EA As The Next Disney

ducomputergeek writes "There is an article over at Business2.0.com about how EA may just surpass Disney as the number #1 media company in the world. Considering that EA has turned out some great games over the years, including Wing Commander, many sports games for consoles, and the SIMS, it wouldn't surprise me."

Comments

EA is that big?

[Cirvam]

Is EA really that big? I mean disney seems to own or have their fingers in just about all media. EA just doesn't seem as prevalent.

Also does anyone know how much the Sim's helped EA out? or did Maxis make most of the money off that?

Re:EA is that big?

[ergo98]

Is EA really that big? I mean disney seems to own or have their fingers in just about all media. EA just doesn't seem as prevalent.

If curious check out the stats on the Nasdaq page. Disney has a market capitalization of $35 billion, whereas EA is a still very respectable $8.5 billion: Much larger than I imagined (considered how massive Disney is).

Re:EA is that big?

[TC (WC)]

EA bought Maxis in 1997... so they both make an equal amount of money, as they're one and the same.

Re:EA is that big?

[Cebu]

The Sims help EA? The Sims is just the best selling video game of all time... nothing big.

Re:EA is that big?

[nelsonal]

Software companies are generally valued highly by the market, especially compared with its assets, which are not measured very well by accountants, Microsoft should have a line on its balance sheet for the Windows and Office source code, but probably never will. You might also want to look at the company's Fixed assets, which are the line in its balance sheet that shows the value of a company's buildings and equipment. Electronic Arts has $300 million, Disney has well over $12 billion worth of fixed assets, since these would be things that you and I see on a regular basis, these would likely be more indicative of what we would consider to be relative size. Comparing employees is another measure that widens the gap between them, Electronic Arts has 3,500 as of March, Disney has 114,000 as of September. Not that your measure is a less valid method of comparing company size, but this is part of the reason that you would be surprised by the small difference in the market cap of the two companies.
A company's real world position and market cap are sometimes quite diverse. For example, look at Cisco and Microsoft both of these companies were rated by the markets as the two largest companies in the world at one time, however neither is nearly as large as many smaller market cap companies by almost every other measure. A smaller market cap company, like an Baby Bell or GM, would dwarf either market darling on employees, buildings, revenues, and most other measures of company size.

Re:EA is that big?

[zonker]

I'm curious how many people remember this...

Trip Hawkins founded EA back in '82...
EA became a successful busines...

Trip founded 3DO back in '93...
3DO floundered into merely a brandname...

Guess one out of two isn't bad (actually there's more to it than that but that's another story). =)

Re:EA is that big?

[Anonymous Coward]

As an SE at EA I would have to say we are enourmous. We have offices in europe the U.S. Canada and Japan. Think of us as the microsoft of video games.

Umm...

[Britissippi]

Now all they have to do is start churning out Identikit games/media/"Entertainment produce" and have a huge tie in with McDonalds/Burger King....

Oh wait.. thats most games already... :(

Does EA produce their own stuff?

[Slurpee]

Does EA produce their own stuff, or do they get other people to produce stuff, then market it?

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[stratjakt]

It's not just EA, they really are the 'Disney' of the gaming world, buying up anyone and everyone who comes along.

Chances are, whatever you're playing, the people who made it work for EA.

They have huge sway in the console world. Arguably one of the biggest reasons Dreamcast died was because EA refused to produce titles for it (because Sega had the gall to produce their own NHL/NFL/MLB games)

The sports franchises themselves are perenially the best selling games. You're average Jimmy Goober has no problem shelling out 60$ a year for the same game, with updated player rosters.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[TC (WC)]

They own a rather large number of development houses, some that they created (like the EA Sports group...) and others that they obtained (Maxis, Origin, etc.) They most definately make their own games.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[jericho4.0]

I live in Vancouver, the home of EA. EA does make their own games, seemingly EA/Sports mostly, as EA jocks are a dime a dozen around here.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[MisterFancypants]

EA's home/HQ is in Redwood City, California. The Vancouver office is just a satellite office. So stop lying.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[Anonymous Coward]

The sports franchises themselves are perenially the best selling games. You're average Jimmy Goober has no problem shelling out 60$ a year for the same game, with updated player rosters.

I see someone read "Wired" this month...

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[TTMuskrat]

It's not just EA, they really are the 'Disney' of the gaming world, buying up anyone and everyone who comes along.

Actually, EA doesn't buy up anyone and everyone. They had the chance to purchase Take Two Interactive (GTA series) and declined the offer.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[sweetooth]

and updated AI, defenses, offenses, etc. While I would agree it's odd that people would shell out for almost the same game multiple years in a row, I do see why it makes sense to buy updated versions of the game. There are innovations in those games that can be a draw. The first version of Madden NFL for the PS2 was a big step forward graphically. Madden NFL 2002 didn't offer much. 2003 brought the addition of online play. NBA Live is similar with this years version adding an innovative control mechanism. Improvments every few years are worth picking up, dedicated fans get them all. No differant than fans of a particular author, actor, musician, director, etc.

Something else to consider about games is the trade ins. You can walk into any EB buy a game, walk out and come back and trade it in for a counter credit at any time. Hell, they even take NES games still. So you get some return on investment when you "upgrade" to the latest version.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[miratrix]

Electronic Arts Canada Vancouver Office

Electronic Arts Canada (EAC), the largest development studio in the EA family, is located in beautiful British Columbia. (emphasis are mine)

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[Anonymous Coward]

So what? My company's DC is much larger and has more employees than the headquarters, but that doesn't make the distribution center the company's "home". Fucking Canucks, always trying to make themselves sound more important than they are.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[Stapler]

And funnily enough, the 2kseries is the best sports series ever. I guess we have to learn that we live in a world that the best does not win. The best usually loses.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[jericho4.0]

You're correct that the HQ has recently been moved to Cali. EA was started in Vancouver though, and the Vancouver office is still by far the largest EA campus. EA has also recently comitted to another huge development project in Vancouver, so it looks like EA will be a presence in Van for a while to come, yet.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[Anonymous Coward]

Electonic Arts HQ

I think you may be wrong, I live in Vancouver myself and I thought Vancouver was it's HQ.

