Larry Probst leaving EA.

[Edward M]

This can't be anything but a good thing.

 

http://kotaku.com/gaming/larry-probst/ea-boss-larry-probsts-farewell-tour-241727.php

 

Larry Probst is the Sam Walton of video games.    He claimed to have "moral values" by canceling thrill kill for being obscene and censoring countless games, yet he seems to forget his "moral values" when it comes to paying his employees for overtime.   http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-5450316.html

 

EA has become everything I hate about games.   They make games based on big names with little imagination, that are bland.   They bought a monopoly on NFL, then let the quality of their games slip. Everytime I see EA on the title of a game, i second guess if I want to buy it.  Now they are starting to use microtranactions to make you pay for stuff that should be in the game.   

 

 

And to make it all worse, he has to leave on a lie.  "Will Wright's our Steven Spielberg. Will kind of gets to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and we pretty much think it's going to turn out well"  Yeah, was it Will Wright's idea to make 7 expansion packs for the Sims?  That sounds more like the decision of a suit who wanted to make money.

 

I certainly hope that this new CEO will better than this guy.   Goodbye larry, and never come back to the video game industry, you will not be missed.  

[Paul Campbell]

[QUOTE=Edward M]

"Will Wright's our Steven Spielberg. Will kind of gets to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and we pretty much think it's going to turn out well"

[/QUOTE]

Spielberg does alot more than just re-release movies with an '07 instead of an '06 and updated cast lists.

[The Suit]

Everybody bashes EA, I can't figure it out. I love the company and play far too many of their games to complain about it. It is simple. If you hate the company for your holier then thou reasons then don't buy their products. 7 expansion packs? Why is that bad? Don't buy it. It is simple economics. I don't like paying the high price of a Red Sox game so I don't go even though I can easily afford it. I love your line that sounds more like the decision of a suit who wanted to make money...ya! That is what a company has to do to pay its bills, vendors, employees and satisfy its shareholders. Oh and by the way, if people didn't buy expansion pack one and two there wouldn't be four or five more! So therefore the demand is high which satisfies customers needs. Basically what I am saying is EA is just giving the people what they want. I can't believe you called him a suit. What are you some tree hugging hippie? Peace!

 

Shawn

[Paul Campbell]

Once again Shawn dumbs down a discussion with personal attacks.  I would not have approved that post.

People don't like EA because they are basically cheap.  Re-releasing the same stuff just to get an extra dollar without putting an ounce of effort into it, because they know people like Shawn will pay 50 bucks for a game he already has, but with updated rosters.  Look back at the reviews of the two college basketball games Dave reviewed recently.  That should say it all.

[Shawn]

[QUOTE=Paul Campbell]Once again Shawn dumbs down a discussion with personal attacks.  I would not have approved that post.

People don't like EA because they are basically cheap.  Re-releasing the same stuff just to get an extra dollar without putting an ounce of effort into it, because they know people like Shawn will pay 50 bucks for a game he already has, but with updated rosters.  Look back at the reviews of the two college basketball games Dave reviewed recently.  That should say it all.

[/QUOTE]

 

First of all I am not attacking him at all. I just disagree with him. Also, I don't pay $50 for games that I already have. That is the point! I have owned Madden 2002 for the PS2 since it was released and have no plans on buying a new one right now. I don't care if their games stink, don't buy them! People are buying them. I think Madden 2007 was one of the top selling games last year. If people are so unhappy with something then don't buy it. Until you hit a company's bottom line they will be less likely to do anything. Heck, the VGC can complain all he wants (I've seen the reviews) but HE keeps buying the games. That is the power of the consumer...if you don't like it...don't buy it!

[ActRaiser1]

It's called capitalism, the almighty dollar determines what gets a sequel and what doesn't.  It is interesting to note to read about EAs history and how they acquired such a list of great games over the years by buying indie studios.  Unfortunately, they haven't really done much with some of their more interesting franchises. 

 

http://gamasutra.com/features/20070216/fleming_01.shtml

 

I am interested in the Xbox Live Wing Commander game, which should be a ton of fun.  Seriously, who isn't looking forward to Spore?  I doubt my PC would be able to run it but certainly looks awesome.  So, for those that bash EA keep in mind the games everyone hates but buys are also funding the fringe type stuff that we all enjoy that frequent this board. 

[Paul Campbell]

[QUOTE=Shawn]

[QUOTE=Paul Campbell]Once again Shawn dumbs down a discussion with personal attacks.  I would not have approved that post.

People don't like EA because they are basically cheap.  Re-releasing the same stuff just to get an extra dollar without putting an ounce of effort into it, because they know people like Shawn will pay 50 bucks for a game he already has, but with updated rosters.  Look back at the reviews of the two college basketball games Dave reviewed recently.  That should say it all.

[/QUOTE]

 

First of all I am not attacking him at all. I just disagree with him. Also, I don't pay $50 for games that I already have. That is the point! I have owned Madden 2002 for the PS2 since it was released and have no plans on buying a new one right now. I don't care if their games stink, don't buy them! People are buying them. I think Madden 2007 was one of the top selling games last year. If people are so unhappy with something then don't buy it. Until you hit a company's bottom line they will be less likely to do anything. Heck, the VGC can complain all he wants (I've seen the reviews) but HE keeps buying the games. That is the power of the consumer...if you don't like it...don't buy it!

