41–50 of 204 posts
I was just thinking today about how cool a modern open world version of SimAnt would be. Oh well. Edit: Someone posted a link to this but then it got deleted: http://www.formicarium.org/
Wow, haven't thought about SimAnt in a long time. Loved that game, thanks. And SimTower too.
Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Maxis.... EA's strategy seems to be "Buy studio, make them shovel a couple incomplete games out of the door, close studio, repeat." Okay, they're asshats. What I don't get is, how does this make them any money? They're basically strip-mining the games industry, is this really more profitable than actually making good games?
EA has at least one other strategy, with EA Sports: every year they come out with a new and improved Football, Basketball, Hockey, Golf, etc. and people get it. Madden NFL has been going since 1988. To be fair, EA Sports did discontinue some of their less popular games, such as Rugby and Cricket.
I was just thinking today about how cool a modern open world version of SimAnt would be. Oh well. Edit: Someone posted a link to this but then it got deleted: http://www.formicarium.org/
Wow, haven't thought about SimAnt in a long time. Loved that game, thanks. And SimTower too.
This is just my opinion, though semi-backed by conversations I've had with people who work at EA. EA Gameplan in a nutshell. 1) Force studio to make changes to a game that benefit the EA but have no tangible (or very little) benefit to the customers (Forcing use of Origin, Sims being online only, etc..) 2) Act surprised when the proverbial shit hits the fan with angry customers. 3) Let said customers know that "you'r…
I wonder if DICE came to the negotiation table more prepared and/or with something up their sleeve. It could be that EA is hands off so long as a studio produces highly profitable titles. As soon as there's a dip, snip snip.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hope that is EA's strategy, as it will end them. The overhead of entering the games industry is cheaper than ever, and as a result we are seeing more and more independent game developers successfully penetrating the market.
EA has been around for 30 years though, so whatever they are doing, it works - what I don't understand is why does it work.
Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Maxis.... EA's strategy seems to be "Buy studio, make them shovel a couple incomplete games out of the door, close studio, repeat." Okay, they're asshats. What I don't get is, how does this make them any money? They're basically strip-mining the games industry, is this really more profitable than actually making good games?
I think that is the point - it isn't making them money! When you think of the brand "Maxis", what do you think? Either the Sims or Sim City. But the brand EA is a far more recognisable (and valuable). Like it or not, EA buys a company, milks it for what its worth, then kill it off.
Westwood, Origin, Bullfrog, Maxis.... EA's strategy seems to be "Buy studio, make them shovel a couple incomplete games out of the door, close studio, repeat." Okay, they're asshats. What I don't get is, how does this make them any money? They're basically strip-mining the games industry, is this really more profitable than actually making good games?
As a strategy, it's better than being profitable: it's predictable. The forecasts for the upcoming financial quarters are much more likely to be accurate when you only work with known IP. The CEO is more beholden to analysts and stockholders than to customers. He has more to lose by failing expectations than he has to gain by exceeding expectations. Therefore, EA adopts a strategy that minimizes variance rather than…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
EA has been around for 30 years though, so whatever they are doing, it works - what I don't understand is why does it work.
EA survive off of Madden and FIFA licenses. They don't have to spend that much money on improving the game year after year, but millions of people purchase them almost religiously.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that is the point - it isn't making them money! When you think of the brand "Maxis", what do you think? Either the Sims or Sim City. But the brand EA is a far more recognisable (and valuable). Like it or not, EA buys a company, milks it for what its worth, then kill it off.
I doubt the EA name will continue to be valuable. I've already learned not to buy any EA games as it'll be garbage. I have no doubt that the average consumer will start to see that soon.