Electronic Arts: All-Digital Future is "Inevitable"
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Hrm... "We do what we want, how we want, regardless of what the customer wants" and EA showing signs of decline and deterioration? Coincidental? I think not.
Heres the memo you guys missed EA. Digital distribution is NOT in your best interest. It actually will end up hurting you and the entire industry long term. The more you keep trying to shove it down peoples throats, the more they are going to resist it, and resent you for doing it. All your doing is hastening your own demise.
Heres the memo you guys missed EA. Digital distribution is NOT in your best interest. It actually will end up hurting you and the entire industry long term. The more you keep trying to shove it down peoples throats, the more they are going to resist it, and resent you for doing it. All your doing is hastening your own demise.
Can't do that until the infrastructure catches up. The connections in large parts of developed countries, let alone the rest of the world, are utter arse. Even then, given the option, I'd still prefer to buy a physical product. And before any company tries anything sneaky: not a box with a code in it. An install disc. With files. And no locked DLC.
*does a spit take*Andy Chalk said:
WHAT? ....WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA good one, EA!
....Wait....is he serious? Because if EA has a relationship with the gamer...It's an ABUSIVE relationship. Spyware, price gouging, watering down franchises of what made them fun, etc!
My impression of this is that EA is so jealous of Steam that they have convinced themselves that Valve is the evil corporation and that EA is the user centered company! 0_o
They wish that they will be the ONLY service available to force you to use Origin but can't like they did with the Madden and FIFA series through licensing, we have Steam, Xbox Live and PSN so screw themGearhead mk2 said:
They're getting cocky after the Battlefield 3 "Premium" success. So all this All-Digital Future talk is a plan to somehow be one of the first to establish their services and make it popular so that other All-Digital services that aren't EA couldn't compete, you'd have to be online ALL the time to play and if you cancel service you get NOTHING, so no playing at will while offline with your physical copies (since there will be none) and will have to PAY to use them again, CASH Guaranteed
That "one time payment" with Battlefield 3 Premium is just a test to see how much gamers will let them get away with while appearing to be a "reasonable" offer...
Digital distributions does not mean that every game needs to be connected to a server all the time. GoG distributes digitally. So does Gamersgate. I can play Minecraft (also without box copy) without an internet connection. Or Dwarf Fortress. All these send you an install which you can squirrel away safely onto physical media, should you feel moved to do so.
The real losers are going to be the big corporations. Who's going to need EA to publish when any indie company's web page is equally accessible?
The real losers are going to be the big corporations. Who's going to need EA to publish when any indie company's web page is equally accessible?
Yeah Digital is the future. It'll probably be longer then you think to make it happen though. The pockets of the world that are resistant to any changes or advances in technology, for various reasons, are amazing resilient. I wonder if they still have that problem with people in China using IE6.
Digital Distribution as a money spinner doesn't require everyone to have a high speed internet connection, it only requires enough people...and there are enough people now.teqrevisited said:
Digital Distribution is coming.
Origin is a good service EA, it is, but your prices are just stupid and over blown...but then again so are Steam's so you're in good company there. I fail to understand why I can consistently find retail copies of games on Origin and Steam cheaper than the digital downloads.
God, I can't wait for this company to go bankrupt. People just need to stop buying their games and we can say goodbye to the worst company in America. But chances are we don't have to wait for that easy (but somehow unobtainable?) miracle. Ea is so detached from both their consumers and reality itself, they will gladly kill themselves through their own stupid actions. All the signs are there; the arrogance, the GREED, the utter contempt for their customers and the honest belief that they are infallible and can get away with anything. If that's not the foundations of disaster, then what is!?
Once EA is toast I'll throw a party at my place, with streamers, fireworks and a BBQ....I really wish I was kidding.
Once EA is toast I'll throw a party at my place, with streamers, fireworks and a BBQ....I really wish I was kidding.
Hopefully his "soon" is one of those weird definitions of soon that mean it will be in 25 years or so.
I never buy digital unless I absolutely have to. I can find no point to buying digital if there is a physical copy.
