It's Time to Stop Hating on EA

Endsights writes:

"Some people just want to seem like rebels. Whether it's a supposed boycott of a company, or merely hating a company for the sake of hating it (of course the excuse is usually because that said company is "evil"), some people just need to hate something to love… well, something else. The logic doesn't make sense to me either, but it does to those who follow it.

EA is one of those companies. There are people out there that refuse to acknowledge EA as a good publisher. People that hate EA are like the people that hate Britney Spears. They honestly have no good reason to hate her, they just do, and the same thing goes for EA. But honestly, it's time to put an end to all the hatred towards EA."

[dannyhinote_13]

Before anyone comes in and reports or comments that this is redundant--no. The Ripten article that has been posted to N4G is satire and this is not.

[cp68]

A great article written by ripten, if you have some time to kill then make sure to read it.
http://www.ripten.com/2008/...

[incogneato]

Serious or not, this article is ridiculous. I agree that some kiddies are just out to seem rebellious by hating on everything, but companies like EA absolutely deserve the hate. They are greedy, they purposely destroy competition or simply buy it, and they don't care about who they hurt so long as they can make a profit.

It is definitely NOT time to stop hating on EA.

[unamed08]

Exactly what i was about to say.

[ChampIDC]

Yeah, incogneato hit the nail on the head. EA can't make up for years of foul play with a few good games.

[tgh machines]

I think that Activision is now worse then EA for 2 reasons. The first reason is that Acticivision completely over prices GH dlc, its like $2.40 for 1 song as apposed to $1 for EA's Rock Band. Rock Band 2 will also be able to play all the DLC from rockband 1 but GH WT will not be able to play GH III's DLC. The second reason is that EA is charging $30 for Crysis Warhead. Activision also destroys their game brands by letting Neversoft make GH and Trearch make COD.

[BattleAxe]

Battlefield: Bad Company is the latest reason to hate EA. If they don't come out with a patch for this game then I'm done buying their games.

The only game of theirs that I have truely enjoyed over the years is Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf and so I would make an exception for this game as nobody makes a better golf game.

[xSHROOMZx]

EA deserves hate more than Activision, why??? Oh lets see here, they want to charge you REAL money to buy add-ons in games that already can be unlocked by playing, or, !!TRY!! to make you HAVE to buy them in order to get them, what am I talking about? Battlefield:BC, if us users online and on tha web, wouldnt have complained about this, they wouldve made tha game that way.

And buying their competition because they make better games than EA, thats just down right blasphemus!

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS F(_)CK EA!

[ajeben809]

lol

[pharmd]

its time for EA to stop makin sucky games before i stop hating them, see NCAA 09 issues....

gimme something worth my money EA

[Destroyer229]

your 100% right EA needs to up there quality ALOT every FPS game i've gotten from them has has stupid world limits or very little interaction with anything for that matter. EA couldn't care less about the players all they have to do is make a piece of crap they have the nerve to call 'A video game' then sell it to a place like gamestop or best buy then there out of the circle they made all there cash selling it to the retail stores what happens after bestbuy or gamestop they couldnt' care less the discs could be broken and they'd still swim in cash.

[cp68]

DId you guys see how many games they showed at E3? Their lineup was ridiculously huge! All those games will turn out massive failures because they passed through EA's hands.

And once again, i'll post this:
http://orangeboxpetition.co...

Some people gave up, most actually, but others did not and certainly will not. thanks to mike seedon (the dude who started the orange box petition), i will continue fighting. The number of people fighting does not matter, it is the will that does. You just have to keep faith.

[dannyhinote_13]

Because they're big doesn't mean they're not a great publisher. They have some of the greatest games in the industry, but people just talk about every bad game they make.

It's like tearing Ubisoft a new one because they have "Petz" and ignoring No More Heroes, most of the games in their Tom Clancy series, Assassin's Creed, etc.

Every publisher has bad games--no reason to forget about the good because of the bad.

[PwnShop]

Don't blame EA for all the sims crap, blame maxis. EA does have quality original games i mean look at Dead Space, also Valve has a strong partnership with EA which they say that they enjoy and valve is the most honest developer i know.

