I really liked the episode, but to me it seemed a bit underfleshed. You could have taken it in so many different directions Jim.
EA is the only company in which I told myself "I'm not buying that game, EA made it". On multiple occasions. Even games that I initially wanted, and badly, I had to re-think before purchasing because of EA's practices towards me. 'Treat every customer like they steal from us.'
On a side-rant: I am a hardworking loyal customer. You know what my piracy record is? - Music I could not legitimately find and buy, and Pokemon games so I could play them at a faster rate than on my DS or GBA (while I did not own Ruby version, one of the copies I downloaded, I did own Sapphire and Emerald. And they stopped selling new copies of Ruby when I did it. And it was modded). When it comes to consumerism, I am fairly honest - I'll only download it if its a game I already own an iteration of (for example, I wouldn't feel bad about downloading Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix since I own Kingdom Hearts 2 and the final mix variation never came to the states) or if the company is no longer making money off of the product (at this point, the only people making money are thrift shops and people on ebay, who's only contribution to the game was purchasing it at some point). I have even gone as far as buying legitimate copies of games for friends who pirate said games because I either wanted to play with them or I felt the developers deserve it.
I am not the kind of person who downloads a game on its first day of release, cracks it, any plays it without consideration of the hard work that went into the game. Yet, every single new release I am asked to fat-thumb in a code to make sure that I did in fact buy the game. And not only did I buy it, but I bought it new. All to be able to access content that was already on the disk. Their changing of the ToSA and EULA piss me off to no end. The reason I buy most games as console games is because owning a HARD copy of a console game means that I own the game, not a license to the game. EA has made it so that even if I do own the game, I have to sign a license agreement to play it - which is just slimy. Not to mention their clause that basically says "btw, you cant file a class action suit against us if you plan on playing this game". They act like cancerous tumors - even in an environment filled with vitreous consumer practices.
And while EA certainly does have a large amount of gems in their library, I feel as though most of them, especially in recent times, are tarnished by association. Kingdoms of Amalur was a fantastic game that I almost didn't buy because of its connection to EA. The ability to buy armor that would carry you through the game was a cheap tactic that scarred this beautiful game - it made me feel like if I wanted to maximize my gameplay, I had to throw extra money at the game. And it undermined a crucial aspect of the game as well.
Mass Effect 3 was a trainwreck as well. In the last 5 hours of the game, the ball was dropped so many fucking times, it was ridiculous. Tali's face (lets even go as far as Legions Geth Mission) showed that the art team was lazy. "We wanted to give tali a real face" - well then give her one instead of doing a 3 minute, badly done photoshop. You could put Jessica Chobot into the game to please IGN, but say screw you to a huge portion of your fan base? The ending was horrible - I believe the theories of his Indoctrination simply because of how many refferences and allusions have been made to it over the series. BioWares admittance that it was false just says "we put these clues in by accident. Those were us just dropping the ball. over and over and over and over and over again. And while we thank you for having faith in us, LOLOLOLOLOLOL UDUMB."
And as for the games that aren't EA's Gems - I'm so happy that I can spend $60 on a 4 hour campaign with repetitive and dry mechanics. Thank god this is a 'new IP'. Its disrespectful that they release games like that, when I can find better values on XBLA.
Seriously - I've been ripped off by EA enough. They have made bad games - so has everyone else. Now they are in the business of ruining and dumbing down their good franchises to make things 'work better' or 'sell better'. Its not enough that I work hard for my $60 - EA now feels that I should either invest more, or have no appreciation for the work I put forth just to cash in on ignorance.
[I would like a gravity rush shirt please. Also Jim is sexy. Do all of that in one thing]
