Everyone laughed? In a "Bwa ha ha" kind of way?

This makes me wonder about capitalism and how it fits into the whole framework of the video game industry. Maybe the evil empire really isn't so evil and maybe it is, but it all depends on circumstance and point of view I suppose.

Gotta love rich elitist mud slinging. It's so proper and polite.

I have to admit, that really is a nice looking logo.

@AndrewG009: Well the thing is Capitalism has never been directly associated with creativity or other "intangible" product qualities; those things are hard to fit on a spreadsheet for the most part. Unfortunately you're right in the sense they're just doing what large corps do, but others are also correct in that creativity and originality of product is often trampled in the push for greater profit return.

"They've got three great franchises [presumably referring to World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty 4--Ed.]--it's great that one of them was actually developed at Activision."

OHHHH SNAP! It's on now, brothaf*ckers!

But that is a good point, though. But I'm not sure how valid it is for the argument.

EA has made a lot of changes apparently. They pay employees for overtime after being outed, and now they have "decentralized" (whatever the hell that was supposed to mean)!

Too bad their games continue to suck and lack innovation.

@CHU BOI:
It doesn't matter if it's valid or not. They just got served. Big time. Activision needs to come back with a new dance move to win the heart of the girl and....

Im sorry, this whole thing seemed childish so I assumed we were talking about a B-rated movie. My mistake.

@Pezdispenser: It's probably a little too Rockstar-y to use.

@DaiMacculate: That's exactly what bother's me I think about the whole thing. The sense of art for art's sake being lost and tossed aside in the name of a few more zeroes at the bottom of a quarterly financial report.

"What started it?"

"I don't know. Two toughest kids on the block, I guess. Sooner or later, they're gonna fight."

@Jechticknight: Yeah, Stomp Da Yard anyone? Step Up 2 Da Streets

I guess they're implying that EA's crew is more talented than Activision's, whose cashmonies comes from the likes of Blizzard and Infinity Ward. Guitar Hero started off as a Hmx game, as we all know, and then ended up being made by Activision & Neversoft(?).

Most of EA's big games are made by their own dev teams right? None come to mind right now as I'm studying for a test in an hour that I'll prolly fail cuz I've been reading Kotaku all day.

@CHU BOI: Oh yeah, duh, Madden, NHL, FIFA. Let's not talk about NBA Live.

Guys, guys, let's stop fighting and just agree that you are both evil soul stealing corporations.

Has there been any improvements for madden Franchise? There you have it your honor, I rest my case.

There's no incentive for EA to improve games because they bought out everyone else.

[en.wikipedia.org]

@Pezdispenser: Yeah it looks great. Almost reminds you of the Rockstar logo doesn't it?

No strong opinion. They've got three great franchises [presumably referring to World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty 4--Ed.]--it's great that one of them was actually developed at Activision.

Ha, nice.

I'll have to side with EA here, simply because Rock Band is doing a hell of a job kicking GH's ass in the value department. It's pretty shocking that Rock Band is an EA game considering how well they are handingly the DLC.

I guess that's a "narrow" way of looking at it, but I don't really care. I don't own EA or Activision stock, so that's all that matters to me.

Everybody laughed? It is because it was funny how similar the comment was to so many people's opinion of EA - or was it more like a nervous giggle?

@CHU BOI:
But, wait a second, none of those series originally started at developers within Activision anyways.

GH = Harmonix
WOW = Blizzard
CoD = Infinity Ward (originally founded by people working on Medal of Honor for EA)

@AngryEddy: Right, because popular opinion is automatically wrong.

@jimbone: AMEN.

EA do seem to have improved their control methods over say 2/3 years ago when they were snapping up studios like crazy and throwing insane deadlines onto them for their games. Only time will tell if they've really improved.

I think the test for me will be Bioware's next game. If it's only half done or linear as fuck then EA are still the soul-sucking vampires we all think/know they are, if not, I'm willing to say that EA have realized their mistakes and genuinely changed for the better.

Speaking of soul-sucking, now that Activision are with Blizzard, they can't really be throwing shit at EA, I mean Blizzard have survived the last few years on one game and the game is like the heroin of gaming.