[cp68]

When a dev is working on a game, the first publisher he'll think of is EA..it's natural i think. But EA does not care at all about the quality of its products, and that is grave. The video game industry today has reached a luxurious state, that's why every penny we spend MUST be worth it.

[brothersimon]

EA Failz

[Razzy]

EA Should make a Brittney Spears game. ;)

[brothersimon]

It might sell some ps3s. :O

[pow3r of t3h c3ll]

we should direct more of our hate towards M$ instead, they are far more evil.

[Baka-akaB]

same tactics imo . EA just is smaller right now , but it could change in a distant or not so distant future . The very moment Ea will see an opportunity to mass produce a console , with benefits and a sizeable share of the market , they'll do it and tear everyone a new one .

[FantasyStar]

Compared to EA, Microsoft & Sony are barely getting into the game of dirty corporate practices. EA's like the town whore that shows every other whore how it's done.

[RebornSpy]

Like half the games that are coming out are published by EA. Of course, that's not to say that all EA games are bad. I personally loved Battlefield: Bad Company, as well as many other EA games.

I have heard, however, of their shady business tactics and tendency to buy out any developer they set their eyes on. I don't necessarily hate EA, but I am certainly fearful of the company's size and behavior.

[LinuxGuru]

If DeadSpace is a really good game, then I will lift my "crap-embargo" on EA.

Battlefield: Bad Company , Burnout Paradise, & Mirror's Edge don't count because they didn't develop them.

[ChampIDC]

Yeah, putting money toward a game that they don't truly internally develop doesn't count in my eyes. Dead Space may lessen my hatred for them if it's a success as well. As far as I'm concerned, if they bought the developer, it's not truly part of EA.

[dcbronco]

Saying a company is a good publisher is totally different from being a good developer. EA sucks as a developer. Anybody with money and the infrastructure can be a good publisher. Good developing takes talent, and the willingness to pay people properly. EA doesn't seem to have that in them. It is strictly about the money. But, something else is bothering me about this whole thing right now. Two articles about EA on the same day? Looks like a certain company is trying to get a little PR spin going. Now I know what Karl Rove is doing these days.

[Baka-akaB]

No its not time , they deserve our scorn , they have been before the 2k thing that fueled the fire .
Even right now they are screwing naive half life fans on ps3...
While i see it as half customers fault for even believing an EA internal studio would port a valve game properly , they still are crooks .

EA is that guys who used to do sports game ... if you hated them you could avoid their sports (and other genres) games , or buy other franchises .
But it sure wasnt enough for their world domination plans , they had to kill any chance of competition in sports games , with only soccer (and ping pong) surviving so far ...
They had to forcefully insert themselves in the lives of those who wanted nothing to do with them , buying every studios and fan favorites they can .

people will mention their future and curent good games ... well great for them of out of a dozen , 2 titles shines .. isnt that why they keep buy known studios anyway ?
Has EA even really positively affected Mirror's Edge developement ? Or Mercenaries 2's one ? Is there even a chance for EA to mess with a bioware game anyway when right now they are so popular ?

Shouldnt credits goes instead to Bioware , Valve , ID , Pandemic , Dice , Westwood , Harmonix for their games , while the "TRUE" EA franchises looks like crap , saves Dead Space ?

Isnt one of the first effect of EA's Dice ownership to have them develop FIVE battlefield games at the same time ?
Isnt Ea one of the first to push pointless and scammy DLC such as weapons and cars , only a step away from the oblivion horse paintjob ?

Wastn it Ea that recently close the Def jam, final Fight studio in chicago , while claiming they are gentle giants and dont slay little devs ?

I find rather odd that we get now weekly propangada about how EA has changed or isnt greedy and evil . THis reek , in a conspiration theory way , a bit of sci fi movies and game corps , telling you on big giant screens how they want our happiness .

Imo , given how big EA has gotten , its impossible to avoid them as a video games fan even if you want . Doesnt mean i have to be happy about it , and happily feed upon their cyclic " we are creative now" they feed us each time they feel the scorn and hatred .

[Pck]

Then I will stop hating you.

