Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think they are seen as this big corporate entity that will do anything for a buck, not interested in the art or the quality of a game. They are also seen as having taken over some gaming franchises and ruining it (again for the quest for the buck).
EA makes A LOT of bad games. And I mean A LOT. Most of their games have horrible storyline or its audience is for jocks with no brain. So yeah it has to do with being a big corporation and doing anything for a buck. They have made gaming for people who are not really interested in games.
by far, one of the worst DRM programs out there, worse than that god-awful Sony DRM rootkit that came preinstalled on certain CDs. EA really screwed the pooch w/ this. many people consider it no better than spyware. according to reports, it installs on your computer w/o your consent or knowledge, it can't uninstall even after uninstalling the game, has been known to crash systems, and has many other unpleasant features. for example, w/ some games, people who bought the games were only allowed 1-3 activations. meaning if you needed to activate this game more than 3 times (for example, you got a new computer or updated your hard drive a couple of times, or even if you buy the game used), you wouldn't be able to and would have to call customer support. another issue w/ some games was that it forced you to be online to validate your computer every few days just so you could play it.
a while back, a HUGE deal was made about Spore, a new game coming out from the creators of the Sims. it was hyped up to be the best game of the year, the Avatar of video games. the game got TRASHED in reviews due to the addition of SecuRom to the point where, of the 2,000+ or so reviews on Amazon, only a couple dozens were not 1 star reviews. I also believe there were a few lawsuits involved w/ SecuRom. ironically, Spore became one of the most illegally download software of this decade
personally, the whole mess have made me want to avoid EA games. sadly, they've practically dominated the game market so it's hard to avoid completely. I've heard they changed some stuff since the Spore debacle, but, AFAIK, SecuRom still exists
you can check out some article about SecuROM, the Spore debacle and read the Amazon reviews (note, Amazon, last I checked, got rid of a lot of the 1 star reviews):
As far as having to be online to play certain games, EA isn't the only one making you do this. The latest Splinter Cell: Conviction (UbiSoft) requires CONSTANT online for the PC version of the game.
People also have trashed EA due to their monopolies on certain genres, like the NFL. Starting in 2006, EA bought the entire licensing for the NFL, so that only the Madden games could use the NFL licensing. And, to make matters worse, the Madden games just didn't do justice to football like the 2K games did.
I used to be a fan of the Need for Speed series but it went downhill quickly a while ago. The new one is by Criterion (the burnout series) and gets good reviews so I might try it, but I'll be getting it on Steam, won't be buying a DVD with DRM, I haven't bought a game on CD/DVD in years.
They drive too many franchises into the ground, usually after buying out an independent company and not letting those same successful developers work on the future entries. I feel like they ruined the SimCity franchise after running Maxis out, and pulled the same thing when they absorbed Westwood with the C&C series.
Well to be a big gaming company, they've done some things right and a lot of things wrong. This is a mixed bag for me. I think monopolizing NFL games was stupid, and really Madden hasn't gotten significantly better in a few years. Now, FIFA, they were thoroughly getting their asses kicked for years, and finally got it together. I think a lot of their successes went to their heads way too much.
Because once they monopolize their competition, they don't do much to innovate the game enough(see the Madden NFL games as a great example). Also, they've annoyed gamers(such as myself) by discontinuing the EA Big studio, especially since I greatly loved the SSX series.
If they can finally make a new version of NBA Jam(complete with the original announcer in the arcade version), it should not be so darn hard for EA to make a new, updated SSX game for the PS3/360/Wii generation. Oh, almost forgot to mention EA nixing SimCity 5, this and the fact they got a monopoly on NFL video games, by striking a multi-year deal with the NFL from 2005 to 1-2 years from now were both moves on EA's part that seriously annoyed me a lot.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
