Meh, my EA stock is still in the red. It's taken much longer for their stock price to recover, which is to say that it hasn't yet. I even bought at a relatively good time, given its historical price.
It's kind of weird how I got all excited that my EA stock might have actually made some money, then realized that this rumored acquisition was definitely not something I'd particularly want to happen.
@Anemone: Not necessarily. Microsoft could leave well enough alone and simply force EA to publish only for their platform alone. That in itself would absolutely destroy Sony's position in the market. And as for the creativity thing, there's still Nintendo to consider. Personally I think this would be fantastic. If Microsoft shoved Sony out of the market, there would only be two key platform to worry about: single core platform and a single casual platorm. That would solve a hell of a lot of problems right there, including exclusivity ones.
@Dark_Mirage: 3 cores in the 360. And trust me you don't want MS as the industry leader. Imagine how much less of a rat's ass they would have given about their borked ass console if there wasn't competition.
As for Deilgyre... That's possibly the most foolish comment that I have had the misfortune of reading. Ever. N64 era Rare versus avatars and Viva Pinata (the rest of the games you named were all pretty bad excluding possibly the new Banjo.) I'm guessing that you either never had a 64 or you are totally in the pocket of MS... And are you entirely delusional? Peter Moore was brought in to head the Sports Division of EA. John Riccitiello is the head of EA. _<
(DEAD) Goldwings - Remembered for his bravery and heroism... xD was starred
(DEAD) Goldwings - Remembered for his bravery and heroism... xD was unstarred
@e-friend: I seriously doubt that Apple has more money. I mean, Ipods haven't exactly been around forever. And before that they only sold terrible computers...
@SacGamer: Actually the one of the few reasons Apple is still around is that they had really good non-computer based income during the 90's. Smart money management kept them afloat despite several major market flops and delays. In 1997 MS actually acquired 150m worth of preferred stock in exchange for Apple helping with the ability to put MS Office onto Macs. Microsoft has way more in net income, assets, and equity. There really isn't even a way to compare them except to say that MS is about 2-3x bigger than Apple in almost every measurable statistic. (Except DAP sales : P)
I'm going to say bullshit, BUT if Microsoft does buy out EA, then everyone but Microsoft is screwed. Microsoft would absolutely destroy Nintendo's and Sony's 1st and 2nd party catalog, and put digital distribution for EA's titles through Steam and Direct2Drive. Everything PS3 bound would be dead, and the XBOX 360 (and maybe PC) would be the only platform to get a football sports title until the NFL exclusivity deal ends. Microsoft would become either the largest or second largest publisher in the gaming world.
Aside from Sony and Nintendo being screwed, and Activision becoming more powerful that ever to Sony and Nintendo, customer's will be siphoned in choices, and its almost certain that any PC games that manages to end up on the PC will be out of Steam and other stores, mac ports which EA was really getting on board of supporting, will be limited, if non existent, and these games will almost certainly have to use Windows Live.
@ddhboy: Nintendo would -not- be destroyed. In fact, given the insane level of money EA makes off of some of it's Wii IP (SportsActive, Tiger Woods), Microsoft would very likely let them carry on. Nintendo has the strongest 1st and 2nd party studios out there, rivaled only by Sony.
Sony would suffer way more then Nintendo. And even when the NFL exclusivity ends, you really think they aren't going to enter right back into a new one with EA?
Buying EA would be Microsoft's most effective way of dealing a near-death blow to Sony and make back any of the money spent on it within a few years. Nintendo is not Microsoft's primary target, Sony is.
The market has grown enough that Nintendo and Microsoft would get along just fine. Remember it used to be only Nintendo and Sega and the market was nowhere near the size it is now. Microsoft's final goal has always been a set top media box. Nothing's changed.
What blows my mind is all the people saying "MS loves money" and talking about how MS is just some big greedy corporation meddling in gaming. What the hell did you think Sony was when they got into gaming? It astounds me at how many people apparently think Sony started out as a gaming company.
Are these people under 10 years old? Sony is a huge company outside of their gaming division too. And yeah, they also "love money". So does Nintendo. That's what companies do, they make money.
