EA now controls Digital Illusions

[schild]

Link.

It just dawned on me. In the next 5 years, they're going to make an attempt to enter the console or portable market. Why the fuck didn't I see this before?

[Big Gulp]

Well, that's the death knell for another fairly good studio.  

Battlefield 2 will still be decent, because it's almost completely finished.  Anything after that will undoubtedly have the mark of suck upon it.

[Rodent]

Damn shame, though really I stopped caring about DICE when they stopped making pinball games.

I need to replay Pinball Dreams one of theese days.

[Shockeye]

Damn shame, though really I stopped caring about DICE when they stopped making pinball games.

I need to replay Pinball Dreams one of theese days.

I was always partial to Pinball Illusions.

I lost my CD years ago and wish I could find another one.

And no, abandonware doesn't work because the non-CD versions only had 3 tables instead of 4. It's that 4th table I enjoyed the most.

[Righ]

That was another great CD32 game.

[AOFanboi]

I need to replay Pinball Dreams one of theese days.

I was always partial to Pinball Illusions.

Got GBA/SP/DS? Enjoy.

(Yes, I have it, in case you wonder, and yes, it recreates both games perfectly. Except there is no battery save for highscores so that bit is pointless.)

[Righ]

That link looks like a case of bad timing.

[Jain Zar]

Well, they did release Pinball Dreams for the SNES.  Plays pretty good too.  I found it cheap off Ebay.

[Fabricated]

Sega is now done with sports games.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/24/news_6117016.html

Thankfully, I don't play sports games, so I don't care.

[stray]

Thankfully, I don't play sports games, so I don't care.

You can still weep, because there's a bigger (sadder) message here: In the world of video games, the good things never last.

[Shavnir]

Thankfully, I don't play sports games, so I don't care.

You can still weep, because there's a bigger (sadder) message here: In the world of video games, the good things never last.

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Goddamit, fuck you EA.


Apoligies to Ferguson.

[HaemishM]

Mothercockratbagassfuckshiteatingdonkeydongs.

What the fuck does Sega have left? What have they published in the last 2 years besides Sega GT Online that has been worth a good goddamn other than the Visual Concepts titles? Did I just miss some titles? I mean, is Sonic Adventures selling or some shit?

As for EA and DICE, I called this one the minute BF1942 was a hit. Countdown to DICE shutdown and talent absorption: T-Minus 1 year and counting. Maybe 2 years at the most.

And Battlefield 2? It will be a shinier version of Battlefield 1942. With less new features. And less mod support. And ass netcode. Anything DICE ever did that was original will be leeched out in decision by committee and publisher-mandated deadline crunching.

Fuck you, EA, you lousy bunch of pigfuckers.

[sidereal]

What the fuck does Sega have left? What have they published in the last 2 years besides Sega GT Online that has been worth a good goddamn other than the Visual Concepts titles?

I'm http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/563568.asp">scandalized!

Admittedly not enough to keep a large company rolling.

[Windurst]

Mothercockratbagassfuckshiteatingdonkeydongs.

What the fuck does Sega have left? What have they published in the last 2 years besides Sega GT Online that has been worth a good goddamn other than the Visual Concepts titles? Did I just miss some titles? I mean, is Sonic Adventures selling or some shit?

As for EA and DICE, I called this one the minute BF1942 was a hit. Countdown to DICE shutdown and talent absorption: T-Minus 1 year and counting. Maybe 2 years at the most.

And Battlefield 2? It will be a shinier version of Battlefield 1942. With less new features. And less mod support. And ass netcode. Anything DICE ever did that was original will be leeched out in decision by committee and publisher-mandated deadline crunching.

Fuck you, EA, you lousy bunch of pigfuckers.

Are you capable of not cursing?

[Jain Zar]

Sega did release Outrun 2 and Shining Force recently.  Co published though.  Outrun 2 with Microsoft, and Shining Force with Atlus.  And apparently 2 other companies are going to be releasing their Sega Ages Arcade and Sega Ages Phantasy Star games.

But yeah, Sega really has fallen on hard times as of late.  Its not all due to the high cocksuckery of EA though.  Its like when the Dreamcast failed they lost a lot of their love for life in general.. :(

[sidereal]

Wicked deja vu.

Windurst, two things.

1) if you're commenting on Haemish's potty mouth, you should just quote the cursing.  Besides being a fun read, it'd make the site more manageable.  I realize I'm picking on you, since people frequently post 3 page quotes followed by 'me too' here, but it's never a bad time to take a stand.

2) Many people here are capable of cursing and indeed enjoy cursing.  The sentence enhancement provides an invective bouquet that frames and hones their rage and/or boredom.  If that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable, you may consider whether it's more reasonable for someone to walk into a bar and complain about everyone's drinking or rather to decide that a bar isn't the place for them.

[Windurst]

Wicked deja vu.

Windurst, two things.

1) if you're commenting on Haemish's potty mouth, you should just quote the cursing.  Besides being a fun read, it'd make the site more manageable.  I realize I'm picking on you, since people frequently post 3 page quotes followed by 'me too' here, but it's never a bad time to take a stand.

2) Many people here are capable of cursing and indeed enjoy cursing.  The sentence enhancement provides an invective bouquet that frames and hones their rage and/or boredom.  If that sort of thing makes you uncomfortable, you may consider whether it's more reasonable for someone to walk into a bar and complain about everyone's drinking or rather to decide that a bar isn't the place for them.

It doesn't bother me... I was just wondering if he was capable of not cursing... since he seems to curse in every post he makes

Cursing is like screaming.... the more you do it,  the less effective it becomes.

[sidereal]

Cursing is like screaming.... the more you do it,  the less effective it becomes.

