EA buys everything.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:16 am

So you've got the NFL license but then get knocked back attempting to bag the NBA license, and you just happen to be the largest games publisher in the world - what do you do? Run out and poach another sports license!

The Arena Football League and Electronic Arts have entered into an exclusive agreement to produce an AFL video game in time for the start of the 2006 AFL season that also allows EA to share in the proceeds of future expansion team sales. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Once again, we are partnering with an industry leader who believes in the AFL philosophy and its growth potential. To the extent that EA helps grow the AFL, they participate in that growth through the increased value of future expansion teams," said Commissioner David Baker. "EA is the videogame industry's gold standard. Arguably, nothing is more important to reach the younger male demographic that we are so strong in than video games. For our core fan, this is akin to a network-television agreement."

Over the next four years and beginning with the 2005 AFL season, EA will partner with the AFL on media and retail marketing, and produce AFL games, the first to be available to consumers at the start of the 2006 AFL season.

EA Games: Buy Everything!

This is getting a bit to much. Pretty soon we will have only 2 major companies who own everything and the games will all SUCK!

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:19 am

Sounds like it is about time for Microsoft to buy EA.

Gooberman · Post by **Gooberman** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:21 am

Madden is my least favorite of the three, but I don't really get into sports games in general.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:39 am

Krom wrote:Sounds like it is about time for Microsoft to buy EA.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Top Gun · Post by **Top Gun** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 1:47 pm

CDN_Merlin wrote:
Krom wrote:Sounds like it is about time for Microsoft to buy EA.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Actually, that might be an improvement, the way EA is going.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:10 pm

So that I can get X10 popups in The Sims 3? No thank you...

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:16 pm

What's the prob with EA? I have played Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Vietnam, Medal of Honor Allied Assault, and they were MOST EXCELLENT games.

Game Developer mag just did a post mortem on The Sims and they had good comments about the company and the game.

Every time I hear about EA on this BBS I hear gripes about how they suck but nobody has ever posted any real reason as far as I know. Clue me in guys ... what is the prob with EA?

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:28 pm

I read that article, Ice. (In fact I just spilled milk on it and had to throw out my copy.) That's Maxis, which up until recently (when they moved to Redwood Shores) functioned pretty independently. EA is a bunch of coroporate motherf*ckers who screw over their employees at every chance they get.

Vander · Post by **Vander** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 3:33 pm

Each year I would rent both Madden and NFL2kX and decide which one to buy. For 3 years straight it was the NFL2kX game. Even better was the fact that NFL2k5 was only $20 last year as opposed to $50 for Madden.

I will not buy Madden next year.

Iceman · Post by **Iceman** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 4:14 pm

I am beginning to understand ... Google [screwed employees "ea games"] led me to this article posted by an EA Games Employee's spouse.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/

A good and enlightening read ... particularly the last paragraph :

If I could get EA CEO Larry Probst on the phone, there are a few things I would ask him. "What's your salary?" would be merely a point of curiosity. The main thing I want to know is, Larry: you do realize what you're doing to your people, right? And you do realize that they ARE people, with physical limits, emotional lives, and families, right? Voices and talents and senses of humor and all that? That when you keep our husbands and wives and children in the office for ninety hours a week, sending them home exhausted and numb and frustrated with their lives, it's not just them you're hurting, but everyone around them, everyone who loves them? When you make your profit calculations and your cost analyses, you know that a great measure of that cost is being paid in raw human dignity, right?

Right?

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 5:25 pm

Games like BF1942 and The Sims are the exceptions. The other games that don't sell millions are left unpatched and unsupported.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:06 pm

http://www.easucks.com

Zoop! · Post by **Zoop!** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:27 pm

Personally I'd try an arena football video game. It might be interesting....

Darktalyn1 · Post by **Darktalyn1** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:47 pm

Well on a somewhat related note... I found out I'll be working on Madden 2007; if you buy it look for my name in the credits under Character Modeler

TheCops · Post by **TheCops** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:54 pm

Darktalyn1 wrote:Well on a somewhat related note... I found out I'll be working on Madden 2007; if you buy it look for my name in the credits under Character Modeler

if you get to model randy moss... make sure he pulls his pants down.

