EA Wants "To Be 90 Plus Metacritic at Everything"

[Xanadu84]

"There are better mousetraps that ultimately get built out of this innovation,"

"Mousetraps"? See, viewing your system as a 'trap' to hold people against their way is a BAD view point to be launching from.

Just saying.

Unless, of course, this is a really common American saying...

Its a very common American saying. Mousetraps are notoriously effective for a remarkably cheap price, so attempts to improve on the simple design usually ends up needlessly complicating the whole business. If your being cynical, it usually implies that a person is wasting there time trying to compete with something that they just can't improve on. If charitable, it's more like a respectable attempt to improve and innovate something already considered perfect.

However, your interpretation is more appropriate then EAs

 

[VoidWanderer]

Does anyone have any idea what planet EA is based on?

Pretty sure they are not the same as their customers...

That, or I want what they smoke/snort/inject/eat.

That is some seriously powerful hallucinogen!

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Why do I have the feeling that people will review-bomb EA games solely to prevent games reaching +90 levels?

Steam is decent, but I can't comment on Origin (haven't had to play any EA games on the computer)

 

[sethisjimmy]

Why the fuck is it so impossible for anyone from EA to talk to the press and not sound completely terrible?
At this point, they just need to realize that any announcement they make is just going to piss more people off, why don't they just shut up?
Not to mention the fact that going around claiming that they WILL be great in the FUTURE does absolutely nothing, I mean why not just prove it by trying to improve, THEN worry about talking themselves up.
And claiming they will get better is one thing, but claiming they will out-feature steam in 12 months, and be 90+ rated in a system renowned for how broken it can be? I mean at least TRY to have some realistic goals.


Seriously, someone just needs to call up EA headquarters, and tell them that they need to stop talking, because it is doing absolutely dick-all to help their reputation.

 

[risenbone]

Actually EA might make it eventually. The problem wih Valve is what happens when Gabe retires or shuffles off this mortal coil. Sure it might keep going under it's own momentumn for a bit but it won't be long before it inevitably collapses and the suits swoop in to squable like turkey vultures over the scraps. When that happens EA is in position to take over as they will have an established brand long as they can keep it going in the mean time. Only thing is I'm not exactly sure how they will get that 90 meta critic score to 90+ on every game they publish.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

They're expecting to overthrow Steam? The DRM that doesn't actually feel like DRM? The fire sale bonanza experts? The ones who sell new games for less than full price? Geeeet out of it EA, who are you trying to fool, your investors?

Oh wait that's probably just it.

Well still, fuck off EA.

 

[bean burrito]

I'd advise getting the popcorn. Reading EA's PR efforts is like watching a slow-motion train crash.

Well put.
As much as I despise EA, their PR department have made for some of the more enjoyable escapist threads.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I'm still trying to understand all the vitriolic hatred being thrown around here. So they want to make quality games (or at least critically well reviewed games). They want to compete with Steam, which is a good thing, competition breeds excellence.

Really you read that as healthy competition? Healthy competition would be making the comparison we want to be the Coke to Steam's Pepsi(I forget which came first but you get the idea).

Comparing it as Facebook to Myspace clearly shows they want a monopoly or a sheer, overwhelming and dominating piece of the market that is at current untouchable. None of what he said rings healthy marketplace and cheaper prices to me.

You need to compete on price or quality right now Origin has neither and thus no incentive for me to use it or support it.

 

[Zebidizy]

origin is more like bebo...steam would be the facebook.

 

[Vault101]

*sigh*...EA you can't have everything

 

[Mikeyfell]

It's like everyone at EA is living in a different world then we are.
The only thing I can say is "Wow."

Does anything EA's ever put out even have a 90?

Hey EA here's a free tip: If you want good scores stop making low brow dross with "mass appeal"
If you take the time to release quality games instead of shitting out the same homogenized crap that everyone's already put out last year EVERYONE WILL HATE YOU!
Your premium DLC and Online passes aren't helping either.

 

[Doom972]

Origin is very far from being able to compete with Steam. Its game library is still very small in comparison and it doesn't have many social features like Steam does.
One big problem I have with it is the support for older games on Origin: The games aren't downloaded with the latest patch for some reason and you can't download the DLC directly form Origin. It was very nice of them to allow the activation of older games, but why such poor support?

Ask Steam the same question. My copy of Battlefront 2 still wont work with the sound on.

I was referring to auto-patching and DLC support, not game-specific tech support. I don't think any digital distribution service offers a good support on that. That's best left to the game developer.

GoG makes sure every game functions correctly on modern systems before they release it.

While they do a very fine job of making these old games work well on modern systems, a quick look at the forums can show you that there are some game-specific problems people have to solve by themselves. Not everyone has the same problem you have with Battlefront 2, but some do and have to either resolve it on their own or find a solution by someone else.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

What reality do these people live in? Seriously, nobody's this stupid. Even if they are old geezers, they should still be economically savvy geezers, right? Which involves not being a bunch of misinformed idiots with no idea of how to market games at all. That's sony's job.

 

[zachusaman]

90 on all metacritics? does EA have the money to afford that sort of thing now days?

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Firstly, Metacritic is BS anyway, and secondly, one does not 'add value' to a service by forcing people to download something they don't want on their computer and holding games to ransom so that some people (the fans of those games) will have to use it. I do love how EA can just be the pinnacle of negative consumer sentiment, and still casually go about saying it would like to have a monopoly.

 

[Eric Morales]

If EA's metric for success is that that Gabe Newell acknowledged their existence, I think they may have their sights slightly misaligned. Valve is great, but a little competition can only be a good thing.

Right now though, Origin isn't competing against Steam in any meaningful way. The game library is smaller, the UI isn't appreciably better and it CERTAINLY doesn't compete on price. I have to imagine that all this boasting about their 12 million users is just PR hot air. They have to know that number is grossly inflated by games like SW:ToR and ME3 that required you to be on Origin.

I really don't want to descend into EA bashing, but they haven't given me a reason to WANT to use Origin.

 

[runic knight]

Yes, because a good review in a non-respected source of reviews is instantly going to mean you win.

EA, you lost. No amount of whining like a little ***** about the competition is going to change how bad your company is. You can not force greatness in yourself, you can not make dictates like this come to fruition and you can not be looked at seriously if you try. Your service is terrible, invasive and unwanted. Steam is not perfect, but they do so much better in getting people to want to keep the service. You are whining about why people like it more then yours. They don't acknowledge you exist and instead do things to make customers happy and appreciate it.

This is the reason you lost: You are not making a good product, you are trying to elbow into the success of others by mimicking it and then badmouthing it. Sit down, shut up, and concentrate on your product.

 

[him over there]

Cue review bombing simply to spite them and make them look bad in T minus 10...

 

[sunsetspawn]

LOL!