EA named worst company in America by Consumerist

[Milla]

http://consumerist.com/2012/04/congratulations-ea-you-are-the-worst-company-in-america-for-2012.html

As much as EA sucks, the worst thing they can do is ruin the game industry. I'm pretty sure there were a lot worse companies on the list. Then again the ME3 ending was pretty bad. XD

[rezakon]

The sad thing is for a while there they turned it around, then that CEO left and bam it went straight to hell again.

It's god damn investors man, why I like the kickstarter movement, if people don't want it they won't fund it!

[Rashiid]

I'd give that award to Capcom or SEGA (of America) >_>

[rezakon]

I'd give that award to Capcom or SEGA (of America) >_>

No you actually have to do stuff to win that award, not just be lazy.

[Gunslinger-08]

Capcom cancelled the Megaman Legends 3DS project for lack of "consumer interest," when they hardly advertised the development blog or forums!

EA is terrible, but Capcom will always hold a special place at the center of hatred in my, and several others' hearts.

[Xefi]

Greed is what drives most companies these days. the fans dont matter anymore.

@Gunslinger-08 yeah, i'm starting to hate Capcom as well. those money grubbing *inserts hate word*.

[BIG OLAF]

This is not surprising.

[washuguy]

This is not surprising.

NOPE... Someone was saying these companies don't care about the consumer anymore, AGREED. It makes me wonder, was it ever about the consumer at all? And maddens game play is bad, they have the technology for a GREAT game, but won't give it to us. THAT'S MESSED UP!!! 2005 was like the best, 2009 was pretty good, and after that what? Exclusive license rights for nothing. And the offline isn't as good as 2005 or 2009s, just terrible...



Basically, this is how I feel about it... LOL Where's My Drink? - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U9pIU3Egu4)

[Kent]

Capcom sells people content for an additional charge, despite them already paying for it. There's no justifiable defense of that (inb4 someone trolling about licensing: I know how it works, that doesn't justify it).

I'm not really surprised that EA was at least in the running. But, you know, beating out Comcast? They should be pretty proud of that.

[Ark22]

Capcom needs to be the worst IMO

[Randomness]

I'd give that award to Capcom or SEGA (of America) >_>

SEGA is just a little incompetent. I still enjoy their games, when they release good ones (Sonic Generations, for instance, was wonderful).

[Keilyn]

Yay! Now i know not to trust Consumerist.

Seriously, BoA has ruined more people directly and been responsible for worsening the American and European Housing Economy. They have extended to three continents and affected close to a billion people.

They have also played and manipulated the money market directly and have been named in numerous scandals in the past. The target of many civil suits, and have done more damage than anything that EA can ever come out with.

This is why VOTING is just a measure of seeing who can shout loudest, while the intelligent out there truly KNOW and the inferiors as a collective speak their mind translating to "Here is our message, get over it" and in the end simply give the means to an end in continuing the trend greater emphasis.

I won't lose sleep over this ;)

[Randomness]

Yay! Now i know not to trust Consumerist.

Seriously, BoA has ruined more people directly and been responsible for worsening the American and European Housing Economy. They have extended to three continents and affected close to a billion people.

They have also played and manipulated the money market directly and have been named in numerous scandals in the past. The target of many civil suits, and have done more damage than anything that EA can ever come out with.

This is why VOTING is just a measure of seeing who can shout loudest, while the intelligent out there truly KNOW and the inferiors as a collective speak their mind translating to "Here is our message, get over it" and in the end simply give the means to an end in continuing the trend greater emphasis.

I won't lose sleep over this ;)

Yeah, the banking industry has probably done more damage to the country than EA... but you do have to admit that a fair amount of the responsibility for that lies outside the industry. EA bears ALL the responsibility for the stuff it does that people hate.

[NoiseHERO]

Wait, this wasn't because everyone got butthurt over ME3's ending was it?

The fuck is wrong with people. D<

[Gunslinger-08]

Wait, this wasn't because everyone got butthurt over ME3's ending was it?

The fuck is wrong with people. D<

Acutally... I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was the case.

[Keilyn]

EA is a production company. They are not a game developer. They hire out and buy out entire development teams, then release rushed projects at a premium and then charge for held-back content in the form of DLCs.

This started before the existence of DLCs where the Command and Conquer series of games would release with limited content and in order to get what should have been in the base game, a user is forced into purchsing a "stand-alone" expansion of the product. Even worse are the EA sports titles where players are nutoriously expected to pay $40 - $50 for slightly improved graphics and a new set of stats for the year.

