jensonb and SteepInKline to Tuesday September 29th as they tackle such exciting topics as: 

• TGS
• Metal Gear Solid
• Conan O’Brien taking one for the team
• An alien frog with machinations to take over the earth
• Heroes  & FlashForward
• The finer points of teaming up a bunch of superheroes & having them go at it (Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2!)
  
• Much Much More! 

 
It’s your second weekly dose of Counter Culture, grab it while it’s hot!
 
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