Redwood City, California, is the headquarters for Electronic Arts, the world's largest interactive entertainment software company.

Electronic Arts Canada (EAC), the largest development studio in the EA family, is located in beautiful British Columbia.

Other EA locations

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[Dahamma]

> Something else to consider about games is the trade ins.

Something else to consider and then LAUGH at - do you know what the trade in value of an EA Sports game is at EB after the next in the series comes out? About $5. For a game that's a year old. Not that I don't buy the latest NHL game anyway when it comes out... but you have to admit it's practically a yearly subscription they have going...

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[MSZ]

But it seems they *can* buy whomever they want, at least in the game industry.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[sweetooth]

I always trade in my EA sports games before they come out and usually get about $15 dollars for them. Trade in a couple of other crappy games that have only recently been released (which happens all the time) and you've got just about enough to cover your latest edition sports game.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[joshsisk]

I believe the 2K series sells very well... You can't expect them to outsell EA, EA is established and the 2K series is only about 3 years old.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[Romeozulu]

Please. EA as started in CA in the 80's. The Vancouver offices used to build racing games before it was purchased by EA.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[Anonymous Coward]

EA does both. On top of haveing hugh studios all over the world they also publish games from smaller startup studios.

Re:Does EA produce their own stuff?

[tzimsce]

I think it's very funny that, though EA caused the death of Sega Dreamcast (if that is true), Sega now puts out better sports games than EA. You know, I guess the death of Dreamcast WAS good for all!

Conglomeration

[DoctorPhish]

You mean, some great games were turned out by companies that EA syphoned up...e.g. wing commander was produced _before_ EA bought Origin.

Re:Conglomeration

[Neon Spiral Injector]

Yes, syphoned up, and used for the one game that they wanted (Ultima Online), and then dismantled.

I don't have any problem with people compairing EA to Disney.

Re:Conglomeration

[TC (WC)]

Of course, all the Wing Commander games released after 1992 (read: almost all of them) were developed by an Origin Systems that belonged to EA. Without the monetary support provided by EA, there's no way the larger budgeted Wing Commander games could have been produced.

Re:Conglomeration

[TC (WC)]

Pardon? There were 7 or 8 years of Wing Commander game development under Electronic Arts management... It's not like they were aiming for Ultima Online through the entire period. Either way, the cancellation of more Wing Commander development had a hell of a lot to do with the decreasing market for space-sims, as well as wanting to focus on Ultima Online style games. (A large amount of time and effort was also spent on a Wing Commander Online style game.)

Re:Conglomeration

[inteller]

Yeah, no shit.....just look at what happened to Westwood Studios after EA got them. They went from having a very diverse portfolio to just being this RTS cog in the EA wheel. I really hated seeing Westwood go to pot like that. Am I the only person that liked the Kyrandia series?

Re:Conglomeration

[Cognitive Dissident]

You mean, some great games were turned out by companies that EA syphoned up...e.g. wing commander was produced _before_ EA bought Origin.

Hey, the article does say that EA is the Microsoft of the games industry. Well, that's the method of Microsoft. Sounds like they are describing EA correctly.

Re:Conglomeration

[Breakfast Pants]

you consider command and conquer: renegades a RTS? wtf

Re:Conglomeration

[Rhonwyn]

I wouldn't say it was a total decrease in market for space-sims, but a lack of quality in them. Wing Commander 3 was great. One of the greatest space sims. It had a pretty good plot, one you could affect at least a little. OK, so there were 1-2 things you could change, but still. The game play was intuitive and the difficulty gradually went up as you went through the game.

What turned me off to it was WC4. It was horrible. It was more a movie than a game, and the game was nearly impossible. A few people tried the game, told all their friends it was horrid and not to even bother, so they didn't.

Re:Conglomeration

[Anonymous Coward]

It probably would have been better if they HADN'T been produced. WC1 RIP.

Re:Conglomeration

[TC (WC)]

Didn't even see this until just now... Tons and tons of people bought Wing Commander 4... it had a huge number of sales for the computer game market at the time. Unfortunately it barely made money because Roberts went insanely over budget. This resulted in Roberts 'leaving' Origin.

Competition makes things good.

[b0ycheese]

Maybe if Disney gets knocked from the top spot, they'd realize that they need to work harder on producing good media. It seems to me that the quality of their stuff has been dropping horribly. They did a great job of making things based off of classic material, but some of the stuff they relase that isn't is simply bad, in my opinion.

Re:Competition makes things good.

[lingqi]

I disagree.

Movie-wise I would say disney has been getting better.

Or, for my own taste anyway - Lilo&Stitch was an excellent film - and all the pixar productions keeps getting better as well.

I mean, compared to "Sleeping Beauty"... I'd take today's disney films any day of the week.

One may argue that Disney is trying to drown out Gibli stuff by buying up the rights, but maybe they are actually recognizing talent?

Re:Competition makes things good.

[phong3d]

Well...

Disney only has a distribution agreement with Pixar. I believe they just recently extended it, but if Pixar chooses to go with someone else as a distributor, it's there prerogative.

I also think "Sleeping Beauty" is an excellent older Disney film. Compared to "Tarzan" or the execrable "Return to Neverland", it's golden.

I do agree with your speculation regarding the Studio Ghibli distribution, though. Disney animators hold Miyazaki in godlike stature, and maybe that has enough weight to at least get Disney to distribute his films (since it certainly doesn't make them want to market it with any vigor).

Re:Competition makes things good.

[Anonymous Coward]

One may argue that Disney is trying to drown out Gibli stuff by buying up the rights, but maybe they are actually recognizing talent?

