A Note to Electronic Arts
Dear Electronic Arts;
Hey, longtime fan here; always loved the Madden and Need for Speed franchises. Lately, though, you seem less like the popular kid we all want to be like in and more like the whiny brat who has to have all the toys and keeps screaming; “LOOK AT ME!!”
I have three examples for you. Let’s examine the Dana White conundrum. The man approached you about doing a game based on Mixed Martial Arts, which is emerging as a popular sport. ‘No’ would’ve been a more dignifying response, but you wouldn’t even take a meeting with the man. You told him that Mixed Martial Arts “disgusted you”. You also told him that Mixed Martial Arts “wasn’t a real sport”, you “wouldn’t touch this thing” and you wanted “nothing to do with it.”
Okay, not quite how I would’ve gone about it, but everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But then, eighteen months later, you have the audacity to reveal your own MMA title for the 360?
That’s cold. But most single mistakes can be forgiven.
I have more.
Let’s take a look at (ugh) Dante’s Inferno. Did you do everything under the sun to hype this game, or what? Let’s be straight. It’s not a bad game, but you went straight to the Cliff Bleszinski playbook for this one. This is God of War on the 360. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that if God of War had never been made, we never would’ve received Dante’s Inferno.
The game has not opened to rave reviews. It turns out that not all the hired protesters and an animated adaptation are not enough to distract players from the truth; you ripped off God of War. The game is just barely good enough to keep us from going up in arms. Oh, and the animated film isn’t so hot, either.
My last example hit close to home, and I strongly hope you reconsider what you’re about to do.
So now you’re going to start charging us what everyone else releases for free?
Granted, there are valid arguments as to why you’re doing this, but I think you’re overlooking one vital thing; you’re developing expensive, luxury items as the country attempts to emerge from its harshest economic depression in decades.
Being of the mentality that video games should be accessible to everyone, not just the top twenty-five percent, the idea of paying up to fifteen dollars for demos—even extended demos—seems like milking the cow to death. I know things have been rough for you these past few years—join the club. But you’re not hurting for money. This is an unnecessary, selfish move. If you really wanted to boost your customer base, and show them that you give a damn as to how they spend their hard-earned money, why not give these extensive demos for free, on the condition that the consumer gives feedback? No one goes broke and you get free beta testers. Everyone wins.
Sadly, a lot of people will continue to support your practices. A lot of people may even buy into this PDLC crap. You don’t get to where you are without knowing how to survive.
I, however, will not, and I will encourage others to save their money for the full version of your titles and hope that they’re worth the wait. I also hope that you think long and hard on your future releases, realize that there are many viable options for games before you shut someone out, and rely on the quality of a game, rather than a pointless media blitz, to help it sell.
Then we’ll all be happy.
Thank you for reading.
Sincerely,
Avery K. Tingle
Gamer
(c) Avery K. Tingle for Akting Out LLC
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
