• NASDAQ Giving Electronic Arts the boot December 24th
    80 replies, posted
If I had an IP I would try to keep it away from any publishing deals. It seems as though in any industry, publishers/distributors ruin great products. I can't help thinking of Fox and [I]Firefly[/I] It's probably one of the reasons why Valve can make games that are consistently well received. They fund themselves, which gives them room to experiment with all sorts of stuff. And if the experiments don't work out and they have to come up with something else, they don't have any deadlines to meet, so they can just push the release date back (or abstain from giving one at all) until they're sure that the product they're providing is giving the customers what they want. Whereas publishers like EA take one look at the product that they're giving a studio money to create and say "nah it's too risky it needs to be way more generic ok" and we get uninventive and disappointing titles, because they in turn have to worry about stockholders and investors and all the rest of it. It's a hierarchy that doesn't work in this industry which thrives on innovation. I mean EA was doing alright when 'more realistic graphics' was a big selling point. I remember when BF1942 was the bees knees, and EA was generally considered a good guy. But these days when Farcry3 and Crysis look more or less the same despite being released several years apart, game companies need to innovate and take risks, and when you've got investors and other money-men looking over your shoulder you can't. EA is just in a system that doesn't work. If every game company came off the stock market and worked independently like Valve does then there would be room for innovation. But at the moment, with publishers working like they do it's just not going to happen.
[QUOTE=Forumaster;38861385][B][I][U]MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL!!![/U][/I][/B][/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYw1HyU8V3w&feature=player_detailpage#t=71s[/media] Skip to 1:11.
I miss Maxis. That was one of my favorite logos in childhood along side Nintendo, Rare, and Cyan Worlds. Makes me want to dig up my copy of Streets of Sim City
Best Christmas at the expense of another!
[QUOTE=EliteGuy;38860849][IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/2i9t6vn.png[/IMG] It's not surprising at all considering what EA has done to the past companies and original IPs. [img_thumb]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61IVRSo0%2BpL._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img_thumb] Just look at what the Sims have become[/QUOTE] That image kind of implies that EA swooped down and "stole" those games/devs. You should know the risks if you sign on with a publisher.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;38860905]Maxis and Criterion are still going strong, and Mythic was more a problem of poor management. EA just picked up the pieces and moved them under the Bioware umbrella.[/QUOTE] Maxis isn't going strong, it's puttering along, beaten and bruised. They dropped the Maxis name from The Sims, and I'm not sure if it's still on SimCity.
[QUOTE=Maloof?;38861429]If I had an IP I would try to keep it away from any publishing deals. It seems as though in any industry, publishers/distributors ruin great products. I can't help thinking of Fox and [I]Firefly[/I] It's probably one of the reasons why Valve can make games that are consistently well received. They fund themselves, which gives them room to experiment with all sorts of stuff. And if the experiments don't work out and they have to come up with something else, they don't have any deadlines to meet, so they can just push the release date back (or abstain from giving one at all) until they're sure that the product they're providing is giving the customers what they want. Whereas publishers like EA take one look at the product that they're giving a studio money to create and say "nah it's too risky it needs to be way more generic ok" and we get uninventive and disappointing titles, because they in turn have to worry about stockholders and investors and all the rest of it. It's a hierarchy that doesn't work in this industry which thrives on innovation. I mean EA was doing alright when 'more realistic graphics' was a big selling point. I remember when BF1942 was the bees knees, and EA was generally considered a good guy. But these days when Farcry3 and Crysis look more or less the same despite being released several years apart, game companies need to innovate and take risks, and when you've got investors and other money-men looking over your shoulder you can't. EA is just in a system that doesn't work. If every game company came off the stock market and worked independently like Valve does then there would be room for innovation. But at the moment, with publishers working like they do it's just not going to happen.[/QUOTE] Then you need to fund it yourself. Games cost a lot, especially higher grade ones, like from a few hundred thousand for little shit to millions. Honestly, their are a lot of other publishers that are not shit like EA or Activision who probably dont want to milk IPs dry. But you cant make a triple A game without a publisher.