[/QUOTE]

Ahhh, but when a company like EA buys a monopoly over a franchise, and then uses that to release crap because they know nobody can release anything to combat it, that's pretty underhanded.

[Edward M]

[QUOTE=The Suit]

Everybody bashes EA, I can't figure it out. I love the company and play far too many of their games to complain about it. It is simple. If you hate the company for your holier then thou reasons then don't buy their products. 7 expansion packs? Why is that bad? Don't buy it. It is simple economics. I don't like paying the high price of a Red Sox game so I don't go even though I can easily afford it. I love your line that sounds more like the decision of a suit who wanted to make money...ya! That is what a company has to do to pay its bills, vendors, employees and satisfy its shareholders. Oh and by the way, if people didn't buy expansion pack one and two there wouldn't be four or five more! So therefore the demand is high which satisfies customers needs. Basically what I am saying is EA is just giving the people what they want. I can't believe you called him a suit. What are you some tree hugging hippie? Peace!

 

Shawn

[/QUOTE]

 

"holier than thou reason?"   Did you even read my post?   This isn't about EA making money.   They are by far the world's most profitable 3rd party game maker.  But they do it through illegal reasons, aka not paying proper overtime.   And at the same time they try to censor all of their games to claim they have morals.   If anyone is claims to be "holier than thou" it is probst, cewrtainly not me.

 

  And allow me to further my claim of what a "suit" is.   A suit is someone who doesn't touch the games in development who handles the business side of things, but doesn't go through the creative process.   I never like it when the suits handle the creative process.   I can't believe you would call me a "hippy"  for calling the guys in charge the suits.   Thats a common term, and it has nothing to do with being a hippy.   Trust me, I am no hippy. 

 

All I am pointing out is that Larry Probst lied.   I will bet you 10,000 to 1 that Will Wright did not want to make 7 expansion packs to the sims.   Will Wright is one of the most creative people in the world, and he is always wanting to try new things out.   He has complained about EA's demands in the past, and after making 7 expansions to it, they finally let him make spore.   I wouldn't call that "allowing him to do what he wants"   I call that a lie.  ANd for the record, I didn't buy any of the expansion packs.

[Steerforth]

Edward, I feel exactly the same way as you about EA as you expressed in your original post. Maybe its fashionable to bash EA, but that don't mean it is wrong. And the football monopoly is bad for everybody, even though I rarely play Madden and would never buy it, I always get my butt kicked anyway. And I get tired of Madden second guessing me. Get of my back man, I'm want to incoproate MY system!

 

But Shawn's right, it does sell like mad.

 

Have you ever seen the show "What About Brian?", the Barry Watson slacker dude who works for a videogame company, while trying to decide "Just what should I DO with my life?!". For some reason my brain connects the cheesy stereotypes in that show with EA, and that can't be good.

[Paul Campbell]

[QUOTE=Edward M][QUOTE=The Suit]

Everybody bashes EA, I can't figure it out. I love the company and play far too many of their games to complain about it. It is simple. If you hate the company for your holier then thou reasons then don't buy their products. 7 expansion packs? Why is that bad? Don't buy it. It is simple economics. I don't like paying the high price of a Red Sox game so I don't go even though I can easily afford it. I love your line that sounds more like the decision of a suit who wanted to make money...ya! That is what a company has to do to pay its bills, vendors, employees and satisfy its shareholders. Oh and by the way, if people didn't buy expansion pack one and two there wouldn't be four or five more! So therefore the demand is high which satisfies customers needs. Basically what I am saying is EA is just giving the people what they want. I can't believe you called him a suit. What are you some tree hugging hippie? Peace!

 

Shawn

[/QUOTE]

 

"holier than thou reason?"   Did you even read my post?   This isn't about EA making money.   They are by far the world's most profitable 3rd party game maker.  But they do it through illegal reasons, aka not paying proper overtime.   And at the same time they try to censor all of their games to claim they have morals.   If anyone is claims to be "holier than thou" it is probst, cewrtainly not me.

 

  And allow me to further my claim of what a "suit" is.   A suit is someone who doesn't touch the games in development who handles the business side of things, but doesn't go through the creative process.   I never like it when the suits handle the creative process.   I can't believe you would call me a "hippy"  for calling the guys in charge the suits.   Thats a common term, and it has nothing to do with being a hippy.   Trust me, I am no hippy. 

 

All I am pointing out is that Larry Probst lied.   I will bet you 10,000 to 1 that Will Wright did not want to make 7 expansion packs to the sims.   Will Wright is one of the most creative people in the world, and he is always wanting to try new things out.   He has complained about EA's demands in the past, and after making 7 expansions to it, they finally let him make spore.   I wouldn't call that "allowing him to do what he wants"   I call that a lie.  ANd for the record, I didn't buy any of the expansion packs.

[/QUOTE]

That is pretty typical of Shawn's rants.  Personally attacking you and blaming you for things you didn't say or even imply.  I also was wondering what the hell he was talking about with "holier than thou".