EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis • Hacker News Board

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#61

Post by AndyKelley » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:04 AM UTC

m_mueller wrote: post #48

lmkg wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This is pretty much how a deadly virus works, right? Infect a particular game brand (cell) by buying (infecting) it, generate enough new copies of the virus (selling the game), then destroy it and release the virus onto the next cells. If the analogy is correct, the game market will either die, find a cure and eject EA or EA adapts and finds a way to coexist such as not to kill the host cells anymore.

this is nonsense

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#62

Post by mmastrac » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:07 AM UTC

saganus wrote: post #26

calcsam wrote: post #9

Wow, an icon of my childhood gone. If you're an affected developer, shoot me an email & I'll be happy to put you in our pipeline.

Icon is the correct term. SimCity had one of the earliest form of DRM I remember. The almost-impossible to Xerox manual (highly reflective paper so photocopies would come black) was used to answer a question the game asked you, about the population of a specific city on a certain page of the manual. Loosing the manual was not an option. Farewell Maxis.

Wasn't it a black on dark maroon list of city populations? It's been a while, but that's what I remember.

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#63

Post by spiritplumber » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:08 AM UTC

m_mueller wrote: post #48

lmkg wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This is pretty much how a deadly virus works, right? Infect a particular game brand (cell) by buying (infecting) it, generate enough new copies of the virus (selling the game), then destroy it and release the virus onto the next cells. If the analogy is correct, the game market will either die, find a cure and eject EA or EA adapts and finds a way to coexist such as not to kill the host cells anymore.

Yeah, you nailed it.

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#64

Post by kingmanaz » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:09 AM UTC

jerf wrote: post #7

As far as I'm concerned, the time to mourn is upon the acquisition by EA. On that day, the studio is already dead to me. By the inevitable day the name has finally had all "value" squeezed out of it by the corporate behemoth that is now EA, I have long since done my mourning. signed still bitter about Ultima 8 & 9

>As far as I'm concerned, the time to mourn is upon the acquisition by EA.

Warning: Possible Spoilers Ahead

Origin did mourn the EA acquisition; Ultima 7 Black Gate is littered with forebodings over EA. The serial killers Elizabeth and Abraham carry the initials of the company and leave a trail of butchery throughout Britannia. The shapes of the EA logo--a triangle, cube, and sphere--are re-purposed as "generators" which undermine magic everywhere. Even the horror lurking beyond the eponymous black gate--the Guardian--is possessed of a personality based on EA's hostile business practices. The EA buyout loomed over the whole production of Ultima 7, ultimately producing one of the series most conscienceless, unreasonable, single-minded villains. More info can be found here:

https://casualaggro.wordpress.com/2014/03/03/ultima-vii-is-o...

>signed still bitter about Ultima 8 & 9

One can only dream what would have followed Serpent's Isle had Origin retained control of their creative processes. All the magic in Garriott's dreamworld stood for nothing against the dead-hearted accountants of EA.

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#65

Post by spiritplumber » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:10 AM UTC

chris_wot wrote: post #36

qmalxp wrote: post #3

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/

Introduce some Yellow Crazy Ants. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/exo...

Yellow crazy ant? That's the player ant in game, pretty much!

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#66

Post by saganus » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:18 AM UTC

mmastrac wrote: post #62

saganus wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Icon is the correct term. SimCity had one of the earliest form of DRM I remember. The almost-impossible to Xerox manual (highly reflective paper so photocopies would come black) was used to answer a question the game asked you, about the population of a specific city on a certain page of the manual. Loosing the manual was not an option. Farewell Maxis.

Wasn't it a black on dark maroon list of city populations? It's been a while, but that's what I remember.

Precisely. A purple-ish brown and very glossy background.

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#67

Post by saganus » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:19 AM UTC

swang wrote: post #51

saganus wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Icon is the correct term. SimCity had one of the earliest form of DRM I remember. The almost-impossible to Xerox manual (highly reflective paper so photocopies would come black) was used to answer a question the game asked you, about the population of a specific city on a certain page of the manual. Loosing the manual was not an option. Farewell Maxis.

DRM is _digital_ though, it was just called copyright protection back then. And the Sierra adventure games had this form of copyright protection way before SimCity.

You are quite right! never thought about it but yeah, it's more copy protection. Thanks.

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#68

Post by jwalton » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:21 AM UTC

saganus wrote: post #26

calcsam wrote: post #9

Wow, an icon of my childhood gone. If you're an affected developer, shoot me an email & I'll be happy to put you in our pipeline.

Icon is the correct term. SimCity had one of the earliest form of DRM I remember. The almost-impossible to Xerox manual (highly reflective paper so photocopies would come black) was used to answer a question the game asked you, about the population of a specific city on a certain page of the manual. Loosing the manual was not an option. Farewell Maxis.

This is not DRM, it's copy protection. DRM is about stopping you from using a product you paid money for - as Wikipedia puts it "[controling] the use of digital content and devices after sale." No matter how many years in the future you travel, no matter what happens to Maxis, the original Sim City will still work (assuming you still have the manual, and hardware capable of playing it.)

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#69

Post by hueving » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:23 AM UTC

AndyKelley wrote: post #61

m_mueller wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty much how a deadly virus works, right? Infect a particular game brand (cell) by buying (infecting) it, generate enough new copies of the virus (selling the game), then destroy it and release the virus onto the next cells. If the analogy is correct, the game market will either die, find a cure and eject EA or EA adapts and finds a way to coexist such as not to kill the host cells anymore.

this is nonsense

Excellent rebuttal. I like how you clearly outlined and explained your counterpoints.

Re: EA Shuts Down ‘SimCity’ and ‘The Sims’ Developer Maxis

#70

Post by KhalilK » Thu, Mar 05, 2015, 4:25 AM UTC

AndyKelley wrote: post #61

m_mueller wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty much how a deadly virus works, right? Infect a particular game brand (cell) by buying (infecting) it, generate enough new copies of the virus (selling the game), then destroy it and release the virus onto the next cells. If the analogy is correct, the game market will either die, find a cure and eject EA or EA adapts and finds a way to coexist such as not to kill the host cells anymore.

this is nonsense

Care to elaborate?