Oh for...
EA are not exactly the most popular company in the world and for good reason but I honestly can't see what the problem with this little stunt is. As the OP said, there is a strong chance of some (if not all) of the games dropping into the ocean. If that happens, then it's only cost EA money (boo-fucking-hoo!) and, as stunts go, it's not exactly up there with Richard Branson and his whacky antics.
Personally I think it's pretty nifty but then again I used to routinely launch bog-roll-tube rockets (although 1000-ish feet was my record) so I might be biased. Nearly every advertising stunt is cheap and contrived but that's the whole point! As much as I hate to admit it, it's often a case of the worse the ad / stunt, the more people remember it. If you live in the UK and have seen any of those "Go Compare" ads, you will know what I mean!
In this case, the vibe I am getting is that the hate has less to do with the fact that it's a stunt and more to do with the fact that EA are the ones doing it.
The concerns about people getting hurt fighting over the games are reasonable enough I suppose but if someone wants the game that bad then I am sure they will have pre-ordered. If someone can't afford to pre-order then what makes you think they can afford the resources to track and pin-down any of the games that made it back to Earth? OK so the tracking is free but you still need to travel to the landing site unless you beat the astronomically-impossible odds and have it land in your butt-crack when you're bending over to lace your shoes!
And as for people getting hurt in potential fights, I can only say this:
If someone is so utterly pathetic that they are willing to fight over a videogame (in this case), iPhone, PS3, limited edition Star Wars figure (I actually witnessed this one!) and so on then, in my opinion, THEY DESERVE EVERYTHING THEY GET! It is NOT EA's fault! It's not their fault in the same way that it's not Wilson's fault when someone is mugged by a baseball bat wielding thug; it's not Colt's fault when some gun-toting, gang-sign-making fuckwit shoots someone's spleen out through his arsehole; Apple cannot be held responsible for the dozens of retarded Americans who got hurt tripping over the person who they just bodyslammed in order to get an iPhone first. When was the last time you heard anyone say car-companies shouldn't advertise their wares because someone was run over by a drunk-driver last week?
On the other hand, if you took the time to track the games, pinpoint the landing zone and hot-foot it over with no intention of fighting someone (i.e You unserstand the concepts of "First come, first served" and "fair-play"), only to be blindsided by someone who did the same as you but was one of aforementioned pathetic-people then are you honestly saying that you would take EA to court insead of / as well as the colossal divvy who trod on your scrotum? Sorry but that doesn't wash with me! By all means persecute Lardy McBollock-Stamper for living up to his name but why on Earth blame EA too? Yes they put the games up there but it was your decision to track one down and you should have known that there would be competition and with any competition comes risk.
I know it's easy and fun to blame EA, Sony, Apple and so on but the truth is that the blame lies solely with those particular consumers who were blessed with the power of being a twat. Arguing that the company has an obligation to do their utmost to prevent such issues is also rather redundant. What would you have them do? Release it in secret? Make people undergo psycho-analysis before they are allowed near the store? Not make the game at all?
They are NOT responsible for the actions of the people who want their product and those who ARE responsible (i.e the ones doing the fighting / trampling) will be the first to blame their idiocy on EA. If this comes to pass, I sincerely hope EA tell them to get-fucked!
Rant over.
Wardy
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