They are also responsible in the belief of the majority for watering down development companies out of their full potential, like Bioware.

When Westwood was bought by EA games, they made games then were FED UP with EA that they became an independent game studios called Petroglyph and released Star Wars Empire at War. The team is the base team for the original command and conquer programming team that did the work for the Tiberium series and first Red Alert games.

Most people support the development teams but hate EA as a distributor/Producer.

[KodiaX987]

Wait, this wasn't because everyone got butthurt over ME3's ending was it?

The proper award name concerning EA would likely be: Pour l'ensemble de son oeuvre.

[Rashiid]

SEGA is just a little incompetent. I still enjoy their games, when they release good ones (Sonic Generations, for instance, was wonderful).

I just dislike their lack of advertisement that's not Sonic. I have no problem with their games.

[Akaimizu]

When Westwood was bought by EA games, they made games then were FED UP with EA that they became an independent game studios called Petroglyph and released Star Wars Empire at War. The team is the base team for the original command and conquer programming team that did the work for the Tiberium series and first Red Alert games.

Most people support the development teams but hate EA as a distributor/Producer.

I also remember Westwood Studios as the developer that single-handedly created the Real Time Strategy genre with Dune II. Though Dune 1 (late game) had some early prototype aspects of the RTS in it, Dune II fully established the main basic building blocks of what we know of the genre.

[kyuuketsuki]

Wait, this wasn't because everyone got butthurt over ME3's ending was it?

The fuck is wrong with people. D<
That's part of it, sure, but EA has been the bane of the gaming community for a long time for many reasons.

The best part is EA's response to this "award": they blamed homophobia over the inclusion of same-sex relationships in Mass Effect.

Yeah EA, that's it. That's why everyone and their mother hates you. Homophobia.

[yoshiblue]

What I dislike about EA? Spend maybe 40-50$ on a Sims game, cough up an extra 30$ for the expansion. Said expansion would include maybe 13 new items and maybe two new expressions.

[Randomness]

That's part of it, sure, but EA has been the bane of the gaming community for a long time for many reasons.

The best part is EA's response to this "award": they blamed homophobia over the inclusion of same-sex relationships in Mass Effect.

Yeah EA, that's it. That's why everyone and their mother hates you. Homophobia.

:disapprove:

I swear, if that's what they think the problem is...

[Shattered_weasel]

Wait, this wasn't because everyone got butthurt over ME3's ending was it?

The fuck is wrong with people. D<

Just the ending? Not Dragon Age 2, ToR, Ding Dong Bannu, the whole get banned on the forums then you aren't able to play any of the games you bought. etc.

[Akaimizu]

Of course, people will cite EA's buying of the NFL license as well, effectively killing off their honest competition.

However, it's not the developers they hate as much as what EA does with the developers. However, my issues with them are specific.

DA2 didn't really burn me. I enjoyed it, but I also fully understand the disappointment as I believe they lost touch with their core audience with that one. People went to Dragon Age so they can get more of the Baldur's Gate style of gaming. It was to be a welcome PC-centric contrast to the modern streamline aspects they were attempting with their console-friendly series. DA2 kind of put Dragon Age on the same line as Mass Effect, more or less, and players saw that. That was not the gameplay they wanted.

It took away one of the biggest reasons people were excited to play it. While I still enjoyed the game, I also agree that someone totally missed the boat when it came to understanding the core audience and ignoring the very reviews and previews that boasted about Dragon Age. They should've known the kind of Bioware vintage gameplay their fans expected. This showed a major disconnect. The facts that all the gamers unanimously understood about the game...and the developers in charge of that project. Unlike a major game plot device in DA, there was no gray area here. Because it was so obvious that Dragon Age was *made* for the PC Baldur's Gate fans, I *had* to get it on PC. The PC-specific strategic view was the bomb. I wouldn't miss that as that is a classic and great way to control the flow of battle.

My main issues were with what they often did to the games of their wonderful developer teams. From the ugly DRMs, to other things the Publisher forced onto the game, they lost a lot of favor. Now I will give certain due where I believe it is earned. One thing I do like best, for something EA did, was the concept of EA servers where you have one unified account across all platforms they develop for. It allowed one thing other companies can't do. Cross-platform/Cross-game awards. Nice that I can buy Mass Effect for 360 and get free in-game swag for my Dragon Age characters on the PC, and vice versa. Something I get on iOS might get me an award for an EA PC/MAC/360/PS3/Wii game. As long as they keep their servers well maintained, it's a nice function.