140°

SimCity: If You Don't Like it, Don't Buy It

Is Electronic Arts Inc. wrong to implement such a DRM strategy on a game that they are releasing solely on PC? GamingExcellence's Michael Joly honestly doesn’t think so. Re-read the previous line and you’ll see one thing, the organization is called Electronic Arts Inc. They are a company. A capitalist company based in a free country, and they exist to try and make money.

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gamingexcellence.com
masteroftheclaw4058d ago

Ha, LOGIC on N4G?

Seriously though, nice post.

Derekvinyard134058d ago

Is this guy kidding? IT DOESN'T WORK!!! You cannot justify a product that doesn't work when you are promised it will work, go test drive a car that' works and when u get it it's a lemon!

Hydrolex4058d ago

if you don't like it don't buy it

HOW FREAKING STUPID is that ?????????

You have to buy the game to see if you like it or not.... It's not like everyone had a demo of the game

DudeJets4057d ago

Works fine... So long as your not in the states

dedicatedtogamers4058d ago

DRM is one thing. DRM that makes a game - even a legitimately bought copy - unplayable is another thing entirely. It isnt like someone could look at the game box, or online description and say "Oh, it says right here th game DRM may render SimCity completely unplayable. I guess I'll pass"

mirumu4057d ago

Actually that is exactly what I thought when I saw that the new SimCity was going to have always online DRM. There are always problems. The only difference this time is that it failed worse than usual, and unlike Ubisoft's titles, it was a game people actually wanted to play.

2pacalypsenow4058d ago

what about the people who bought it and cant return it cuz it doesnt work...

DFAlpha4058d ago (Edited 4058d ago )

I think the point is that it WILL work, and EA is giving away additional games as a "sorry we screwed this up, give us some time to make it right".

Many-hat54058d ago ShowReplies(1)
ApolloTheBoss4058d ago (Edited 4058d ago )

I'll admit that he made some good points when it comes to EA wanting to protect their product from piracy. If you were a seller of software wouldn't you want to do the same thing? But here's interesting question for this guy: How would I know that I wouldn't like a product, AFTER I had a payed a full $60 for something I ASSUMED would be good thing to buy? This is on EA, not the customers. They should have been prepared for a large number of people wanting to play the game, and now their paying for it. It makes absolutely no sense that this happened. If I pay for a game it should ready to play it out of the box, not when they tell me it's ready. If you want a refund then DEMAND it. It is your absolute right as a customer to get your money back if you're not satisfied with a product. I really hope they get sued by somebody for this. They treated their customers like this for too long and it's high time they got theirs.

DFAlpha4058d ago

I'd say the biggest mistake EA made here wasn't that of SimCity, it's not offering full refunds to anyone and everyone that wanted it, digital or otherwise.

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220°

EA Hopes to Use Generative AI to Drive Monetization and Make Development 30% More Efficient

Today Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson provided a look into his ideas for the use of generative AI in the company's development processes.

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techraptor.net
thorstein43d ago

I wonder what the next buzz word they'll slap in front of AI to make it sound exciting next? "Generative" as if it's creating its own content. Lol.

Cacabunga43d ago

EA is already dying a painful death..

peppeaccardo42d ago

i have a better idea .. why the whole exec team doesn't get replaced by chat bots ?

just_looken43d ago

Though i agree the ai thing is already in other forms of media there have been ai translations/scripts/voice over and even full ai commercials aired on tv. Ubisoft has created a ai game creator story/vo/music except the building of the game

The new unreal engine has auto terrain creation tools

In the world of greed in which it is winning without any major blow back ai is our future.

everyone want's biden dead on the mic or a criminal instead of a woman and now we are getting ai everything because no one will stop watching/playing ai created media.

GamerRN43d ago

Maybe they should just focus on making good games?

Just a thought...

Kiryu199242d ago

Exactly EA are just pure evil. When they are beating Bank of America to be voted the worst company to work for that’s saying a lot

Good thing I don’t buy their games day one and wait for deep deep sale years after launch (the select few games I am actually interested in)

Gaming is making so much money yet the greed of these companies is never ending

CEO’s and people on board making millions yet cutting jobs to those who are actually making the products

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 42d ago
Knightofelemia43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

EA is still a shady shitty company even with or without the help of Skynet. All they will use AI for is new ways to milk loot boxes and come up with the same sports title with a different year on the label. They are one company I truly do hate with a passion. They single handedly ruined some great franchise with their death touch. ME, Dead Space, Alice Returns, Dante's Inferno.

Stuart575643d ago

EA layoffs followed by 'Generative AI to Drive Monetization'

I knew it. Wonder what AI salary looks like? Nothing.

ChasterMies43d ago

I having a feeling that most of the layoffs in the industry are based on the idea that AI will do the same job for less.

DarXyde42d ago

Very likely, yes.

Made worse by the fact that the execs aren't changing their compensations.

My deepest fear at this point is that we are now in the capitalism endgame.

At this point, we really should just burn AI to the ground. Executives cannot be trusted to do the right thing.
How are those people expected to support families if everything gets automated?

Barlos43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

And take away creativity, and people's jobs as we've been seeing. Got it.

No thanks. I want my games created by people, not AI.

CobraKai43d ago

Exactly. If or when games start becoming more AI than people, im done with gaming. AI and companies like EA can suck donkey d***k.

just_looken43d ago

Though i agree remember this is no ps3/360 era were we got up to 3 games in one generation from on developer like gears/halo/bioware/sony/ms

The people today are pro esg/sweet baby for the most part AAA gaming is imploding right now.

We should be stepping back re evaluate everything as a whole this year xmen 97 written/directed by a woman that is nuts and its also being made by a group reshaping bodies to be less sexual like wtf. A dam famous cartoon from the 90's is being rebuilt with millions spent to be worse in everyway.