I never buy digital unless I absolutely have to. I can find no point to buying digital if there is a physical copy.
Fuck digital distribution if I'm gonna have to fork-out on spare hard drives to help store game collections. Not to forget my broadband quality, and the contempt I have for the idea of having to create log-in accounts for every game publisher I'd want to buy from.
This will only work out well for the consumer if business models gradually shift more toward something resembling a rental service; and EA is the last company I'd expect to do anything but the opposite.
It's crystal clear why they want to go digital. To kill off retail, used games, grab fat new margins for absorbing cash, snatch away consumer rights and shift that balance of power to favour them; and enjoy getting away with anti-consumer bullshit while having absolute market control over their products.
Want to pay less than £40 to try an unspectacular 3 year old game? that is sooo last decade.
Hopefully when it does come to a fully digital games market, EA will be punished for their greed; and more pro-consumer (and pro-developer) models and innovations find success.
This will only work out well for the consumer if business models gradually shift more toward something resembling a rental service; and EA is the last company I'd expect to do anything but the opposite.
It's crystal clear why they want to go digital. To kill off retail, used games, grab fat new margins for absorbing cash, snatch away consumer rights and shift that balance of power to favour them; and enjoy getting away with anti-consumer bullshit while having absolute market control over their products.
Want to pay less than £40 to try an unspectacular 3 year old game? that is sooo last decade.
Hopefully when it does come to a fully digital games market, EA will be punished for their greed; and more pro-consumer (and pro-developer) models and innovations find success.
100% Digital with big publishers means you're no longer going to "own" your gaming library. You'll be paying to access it and pray servers are still around whenever you want to install your older games and play again... or hope some charitable pirate wrote a crack for it to avoid that mess.
This also means, no used game market for them, it's going to allow EA (and any companies following them) to completely control prices upon release and years after.
The future of gaming is bleak, and I'll be the bitter old man laughing when I'm proven right. BWAHAHAHA!
Of course if people stopped giving money to these assholes...
This also means, no used game market for them, it's going to allow EA (and any companies following them) to completely control prices upon release and years after.
The future of gaming is bleak, and I'll be the bitter old man laughing when I'm proven right. BWAHAHAHA!
Of course if people stopped giving money to these assholes...
The companies never control the prices--the people do. All a business can do is ask for a certain amount of money. The people decide how much they want to pay and if something is reasonable. If this wasn't the case, there would be video games that cost ten million dollars.Nurb said:
Everything is dictated by the majority.
EDIT
Typo: someone should have been something.
I really really hope that we don't go all digital.
Publishers already have way too much power and going all digital will just give them more. I can foresee a future where EA will find you badmouthing them and then they'll brick your 60 dollar game.
Or someone hacks into a server and then boom, no more games for you until they sort that shit out.
Oh, you lost your internet or there's a storm that cut it or something, well sucks to be you, you don't get to play anything now. But, hell we already got your money, what do we care.
There are many, many terrifying ways that an all digital future can go horribly wrong, and I predict we'll be experiencing them all, if (when) it happens.
Publishers already have way too much power and going all digital will just give them more. I can foresee a future where EA will find you badmouthing them and then they'll brick your 60 dollar game.
Or someone hacks into a server and then boom, no more games for you until they sort that shit out.
Oh, you lost your internet or there's a storm that cut it or something, well sucks to be you, you don't get to play anything now. But, hell we already got your money, what do we care.
There are many, many terrifying ways that an all digital future can go horribly wrong, and I predict we'll be experiencing them all, if (when) it happens.
It's nice to think that, but in reality, when a company(s) have a monopoly on production and distribution, they control the prices.Clearing the Eye said:
That's why businesses work so hard to consolodate and become one, like when there's only one choice in your area for cable and internet... you'll pay for what they say and tolerate the download caps or you can just not use the internet. Same goes for used games. Why sell a year old game for 10 bucks when you have no competition from stores? Keep it 20 bucks and if people buy it, it's just more cash in your pocket because they've already made their money on the initial release.