Didn't even have to point it out this time, did we?

Re:Competition makes things good.

[Anonymous Coward]

What do you think of their latest animation (Treasure Planet)? Nobody went to see it.

And Lilo and Stitch? My god. The legs!

Re:Competition makes things good.

[trotski]

Somebody has to say it.

You sir are whats wrong with people today. YOu have no taste and based upon your opinion on today's disney movies, I assume you are a complete idiot.

Tarzan, The Little Mermaid 2, The Lion King 2... this is the kind of tripe that disney is forcing down our childrens throats. To say Disney movie's are getting better is like saying that Microsoft Office gets even better with every release, IE complete horseshit.

I honestly hope you were trolling with the above comment, because it's very worrying to see that people can has as bad a taste as you do.

Re:Competition makes things good.

[boa13]

It seems to me that the quality of their stuff has been dropping horribly.

Or perhaps you have aged terribly? ;-)

Re:Competition makes things good.

[lingqi]

What is your definition of "excellent?"

Is it the story-line? Disney has nothing to do with most of the older film's story-line - albeit the Quasimodo's life style got a big change.

The animation techniques? While they have been going toward more abstract reprasentatives of people, I think the technique has been improving. The scenes where Tarzan slides through vines, etc conveys the scence of mastery Tarzan has over the forest that traditional animation techniques would have never been capable of.

True, there has been craps recently (all the ones that screams "low budget!" - pocahontas 2, peter pan 2, etc), but i really think they are kind of running-out-of stories. I mean, it's not like they can make Moby Dick / Crime & Punishment into a kids film, ya know. (Though have the Capt'n ride ride the whale into the sunset at film-end would be an interesting ending)

But seriously, I *personally* didn't find most of the older disney films that interesting, beside a nod to it as "this is history" - maybe I am growing out of the "liking kids stuff (simple hero-villain structure, etc)" age? A lot of the newer stuff has jokes that both kids and adults can appreciate - and they have taken off a lot of the different-sex-and-their-specific-rolls overtones from the older films, which is another thing I find pleasing about the newer Disney stories.

So, I actually like "Tarzan" more than "Sleeping Beauty" - of course, that's just me.

Re:Competition makes things good.

[Anonymous Coward]

Snow Dogs? Come on now... really.

Re:Competition makes things good.

[Stapler]

It doesn't matter if the animators love and respect him and want to give him gold, frankincense and myrrh, the suits are the ones pulling the strings and strangling Ghibli.

Like Disney's corporate level cares what the animators think. They just see dollar signs.

Re:Competition makes things good.

[SethJohnson]

I agree with the earlier-stated opinion that modern disney is really putting out garbage compared to some of their earlier classic works.

This snow dogs movie is a good example... except that the more I thought about it, I started to remember all those real weak Disney live-action movies featuring Kurt Russell. Then they had those shaggy da movies. You might remember. They basically would crank out these movies based on an absurd premise and then have some character running around freaking out with trying to manage this absurd situation.

The thing I guess I'm criticizing is that their big animation films also seem weak compared to their previous animated big-seller classics. Like what's up with that new one with the pirate ship that travels through space? Ninja, please!

Re:Competition makes things good.

[cioxx]

Tarzan, The Little Mermaid 2, The Lion King 2... this is the kind of tripe that disney is forcing down our childrens throats.

I'd take Tarzan and the rest over Pokemon Forever 2000 Xtreme, of whatever it's called.

Re:Competition makes things good.

[epukinsk]

I agree with you in some ways. We've seen more and more top quality animated movies (The Iron Giant, Toy Story) coming out of other studios. I remember first seeing the preview for Lilo and Stitch and thinking "This is it. Either Disney nails this, or they give up the animated movie business to the newer studios for good." But I just saw Lilo and Stitch on TV, and I think they nailed it. Or at least adapted enough to keep them in the game.

I think the fact that Disney went from Sleeping Beauty to The Little Mermaid to The Lion King to Lilo and Stitch demonstrates that their not so set in their ways that they can't keep up.

Erik

Re:Competition makes things good.

[wednesdaywar]

Not to defend the Diz, but 9 Treasure Planet $3,102,173 2,192 $1,415 $27,905,575 19 Looks like some people have, in fact, seen Treasure Planet. Enough to make it #9 last week, and bring in an average of $1415 over 2192 theatres... Lilo and Sticj made around 143 Million on a 120M budget. Not stellar, but respectable.

Re:Competition makes things good.

[Anonymous Coward]

Competition can't make things good when the competitors fuck with the rules and use cash payoffs to shift laws to favor profits and cover up malfeasance. Disney's lack of competition is thanks to the late Sonny Bono and all the other congressthings they've buttered up with currency. Make them play by the rules their competitors have to play by and see what happens.

EA vs Disney

[stonebeat.org]

games vs movies. i think with the level of complexity and advancement in games and gaming technology, i have to say sale of games will exceed the sale of disney movies....

Re:EA vs Disney

[autopr0n]

i have to say sale of games will exceed the sale of disney movies

So, the sale of Disny Movies exceeds the sale of games from Lionhead Studios. Comparing one company to a whole industry is kind of pointless.

The video game industry as a whole is already larger then the movie industry, and has been for several years. No one seems to care, though.

Re:EA vs Disney

[MrLint]

which company has bigger asshats running the show?

Re:EA vs Disney

[Anonymous Coward]

IN SOVIET UNION:
Space Mountain sponsors Fed EX!

Re:EA vs Disney

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, hate to do this but its really annoying... It's their not there!

Re:EA vs Disney

[netwalkr]

OK OK I messed up. Please forgive me.

Re:EA vs Disney

[entrippy]

"The video game industry as a whole is already larger then the movie industry, and has been for several years. No one seems to care, though."

Ah, no.

This is a common piece of disinformation that seems to have propogated through the entire world.