It's really about having an ear for it, not just the frequency.  Minimalist Japanese sumi-e brush painting can be just as evocative as a busy Bruegel and vice versa.  Haemish is sort of the Jackon Pollock of swearing, and that guy's fucking loaded.

[Samwise]

Haemish is sort of the Jackson Pollock of swearing.

Well said.

[Zetleft]

Normally, it would be a good day to be an employee at Electronic Arts' Los Angeles studio. Despite reporting a slight dip in quarterly earnings yesterday, the publisher's stock shot through the roof today. It ended the day after gaining more than $5, reaching nearly $63 per share.....This morning, he announced that the studio was reducing its staff by 60. According to Young, who spoke with GameSpot this afternoon, the layoffs were done in the interest of "rebalancing the teams across the entire studio." He called the cuts the "first step in transforming the studio for the future."

Well things are going so well for EA they decided to do the only obvious thing left to increase their stock.  They fired 60 devs, programmers and managers.  I guess this makes sense, keep buying up dev houses so they can't make competing games then keep firing people, leaving them twisting in the wind, cause you have no reason to actually work hard on your rehashed titles.

edited for windurst:  motherfuck ea

[sidereal]

Wait, that's awesome.  All of the fired devs should get together and form a development house.  Then they can make exciting and innovative games, get bought by EA, watch their games turn to trash, get fired, and do it again.

It's the cycle of life.

[Strazos]

I wish someone would just bomb EA already....

Ya know, not actually Hurt anyone, but just put a gaping hole in EA's activities....maybe then we could see more Good games...

Ya know, as opposed to what we have now, which is just a constant onslaught of attempts by EA to put gamers in the piledriver position and rape them with reckless abandon.

[SirBruce]

Dear EA,

Please buy out Playnet next so I can roll around in millions and millions of your sweet dollars.

Thank you,

Bruce

[Margalis]

Man, what the hell are they doing over there? EA is becoming the MS of video games.

It seems to me that a company focused on destroying quality gaming would be indistinguishable from EA. Buy a dev house, milk their existing properties with a lackluster sequel, fire everybody, wash, rinse, repeat. So many series they have run into the ground, for what? So they can reshuffle some personel into EA "big" sports titles?

[Alkiera]

Normally, it would be a good day to be an employee at Electronic Arts' Los Angeles studio. Despite reporting a slight dip in quarterly earnings yesterday, the publisher's stock shot through the roof today. It ended the day after gaining more than $5, reaching nearly $63 per share.....This morning, he announced that the studio was reducing its staff by 60. According to Young, who spoke with GameSpot this afternoon, the layoffs were done in the interest of "rebalancing the teams across the entire studio." He called the cuts the "first step in transforming the studio for the future."

Well things are going so well for EA they decided to do the only obvious thing left to increase their stock.  They fired 60 devs, programmers and managers.  I guess this makes sense, keep buying up dev houses so they can't make competing games then keep firing people, leaving them twisting in the wind, cause you have no reason to actually work hard on your rehashed titles.

Actually, from what people have said of working conditions there, getting fired might be a relief.

Alkiera

[Margalis]

Here is a serious question: What are some original games that EA has actually created in-house?

[stray]

EDIT: Anything they purchase is considered "in-house" as far as EA is concerned.

[Trippy]

Here is a serious question: What are some original games that EA has actually created in-house?

These days, most of the games published by EA are developed "in house" but that's because their corporate strategy is to buy up development houses that have created successful games that EA published. This includes companies like:

Origin
Westwood Studios
Maxis
Bullfrog
Manley and Associates (kids/educational games)
Black Box (Need for Speed)
Tiburon (sports games like Madden)
DreamWorks Interactive (Medal of Honor)
NuFX (NBA Street)
Studio 33 (Destruction Derby)
Pogo.com (Internet-based games)
DICE

and so on.

[HaemishM]

Are you capable of not cursing?

No, and fuck you for asking.

EDIT: And to add actual content to this post, I would personally like to take the imaginary entity that is Electronics Arts entire executive staff, and make sweet, sweet love to their every orifice, starting with their earholes and eyesockets. I think that once my lust for their tender holes is sated, then I might be able to dispose of the collective corpse with the dignity and prestige it deserves; namely an acid bath to wash the flesh and other disreputable bits off their useless bones. Then I would snap the bones and suck out the marrow.

See, no cursing whatsoever. Pigfucker.

[Evangolis]

See, no cursing whatsoever. Pigfucker.

I've always found that it is much easier to propound true obscenity if you are well-spoken and polite.  It is sort of like moral lubrication.

As to EA, they are buying talent, but are they keeping it?

[Pineapple]

As to EA, they are buying talent, but are they keeping it?

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3137918

"Layoffs and Restructuring at EA LA
EA's Southern Cali office "rebalanced"  "

[Alkiera]

Reminded of a line from a rap song..

"Will Smith doesn't hafta cuss to sell records.
Yeah, well I do.  So f--- him, and f--- you too."

So, is a comparison to Eminem a good thing, Haemish?

Alkiera

[murdoc]

"Will Smith doesn't hafta cuss to sell records.
Yeah, well I do.  So f--- him, and f--- you too."

This has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the topic, but it made me laugh when Will Smith made the point that he didn't need to swear to sell records... 'cause he sure as fuck does to sell his movies! *coughbadboyscough*

Anyways, continue on.

[HaemishM]

I dig Eminem, and would be honored by such a comparison.

[schild]

This is the result of what I thought 30 seconds after I read Windurst's posts. Sorry for the crudeness of it, you see 2 minutes and a mouse doesn't produce much.



Oh oh oh, and I made an avatar for windurst from it.