$$$

"EA are now selling tutorials over Xbox Live, rebranding them "video strategy guides"

Shouldn't it be is now selling? Just pointing it out.

EA is on a downward path of a slippery slope...

The Madden '07 ones have been there for awhile now, and what's really underhanded about the whole thing is that not only is the Xbox 360 Madden '07 manual essentially just a bunch of controller diagrams, but there are no tutorials included in the game itself - unlike previous years.

Electronic Arts: Because making shitty games just isn't enough.

EA "were really lame"... hey at least it rhymes

Moneny money money money! Mooonnneyy!

Tell me- do you have to pay for the football? The opening cut scene? Multiplayer? This is possible, if not likely, for Madden '08. And I'm not just doomsaying, I really thing some of those are possibilities.

If Sony and EA mated, the world would end.

But they'd charge you for it first.

Maybe EA can sell tutorials on how to screw your customer over royally and keep them coming back. That would be a New York Times Bestseller right there.

Hell even I would buy it cause EA is the master of giving people the shaft.

The Title could be "Total Crap: How to mass market and sell crippled software to consumers and keep them coming back for seconds"

I smell hit!

I can't believe people still buy games from this company.

Don't like it, don't buy it!
I only hope in-game tutorials don't start to suffer from all this.

Sony and EA sure have a lot in common.

Why would anybody pay when they can see the different guides on gamefaqs? As if releasing crappy rehashes that sell wasn't enough. Sheesh am I glad i'm not part of their target demographic

what's next? releasing a sports game with only half the roster? if you want the whole team you got to download 'em all! bwahahahaha!

can't wait for NFL 08, when you have to buy the players if you want to draft or recruit.

@excaliburps

I wouldn't run it past them at all. That sounds like something they would do. Intentionally cripple a game with the intent of making you buy the patches to fix it.

@spilt milk

People continue to buy EA's products because the vast majority isn't as well informed on their douchebaggery. I have friends who don't check anything out online about games they rely on Video Game Mags for their info. The problem is a lot of these mags have ads by the developers and what not so they can't really publically bash them or give their true feelings.

I used to read EGM for quite awhile before the advent of getting all my news online became popular. I would say a quarter of the content in the mag was ads from dev's of games and peripherals.

So the thing to remember is that until people become more informed on what companies like EA are doing they will retain their mainstream popularity.

@ 2ndlayer
"I only hope in-game tutorials don't start to suffer from all this."

from what i've heard the in game tutorials are practically non existant

Narsil say...

Tell me- do you have to pay for the football? The opening cut scene? Multiplayer? This is possible, if not likely, for Madden '08. And I'm not just doomsaying, I really thing some of those are possibilities.

Tetsuya say...

But really, it's just changing the way we provide the content... So, in our eyes, the game doesn't have to come in a package. We just feel like we're shifting our audience and we're starting to deal with different people... but naturally, the way we are accepting media, goods, music, and games, we ourselves are changing our attitudes. So we're trying to follow a new path. So at the same time the audience is changing, we're changing along with it. We think this is the way of the future.

EA say...

god and people still buy their crap. I have nothing against sports games (as i'm a big basketball fan myself) but why oh why would people even want to play nba live? (anybody who has played any version knows there's always a "money" move--pretty irritating for a sim!)

mainstream people should be introduced to the 2k series.

note to everyone: if you see someone trying to buy some ea crap from some store then gently tel them that that game isn't that good. or you can just smack them wildly on the head. heh i don't care.

i'd rather lick my nuts than play their game...mmm nuts! haha!

It's my intention to keep a positive attitude when I post at blogs and bulletin boards. If you can't say anything nice about EA...

Oh, I give up.

This is a terrible trend, but it will continue as long as people are willing to continue to pay.

As for advertisements, I understand that some outlets (Gamespy) are basically pay for play, but that is not every outlet. Obviously, if you are an advertiser, you will want to advertise in the place that will reach your target audience, in this case it is game mags. There can be conflicts of interest, but not everything is to be automatically distrusted just because there are sponsors or advertisers. Kotaku is regularly sponsored by HD-DVD and at least recently by Rockstar. I would not expect this to change how Crecente reviews his games. Not everyone is willing to compromise their integrity for sponsorship or ad buys.

I, for one, hope that EA continues to charge for everything. I hope they find every conceivable way to bleed their customers, and then keep looking for more. The only way the microtransaction economy will come under control will be for someone to utterly ruin it so that we can identify all of the problems. I applaud EA for hastening this process. If they had spread their greed out over a longer period of time, they might have made more money in the long run as we all acclimated to it. However, coming as a powerful uncontrolled blast, these policy decisions will quickly right the ship as the entire industry says in unison "We're afraid to look remotely like EA when it comes to microtransactions."

How about a tutorial on how to get their crappy-ass matchmaking system to actually work? They could definatly sell one of those.

EA - It's in the game.

Well, some of it anyway.

The rest you'll have to pay for a little bit at a time.

Like tutorials, or players, or ability to use certain buttons.

I've had it! Starting an Anti EA blog!

I think the best microtransaction addition would be to have to pay the medical costs of any injured players, or court costs if they punch spectators.

EA Sports: In The Game, Out Of Pocket.

EA's basic company strategy is:
1. Release bugged games with adware
2. Charge for anything related to EA
3. ???
4. Profit!