Repeat after me -

Games make more money than Movies make in US BOX OFFICE TAKINGS.

Movies make most (80%?) of their money from TV rights, DVD's, Videos and merchandising.

The Movie INDUSTRY is bigger than the games INDUSTRY and will be for at least the next 5-10 years. Don't be confused - the movie industry is a media (and financial) giant.

Does Eisner Know?

[macdaddy357]

EA the next Disney? Does Michael Eisner know about this? Will they constantly take from the public domain, without ever giving back to it like Disney does?

Incredible!

[Anonymous Coward]

For those of us that get out in the sun once and a while, what the hell is "EA"?

Re:Incredible!

[David_Bloom]

Electronic Arts

Re:Incredible!

[Orne]

I think you need to read the ingredients list on your software...

Then you'd notice... E.A., it's in the game.

When did it stop being EOA?

[The Tyro]

Electronic Arts always had great games... except it used to be EOA, dunno when it changed.

Ah, those fond memories of my youth... 2AM, sitting in front of my C-64, watching that EOA title screen come up... gaming all night long (in between using a 300 baud modem to contact BBS's in germany, Japan...)

I almost didn't survive the beating that resulted from one month's phone bill... almost 400$ of overseas long-distance. Twenty years ago, 400$ was, as they say, real money.

Yep, I can hear the L33T K1dd13Z now... "Shut up, pops. Go take some Bayer for yer arthritis."

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[stratjakt]

>> 2AM, sitting in front of my C-64, watching that EOA title screen come up... gaming all night long (in between using a 300 baud modem to contact BBS's in germany, Japan...)

Yes, I remember the *REAL* Test Drive for C64.. but 300 baud? You sure that wasn't a vic 20 or a PET even? Even the local wannabe had a 1200baud, us elites had an RS-232C adaptor and a 2400..

Long distance phone bills? Guess you missed the phreaking/call extender train too!

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[The Tyro]

"Guess you missed the phreaking/call extender train too!"

Heheheh... I didn't say I paid 400$ EVERY month...

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that was Electronic Gaming Arts. I always thought it looked like an O too.

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[Jonathan]

but 300 baud? You sure that wasn't a vic 20 or a PET even? Even the local wannabe had a 1200baud, us elites had an RS-232C adaptor and a 2400..

It was all about the year, not the machine type. When I got my first modem in 1984, while I suppose I could have found some manufacturer making 1200 baud modems, no BBSes had them, so it wouldn't have done me much good.

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[Anonymous Coward]

1200 baud? I think you've got your dates confused. Possibly a late-comer to the scene eh?

1200 baud? No way buddy. We're talking circa 1982/83, 300 baud was the deal. Only rich people and big business had 1200 baud. 99.9% of BBS's ran 300 baud because that was all we could afford. Sure, that changed in '84+, but in the original days 300 baud was it.

In fact, I didn't have anything faster than 300 baud until 1986 or so when I got a 2400 baud modem for like $200 (for my Amiga by then).

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[seann]

Shut up, pops. Go take some Bayer for yer arthritis.

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[John Miles]

Actually the 'O' was just a stylized sphere interposed between the cube ('E') and pyramid ('A') symbols that comprised the EA logo. It made for a memorable if misleading trademark.

The cube, sphere, and pyramid objects in Ultima VIII were originally supposed to be evil artifacts in Ultima VI, if I remember correctly. Richard Garriott had a bit of a grudge against Trip Hawkins ("Pirt Snikwah") back in those days, as Origin was less than thrilled with their treatment as an EA affiliated label in the late Eighties. Richard had painstakingly planned a whole boatload of EA-as-the-embodiment-of-ultimate-evil allusions for the Ultimas beyond V, but EA skillfully dodged his wrath by offering to buy the company. :)

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[Fwonkas]

That's funny. I always thought it was ECA. I'm thinking of the spash screen for Bard's Tale II in particular. On my C-128.

Well, now I know.

This brings up many angry anti-capitalist anti-corporate feelings suddenly. I really liked the Bard's Tale series. Oh well, I'll calm down now. Was Interplay the original publisher? Yet another company swallowed up by a larger one.

Bleh.

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[gmhowell]

My parents got one of those phone bills. The beating was about to begin when I said 'but wait, my new friends just gave me about $400 worth of free software'.

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[Anonymous Coward]

It never was "EOA". It was "ECA".

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[dillon_rinker]

I could read at 1200 bps. At 2400 I lost it.

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[Fastball]

I had a 300 baud modem from GE that had a coupler, and I used it to great effect with my C64. I swear there will never be a collection of bits more treasured that the ones that chirped through that cup-n-yarn modem. I didn't rack up a phone bill though, at least not one that I or anyone I knew paid. MCI codes were gold.

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[robman]

Here's a little something.

From the article:
As a side note, EA's classic Square/Circle/Triangle corporate logo was devised by Barry Deutsch of Steinhilber Deutsch and Gard design firm . They proposed the three shapes to stand for the "basic alphabet of graphic design," and they rasterized them to connote technology. About a year later, ATT unveiled a similar treatment in their logo.

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[Number14]

Which didn't stop them from using the sphere, tetrahedron, and cube as the Guardian's means of conquering Britannia in Ultima VII. :>

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[wikthemighty]

Hrm. For some reason I seem to recall at one point an Electronic Arts logo with the sun rising between two mountains fashioned as an E and an A, which then got modified... ...but maybe I'm just getting old and my brain is just making stuff up. :) Perhaps it comes from staring at that color-scrolling "EOA" loading screen for 5 minutes at a time over and over again...

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm pretty sure it was always ECA. (ElectroniC Arts, or EleCtronic Arts, whichever you prefer)

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[John Miles]

Good point, if that's actually when the artifacts first showed up. (I actually never played through any of the Ultimas after V, so what I wrote shouldn't be taken as canon.)

Re:When did it stop being EOA?