@Mr.Waffleton: You're exactly right. Sony purchased their way into the market with an only decent console but a ton of games with the PS1.
The mind-blow here, though is if this goes thru, MS would be able to pull the rug out from under Sony BIG time. Like, scary, big time. EA has so many cross-platform games that would suddenly become MS-owned and Xbox exclusive... it's a pretty low blow but a smart business move.
Microsoft was born to make money.
Sony's main focus is to make money.
Nintendo needs to please his shareholders by making money.
Oh and that just comes in:
We have reports that EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Atari and all other publishers and developers are still in business since they focus their products that are making profits.
Now that everybody's know the truth about business in general, maybe we can stop accusing all company of making profits. And in a recession time like this one, people should remember that cold hard profits are worthing something at the end of the day in comparison to speculation (I'm looking at you Wall Street).
People screaming "Monopoly!" and "ANTITRUST", please go contact the proper legal channels before you flip your lid. There were far too many of you folks back when Take-Two was in EA's cross-hairs and almost none of you folks knew what the heck you were talking about. No, the Justice Dept would not care.
And you need to remember, the NFL cheerfully and willingly entered into that agreement with EA. EA didn't drag them into back alley and beat them till they handed over the rights.
I don't see this happening...but does that mean that all publishers that Electronic Arts own would be developing exclusively for Xbox consoles? Or would it mean that Microsoft would simply get a cut of all those god damn Madden games?
@Jon-Claw: I hope more folks understand this. Just cos MS make a lot of money, doesn't mean they HAVE a lot of money.
Their expendable cash funds isn't that high, and for MS building up monopolies is expensive in the daily fines.
@Terrorsaur - Five Six: Except that it's not factual. Cash on hand isn't the only measure of a company's assets. If you want facts, then get them and see for yourself that Microsoft has plenty of wiggle room for large scale acquistions as Eschekt has noted.
@TheOmnitron: Why? MS has been fairly open to letting their devs do new things. EA, not so much. Mirror's Edge was only thing close to being new from EA recently and we all saw how that went.
But it doesnt matter because this rumor is obviously false. Why would MS WANT EA? they already get every EA title on the 360 anyway. And why would EA want ot limit themselves to one console?
@Mr.Waffleton: They'd want EA in able to turn it Exclusive to Xbox 360???!!! IDK IMO lol. imagine every single EA title getting pulled from the PS3 and Wii, thats a lot of titles towards MS's portfolio. IMO it would create a distinct winner in this generatin and beyond, Sony wouldn't be able to handle losing EA IMO. Sports, burnout, dead space, etc. all being exclusive to 360 means alot of revenue being earned.
Even if Microsoft kept EA on Multiple consoles, Imagine the money they would make, collecting from the Wii and PS3. alot of people think EA is a evil company, but face the facts, they sell millions over most the competition, and if MS is making around $20 per title sold (rough guess), MS would clear the cost of EA in like 5 yrs off of the transition(again rough estimate) then all profit from there.
Ea has lately been on the open edge of gaming for the last couple years wheter they're publishing another 3rd party, funding developing or developing a game within with games like Mirrors Edge, Dead Space, the recent Burnout's, Brutal Legend(i know,Activisiion 1st blah, Skate Franchise, Spore, The Saboteur, Battlefield ME,L4D. EA imo has made a pretty good turn around on being fairly open to new game genre's, and experimentatuion in my opinion.
If this buyout proves true and MS gets all the companies attached to EA, The console generation is going to get turn upside down, wheter or not its good we'd soon find out.
P.S.Im not going to proof read this giant, just cause no one will probably read it lol, if any stars do, and enjoy it or find it revelant, please feel free to to post it, thank you
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It's kind of weird how I got all excited that my EA stock might have actually made some money, then realized that this rumored acquisition was definitely not something I'd particularly want to happen.
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The industry can only grow with competition striving for creativity.
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As for Deilgyre... That's possibly the most foolish comment that I have had the misfortune of reading. Ever. N64 era Rare versus avatars and Viva Pinata (the rest of the games you named were all pretty bad excluding possibly the new Banjo.) I'm guessing that you either never had a 64 or you are totally in the pocket of MS... And are you entirely delusional? Peter Moore was brought in to head the Sports Division of EA. John Riccitiello is the head of EA. _<
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As a ps3 owner who loves that series this rumor scare the hell out of me, real or not.
