Can you imagine a world *without* EA?

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I could just imagine some of the headlines if EA never existed...

'Bullfrog announces Dungeon Keeper 3 following the success of new Syndicate game'

'Mass Effect fans find secret thanks for your support message from Bioware in game files plus a special surprise'

'FIFA series to drop yearly releases for cheaper rooster/kit expansions instead. "It just makes more sense to not expect our fans to fork out £40 a year for a game with only minimal improvements," say lead designer.'

'Activision wins most hated company award'

'Game studio closures at an all time low says industry expert'

'Latest survey says internet users complain the least'

Oh if only we lived in such a world...

 

[Emiscary]

i can imagine a world where no one complains anymore.

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on second thought, scratch that.

That's right, you watch what you wish for in the future

 

[Terminate421]

I would not have Battlefield Bad Company 2 on my top ten games list. Or Dead Space 1 and 2

As much as EA has been a massive dick, we need it to exist

 

[keiji_Maeda]

Yes, i for one, would not be able to Challenge everything.

Seriously, while it is easy to rag on the fact that EA's business practices are horrific, and that (in my own HIGHLY subjective opinion) they seem to have taken Bioware strictly to the bones of being a commercialized business macine, they are a company.

Yes, they are a company who went into the games business making simple games and then built on this to expand their business. But it is my sincere conviction that they saw a market that could generate money, increase stockholder value and make money by the car load lots.

They're not the first company to do this, hell Westwood started down that road, but they floundered with subpar products. I believe, that in this opposite universe where there is no EA-. There will be another company that is equally big and have the same business habits, but under a different name. Gaming entry into mainstream society meant somebody would realize the commercial opportunity, could it be done with better business practices? Definetly. Do i abhor EA in certain respects, oh yes.

but if you truly hate EA and want it to fail. Support other studios, go indie, consolidate some other gamers assets and try to buy stock in EA, change it from within. Because unless somebody tries to change the way the game is played. EA will keep raking it in.

sorry if i went on a rant here, not trying to be critical, just trying to get some ideas rolling on a constructive note here

 

[dimensional]

Can I? well sure and its a much happier place at least for me no other company has earned as much hatred from me as EA I dont know why but I have really detested them for as long as I can remember I have bought EA published games (rarely) because they have occasionally published great games usually from studios they are just about to destroy but it would have been a lot better for another publisher to pick up these titles.

You dont gain such an ill reputation without pissing off quite a lot of people and generally being a grade SS dick.

 

[tippy2k2]

snip

I stated this to Smash earlier and I'll just say it again: The point isn't that these games are good or bad. The point is that EA is one of the few big companies willing to take risks. I think most of us would agree that at the very least, Spore, Skate, and Mirror's Edge were pretty big risks.

The thing is I could make a list like this for just about every major publisher out there and they would end up looking better than EA in comparison. Your list seems long, but then you realize its only 8 games in a long timespan and list of endless sequels and rip offs.

That's a fair point but most developers don't take risks and pump out the same series over and over and they don't get any flak for it.

For fun, here's a few more developers and their five year original IP creation

Activision: Prototype, Blur, Singularity
Blizzard: Uh...goose egg (0)
Valve: Portal, Left 4 Dead

I'm sure there are other studios with lists as good as EA but I went with the other big dog and two "Escapist Loved Developers". These three big studios combined don't equal the original IPs that EA has released (again, five year window used).

The most important thing here is that gamers have demonstrated that they want the games that EA creates. People can complain and whine all they want but there is only one vote that matters to anyone: Did it sell? You personally may not have bought it but it's been demonstrated by sales charts that THESE are indeed the games that gamers want. Gamers have demonstrated that they WANT these big, AAA games. A big studio really is the only one who can deliver these types of games.

Lastly, just remember all the money that EA is pumping into gaming. You eliminate big companies like EA, you are eliminating a TON of jobs and money being pumped into gaming.

 

[Lunar Templar]

snip

I stated this to Smash earlier and I'll just say it again: The point isn't that these games are good or bad. The point is that EA is one of the few big companies willing to take risks.

please, the only 'risk' on the list was Mirror's Edge, every thing else was a far safer bet.
even Dante's Inferno.

 

[ElPatron]

Crysis- Super high def shooter. New IP, spiritual successor to Far Cry, and a highly underrated almost sandbox-like gameplay
Skate- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's most recent bastardized descendent! Go play Skate and then Tony Hawk and make that statement again. It's like comparing ARMA to Halo.
Dead Space- Resi Evil in space. Oh, but you're shooting off limbs instead of eyeballs/faces."I compare a game to resident evil so that I don't have to admit it's original" - I bet Bayonetta is a God of War clone too, right?
Mirror's Edge- Didn't play it, don't care about it, and it was supposedly a commercial/critical/cult failure anyway. "I am making a point about games not being original and now I'll pretend that Mirror's Edge didn't exist because it sucked"

0/10
See me after class, you need to redo that post.

 

[tippy2k2]

snip

snip

please, the only 'risk' on the list was Mirror's Edge, every thing else was a far safer bet.
even Dante's Inferno.

I edited the post you're quoting (I do that a lot as I think of more things) after you posted this so I'll list them here:

Spore was a big risk. This was one of the strangest games that have been released by EA with a big, expansive idea behind it (the multiple player-generated planets and user connectivity). Has there ever been a game like Spore before (or even a game like it after it was released)?

Skate was a risk (not a big risk but a risk none the less). A hardcore skating simulation that is only going to sell to niche audiences. This is the kind of game Atlus would pump out (EDIT: To be clear, I meant a niche title, not Skate specifically; I realize now looking at it that I wasn't being very clear), not a big machine like EA.

