The Truth about EA.

I often hear a lot of negative comments about EA in the gaming media. Magazines, websites, especially forums, but I still don't entirely understand why they are so hated.

Granted they are a big business, and are hardly a force for peace and justice, but it seems like EA has become the George Bush of the video game world: A big bandwagon of hatred. People who legitimately hate it, and those who jump on board.

I definitely do NOT approve of thier DRM and occasional rushing of titles, but all in all they are just a business.

I did not create this thread to tell you my opinion of EA and call it the truth. I made it to find out other people's opinions so I can piece together the truth myself.

So, what is your opinion of EA and why?

I for one don't like them because they do rush titles in hopes to get more and more money much faster then they actually do.

Nearly every gaming developing company that does pretty good are overthrown with money by them in hopes that their future games will give them even more money, causing them to rush out those titles and meddeling in the development.

So basically I consider EA a leech that sucks on the money pile and demand it to grow even higher so they can continue to sit back and get "fatter" over other developers hard labor.
True there are some peal games out there with the EA stemp but I assume EA must've been busy milking the Madden series to take notice of them much.

That's my opinion at least.

I don't like companies that stifle creativity in order to increase their bottom line. It's not just EA...they're about the same as Activision and Ubisoft. Big companies run by suits waiting for their cut that treat the game making process mechanically and don't really care about the games themselves.

When you see the release platforms for a game being 360, PS3, PS2, DS, WII, PSP, and PC, you have a safe bet that the game will be crappy. At the very least it will suffer because some of the budget allowed was used to port the game to every system in order to increase sales and not make a better game. I find this results in generic gameplay and poor technical optimization or lack of polish.

I know that everyone working for these companies isn't like that, but the ones calling the shots are, and I refuse to support a company that does these kind of things.

That said, Dead Space looks promising to me so I'm going to give them a chance to change my attitude.

I like EA. They publish pretty good games. They may be "big business", but they're giving gamers what they want. A lot of the developers working on games don't have the financial muscle to move a game. EA makes it happen.

More people like EA than they will admit. I'm sorry to point out the above poster, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard something along the lines of "I hate EA. But I'm gonna buy their next game".

I like EA. They publish pretty good games. They may be "big business", but they're giving gamers what they want. A lot of the developers working on games don't have the financial muscle to move a game. EA makes it happen.

More people like EA than they will admit. I'm sorry to point out the above poster, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard something along the lines of "I hate EA. But I'm gonna buy their next game".

Grieverr

I own zero EA games. Dead Space is the first game I've seen them working on that has interested me in the slightest, and it looks to be a step in the right direction away from their standard procedure, so it would be something worth supporting. The only game I have that conflicts with what I was saying is Marvel UA(Activision) and that's only because it was a gift.

No matter how much I dislike a company doesn't mean I won't ever buy a game from them if they make a good one. That's just plain stupidity. I just won't support the generic crapfest that is the majority of what these companies publish.

I've played EA games for several years now and, as long as I can remember, they have always generated my interest in some of their sports titles (Madden, NASCAR, and Tiger Woods are the three real prominent ones that I usually always find myself buying). However, while I still believe EA is a decent enough gaming company, they've really kind of disappointed me with some of their recent releases.

Take, for example, NASCAR 09. I don't know how many people reading this message have played it, but if you have, or if the situation I'm about to tell you about rings a bell, you will probably be able to relate to what I'm talking about. I'm a hardcore NASCAR fan. And, with the NASCAR 09 game, as well as pretty much every NASCAR game before it, I've always had anticipation and excitement towards the new installment. When I got it, much like a kid before Christmas, I couldn't get home fast enough to play the game. I opened the game, put it in my PlayStation 2, and started it up. However, after one race, I was just sitting there going "Okay...now what?" While I was as excited as a monkey for bananas when I got the game, my excitement quickly turned to disappointment when I basically came to the conclusion that, aside from new drivers and teams, the new game had ABSOLUTELY no difference from the '08 version.

In my own opinion, I agree with some of the earlier GameSpot members that have posted in this thread. They do rush titles. NASCAR used to not come out until a week after Madden. NASCAR came out about three months ago, whereas Madden came out on its usual 2nd Tuesday of August. Tiger Woods, if my memory serves me correctly, didn't used to come out until October. Here it is just after Labor Day, and it's already out. So, in that sense, I agree with the earlier messengers in that I feel they rush titles and, in effect, it brings their "appeal level" so to speak down a notch or thirty.

I feel EA has put more focus into the newer systems (PS3, XBOX 360) and just spending a day or two dusting off the PS2 blueprints on how to make the games. And, maybe that's my own fault for not making the quantum leap to the PlayStation 3 yet. Granted, eventually, PlayStation 2 games will be a thing of the past much like N64 and Dreamcast. Hopefully, for me, that won't be until PlayStation 13 comes out...

Here are the problems I have with EA.

1. They have horrendous labor practices. They force employees to work 80+ hours per week and don't pay overtime. And if anyone complains, they tell them that they can be easily replaced. So basically everyone in the studio is just a doormat.

2. They stifle creativity. They make a "safe" product and then just keep making the same crap over and over again, and they market the hell out of it so that people will buy it even though it's the same garbage they've already played.

1. They have horrendous labor practices. They force employees to work 80+ hours per week and don't pay overtime. And if anyone complains, they tell them that they can be easily replaced. So basically everyone in the studio is just a doormat.

UT_Wrestler

I think EA is gradually becoming a really good company. They're taking chances with new IPs that look great. And contrary to people's opinions, I think EA has been doing some great stuff, not really as developers but as publishers as well. They've published some of the best titles in recent years.

Also, there sports titles are getting better, alot better. Madden 09 is the best Madden so far. Tiger Woods 09 is also the best one in the series. So they're really making strides. Command & Conquer series is also taking off.

I do think EA used to be the hated company we accuse them for, but not anymore. I think they really shaped up and changed their ways for the better.

Hmm I don't hate EA. But I surrely don't like how they'll turn off online servers for games like TimeSplitters3 (and some others I can't think of). That's the only reason I don't enjoy EA... Oh, and because they do sorta rush their game titles every now and then. For me that usualy results in a lot of bugs. TheSims Complete Collection had severe bugs in it (these bugs were REALLY bad, like saving, never loading... etc.) that really hurt.EyeWierd20

They're not as bad as Atari in rushing out games.

[QUOTE="UT_Wrestler"]

1. They have horrendous labor practices. They force employees to work 80+ hours per week and don't pay overtime. And if anyone complains, they tell them that they can be easily replaced. So basically everyone in the studio is just a doormat.

crucifine

It's nice to hear that EA is treating their employees better. However, that is corporate America. If you guys aren't in the workforce yet, I recommend not working in a corporate environment. You're worth nothing, you're easily replaceable, and after long years of hard work, the promotion that should've been yours is given to the boss' friend who needed a job at that time. Its total BS, but it is the reality. EA is not, by far, the only company that does (or did) this.