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I call this rumor a big lie.
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Aside from Sony and Nintendo being screwed, and Activision becoming more powerful that ever to Sony and Nintendo, customer's will be siphoned in choices, and its almost certain that any PC games that manages to end up on the PC will be out of Steam and other stores, mac ports which EA was really getting on board of supporting, will be limited, if non existent, and these games will almost certainly have to use Windows Live.
09/23/09
Sony would suffer way more then Nintendo. And even when the NFL exclusivity ends, you really think they aren't going to enter right back into a new one with EA?
Buying EA would be Microsoft's most effective way of dealing a near-death blow to Sony and make back any of the money spent on it within a few years. Nintendo is not Microsoft's primary target, Sony is.
The market has grown enough that Nintendo and Microsoft would get along just fine. Remember it used to be only Nintendo and Sega and the market was nowhere near the size it is now. Microsoft's final goal has always been a set top media box. Nothing's changed.
09/23/09
I hope it's not true...just when EA is just getting their act together, to be swallowed up by MS..
I sense the Negaverse is behind this..
09/23/09
Are these people under 10 years old? Sony is a huge company outside of their gaming division too. And yeah, they also "love money". So does Nintendo. That's what companies do, they make money.
09/23/09
The mind-blow here, though is if this goes thru, MS would be able to pull the rug out from under Sony BIG time. Like, scary, big time. EA has so many cross-platform games that would suddenly become MS-owned and Xbox exclusive... it's a pretty low blow but a smart business move.
If it even happens.
09/23/09
Microsoft was born to make money.
Sony's main focus is to make money.
Nintendo needs to please his shareholders by making money.
Oh and that just comes in:
We have reports that EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Atari and all other publishers and developers are still in business since they focus their products that are making profits.
Now that everybody's know the truth about business in general, maybe we can stop accusing all company of making profits. And in a recession time like this one, people should remember that cold hard profits are worthing something at the end of the day in comparison to speculation (I'm looking at you Wall Street).
09/23/09
And you need to remember, the NFL cheerfully and willingly entered into that agreement with EA. EA didn't drag them into back alley and beat them till they handed over the rights.
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@yodaddy:
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Microsoft doesn't even have enough cash to cover EA's market cap (according to MS's most recent balance sheet).
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Just cos MS make a lot of money, doesn't mean they HAVE a lot of money.
Their expendable cash funds isn't that high, and for MS building up monopolies is expensive in the daily fines.
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I say they should offer SE about 5 or 6 billion and buy them out too.
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Just back in spring 08 Microsoft offered the small amount of $47,500,000,000 which seems they have plenty of budget for a hostile take-over of EA...
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But it doesnt matter because this rumor is obviously false. Why would MS WANT EA? they already get every EA title on the 360 anyway. And why would EA want ot limit themselves to one console?
This is bogus, bet on it.
09/23/09
Even if Microsoft kept EA on Multiple consoles, Imagine the money they would make, collecting from the Wii and PS3. alot of people think EA is a evil company, but face the facts, they sell millions over most the competition, and if MS is making around $20 per title sold (rough guess), MS would clear the cost of EA in like 5 yrs off of the transition(again rough estimate) then all profit from there.
Ea has lately been on the open edge of gaming for the last couple years wheter they're publishing another 3rd party, funding developing or developing a game within with games like Mirrors Edge, Dead Space, the recent Burnout's, Brutal Legend(i know,Activisiion 1st blah, Skate Franchise, Spore, The Saboteur, Battlefield ME,L4D. EA imo has made a pretty good turn around on being fairly open to new game genre's, and experimentatuion in my opinion.
If this buyout proves true and MS gets all the companies attached to EA, The console generation is going to get turn upside down, wheter or not its good we'd soon find out.
P.S.Im not going to proof read this giant, just cause no one will probably read it lol, if any stars do, and enjoy it or find it revelant, please feel free to to post it, thank you
09/23/09