EA should invest a little more time in finishing games, when they bring out a new game it's only half finished so everybody has to download patches that are over 300Mb. I agree that EA has to clean up there act and not try to bring out so many half finished games just to get the sales up.
Zeresh, EA did not buy Visual Concepts, the company that makes the ESPN games for Sega. They simply bought the right to use the ESPN name and TV personalities, etc. in their games. This will begin in 2006 when the current deal that ESPN has with Sega runs out.
But Zeresh, hype has always been one half of the sale. For example look at the car comercials today. Its nothing but hyped up, super-ego crap. Its all best in class this and best in class that. Im not saying that its right, Im just not suprised, thats all. Getting a "true corporation" to stop the bull****ting and be straight forward with the consumers is about as useless as chopping my arm off (left one ) I think that major gaming companies will never gain as much power as some people think they will. Small companies will, every so often, make a game that will stirr up the market. Bungie was never a huge gaming group like EA or Epic but as soon as they released Halo they were one of the big guys. Their old games like Marathon, Oni, Abuse and Myth never really made that huge of an impact in the gaming market, IMO. Same goes for CryTek. Suddenly this little company makes a new game and everybody jumps on the band wagon.
tis just the beginning. Soon walmart will own microsoft, Intel will buy Ford, and Nvidia will buy ATI. In 25-35 years a handfull of gigantic global corporations will own everything.
I was just responding to what I read in the article. And the entire collaboration between EA and ESPN is something of a wishlist thing for me. It'd certainly be welcome. As for the hype comment, Damnit. I agree completely, which is why I didn't deny that hype is and always shall be. I simply said that the fact that hype -is- what pretty much drives gaming nowadays, pisses me off to no end. :blunt:
Well, the buck stops at the consumer. If you don't like what EA or Company B puts out, don't buy it. There are titles that EA puts out that I look forward to but the majority I don't so I don't BUY them. I like all the BF games and look forward to the new one in March. Until then, I have Desert Combat Final. *LOL*
My hate towards EA is due to the C&C series, C&C Generals needed patches to fix cheats, exploits, bugs, balance issues but they never came. What surprises me is the fact that Generals has quite a few mods behind it yet there's about zero support from EA of any kind. After what happened with Generals, I've just completly quit on what EA are doing bar any C&C game which I'm seriously considering If I should buy anymore. It makes no sense in supporting a company that can output pathetic products anymore.
I cant think of a Game that has been released With the EA logo stamped over it that has actually been ready for release. Hmm actually I lie , I think Sim City 4 was ready when it was released
I personally think that an opinion toward a game should have nothing to do with an opinion about the company(s) that made it. If its a good game, then enjoy it. I would only boycott a company if they did something grossly horrendous, like use babies to power a render farm, or something. But if they buy out a logo or a company and smash the competition in the process, well I dont feel sorry for the smaller guy. That's business for ya. As for EA, I always enjoyed their games and never really felt cheated as a consumer.
I think what EA is doing is simply wrong and is aimed at getting a monopoly in gaming. Heck the exclusive nfl deal alone should be investigated for anti-trust issues. Aquiring ubisoft would be the nail in the coffin of any small game developer (that hasnt already been bought out). The big holdouts: Id, Rockstar, Valve, etc may or may not come under the keen eye of EA. Even with the 100's of millions Rockstar has made I dont think they wouldn't even be able to withstand the EA juggernaught. At least the MS game stuidio is safe! phew! We already know how EA treats their employees.
Zeresh, I'm a little confused on your position on developers being shut out or bought out. We as consumers aren't really throwing the shaft. Theif1 and Theif2's sales were only subpar to mainstream games (yes I used the word mainstream). Looking Glass Studios created excellent games (better than anything EA has ever put out), but where did it get them? Papyrus, another company catering to a nonmainstream genre, would have easily been still in business, had EA (the bigger, more money making, lets make a crapload of mediocre games and perhaps hit on one and exploit it to death to get rich) not have used their money power to buy the NASCAR license. Am I pissed off? Absolutely. Can you blame Looking Glass Studios, Papyrus, Rareware, and/or the people that bought those games? I don't think you(as in the general form of the word) can. Indeed, more of this needs to happen. No doubt, quit buying EA a long time ago. Indeed again.
I know my post might have been a -bit- confusing, I was typing it on and off over a period of fourty minutes (never good for a train of thought), while watching late night talk shows on an hour and a half of sleep. So let me clarify. I don't have a problem with the smaller, much more proficient and efficient developers. I do have a problem with the larger, more clumsy and incompetent 'developers' that release loads of under-achieving, over-hyped clone games. I -don't- blame the lack of sales of quality games on quality developers. I do blame it on consumers that choose to buy the games whose best content lies within the footage covered in their trailers. I -do- believe that -all- developers have a responsibility to release product that is much more than the cover-art. But in the same breath..er..keystrokes, I acknowledge the fact that the behemoth -is- the behemoth because of the fact that it generally has more to work with in terms of marketing and advertising. But that's where the consumers come in (granted the consumer base has deteriorated into parents buying their unborn children crap based on what's popular <--slight exaggeration). I believe as much as the developers have the responsibility to not release crap, that we as consumers have the responsibility to tell them when they have. - I had more to say...but eh. I'm going to sleep. :blunt:
I dont hate EA, i dont hate any company to that matter, not even Microsoft The thing i dont like about EA is freakin buggy games. Almost every game they release needs a patch as soon as it hits retail. I mean BFV was almost unplayable when it came, BF1942 needed huge patchwork, NFSU2 needed patch. Dont even get me started on their Cricket 2002 and 2004. They were really $#!^^y games. After playing cricket WC 1999 I was really loking forword to their next releases and they turned out to br crap. Same happened with FIFA 2003/4/5. After playing Fifa2002 i was really looking forword to the next versions. But they were all crap. But i enjoyed their full Need for speed series.
EA is ok in my books, as most of my games are EA. The only problem I ever have had was with Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth. I had one painstakingly crap experience trying to get that game to run on my setup. However I had EA support for as long as I needed it.
I'm sure the crappy EA games can't be all the fault of EA. For the most part they are just a publishing co aren't they. How much do they actually develop. Unless ofcourse they rush devs into releasing games whay before they should be released.
