All EA brands to be made into "online universes"

[ríomhaire]

So basically, always online DRM? Guess what games I won't be playing?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-20-ea-turning-all-of-its-brands-into-online-universes

"Imagine a player gets up in the morning, plays an online match on his 360 before going to work," he said. "On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone.

On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone.

"Here's the thing: when he gets home to play again on his 360 that evening, all those achievements and upgrades will be alive in his game."

Ramsdale said online universes allow the consumer to play "how he wants, when he wants and on the device he wants".

"We're very focused on transforming all of our brands into these online universes. That gives the consumer full control of how and when they play in a rich world of content."

Not awful things in and of themselves, but needing a constant connection to access my games is not a price I'm willing to play for "online universes" in my singleplayer games.

 

[Dr.Demento]

So basically, always online DRM? Guess what games I won't be playing?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-20-ea-turning-all-of-its-brands-into-online-universes




Not awful things in and of themselves, but needing a constant connection to access my games is not a price I'm willing to play for "online universes" in my singleplayer games.

I agree. We're not ready for that kind of connectivity yet. A neat idea, but way ahead of it's time. There are still too many places even in the U.S. that don't have access to hi-speed internets. Like cloud computing, this won't work until everyone can access anywhere, anytime. (Satellite ISPs suck and don't count. 3G-4G wireless is still too expensive)

 

[Barnz]

I never play EA games, so...

 

[Dr.Demento]

I never play EA games, so...

EA makes games? I thought they exist just to rape the talented folks who actually DO make games.

 

[ríomhaire]

EA makes games? I thought they exist just to rape the talented folks who actually DO make games.

EA Los Angeles, Bioware and Popcop are all part of EA, to mention the good ones.

 

[Krynn72]

EA Los Angeles, Bioware and Popcop are all part of EA, to mention the good ones.

Only one of those are good anymore. I'll let you guess which one.
Hint:

Spoiler

its popcap

 

[Destructo-Bot]

I agree. We're not ready for that kind of connectivity yet. A neat idea, but way ahead of it's time....

To be fair, we need applications to drive demand or we'll never see that kind of connectivity. Someone needs to start the trend. I'm not opinionating on the right or wrongs of always on DRM, just that basic fact.

 

[Stigmata]

This just sounds like marketing BS for a bunch of shitty cross-platform secondary apps that let you affect simple stats in the game itself. EA have a habit of grossly overstating the coolness and integration of everything they do. I bet this is going to be less "play your game on any online platform at any time" and more "if you buy this BF3 iphone app you can play crappy minigames to boost your account XP". It's telling that the game activities they used as examples range from a spreadsheet simulator to a two-button minigame.

 

[Omnomnick]

EA Los Angeles, Bioware and Popcop are all part of EA, to mention the good ones.

Bioware? That shit is so Pre-March 2012.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Wisdom. Bioware is just a name they throw on anything and everything because they had a legacy of quality. The most hilarious being the new Command and Conquer. Good ol' scummy marketing.

 

[Majestic XII]

Everything you can do to make a game more social is something worth looking in to. If that's an app you have on your phone to organize groups, characters, items or do some side quests is one thing, more direct involvement for developers is another.

Hopefully it won't cost gamers anything extra, aka seen by upper-management and marketing as something cheap to build happy and involved communities with.