[QUOTE=HoodedSniper;38861551]Then you need to fund it yourself. Games cost a lot, especially higher grade ones, like from a few hundred thousand for little shit to millions. Honestly, their are a lot of other publishers that are not shit like EA or Activision who probably dont want to milk IPs dry. But you cant make a triple A game without a publisher.[/QUOTE] You can if you're Valve But they had Gabe's Microsoft-millions to work from
This isnt really important. It just means EA, RIM, and Netflix wont be one of the top 100 companies to look at, invest in ect. They will all still be on the market and the only way they can get off it is if they go private, go out of business, or their price goes under 1 dollar. Them leaving also allows them to move to other markets instead of exclusively being only on nasdaq partys over
[QUOTE=Raidyr;38860952]SimCity is looking great and the new NFS is a genuinely good racing game. I'm not seeing your point. Yeah they nickel and dime Sims expansions and that sucks but they still make good games otherwise.[/QUOTE] They basically killed SimCity in my eyes. You should have read the comments over on Reddit when the Dev Team did an AMA - They were eaten alive by the criticism. Between the drastic changes to its design to make it more of a casual game and the Always-On-Fuck-You-Up-The-Ass DRM, yeah.
[QUOTE=Maloof?;38861566]You can if you're Valve But they had Gabe's Microsoft-millions to work from[/QUOTE] and a little thing called steam, its pretty obscure, you probably never heard of it.
[QUOTE=jordguitar;38861587]This isnt really important. It just means EA, RIM, and Netflix wont be one of the top 100 companies to look at, invest in ect. They will all still be on the market and the only way they can get off it is if they go private, go out of business, or their price goes under 1 dollar. Them leaving also allows them to move to other markets instead of exclusively being only on nasdaq partys over[/QUOTE] For a second there I thought you were implying that Facepunch read the article. My mistake.
People complain a lot about the state of the industry, but frankly it seems to be doing pretty well. The huge, terrible companies are becoming less powerful and relevant by the year, and Valve is getting more relevant and powerful by the year, and indie gaming is starting to boom, plus Kickstarter.
[QUOTE=Vodkavia;38861406]TBH I think the devs have their priorities out of order when adding in Coop has come before making a survival horror game [I]actually scary[/I].[/QUOTE] If we are still talking Dead Space, it was never particularly scary in the first place. [editline]17th December 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=HoodedSniper;38861370]Bioshock would have been retarded with optional coop. System Shocks 2 Coop essentially made the game a lot worse as stated by Ken Levine because it took to much time away from the important shit, like not being coop. The walking dead would have been dumb coop. Amnesia would have been dumb with coop. Coop isnt always good, especially in a "Horror" game. Its dumb in Dead Space.[/QUOTE] You know when I say "every game" I'm not being literal right.
Apparently this happened after Facebook got in. Win some Lose some I guess.
[QUOTE=Vodkavia;38861406]TBH I think the devs have their priorities out of order when adding in Coop has come before making a survival horror game [I]actually scary[/I].[/QUOTE] dead space was never that scary anyway, just cheap frights
DOes this mean EA's gonna go away?
[QUOTE=DaCommie1;38861509]Maxis isn't going strong, it's puttering along, beaten and bruised. They dropped the Maxis name from The Sims, and I'm not sure if it's still on SimCity.[/QUOTE] Maxis is still at least partially in charge of the SimCity name, but the original SimCity series is dead. The new game is a reboot, it threw away everything that built up to SimCity 4 and started from scratch. It has many features that SC2K, 3K, and 4 had but they aren't building upon what already existed, but rather completely rewriting them. So it's pretty much guaranteed to turn out very different from what a SimCity 5/5000 would've been like.
[QUOTE=fulgrim;38860998]Why do people even let them touch their IPs anymore?. Also isnt that the font used in the dawn of war games?[/QUOTE] it's the official warhammer font IIRC, it's used in all the codices and rulebooks.
[QUOTE=Aredbomb;38862696]Maxis is still at least partially in charge of the SimCity name, but the original SimCity series is dead. The new game is a reboot, it threw away everything that built up to SimCity 4 and started from scratch. It has many features that SC2K, 3K, and 4 had but they aren't building upon what already existed, but rather completely rewriting them. So it's pretty much guaranteed to turn out very different from what a SimCity 5/5000 would've been like.[/QUOTE] I don't know about any hypothetical SimCity 5s, but I do know two things 1) I am a fan of Sim City 2) Sim City 2013 looks fun That is all I will divulge for now, I have to look after the safety of my gamer e-cred.