[jason_g_haines]

There has long been animosity between EA and Origin. My favorite dig at EA was found buried within the Ultima V binaries. Ultima V had a list of swear words that, when used in conversation, would result in the response 'With language like that how didst thou become an Avatar?!'. In this swear word list in the binaries (at least the Apple II verisons) was the usual 4 letter words as well as 'Electronic Arts'.

EA the next Disney? NOT!

[Dolemite_the_Wiz]

You have got to be frigging kidding me!

They release buggy products (NHL 2002, NHL 2003, 007: NightFire for the PC) have support that is substandard (sub standard is too kind of a word), and re-use game engines and ideas from other companies.

These guys are getting sloppy and lazy. Some other company will come and dethrone them because of said sloppiness.

They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

I have two friends who work at EA (two completely different locations, and neither of these people know each other).

EA works you like a dog. Everyone there hates their job. Big sexist corporate culture too. Both of my friends are women, and BOTH have had ideas stolen from them by their male manager. Fuckers.

So in that respect, yes, they are just like Disney.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[WildBeast]

They publish great games yet give no support, no patches, no nothing and let promising games die. It's despicable. I'm not buying any more EA games.

The fact that your friends hate there jobs doesn't surprise me at all.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Syncdata]

Ah, the memories. I worked EA/maxis and they treat their software side employees like they should be glad to work there. The legal side and marketing side gets a little more touch, but then, EA is all about the legal and marketing. Hm...quite a bit like disney, just like the parent mentioned.
In terms of market share/quality product/market cap, I would say EA is going to have a tough time matching disney. But if the article was comparing corporate culture, then, they're probably smack dab on the target.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[boomgopher]

Yeah, I interviewed with EA Sports a while back, and everyone looked like major burn-outs. Cool, but tired...

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Quarters]

I worked for EA.COM/EA Virginia for about 12-18 months.

Worst work experience I've ever had. At one point they wanted us to dumb our game down to the point where the users could hit a key to have his vehicle automatically follow an enemy. Then all the user would have to do is click the mouse button to fire their weapons.

Yes, the clueless, khaki/t-shirt/black sweater management core from Redwood Shores that such an idea would make the game, "more accessable". It never dawned on them that it also removed all interactivity from an interactive entertainment product.

But, what do you expect when their CEO is from Sara Lee and gives motivational speeches with such phrases as, "Making an online game is a lot like making a quiche.".

(I am so glad I'm out of that environment.)

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Loco3KGT]

I worked for EAVAQA. I was treated just fine. Actually still in touch with most of the people from there. Good times. Good times.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Loco3KGT]

Oh BT:3025 how I miss thee. Best online game evar.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[God! Awful 2]

Big sexist corporate culture too. Both of my friends are women, and BOTH have had ideas stolen from them by their male manager. Fuckers.

I don't know if they're sexist or not, but your logic doesn't follow. Managers often get to where they are by taking credit for other people's ideas. Do you have evidence that managers don't steal the ideas of male employees? Two data points does not a trend make.

-a

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, for one of my friends, the women came up with an idea, told her manager; and at the big meeting where she was going to present her idea, HE presented the idea, and she was asked to go get some coffee.

No shit. Unfortunately, this was 6 months ago, and with 1 kid on the way, she's too scared to leave and look for another job. She's really looking forward to taht maternity leave.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[HungWeiLo]

Interns there work 75 hours on a 40-hour wage - standard. I'm sure the full-timers get a even bigger shaft.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[schlach]

Yes, the clueless, khaki/t-shirt/black sweater management core from Redwood Shores that such an idea would make the game, "more accessable". It never dawned on them that it also removed all interactivity from an interactive entertainment product.

Ok, so how did it turn out? I mean, for a company with a market cap of ~$8 billion, they must be doing something right. If the employees are truly treated like shit, in a horrible working environment, as everyone here has said, and the managers are clueless PHBs, and the CEO is presumably equally skilled at making games and baking quiches... "why they so rich?"

Seems like a recipe for disaster, not unrivaled success...

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Maserati]

That's pretty much it. No other online game ever had quite the same feeling as you got in a hunting pack of 10Js with 4 medium lasers. Four people who fought together even semi-regularly could execute some serious shit. It was a beautiful thing, a deadly dance, and they decided They Didn't Want My Money.

Darn.

Oh well, Il-2 Sturmovik online is pretty good, but I don't get the same frisson as I did in BT3025. Yet. I still suck.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

EA is all about the legal and marketing

Speaking of which... EA's new slogan "Challenge Everything", if you'd heard it, is extremely annoying! Everytime I started up '007 Nightfire' and heard that I wanted to strangle the marketing fucktard that so blatantly co-opted that "anti-authority" phrase.

It's almost as annoying as that "zoom-zoom" kid in that car commercial. ahh!

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[dillon_rinker]

Why are they so rich? Because making money is not about making quality product. (At best, it is about making a product mildly better than the competitors). Making money is all about delivering product and creating a market for it. THAT is what business people are good at. They are hired to lie ("Our company/product/service is BETTER than our competitors!" when in fact it's about the same) and we wonder why they rip us off (a la Enron).

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[shepd]

The proof that underpaying workers and treating them like shit makes you a world power?

McDonald's.

Think about it for a moment and you'll see why this is the way it works, assuming the owner has no conscience whatsoever.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

I work for EA. Yes, they do work us like dogs, but they make sure your time spent in the office is as enjoyable as possible. In no other office setting can you work the long hard hours without going crazy.

The work is interesting because it is always challenging you in different ways unlike your standard drone office jobs. The final product is something to be proud of and you can be glad that hundreds of thousands of people will have a great time as a result of your labour.