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:06 pm

And butt-rubs the goal post.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:25 pm

Top Gun wrote:
CDN_Merlin wrote:
Krom wrote:Sounds like it is about time for Microsoft to buy EA.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Actually, that might be an improvement, the way EA is going.

Yeah, atleast MS doesn't screw over their employees at every possible inopportune time.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:59 pm

Darktalyn1 wrote:Well on a somewhat related note... I found out I'll be working on Madden 2007; if you buy it look for my name in the credits under Character Modeler

NDA?

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:02 pm

It doesn't matter...he isn't telling us anything about the game just that he's working on it.

I thought Madden 2005 kicked ass this year...all the playmaker controls add a lot of depth and online play is almost flawless...just a couple bugs that people exploit but other than that its awesome.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:19 pm

I'm actually a little surprised to learn EA still publishes anything but sports games.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:22 pm

Well, to bad I won't be playing Madden 2007 DT, but thats great.

kurupt · Post by **kurupt** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:23 pm

AFL? that sounds like a badass game

roid · Post by **roid** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:51 am

Gooberman wrote:Madden is my least favorite of the three, but I don't really get into sports games in general.

could this be because EA makes most of them?

Gooberman · Post by **Gooberman** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:25 am

No, even back on nintendo I remember being bored as hell with "RBI baseball" while playing it w/ my friends. I'd rather be playing basketball/baseball/football in RL.

fliptw · Post by **fliptw** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:26 am

EA is also eating up the competition

kurupt · Post by **kurupt** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:39 am

man, stop crying. sega sports cut their own throat when they released their games at $19.99. you cant undercut a giant like EA and expect to live through it. the future maddens will still be good, because they want our money every year. if the new madden sucks, people will play the old one. they dont need competition, and i use the term loosely, from sega in sports games to push them to make better games. greed pushes them plenty.

if you wanna be a hippy and not buy ea titles based on principle, then have fun playing the crap that didnt come from MS or EA. because besides a very limited number of exceptions, thats just what it is, crap.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 2:46 am

So in esssence Kurrupt, you support EA's nintey hour work week?

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 5:24 pm

Ok, I will.

Inari · Post by **Inari** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:27 pm

EA grab up Ubisoft? That would be an absolute crying shame.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 6:37 pm

Most of the stuff that comes from EA is crap also, from this bigot's point of view...

Honestly, there are the 'yeah, okay' games like car racing games and... well, a few others I can't think of at the moment - and then there are the 'dude, get off your fat ass and do it yourself' games like snowboarding, skateboarding, baseball, football and 90% of the other sports games that come out. Wouldn't be surprised if they have synchronised swimming and beach volleyball games these days...

Inari · Post by **Inari** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:16 pm

Sirius wrote:Wouldn't be surprised if they have synchronised swimming and beach volleyball games these days...

Actually, they do have beach volleyball games now.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/dea ... eview.html

Pathetic if you ask me.

Avder · Post by **Avder** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:32 pm

Eh...my opinion of them is on the low end of the acceptable scale. I'd like it if they'd update some of their old windows 9x games to run better (or at all) on 2k/xp, but whatever.

Also, getting exclusive deals with the NFL and AFL sucks for competition and will lead to crappier games.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:03 pm

Avder wrote:Eh...my opinion of them is on the low end of the acceptable scale. I'd like it if they'd update some of their old windows 9x games to run better (or at all) on 2k/xp, but whatever.

Also, getting exclusive deals with the NFL and AFL sucks for competition and will lead to crappier games.

Last sentence takes the words right out of my mouth. When Sony got rights for everything F1, all F1 games will suck and will be on console only.

