Piracy of PC games is nothing new, and has been
discussed previously. Due to the high levels of PC game piracy, some development companies have
decreased (or eliminated) PC game development, shifting support to console development. But piracy isn't limited to PCs, as
modchips and other hacks have allowed users to play pirated and
homebrewed games. In the continuing struggle for control,
Microsoft banned as many as 1 million modded systems from Xbox Live, resulting in a surge of
people reselling Xbox 360s that have been banned from online play (and
modders finding a fix for the ban). Some developers have adopted another tactic - increased development of
downloadable content (DLC), which has been seen as
both good and bad by gamers. John Riccitiello, the head of Electronic Arts, seems to have embraced DLC as a marketing option, in noting that "
[people] can steal the disc, but they can't steal the DLC."
posted by filthy light thief
on Dec 9, 2009 -
77 comments
When we last saw
EA Spouse, she was married to an
Electronic Arts employee and she painted a rather unflattering
portrait of EA's programming employment practices. Now at last,
Erin Hoffman's identity has been revealed. She and her husband have found
employment in the field they love and they've established a
website where people in the games industry can discuss the pros and cons of their jobs. Will it be enough to effect permanent change an industry that still has so much
on the line? The recent
EA settlement bodes well at least.
posted by ktoad
on May 7, 2006 -
30 comments
The battle for the NFL After
EA Games bombshell announcement that it had signed a five-year exclusive licensing deal with the
NFL, many sports games fans are wondering what will happen to their favorite franchises that don't feature
John Madden. You can bet
ESPN is hoppin' mad (and probably Microsoft as well), as are fans of its
NFL 2K series (of which I'm a proud member). Do deals like this hurt the fans or the sport ... or even the gaming industry itself? I certainly think so. Sports is about competition! Oh, no, wait it's about money. Never mind.
posted by WolfDaddy
on Dec 17, 2004 -
34 comments
Disgruntled spouse 'outs' Electronic Arts' harsh employment practices, and by implication disses the whole American 'work 'em 'till they drop' ethos. Is this the start of a quiet revolution or is the American Way too entrenched to be stopped?
posted by Duug
on Nov 11, 2004 -
65 comments
EA:WTF? I understand if people want to make web apps that only work on Windows based browsers. But you would think that a large games company like EA would treat others a little better than this (Proud Macintosh owners, get ready to squint).
Besides, I really want to play
Majestic, and last time I checked, a game that uses email, fax, web and AOL IM technology doesn't require Windows. : p
posted by Brilliantcrank
on Mar 8, 2001 -
13 comments
"Hey there, sport! What's all the racket?" "It's The Stupid SIMulated Human Pet Tricks, Daddy!" No really this is good. Stupid. But good. If anyone's ever wondered what some of the characters from
The Sims would look like in hokey live-action Not Ready For Television commercials, now's your chance!
This site requires the Quicktime and
Flash Player plug-ins. Be careful. This site crashed my computer once.
posted by ZachsMind
on Dec 11, 2000 -
0 comments
Alice demo (
Download, 78MB) has been released. Even if you're not big on video games you might want to give this one a try. *Requires a PC with 3D graphics accelerator and fast connection to download in sane amount of time.
posted by physics
on Dec 2, 2000 -
9 comments