[Baka-akaB]

I actually hope they do , or ubi soft ...
At least it will cost them for a while and leave them away from japanese big entities such as namco , Sega or square , wich they are probably eyeing and/or find a bit expensive right now...

[FantasyStar]

That's the day, EA is suppose to officially be able to buy out all of Take Two's stocks. Knowing how our world turns, if EA puts out Take-Two will no longer exist as an independent company.

[StarsCream]

Wow, I actually created an account here just to put a fanboy in his place. /shiver Anywho, on with the show:
First of all, the “hate” for EA iant unfounded, it has a long and sorted history. Granted, at this point, it is passe. I will try to bullet point this so you can easily understand.
-EA lost a settlement for poor work conditions from their employees
-EA has monopolized the NFL licence (blame NFL as well)
-EA has a habbit of buying smaller companies (that were in direct competition) and then disolving them or assimilating them into their larger fold to create less inspired titles
-EA releases yearly sports titles that have the same (sometimes game-breaking) bugs year after year proving they re-release the same product yearly with a new cover
-EA also has a habbit of ditching properties that dont generate excessive profit, Sims online, Earth & Beyond, Motor City Online. All titles that were self-sustaining according to their subscription numbers, but obviously not gushing enough profit to bother with.

The scary part of it all, I used to personal boycott EA, untill every major game I was interested in eventually became a part of the EA empire (Warhammer Online, Rock Band). Hopefully the new president or CEO or whatever that just took over, will change things for the better, but habbits are hard to break.

[cp68]

i can't believe people actually say good stuff regarding EA.

[StarsCream]

"You know what, though, last I checked, China has some pretty bad work conditions too, does that mean everyone should stop buying things that are made in China?"
YES!
Free thinking and morality are human traits that define who we are. I can bet that there are quite a few people that boycott Chinese goods on principle.

"If that small studio isn’t making them enough money, or if that one IP isn’t making them money then they can’t afford to keep making more of it"
The truth of the matter is that these IPs were making enough to sustain themselves, but EA didnt see ENOUGH profit (NOT that there wasnt any). Keeping these franchises going would have made for some happy gamers that were having fun with them, then they would not be afraid to touch another EA property in fear of it dissapearing if it isnt making Billions upon Billions (looking at you Warhammer).

"The same, again, can be said about their sports titles. They sell. They make the company money. If they sell and the company benefits from it, then what’s the problem? You say they have game crashing bugs, but these are problems I haven’t even heard of or seen, and I wouldn’t expect someone who personally boycotted their products to know about them either"
I could give you a boatload of links, but Im sure you know how to work the interwebz. Hint: start with Kotaku for the latest on NCAA09

Also I did indeed blame the NFL for their desicion, but I can bet dollars to doughnuts EA had a heavy persuation on the NFL even thinking about exclusivity.

EA is doing what big companies do; and thats all fine and good for a brokerage firm, or a shoe manufacturer. Big problem here is they have a large chokehold on a very creativity driven industry, and are squeezing the life out of gaming. Need more examples of proof?: Look at the Music industry you aforementioned.

[KingItachi]

The ps3 version of the orange box would like to have a word with him.

[FantasyStar]

So would the PS3 version of Rock Band as well.

[ThanatosDMC]

boycott boycott boycott

[Baka-akaB]

Thats exactly the problem ... many respond in the spur of the moment to simply boycott ea titles if you dont like them ... but with their sport money alone they buy everyone .

The only place without EA are japanese titles , and it wont remain that way ...
Truly boycotting Ea means giving up on video games , or falling into the arms of twins entities such as Activision or ubi soft

[ygxbrayzie]

fock EA they Eat Ass

[andron]

I will have to buy some EA games, because they bought Criterion and are publishing Pandemics Mercenaries 2.

But with the PS3 Orange Box debacle and T2 take over in mind, I don't exactly love that company. The aren't as bad as MS, but they need to improve their ways to win me over...

[Sanhlami]

I have one good reason to hate EA. ORANGE BOX PORT! (one of the worst ports I've seen, they could have delayed it by all means, but they want the money now so they kicked out the door)

[the_RED_SCARE]

This is a stupid post.