Its not a job for a laid back worker or someone who likes to get 8+ hours of sleep at night. Most of the people here work hard and still find time to play hard.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was in the process of going to Origin right after EA took over. It had been my dream to go to work at Origin and hoped to make it over to the Ultima team. My two friends that got me in the door soon bailed and warned me not to accept the position. I always wondered why, until hearing the other horror stories of the EA monster.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Loco3KGT]

Electronic Arts didn't decide they didn't want your money. What really happened is another reason why we all love Microsoft :

Microsoft owns the rights to all games based on BattleTech. Or atleast all games based on the rules/world that govern BattleTech (ie, FASA). EA came up with the idea to make BT:3025 but had to license it from Microsoft. Microsoft gave them a year to make something to would have to go up for "approval" from MS before they would let the license be renewed. When that 1 year mark hit, and EA went to MS to get it approved, Microsoft basically said "That's pretty cool. And a lot of people are already playing the Beta? We'll make it ourself." and pulled the rug out from under EA.

There was actually some wondering within the EAVAQA staff if EA would threaten to shaft MS like they did Sega on the Dreamcast (EA made no games for the Dreamcast), but I can only assume the potential revenues from the XBox titles greatly outweighed anyhing they expected to gain from BT:3025/ea.com subscription services as a whole.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Maserati]

Those bastards !

Bill Gates now personally owes me $7250 (a $1000 bump just for this) as I continue to tally MS-related annoyances.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

"A lot of people celebrate Christmas in February"

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

they must be doing something right.
Yeah, there being a soulless money hungry corporation who's #'1 focus is maximum profit, it just so happens that they market and sell computer games, they don't particularly care about making good games or making games better, it's all about the benjamins. Look at Vivendi, they started out as a French Water+Sewer company, one day they're selling treated shit water and the next they're in the movie and media biz - these big companies believe that if you can manage a chain ot motels that you can run a huge Telecom company (right into the ground that is- cough Berni Ebbers) Some management guru works as a catering manager and then moves into telecom or some other tech field, they think just because they're great at managing a convenience store, they'll be great at running a software company, I think they believe the BS they spout off to others, but isn't that most of what bizness is all about, false promises and inflated claims.. I guess they don't even think of their lies as 'lies', for them it's just SOP.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

Well you're a smart one now aren't you. The entire industry works everyone hard and the scary thing is that we all go in for it. We want to do this so you deal with the loss of time/life. If you had actually been in the industry for any length of time (oh but you haven't) you would know that EA is one of the lesser offenders in comparison to a development company that regularly has there employees work 100 plus hours a week to get a project out the door (2-12months). EA has a greater network set up so that no one person destroys themselves because the network will help. You where just to green to ask for help and you paid for it. On the game front you yet again prove your ignorance by viewing a single game and making a blanket statement without any research. EA has a library of titles from complex to the childlike simplistic and they are all created for the masses to understand. If they don't than the game doesn't sell. I think your candy coated view of the industry got tainted because you thought this way of life is a utopia of modern career choices. It's like any other job and you managed to screw yourself out of an opportunity due to your preconceptions. You work to make a product that people will buy thus guaranteeing profits to make sure you have a job.

Oh and if you did your work term and you didn't get a contract afterward than you might as well consider yourself blackballed. That would be from all of EA and anything EA connected.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

That would be funny, except that it's true...

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps your little slice of EA is like that, but I also work at EA, and the work environment here is, by far, the worst I've encountered in my career.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

Heh, didn't know that EA had astroturfers...

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[fatgraham]

"Big sexist corporate culture too. Both of my friends are women, and BOTH have had ideas stolen from them by their male manager. Fuckers."

Yes, this only happens to women...

Judging from EA, i'd assume this is standard practise, no matter who made up the ideas

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Quarters]

That story would be all well and good except for a few things

a) MS was behind the product, had seen it during all stages of development, and was actively interested in it.

b) After EA shut down EA Virginia MS was helping a few of the left over developers to try and buy back the code-base from EA (MS only owned the IP, not the code). EA wouldn't budge on it.

It was not MS's actions that caused the downfall of BT3025. It was the pride and short-sightedness of EA that did it in.

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder what EA game is coming out in February that people are working through Christmas for...

Re:They work their employees like dogs...

[Anonymous Coward]

Once again the simpletons come out to voice there tired ignorant opinion. I don't work at EA but I know first hand what the company is like. Next time you try to post try to use a statement that doesn't turn you into a mindless misunderstood fool because it's much more interesting to verbally beat the crap out of someone with a semblence of a brain.

Re:so there I was...

[Anonymous Coward]

hot grit work?

Wow,

[autopr0n]

Of course, the video game industry has been larger then the movie industry for a while, at least in terms of revenue. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that video games cost $50 or so for a new game, while movies cost a few dollars at the theater, and around $10-$15 for DVDs.

But still, it's interesting how the movie (and even the tiny music) industry seem to be much more newsworthy and important then the video game industry. Aside from game specific press... the game industry gets about as much ink as the logging industry or something. Its weird.

Re:Wow,

[evilviper]

the game industry gets about as much ink as the logging industry or something. Its weird.

When was the last time you walked into your supermarket and was surrounded by 100+ different magazines devoted entirely to logging?

Re:Wow,

[dsb]

Not to mention the stars of the video game don't necessarily demand multi-million dollar compensation...yet!

Re:Wow,

[FunkSoulBrother]

Perhaps he meant to say "air" rather than "ink".

It's true that the gaming industry gets plenty of stories written, but I think the movie industry is leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to airtime. Other than that crappily produced G4 channel, you never see games on TV or radio, whereas you get movie industry news daily on the big broadcast channels like NBC, ABC, etc..

Re:Wow,

[softsign]

I was watching ESPN the other day at a bar and a commercial came on for Hitman 2. EA has boatloads of TV spots on for their sports games - particularly during sports telecasts. Who-da-thunkit?

As for the thinly-veiled advertisements like Entertainment Tonight... it's a tough comparison. ET and its ilk spend most of their time delivering gossip about the stars of movies and only occasionally toss in info about upcoming movies. Since game developers have yet to reach moviestar status (how many people - outside of the geek community - do you know that would recognize John Carmack?), you're going to have a tough time filling 22 minutes each day with game gossip/news.

