I guess this is nothing new for EA titles. It’s new to me. Thank god for hotmail and using it for signing up to things. :tup: to filling email accounts with SPAM.
I was tinkering with the Playstation Portable version of Fight Night Round 3 tonight when I decided to check out the online play.
Imagine my shock when a message popped up telling me that I had to either pay $2 or give my privacy away to ESPN and whoever they feel like selling my details to, if I wanted to play online.
I shit you not, it’s a requirement for ALL online play in this game. How insane is that. Granted $2 is next to nothing, unless you don’t have a credit card. If you don’t have a credit card, it’s either give ESPN your info (including email) or don’t play.
I sure hope Sony doesn’t continue down this ugly path. Imagine having to give up your email and, in essence, signing up for spam, just to play SOCOM 4 online.
I don’t know if this is a Sony or an EA idea, but it stinks to high heaven. Although my version of this game is a retail final, it didn’t come with packaging, so I don’t know if they let buyers know ahead of time they have to pay an extra $2 or opt-in to email delivered advertising.
Not sure where the connection is between EA and MS :gotme:
I would relate EA more to Sony than Microsoft. EA had great titles back when games were starting to get big. The first few Need For Speed titles, the first few EA Sports titles, even reaching into the early years of the PS2, EA wasn’t too bad. Then they started acquiring a lot of smaller development companies. The revenue they recieved for some big titles went straight to their heads. I just hope they either straighten up or suffer the same downfall Vivendi did. Either way, I haven’t been happy with EA since the days of NHL 2002.
The whole “give us 2 dollars or we’ll spam you” situation doesn’t suprise me. They either get their money from you, or sell the info and proably get more money that way.
More reasons that I dislike EA. Because they were unable to buy out Sega, they basically went to the NFL and the Players Assoc. and made exclusive contracts with them both for the next 5 or 7 years. Therefore, EA is the only on that can make an offical NFL game that carries the NFL logo and the player’s names. Hence no football from Sega, and Midway replaced Blitz with Blitz: The League. And what’s worse is that EA tried to deny that they approached the NFL with the offer. But shortly after that claim, the NHL and the NBA came forward stating that EA approached both of them with similar offers.
I’ll put it this way, I realize that under cutting is a typical, albeit back handed, business practice. EA however, is taking it to a new level. I thought that Microsoft was bad with some of the stuff they pulled a few years ago… EA is making them look like saints in comparison.
Sega had the chance to buy the NFL licence as well. Someone was going to buy it… EA just has more money to throw around. I’m not saying that I like it… just that it’s the way that it happened. I think competition is good… exclusivity like this sucks.
On a side note… I wish they would make a frickin’ Lacross game based on the NLL. Playin’ a dynasty as the Bandits would be sweet.
That wasn’t such a bad thing. The NFL was giving Midway shit about Blitz after it first hit. That’s why it had changed teh way that it did. With Blitz the league… it was basically a big Fuck You to the NFL for making them change their game if they wanted to keep the NFL licence.
I will give EA credit for being a monster in the entertainment industry and all they are is a game company. I read an article in Money about them a couple years ago and they have much higher profits than any production studio in Hollywood. Also to give you an idea of their swagger, I read the other day that they are in talks with Speilberg to create a new game. Thats a pretty heavy hitting combo.