EA is not a horrible publisher, true. They do have good titles that come out but what makes EA horrible is their ethic.

What happens when EA buys up it's competitors? It eliminates room for growth and the ability for the gamer to have a choice. Take a look at Football games.

Madden was top of the charts every year and was on top of its game. Every year, Madden came out with a top notch installment of its football franchise. They had games like 989 Sport's NFL Gameday, or 2k Sports' NFL games nipping at their heels which drove them to better their product. Then comes along a little game called NFL 2k5 by 2k Sports. This game was the closest thing EVER to come close to unseatting Madden. So what does EA do? They buy the NFL exclusive Liscence thus eliminating it's competition.

Where did it go from there? While Madden is not a "horrible" game by most standards, it's quality has dipped severely. Now you see Madden released with ridiculous bugs and glitches that should have been caught from day 1. Why, you may ask, does EA release a flawed product? Because they have no worries. They have eliminated their competion which means they can release a severely bugged game because they know there is no competition.

Look at EA's methods. If they see a company that is in their way of domination, they acquire the company to eliminate the threat.

True, EA doesn't release HORRIBLE games, but it is creating a Monopoly that is unfair to all of us.

Do your research before you post something like this. Somebody must be content in their world of EA racing games. EA is turning into a corporate monster, hell-bent on destroying the free gaming world for its own financial gain. Would you want EA to buy up most of the popular companies then monopolize the console market by tring to release their own console just to play their games?

People have a reason to hate Britney Spears. She is a horrible talent taking advantage of over-publicizing just the way most EA games are.

[Qbanboi]

Is the Ps3 version of Orange Box fixed yet? No? Then not, is not time to stop hating on EA

[kornbeaner]

Fvck EA. Buying out dev's and exclusives rights to certain licenses to widdle the competition is the main reason I hate EA. They have bought the NFL and certain NCAA license and have done nothing with those licenses except minor improvements while still charging the consumer $60.

In the last 3 years EA has done nothing but buy Dev's and ruin franchises. The only games that I will give them credit for is Skate, Burnout:paradise, fight night:round 3, and Spore (but mainly because of Will Wright). thats it, 4 games in 3 years, but considering they put out like 8-12 titles a year on average the good to crap game ratio is awful.

If EA wants to earn me back as a loyal consumer heres a list of what can be done.

1. Stop nickel and diming me over trivial in-game content that should already be in the game or be given away for free as a thank you to the consumers. (like cars for need for speed)

2. Do something with the exclusive licenses you have. Ever since the deal with the NFL and NCAA went through I have not bought any of your sports title (mainly football) because they are no different now then they were back in '04. So why spend money on the same title for the last 4 years. you lack of creativity with the licenses has led to a lack of my wallet opening for you products.

3. Stop with your takeovers and buy outs. We all know you have money and lots of it. let it be. Why spend money on buying out T2 when that money can be used on develop new IP's. I rather EA take a chance and somewhat succeed with a new IP (like Dead Space) then be massively successful with a new GTA (and then taking out your main sports competition in the process).

those are my main gripes and thats what has me wanting EA to fail huge. Maybe I'm a little bitter but I despise gaming companies that make it no secret that Money is bigger then the games themselves and nobody (at least to me) makes that more apparent than EA.

[lwsbrck]

I like the britney analogy, I hate britney because her music is bollocks, I hate EA cause their games are bollocks.

[Rhezin]

I've already preordered Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, and Call of Duty World at War. World at war is suppose to look even MORE detailed than modern warfare.

[PirateThom]

What does EA have to do with Call of Duty?

[hotrider12]

buy is "need for speed" since hot pursuit2 and underground nfs has been going down hill. if my favorite racing game sucks now I can imagine
madden and others might suck too.

[shikwan]

I don't care if the game isn't dev'd by EA. If EA slaps their logo on it, I don't buy it.

BTW It intrigues me how PS3 boys hate on MS for some of the same reasons, if not similar...yet turn the other cheek when it comes to EA.

I don't understand how people buy the same sports games for $60 EACH YEAR when the major changes are mostly roster or uniforms. And those that buy the Nascar series EACH YEAR...should be shot.

