Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil, EA Games…

Posted by Dodongo on Friday, January 21, 2005


______Conquer Everything______

There’s a new Evil Empire in town and it’s name is EA Games.

EA Games just signed an exculsive contract with the NFL and Players Inc. This means that Madden is now the only video game that can use the names of real teams and players. No more ESPN NFL 2K, no more Sony Gameday, no more NFL Fever, and for that matter no more Tecmo Bowl!

The NFL claims that this won’t affect quality “We think it’s actually going to increase the quality of the game. …we’re going to push them because they are our only licensee” Yeah right. So not having ESPN NFL 2K4 kick your ass is going to motivate you more?

On top of this, EA has been trying to gobble up its competitors. It recently bought a 19.9% stake in Ubisoft (gee, I wonder why?), and has consistently bought, dismantled, and absorbed smaller developers like Westwood, Origin Systems (makers of Ultima) , Criterion, etc. It’s also been reported that EA has been over working their employees and not paying them for overtime. A class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the employees.

Now I’m not saying they’re a monopoly, but I am saying they want to be. I’m not saying we should boycott EA Games yet, but I will be more mindful to buy their titles used and buy other company’s games at full price. Ubisoft has developed some of the best titles of the last few years and I’d hate to see them devoured by the gluttonous beast.

11 Comments »

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Comment by Steve

1/21/2005 @ 12:52 pm

>Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil, EA Games…

Best Buy…

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Comment by TimF

1/21/2005 @ 1:09 pm

Best Buy : Wal-Mart ::

Ubisoft : EA Games

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Comment by Adam Smith

1/21/2005 @ 4:18 pm

Now you do know that Electronic Arts began as a tiny startup much like Bungie and Cyan and, through quality products over the last 15 years, moved up the ladder. While from a consumer standpoint, I prefer the variety of NFL games we had in the past, I can’t fault EA Sports for being as profitable as they can be in an ethical manner (I’ve read nothing to the contrary).

In other news, a Ghost Recon reunion is necessary this weekend. TomBrady has a can of whoopass he wants to unload on General Gao.

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Comment by TimF

1/21/2005 @ 5:40 pm

Buying up shares of your competitors is not ethical in my book.

Buying out smaller companies, dismantling them, and either firing their staff or making them work for you is also sketchy in my book.

I was okay with EA until this NFL deal happened. Now it seems like EA is using money to beat it’s competition instead of better quality titles. The Madden franchise was obviously shaken up. ESPN NFL2K4 was getting better reviews and forced Madden to lower it’s price, but instead of buckling down and making a better game, EA just got rid of everyone else.

If this last holiday season is any indication, there is PLENTY of room in the market for everybody so long as you make good games. Halo 2 made 120 milliom on it’s first day! WTF!

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Comment by Dan

1/21/2005 @ 5:59 pm

Have to agree with Adam on this one. If you look at the list (http://games.ign.com/objects/025/025025.html#Developer) of games EA actually develops on their own vs. what they publish for other developers, you can see that what they develop in-house is largely proven franchises and “safe bets”. Look at the list of what they publish, though, and you’ll find a whole bunch of creative goodies that they financed through smaller development houses. Like it or not, EA has the resources to be able to take the risk, push a game out to market and ride out a failure where a small dev might have to put all their eggs in one basket or just put out a bunch of safe bet GTA/Starcraft/Half-Life/Everquest clones. Originality is a godsend, but it’s a huge risk.

Besides, EA brought Burnout 3 into my life. I’ve never been so happy to have my eyes bleed before.

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Comment by TimF

1/21/2005 @ 6:12 pm

Who the hell are Adam and Dan? ;)

Yeah, Burnout 3 which EA kindly took off the hands of Acclaim who ended up having to file for bankruptcy…

I guess my recent anti-EA venom has been fueled by Game Informer magazine which seems to have an anti-EA slant. I should be blaming the NFL in equal measure as it seems they were the ones initiating the exclusivity talks (some say because they didn’t like ESPN lowering the price below $20)

My opinion of EA is softening a bit. Admittedly because I just saw some video of EA’s “Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath” which comes out this week and it looks so friggin’ amazing that there’s no way I can resist buying it.

Maybe if I steal it from Best Buy…

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Comment by Dan

1/21/2005 @ 6:33 pm

Thanks for the warm reception, Tim.

I’m just another Praecis grunt who’s been checking out the site lately.

Yeah, with Acclaim gone the sequels to some of their finer gems like BMX XXX and Mary-Kate and Ashley, Sweet 16: Licensed to Drive may never see the light of day. (weep)

Beyond the EA-NFL thing, don’t forget that ESPN NFL2K is published by SEGA who basically was EA, back in the 90’s. Oops!

Oh, and the Stranger will own us all, in weird wriggling ways.

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Comment by MikeGray

1/22/2005 @ 4:47 pm

I almost convinced Jeff to buy Mary-Kate and Ashley, Sweet 16: Licensed to Drive one day at EB.

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Comment by Steve

1/22/2005 @ 6:26 pm

So Tim, you’ve posted a moderately lengthy diatribe about how terrible EA is, and now you’re saying that they’re not evil. So which is it? You can’t have it both ways.

Your convictions are about as strong as your gaming skill. :)

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Comment by TimF

1/22/2005 @ 7:34 pm

Steve - Sounds like you voted for Bush.

I was softening my stance a bit after the initial anger about the NFL deal wore off. Perhaps I’m saying that EA is terrible, but not much more evil than the rest of them. There, I CAN have it both ways.

My opinion is bound to change as I learn more information. Adam and Dan brought up some valid points that changed my mind a bit. Unlike Republicans (and Steve), I tend to compare new evidence against my current conclusions in order to form a new and more informed position.

So Steve, do have an opinion of your own or do you just want to continue commenting on mine?

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Comment by Diva

2/11/2005 @ 7:51 pm

yeah alot of us gamers are not happy with ea games
http://www.gamersagainsteagames.com/

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