Not only that, but why would gamers sit around the tube if they can just hit a website with all the news they want and even playable demos?

Gaming is a huge business, but it's a distant cousin of television - unlike movies.

Re:Wow,

[Thomas M Hughes]

movies cost a few dollars at the theater, and around $10-$15 for DVDs.

Um, no? Movies cost like $8 at the Theatre and $20-30 on DVD, unless you're hitting the cheap theatres and the discount bin for DVDs. Plus rental revenues. Granted, games are big money, yes. But you've halved the cost (and revenue) of the movie industry. Besides, which is a normal person more likely to do in a 1 month period: (1) See 4 movies in the theatres or on rental, and purchase an additional one for home viewing or (2) Purchase 4 games?

Re:Wow,

[mobets]

you may see 100+ magazines. I see 100+ ad collections that they actualy want me to pay to read. You know there is something wrong with a magazine when you get to the end of an article and realize it was a multipage ad. It's even worse when said ad was more interesting than the real articles.

Re:Wow,

[styxlord]

the video game industry has been larger then the movie industry for a while, at least in terms of revenue

uh huh ... maybe if its said enough times it will come true. The video game industry is in the same ball park as the box office only. The movie industry makes way more money out of video, dvd and syndication.

Re:Wow,

[Terralthra]

But does a licensed movie game count for the Movie Industry, the Video Game Industry, or both?

Re:Wow,

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe you pay those prices at Target or something, but considering you can easily find new DVDs online for $15, they're not being sold to distributors for any more than that. Considering I've never seen a newly released game (not counting Serious Sam) sell for less than $35 online, and usually it's $40-50, I think his figures were pretty reasonable.

Anyway, what relevance did your post have? Or did you just feel like being a jackass?

Re:Wow,

[Anonymous Coward]

This kind of statement gets repeated so many times that people accept it blindly. The video game industry is NOT bigger than the film industry. Not by a long shot. Sales of video games are only slight ahead of box-office receipts. This does not include sales of tapes and DVDs which roughly equal the box-office numbers. Film industry revenues are nearly double that of the video game industry.

Re:Wow,

[entrippy]

I've already mentioned this point somewhere else, but you're wrong wrong wrong.

The movie industry is much larger than the games industry, despite the fact that games make more per year than films make at the box office.

This is because the movie industry makes most of it's money from DVD's, licensing, TV rights and foreign box office takings. Adding up to a substantially larger industry than games.

I know this is a redundant comment, so feel free to mod it as such. I just don't feel that slashdot should be the home of FUD propogation, as you seem so keen to do.

And yes, I know that's nothing but a wistful dream...

Re:Wow,

[entrippy]

Profit on the sales goes to the game industry, licensing fees go to the movie industry. Easy.

RTFA

[Anonymous Coward]

EA may just surpass Disney as the number #1 media company in the world

The article states that the CEO of EA thinks "it's almost absurd to compare a $2 billion software maker with a $25 billion diversified media giant." I don't think they'll be surpassing Disney anytime soon.

Re:RTFA

[Chemical]

Arrr, but Disney has a 60 year head start. Also video games are still a relitively new and emerging technology. The total market penetration that games now have is very recent. Prior to the Playstation, kids were the only target demo for games (in the US anyway). In addition Disney aren't doing as well as they had in the recent past, while game sales are way up. So the tables could be turned sooner than one might think.

Re:RTFA

[_ph1ux_]

OK - I wrote a long ass reply to this - but lost it due to the back button....

Anyway, you're wrong to think that the CEO of EA would give up everything on such a simple statement.

First - of course it is in his interest to look more humble - and not want to outwardly state that he is trying to compare himself withthe likes of disney.

Second - the impact that gaming has on the tech industry is fantastic. I ran Intel's game test lab - and can tell you - matter of fact - the game industry drives the tech market above all things - no matter what you hear to the contrary. You think that MS office has any impact on the chipsets and products being pumped out of every hardware house on the globe? nope - but throw in some quake X, 007, NWN whatever - and sure enough the industry wants to produce hardware to give that "immersive" experience.

The thing about Disney is that they will always be a large media company - because they have influence that is well established. but that area of inflkuence is a lot more stagnant than it used to be.

With the advent of games and the tremendous speeds at which they evolve, and drive technology forwards - their influence on the entire media industry, and subsequently, pop culture as a whole has much more far reaching effects than people like Eisner would like to readily admit.

Why? Well it is just simple policy to find out as much about the enemy without giving any information out about yourself. EA would not tell you in any article or interview what their strategy would be.

They thing to think about in this particular context is that video games in general are far youngerthan the traditional media industry - but already we are seeing a massive shakeup in the way "media" is perceived, marketed, created and ingested. This means that the traditional established business models are goign to have to struggle very hard to remain in their formor positions of glory less they re-evaluate where they are going and how they are getting there.

Disney has had a solid form of entertainment in the form of their theme park, with a solid revenue stream for a long time because two important factors: 1) it was around before alternative "stationary" entertainment options (ie video games) existed. 2) very very strong branding, which played on item 1 - which *bred* brand loyalty into its visitors.

Now - take a look at my other post, you will see that the primary reason why anyone still goes to disney is from brand loyalty. Brand loyalty that is bred into children at a very young age - which will bring them back hopefully multiple times while they are young - and bring them back when they get older and ahve kids... but now that we have stationary forms of entertainment on the same level as far as fantasy is concerned, Disney's hold on kids "mindshare" is weakening.

This is the most important point. EA is already in a very very strong position. One that Disney cannot possibly overtake. EA is *established* very very established.