Mirror's Edge was a HUGE risk. There really had not been a game like Mirror's Edge before this (or at least not a big game, maybe on the indie scene).

With just these three we can see some big risks but ANY time a company pumps out a new IP, they're taking a risk. EA seems to be one of the few companies consistently pumping out new IPs. I'm sure others are at the same rate but off the top of my head, EA is the only one that comes to mind.

 

[1080bitgamer]

Yes. There are much better companies that publish games out there. Do I want EA to go away? Not really, just taken down an incredibly large notch.

 

[Emiscary]

Crysis- Super high def shooter. "It's a shooter with a new name that's kind of like an old shooter that lets you fuck around more than normal!"
Skate- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's most recent bastardized descendent! "IT'S SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER!"
Dead Space- Resi Evil in space. Oh, but you're shooting off limbs instead of eyeballs/faces."I thought Bayonetta was original/worthwhile." (That statement in and of itself is funny.)
Mirror's Edge- Didn't play it, don't care about it, and it was supposedly a commercial/critical/cult failure anyway. "I won't admit Mirror's Edge sucked because it's the only original item on this list!"

0/10
See me on the short bus later.

(I really need to curb my habit of engaging in online pissing contests, but you went ahead and got smug with me- so fuck it.)

 

[CruisingForBiddies]

Oh yay, ANOTHER "Look at me I can get pissy about cultural trends!" guy.

Seriously, EA contributes little innovation and risks NOTHING.

Crysis- Super high def shooter.
Spore- Stripped down to a glorified art program.
Skate- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater's most recent bastardized descendent!
Army of Two- A shooter. But with co-op!
Dead Space- Resi Evil in space. Oh, but you're shooting off limbs instead of eyeballs/faces.
Dragon Age- Standard RPG. Don't even pretend it isn't.
Mirror's Edge- Didn't play it, don't care about it, and it was supposedly a commercial/critical/cult failure anyway.
Dantes Inferno- Failure on multiple levels and had the worst and most obnoxious ad campaign of any game in recent history.

For fun, go look up that meme listing studios EA's metaphorically capped in the head.

Oh we definitely need more of those guys...

But I think a world without EA would be pretty shit to be honest. Then I wouldn't have been able to play Skate, Dead Space or Mirrors Edge. And I think they are all fantastic games.Even with the terrible direction the company is now taking they still have the money to publish some of my favourite games so I think that justifies their existence, by a bit at least.

And as for dismissing Mirrors Edge so offhandedly, it may not have been a commercial success but it did get decent review and was highly praised or the art style, visuals and level design. And I'm sure people still occasionally play it today... Just saying.

 

[renegade7]

EA is a bit like the Thomas Edison of video games...didn't really pioneer much, but was really good at selling stuff, and that helped make the industry so big and popular despite a number of really dickish moves.

 

[him over there]

I imagine it would be somewhat akin to this:

Yes a seemingly better world, but fucking with the status quote may just be too important to get rid of. Plus the fact that they're still around means they're doing something right.

 

[The]

Even if there wasn't an EA, someone else will take their place.

 

[Inkidu]

They can go right after Activision and Blizzard as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to pick the least of two evils.

 

[Darknacht]

Its been almost a decade since a big publisher put out anything a cared for so if they all fell apart tomorrow that would probably be beneficial to me, besides it would be entertaining to see the reaction of all the graphics whores when they realize that the number of graphically intense games released each year will drop significantly.

 

[Strain42]

Do you mean a world in which EA never existed? Because that would honestly kind of suck.

First post in this topic already mentioned what I was thinking.

I think a world where EA never existed at all would have some problems, because once upon a time, they were a pretty big company that cared about gaming and released a lot of great stuff.

But if you just meant like if they somehow went out of business now and the developers owned by them just kinda landed on their own feet...I think I'd be okay.

EA (or any of the companies they seem to own) don't exactly release games on my radar anyway.

 

[Lunar Templar]

snip

snip

please, the only 'risk' on the list was Mirror's Edge, every thing else was a far safer bet.
even Dante's Inferno.

I edited the post you're quoting (I do that a lot as I think of more things) after you posted this so I'll list them here:

Spore was a big risk. This was one of the strangest games that have been released by EA with a big, expansive idea behind it (the multiple player-generated planets and user connectivity). Has there ever been a game like Spore before (or even a game like it after it was released)?

Skate was a risk (not a big risk but a risk none the less). A hardcore skating simulation that is only going to sell to niche audiences. This is the kind of game Atlus would pump out, not a big machine like EA.

Mirror's Edge was a HUGE risk. There really had not been a game like Mirror's Edge before this (or at least not a big game, maybe on the indie scene).

With just these three we can see some big risks but ANY time a company pumps out a new IP, they're taking a risk. EA seems to be one of the few companies consistently pumping out new IPs. I'm sure others are at the same rate but off the top of my head, EA is the only one that comes to mind.

>.> i dunno about Atlus pumping out a skate boarding game dood >.> they seem content with JRPGs, which is fine :3 they turn out great JRPGs.

donno if spore was that big a risk, it had the sim city guy behind it, or least some where in it. so there was developer recognition.

again, the only big risk is Mirrors Edge, that had nothing going for it. its not the kinda FPS that people are used to, i mean least Skate had the 'tony hawk' crowd to try and get to. who was Mirrors Edge aimed at? sure wasn't the CoD/BF crowd, and wasn't the platformer group ether.

even the more recent Amalur wasn't that big a risk, since it was aimed at the skyrim/DA/hacky slashy crowds

 

[JaceArveduin]

I wouldn't know the internet and I'd probably just be another drunken redneck. Funny how that works.