[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;38860955] destruction of Westwood[/QUOTE] I was almost recovered from cnc4 and then I saw this article. Generals 2 (even though its not called that now) better be at least bearable or I'll cry for months.
[QUOTE=Madman_Andre;38861639]They basically killed SimCity in my eyes. You should have read the comments over on Reddit when the Dev Team did an AMA - They were eaten alive by the criticism. Between the drastic changes to its design to make it more of a casual game and the Always-On-Fuck-You-Up-The-Ass DRM, yeah.[/QUOTE] Interestingly enough, I'm actually really glad for the whole multiplayer region shebang. And it needing an internet connection? Fuck off, I already run internet all the time for Steam and all, and as Anno 2077 proved to me, if the game takes the always-on connection, and incorporates it into the gameplay in a meaningful way, it can be an advantage. Other things like "hurr you can't lose the game" don't say much. Simcity has never been a game you can lose or win, and getting into horrible bottomless depth if you don't know what you're doing is worse than just getting a game over screen.
[QUOTE=Pvt. Martin;38861882]Apparently this happened after Facebook got in. Win some Lose some I guess.[/QUOTE] guess what apple and activision are on this list too it's not a list of companies that internet nerds like, it's a list of companies that are good to invest into
I wonder how many people actually know what this means? Because the thread seems to now be bash EA even if its completely unrelated bullshit.
[QUOTE=Roger Waters;38862714]it's the official warhammer font IIRC, it's used in all the codices and rulebooks.[/QUOTE] It's Caslon Antique, a free public domain font. Games-Workshop just happens to like it.
[QUOTE=EliteGuy;38860849][IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/2i9t6vn.png[/IMG] It's not surprising at all considering what EA has done to the past companies and original IPs. [img_thumb]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61IVRSo0%2BpL._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img_thumb] Just look at what the Sims have become[/QUOTE] To be honest one can't really consider westwood and bioware victims at these points. Generally speaking EA has treated CnC fairly well and not counting CnC4 all have been fairly well received by fans of the originals. And it seems like CnC4 was essentially released and turned into whati t was due to internal strife inside of EA and the publisher would rather ignore it ever coming out as well. And they've created Generals which many consider the best CnC by far. Essentially EA was really really problematic about a decade and earlier ago when they essentially ate up smaller devs left and right and borgified them into EA north, south west, whatever. But after a certain time (generally with bioware and dice) they started practicing a more hands of aproach and let devs stay under their own teams so to speak. Bioware seems to be collapsing on itself instead as well with bad internal choices as opposed to choices driven by EA execs. Maxis already made Sims1 into a huge cashcow with the massive amount of packs they released and dice has also had fairly good treatment from EA. Mirror's edge, BF series and others are all seen as very good. Bullfrog really hurts though :(
[QUOTE=seroyal223;38861854]People complain a lot about the state of the industry, but frankly it seems to be doing pretty well. The huge, terrible companies are becoming less powerful and relevant by the year, and Valve is getting more relevant and powerful by the year, and indie gaming is starting to boom, plus Kickstarter.[/QUOTE] Exactly, the business is going through a difficult adaptation phase EA shouldn't die, but it sure as hell needs a drastic regime change If it disappeared, who knows what else will be dragged down with it
I think I'll give everyone I know a call and tell them to forget about giving me presents, because this news is just a dream come true and it's all the christmas gifting I needed.
Good, here's hoping EA crashes and burns. Probably won't, but doubt it will be what it was before. [editline]17th December 2012[/editline] Oh and lets not forget the new Sim City eh. Dumbed down to hell.
[QUOTE=HoodedSniper;38861640]and a little thing called steam, its pretty obscure, you probably never heard of it.[/QUOTE] But, you know, gabe worked at Microsoft before he thought of steam. Which of course didn't come about until after valve had established itself, but yeah you probably never knew that
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