I'm just waiting for GTR Racing to come to the US, but EA already has there hands in this one as world wide publisher but that will change with GTR 2 I'm sure. Then we'll see how a great game will become crap.

kurupt · Post by **kurupt** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:24 pm

i dont care what they make their employees do outside of ensuring that they make quality games. i odnt work there, i dont care about their work week. if the people who work for EA dont wanna work an EA work week, they should go work for someone else.

nothing to date can compete with battlefield, madden, nba live, mvp baseball, the sims franchise, ssx, medal of honor, tiger woods, nascar, etc in their respective genres. they make the best games, and the sales back that up.

i dont see madden being affected by a lack of competition as a result of the deal with the NFL. like i said, greed pushes them to make a quality game way more than sega or 989 sports ever did. they want our money above all else, and they'll make a game that will warrant the consumer dropping 50 bucks on it. the $20 pricetag for espn was a desperate attempt at stealing some of EA sports' piece of the pie, and it backfired horribly. now there's less pie for sega sports. EA used the money it EARNED from its madden franchise to get the NFL deal, so whats so wrong with it? its not like it stole sega sports' game and labeled it their own, and then kept all the profits.

besides, back when EA started madden it wasnt allowed to use players names or anything like that. it did just fine without that. now sega is in the same boat, i dont see why sega cant do the same if the game really is good.

the only valid qualm anyone can have without just being a crybaby, i hate america i hate the yankees i hate microsoft blah blah blah whiny ★■◆●, is that now EA has room to raise madden's price. the next one might cost 59.99 or 69.99. we'll have to wait and see if that happens or not.

Tyranny · Post by **Tyranny** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 11:16 pm

Clicky

Where have you been now nearly a month later? Like I stated in the last thread, who cares? You can blame EA as much as you want but the NFL is just as responsible as they are. Besides, for those of you who play Football video games using official NFL rosters, what other games are YOU buying and who makes them?

Sega's new ESPN line just came into the video game picture a couple years ago and EA's Madden series has been the leader in Football games for years. It's sales and popularity are unprecedented as far as sports games are concerned. Some of 989's sports games have been a joke sans their Baseball games and even they don't compete with MVP Baseball.

So, in the long run whats the big deal? Nobody else seems to be making Football games that represent the NFL as well as the Madden series has, which is one of the reasons I would imagine the NFL would even consider doing something like this. That and other factors that kur mentioned above.

All this might do is allow EA to make absolute crap because they don't have to worry about any competition. We'll just have to see about that but so far they've got nothing to worry about. Neither should you.

On another note I feel ESPNBasketball2K4 is a better basketball game then NBA Live, but I still like both. You guys are basing your opinions off of what a company does internally and or on it's PC games? EA has always dedicated a lot of their resources to console gaming. If you're buying something of EA's for the PC you might be running a risk. Personally every EA PC title I own runs flawlessly.

My sister had problems with Sims2 but I helped her fix it. Just needed to re-install DirectX9.0c. As far as a lot of the other games go, I have 15 games from EA, 6 PC, 9 PS2, and nearly every single one of them don't really have any competitors by other game manufacturers for games of the same type.

This doesn't mean that no other company can't make a better game, this just means that so far....they haven't. As far as the NFL is concerned, this also means no one else can.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:02 am

wow. i never thought i'd see the day where you didn't give a shiz about people kur, considering what you deal with.

Lothar · Post by **Lothar** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:07 am

Fern, he's not saying he doesn't give a shiz about people, he's just pointing out that the people have a choice whether or not to be there. Employer treats you like crap? Leave. If you're worth more to someone else, you can get a job with someone else.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 5:24 am

Problem is the gaming industry isn't exactly open to such moves. You're lucky enough to find a job in the field in the first place.

Tyranny · Post by **Tyranny** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:29 am

The point is if you're good enough to land a job in the industry in the first place, especially with some of the larger game companies, you're talents are such that it shouldn't be too difficult to find opportunities with most of the other companies.

I'm very interested to see what people like Darktalyn1 can do with games that are staples of the sporting industry. His character renderings are second to none IMO.

[]V[]essenjah · Post by **[]V[]essenjah** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 9:07 am

Yep, it was also stated in that article that it is very difficult to just find another job in game design.

90 hr weeks, 7 days a week, 10 a.m. to 9 P.M.

No overtime
No time compensation
No sick time
No vacation time
No time off

For someone interested in game design, their frustration with EA is understandable. I may quit supporting EA games and tell some of my buddies who buy thier games by the boat load to quit buying their crap.