Fewer Games, Better Games Is EA's Stated Goal I always thought EA turned a new leaf once Dead Space and Mirror's Edge was released (yes, I talk about these games all the time, but for a reason). I'm glad they published Brutal Legend, which they probably knew it wasn't going to sell. I'm hoping for a good next year for EA since I'm hoping for some great games from them akin to Dead Space.
ea really thought brutal legends would sell. i forgot who was in development and who was to publish brutal legend. but before it went to ea, there was a lot of hype and other marketing going on. before toms hardware killed the gaming section, they had that video talk and the guy would obsess over brutal legends. it wasn't only with this guy from toms hardware but other gaming sites as they were really expecting the game to be released shortly. but there were problems and the game got pushed. when the game finally came out, that sizzle from last year or whenever it was, was gone. people looked at other games as the hype and marketing was fresh. take modern warfare 2 for instance, which is overshadowing assassins creed 2 and other games. btw, you can't and should not take this article for serious. they did this with mirrors edge and dead space, two very high quality and innovative games that bombed in their face. what about the wii? only quality games for 360/ps3/pc. but quality isn't needed for the wii or don't make games for the wii. wii is innovative so what about that? don't take ea seriously folks. what this means is that they are refocusing their strategy to milk the hardcore audience even more.
They marketed Brutal Legend to death on the internet, I haven't seen a commercial for it on TV though, they probably would of sold more if it were advertised more on television. I don't think many should be surprised it bombed because it was made by Double Fine, none of their games ever sold well, but their games review well. Tim Schaefer is the guy behind Double Fine. That and it seemed to be advertised as a hack and slash game with a lot of heavy metal references when it was, in fact a mostly RTS game with heavy metal references. Once some people noticed that, it probably turned them off. Modern Warfare 2 isn't over shadowing Assassin's Creed 2 or Mario Bros or any game. Those games have a lot of ads on TV, in fact more than MW2, Mario Bros doesn't need ads. I am taking this article seriously, why? Because EA laid off a lot of their Madden staff, they published Brutal Legend (which I doubt anyone seen coming) and EA bought companies and KEPT them. Before EA would make them make a game, then lay off everyone or destroy that company (look at what was Bullfrog). And even though Mirror's Edge didn't do THAT great, and Dead Space and Dead Space Extraction (for the Wii and is excellent) totally bombed, they're still making sequels for it. Mirror's Edge is a planned Trilogy, they're keeping it that way too. Hell, even EA's annual sports games have been great, last year NHL was the best sports game and this year it's FIFA. EA has it's shares of evil in the past and I'm glad to see that it's changed, even if one of their games have glitches, it's nice to know that they're striving for quality and new IPs, cause god forbid new IPs. Even Nintendo, the god you worship, doesn't make those anymore.
They still make plenty of shovel ware...but they are coming up with some good titles. I mean...look at red wood shores, they guys who made Dead space... http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/company/79643.html I AM IMPRESSED THAT THEY MADE SUCH A GOOD GAME WITH SUCH A TRACK RECORD LIKE THIS! But still...they need to drop the need for speed series.
Yeah, so? THQ now is mainly shovelware, Ubisoft makes a ridiculous sum of money from it and Activision is guilty of it too. I know, right? They're making the second one, so expect it to be good. And no, the guys who made Burnout are making the next Need For Speed, if it goes their way, it's going to be good. And it'll probably be like the first few NFS games like Hot Pursuit, those games are better than any NFS after Underground. Also, if you don't like the game, don't buy it, it's as simple as that.
I have never seen a good game developed by EA. Much like Activision, THQ, and Ubisoft, EA is just a big publisher that makes shit games.
Already knew of the other shovel ware companies-they just aren't in my face soo much (though activision is in my war path now...) I hope Dead Space 2 can run on my laptop... As for 3..I only liked burnout BEFORE ea took over..as fun as it was to purposly crash people I prefered just avoid traffic, i find it easier to avoid traffic in these games now. Criterion has been influenced by ea...I no longer like burnout past number 2.
You not liking a game dosn't mean its not good, I liked EA since the MegaDrive and SNES days and I never played a game they published/developed that I didn't like, yet
No it hasn't. Burnout 3 was the next logical step for Critereon, I remember playing Burnout 2 and purposely trying to get other people to crash into cars, the game didn't know I was doing this though. Then Burnout 3 came out and officially introduced Takedowns. Burnout Revenge was alright but it was a move by Critereon to make that game, and if you went onto oncoming traffic, there's a lot of traffic. Burnout Paradise introduced free roaming in the series and even though it's sometimes confusing to manoeuver through roads, there's traffic everywhere. I doubt you even played Burnout Paradise as it probably would have problems running on your laptop and you don't have an Xbox or PS3. Hell, they even went on to make the FPS called BLACK for the Xbox and PS2, it was alright and it introduced destruction to mainstream audiences (Red Faction 1 wasn't too popular). Burnout 3 is even the best rated game of the series. Just because you don't like the game doesn't mean no one else does, and just because they added a feature that they wanted to add as developers, doesn't mean EA had a hand it in. You seem to think that EA purposefully goes to the devs and tells them to do this and that, when it wouldn't all be the case. Ideas of the games are created by the devs and given to EA so they can either say 'yes' or 'no'. God forbid that Burnout 3 adds some excitement to a getting stale genre at the time. And EA totally influences Bioware's games to be crap too. Is Dragon Age any worse than their previous titles? What next? Are you going to tell me that Time Splitters 3 changed to bad from TS2 because EA published that game? Even though Visceral Games (previously known as EA Redwood Shores) made average games like Godfather and The Simpsons Game, they still made Dead Space, Dead Space Extraction, and they're also making Dante's Inferno and Dead Space 2. Their two Dead Space games are more than just good, and Godfather 2, although glitch ridden, is alright. I have no doubts that Dante's Inferno and DS2 (too lazy) will be good.
electronic arts used to be a very good company. but then they changed and became something else. this is when you started to see john carmack call ea as the evil empire. ea during the 16bit and prior years were good but afterwards it just went sour. it's also the same situation with activision and ubisoft. these companies change and they became sour. many hardcore gamers don't realize it but they are being handled by these companies that went sour. whether you believe it or not, it's up to you to decide.
Actually, we're talking about an artform here. There is no foolproof, without-a-doubt method to determine the quality of a game. It is 100% subjective. So if I say they make shit games, it's true through my eyes. And if you say they don't, it's true through your eyes. It's a concept called "relativity".