I don't have a high opinion of either company these days. I certainly hope EA gives at least Bioware the freedom they claim though.

Its like Freddy vs. Jason. Who do you root for?

Guess I'll do just like I did with the movie and snub them both ...

Whoever wins, we lose.

D:

Well EA has to change because from my observation of reviews they are not releasing the best products as of late.

Maybe they need more souls!

I don't think EA has changed at all. They have still tried to nickel and dime consumers with downloadable content like their plan to charge people for extra guns in Battlefield Bad Company that they backed off of after the negative reaction.

It seems like whenever EA needs creativity they just go out and buy some creative studios.

EA the corporation still comes off as a business more worried about its stock price that sees games more as a product than a piece of art or entertainment.

Most of their efforts has been marketing to try to convince the gamers that they are creative, their games don't suck and to rebuild its reputation.

If I were EA, I don't think I would mind the evil empire jokes much. They actually are pretty funny most of the time. I don't get why so many of you hate EA anyway. It's not like most other companies are any better. In fact, most aren't. Activision is even worse in terms of nickel and diming. And it's not like if you complain, EA will say, "Oh shit, we're so sorry about trying to take over Take Two, we figured everyone would be cool with it." They really don't give a shit.

Comment on EA Fires Back At Activision's "Soul-Stealing" Comments I still haven't forgiven EA for destroying Westwood... C&C 3 was boring as hell...

@NullsRevenge: There's nothing wrong being a business worried about their stocks. It makes them strive to do better. I say EA acts more like a dictatorship. One sole ownership so you have to get what they give you. That is why there is no incentive to do better in a communist society. What you do has no reward. That's EA.

Comment on EA Fires Back At Activision's "Soul-Stealing" Comments Do you know why Madden hasn't improved? No competing title ala NFL2k. Yea yea, I know, quit whining about it, but when both franchises were around, both got better every year. Look at ESPN NFL 2K5, i hate to say it but that game still looks alot better than the new madden roster update 09. The argument has been made, but I really think EA got mad that they were getting undersold by $30 for a better game. No one really knows if the NFL gave the exclusive license away, or if EA threw crap loads of money at it. I really don't get why the NFL did it when if they had 2 competing football games, they would have made tons of money off of it. Instead of buying companies and putting out a sequel every year, whats next year, Medal of Honor :Heroes 3? Bring back Ultima, make an ultima to compete with Oblivion or something. Quit releasing crappy shit every year that isn't finished and then charge $5 for shit that should be in the game @ ship! Fuck!

Activision is aligned with Blizzard now ... there is no room for them to even remotely talk about EA.

And Activision is just as guilty when it comes to charging for things that once were free.

In the past year EA has made radical changes to decentralize the company and put creative control back in the hands of development teams. It's too early to declare victory...

Exactly. Get back to us when you've "declared victory".

@karateka:

True, and I never thought about it that way but your right EA does act like a dictatorship.

I find it kind of funny that EA uses their response to Activision to plug their upcoming games to exploit the free press. Looks like the same old EA to me...

"The truth is, everyone laughed. In the past year EA has made radical changes to decentralize the company and put creative control back in the hands of development teams."

Too bad it's too late for Origin, Westwood, Bullfrog......

@EnigmaNemesis: I can't remember the newsposts about Activision making a hostile takeover. Would you point them out?

In EA's defense it did out do Tony Hawk with Skate so much so that it caused Activision to redesign how TH is gonna play out. But that said TH had a great go the first few titles and it did come first. So isn't that what it's all about right there, making a better product than your opponent? As far as acquiring Blizzard that was just a move EA would have made if they had the opportunity, hell it's a move you would make if you could. But Blizzard is staying itself in all of this, it's not being run different. However I strongly feel both studios are guilty of not putting out enough fun indy titles. They are both guilty of taking franchises and running them into the ground. But I'm sure they'd stop doing it if people weren't buying. I do know personally how EA treats it's employees and how Activision treats their employees, and I go on record as saying Activision will not throw a good person out on the street when a game is over to save costs. It finds homes for those in need and takes care of their own. So if you want to talk about soul stealing...

Hahaha. Kotaku won't print my previous comment about how EA treats their employees vs. Activision. You want to talk about "soul stealing"...