Gaming/movies/tv shows made today are worse than what we had 7years ago ai won't change this but that ai is also being made by these groups so either way we are screwed.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Eonjay42d ago

Don't be of afraid of women. Sexy characters in games and movies still exist. Got my Stellar Blade on preorder!!! Everything all the time doesn't need to be sexual...that's stupid, childish and dull.

Chocoburger43d ago (Edited 43d ago )

EA doesn't want to lose their title of worst gaming company ever, always trying their best to remain the champs!
What's sad is that they have so much potential to be a decent publisher.

SSX Tricky / SSX 3
Def Jam Vendetta / Fight for New York
NBA Street
NFL Steet
Mirror's Edge
Bad Company
Burnout 3 / 4 / 5

Remember when EA used to be awesome? It's all over with now. Unpolished, if not out-right broken games these days. Endless monetization and gambling in their sports games, and let's not forget wasting hours of your life trying to unlock characters or equipment using "surprise boxes!"

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80°

EA And Sony Layoffs, Entertainment News And More Skewedcast

Gareth, Justin, and JoeyZ look at Layoff news for EA and Sony and reasons behind the downturn in the industry and more.

220°

EA - Continuing to evolve our business and teams

EA CEO Andrew Wilson writes: "In this time of change, we expect these decisions to impact approximately 5 percent of our workforce. I understand this will create uncertainty and be challenging for many who have worked with such dedication and passion and have made important contributions to our company. While not every team will be impacted, this is the hardest part of these changes, and we have deeply considered every option to try and limit impacts to our teams. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect. Communicating these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter."

LG_Fox_Brazil50d ago

All the big ones doing the same stuff. Terrible. I just hope that all these people are able to get a new job as soon as possible, God know that it is horrible to be left jobless when you have your kids or your parents depending on your financial help

Jin_Sakai50d ago (Edited 50d ago )

2024 so far.

Feb ’28 Electronic Arts (EA) 670 (5%)
Feb ’24 PlayStation 900 (8%)
Feb ’24 Vice Media Group Several hundred
Feb ’24 Buzzfeed 16%
Feb ’24 NowThis 26 (50%)
Feb ’24 Paramount Global 800 (3%)
Feb ’24 SiriusXM 160 (3%)
Feb ’24 Snapchat 10%
Jan ’24 TechCrunch 8 + subscription product
Jan ’24 U.K.’s Channel 4 200
Jan ’24 Business Insider 8%
Jan ’24 Microsoft Gaming 1,900
Jan ’24 Riot Games 530
Jan ’24 Sports Illustrated Possibly all
Jan ’24 YouTube 100
Jan ’24 Pitchfork (Conde Nast) Undisclosed
Jan ’24 Universal Music Group Hundreds
Jan ’24 Discord 17%
Jan ’24 NBC News 50-100
Jan ’24 Audible 5%
Jan ’24 Google Hundreds
Jan ’24 Amazon Hundreds
Jan ’24 Duolingo 10%
Jan ’24 VideoAmp 20%

DATA AS OF FEB. 28, 2024

outsider162450d ago

Is it possible maybe this whole ai thing is in play?

just_looken50d ago

Another long list that skips over UPS cutting 12,000 jobs those workers as we know work without ac low pay and old box trucks but that company had to cut 12k jobs do too loosing billions of dollars year 2 year.

https://edition.cnn.com/202...

The greed and lack of transparency/oversight is disgusting.

Ups are still making bang but not enough for a golden boat fleet.

Remember we all use ups at some time even stuff in our stores this is going to be a huge issue gong forward i know in my area they removed half the state ups stores northern half least population got some 3rd party running packages now from minivans.

Sonic188150d ago

When I explan this I get called a troll 🤔 like wtf

thorstein50d ago

@just_looken

UPS is a different story altogether.

They are paying the people doing the actual work/ earning the money more and eliminating management.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 50d ago
CrimsonWing6950d ago (Edited 50d ago )

You do realize around this time this happens all throughout many industries (not just the game industry), right? It has to do with taxes for these major companies, like tax subsidies for downsizing. You want to know a little secret? Around May or so you’ll see a spike in hiring…

It blows my mind that people are oblivious to corporate workings.

Andrew33650d ago

So over 25 huge companies cut jobs every year like this and it only got noticed this time?

CrimsonWing6950d ago (Edited 50d ago )

@Andrew336

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Google it up if you’re uninformed of how corporations work. Only gamers seem to live in a bubble and when they see things like crunch, acquisitions, and lay-offs they act like this is the only industry it happens to and how shocked they are about it.

Welcome to the real world, kid.

thorstein50d ago (Edited 50d ago )

EA CEO Wilson's total compensation was 20 million. Let's take away 19 million (I'm sure he can survive on 1 million.... somehow).

1 million is the salary of an in the chair developer @100,000 for 10 years.

He could earn 1 million a year.

And save the jobs of 15 in the chair devs for A DECADE (plus benefits) with ONE YEAR'S compensation.

RhinoGamer8850d ago

No Executive accountability or firings I see...

just_looken50d ago

Do not worry they will take over 40mill say sorry then get hired by playstation or xbox

blackblades49d ago

I heard Japan does it better, they do layoffs like what's happening with companies in the west. The higher ups also being agreeing to to lower there own salary. These MFs like jim and Phil isnt gonna do that they want that $

Sonic188150d ago

Like I said earlier, this is happening all around the gaming industry.

Petebloodyonion50d ago

The point I feel is problematic about all of this is that focusing on Owned Ip means more sequels, remasters and more of what was selling last year.

TheColbertinator50d ago

EA is certainly among the worst,if not the worst

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