[Baka-akaB]

with so many complains about ea botching past ps3 sports games and orange box , how can you seriously claims PS3 fans turned the other cheek ?

as for the whole release the same sports games every year , i dont mind . They should have included the usual edit your players and database from the very beginning of those franchise , however even with those , sport fans just dont want to spend days editing stuff each season ... and they are a bit "graphic whores" .

And that's ok , it would just be normal and perfect if Ea didnt set out to be the only game developper for each given sport . except nintendo for pure arcade stuff (wich i prefer anyway) .

At last , its fine and dandy to claims refusing buying EA stuff , but it only works until they buy your favorite dev , continue their games and slaps their logo . I doubt you'd push the ethics that far ... we play games for fun , not to make some point .

[shikwan]

" its fine and dandy to claims refusing buying EA stuff , but it only works until they buy your favorite dev , continue their games and slaps their logo . I doubt you'd push the ethics that far ... we play games for fun , not to make some point . "

That's why EA has gotten stronger to the point of threating to buy out even not-so-small dev companies like Ubisoft.

I have one EA game; Fight Night 3. That's because I'm an avid boxing fan...and they didn't have competiion (at the time). Prizefighter flat out stinks.

The only way I'd buy anything with EA on it is if they bought out my favorite beer company & slapped their logo on the can.

[n00bzRtehgey]

Just read their Jobs section on their website. They openly brag about not requiring ANY experience for them to hire you. They even have on-site training for all the n00bs they hire. Explains quite a bit about their games.

They are like a big corporation outsourcing cheap labor, but locally, and it shows. They hire the dumbest, most uneducated people just breaking into the industry, and they can pay them CHEAP because of it.

[kesvalk]

in fact the games OF EA are bad implemented, my PC run Doom3, HL2 and FarCry at 60 FPS but can't run Battlefiled 1 (i said 1!) with more than 4 bots...

the only part of EA that have a little better implementation is Maxis, the rest is crap, i will not even talk about NFSP or will get drepressed...

[Stretchystrong]

I think the author fails to realize games published by a company don't count as that company's game. Smaller developers just need a publisher to get the game out there and absorb some of the cost. Also, most of the IPs and game developers the author mentions, EA bought them because the bad reputation for lack of innovation and creativity.

[Dark General]

For every Madden and Burnout we usually get a Mirrors Edge or Black.

[111111]

i think i played almost every EA title since the old megadrive days.
Never liked any of their games really. Everything they offer is too generic aimed at making fast money. Well with this hate thing, keep in mind EA is only the publisher in most cases. But i wouldnt miss them if they would be gone. They seem like the MacDonalds of videogaming.
But hey, no one forces u to go to macD :)

[hadouken007]

tell EA stop hatin on ps3,and every game we get is just trash/sh!t,if ps3 hardware's to hard to make a game on, then do make a game for it. so i say lick my gooch EA.....there i said it.rat basturds should get shived in the kidneys.

[Asurastrike]

The Orange Box on PS3 is a piece of crap. Madden 09 (the new one) is riddled with bugs. No, it's not time to start hating EA.

Btw, games published by them don't count.

[mistertwoturbo]

You've already played Madden '09!?!?

[Percy]

I don't know why this author assumes that anyone will care ea is just trying to make money. Its like ea is his slutty Prostitute mother and he is leaping to her defense. Why shouldn't we be able to dislike a company that doesn't cater to our taste. There are lots of comapanies out there that do. ea releases games like team fortress on the ps3 that are barely even playable and then wont even patch it so people can play. Monopoly is a fun board game but not so much fun in real life.

[Ps3Fanboy777]

I thinnk we should step up the hate if those glitches are true.. Think im going to hold off on madden this year until i hear from gamers.. Not dealing with another year of glitches..

In Madden 08, onside kick every kick off, pick the patriots, send randy moss deep, you'll win every game. Its so annoying.

[rob6021]

It's all about profits and appeasing rich shareholders to them - all about the money. They are actively trying to buy/bribe new assets to the company instead of creating them themselves.

They're far out of touch with what the average consumer wants, and both depend on monopolies to sell most of their products.