This means that no way can Disney over take that foundation - regardless of how stroing their brand is. This leaves them two options 1) compete. compete with the EA in an area that Disney does not have as strong of a market understanding - even though they may have a strong traditional brand. or 2) Partner. Now here is the option - the only option really. Disney will use its fantastic brand label, while partneringwith the foundation of EA in the gameing industry. This will allow them to bring their brand to the eyes of people (and this is what its really important - bringing the brand, not the game) into the arean and tap into some of that market.

Now - the difference that is to Disneys advantage is the "traditional" media empire it has. Although - this is a fast shrinking area. With regards to movies and pop culture characters - EA has an opportunity to put themselves in the long term cat-bird seat as it were. As long as EA puts characters into the minds of the youth that they will attach to very very strongly - they can leverage these t\new brand trademarks through video games and into movies and merchandising lines.

Children of the past decade and a half (like me), present and future will grow up with more and more video game influence in their lives. Both EA and disney know this - but only EA is in such a strong position currently.

Just look again at how young the video game industry is - and the inroads it has already made in "traditional" media - such as film. (mortal kombat, resident evil, final fantasy, etc...)

Disney is on its toes. Dont worry.... EA *knows* that if they play their cards right and dont give up too much ground, they will be the Disney of tomorrow. and Disney oftoday will be a smaller player, yet a very well looked at, and analyzed past giant.

Oh yeah, no sweat...

[sootman]

...all they have to do is create several dozen movies that are regarded as classics for generations, open a couple theme parks, buy a handful of movie and television companies... They should be done by Q2 2003.

Re:Oh yeah, no sweat...

[tigertigr]

I find it funny that EA has gotten to where they are by rehashing the same franchises year after year (NHL, anyone?).

Looks like they learned a thing or two from Disney!

Wow

[CausticWindow]

If that is true, then wow, that's weird. They used to be so small. I remember all their excellent games for the C64, but strangely I can't remember any of their names.

One of my favourites was Foxfire or Firefox or something like that. Ace flight sim for that old 8 bit machine.

Useless trivia of the day: The legendary SID musician/coder Rob Hubbard works for EA these days. He coded the themesong for Commando in machine code in just one night. Skillz.

Re:Wow

[crywolf]

One of my favourites was Foxfire or Firefox or something like that. Ace flight sim for that old 8 bit machine.

Are you thinking of Skyfox? That was a cool game. In some fancy airplane, shooting up aliens tanks and motherships near ground, and up into the sky to shoot up alien planes.

And then Skyfox II just rocked. They stuck you out in space. I've got that game on my C64 emulator (and an actual physical copy of the game, so I have the blue-on-blue copy-protection map).

Measuring stick

[muertos]

I guess it's possible that EA could one day be the biggest media company in the world. Until they open their first theme park, though, I'm going to leave them off the list of contenders.

Re:Measuring stick

[bob65]

On a related topic, wouldn't an EA theme park be cool?

Re:Measuring stick

[lvdrproject]

No.

Re:Measuring stick

[4minus0]

>On a related topic, wouldn't an EA theme park be cool?
Short answer: no

The Empire of Disney is Collapsing

[Anonymous Coward]

Disney is stumbling and faltering almost as bad as McDonald's.

Michael, you are washed up. If you had any honor as CEOs once did, you would do the best thing for your shareholders and the company: step aside.

Re:The Empire of Disney is Collapsing

[stratjakt]

Oh c'mon now!

Treasure Planet will turn things around!

Re:The Empire of Disney is Collapsing

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL!

funny...

[ruebarb]

I remember seeing an ad in a gaming magazine...aboutr '86 or so...

black and white, with about 8 developers on it..each talking about games they had programmed...Archon, stuff like that...

that was EA, as I recall....on one hand...kewl they've succeeded...on the other hand, they were once a blatently geek programming company...kind of a bumber...but it was kewl...

RB

Re:funny...

[swordgeek]

I remember that ad. Even more impressive, they actually had a four-page fold-out version of it. I think I've still got it in a filing cabinet somewhere, along with stacks of Softside magazine.

EA tried to redefine games as an artistic venture, and were fairly successful at it. Then they redefined games as Big Business, and were dissappointingly successful at that. Sigh.

Re:funny...

[gmhowell]

Activision was out with the 'game as art' before EA.

Speaking of which...

[May Kasahara]

This month's Wired has a good article on EA Sports. This company dominates sports games so much it's scary...

How is that not disney?

[autopr0n]

They release buggy products (NHL 2002, NHL 2003, 007: NightFire for the PC)

And disny releases crappy movies.

and re-use game engines and ideas from other companies.

What, it's not like anyone ever accused Disney of being orgional.

Re:How is that not disney?

[Dolemite_the_Wiz]

How is that not Disney? Because I'll be booking my next vacation to Walt Disney World and not EA world.

Wing Commander...

[red_dragon]

Considering that EA has turned out some great games over the years, including Wing Commander...

Maybe I recall incorrectly, but I have this distinct memory of Wing Commander being originally published independently by Origin Systems before being bought out by Electronic Arts. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Re:Wing Commander...

[TC (WC)]

You're quite right... I assume he was refering to the series as a whole, which continued under EA management for 7 or 8 years worth of development.

Re:Wing Commander...

[gr0ngb0t]

Yeah EA picked up Wing Commander in about 1997-ish, it was Origin before that.

Just checked my original box to make sure that the Kilrathi saga is the first one I've got that has the EA logo on it, the earlier ones are all Origin.

Re:Wing Commander...

[gr0ngb0t]

ergh - stop drinking before posting...

Just checked my original box to make sure. The Kilrathi saga is the first one I've got that has the EA logo on it, the earlier ones are all Origin.

Re:Wing Commander...

[TC (WC)]

No... Oring was purchased in 1992. Wing Commander 3 in 1994 was most definately produced when Origin was part of EA. Otherwise they wouldn't have had the needed cashflow to pay for the budget. Privateer was also released under EA (1993)

Re:Wing Commander...

[TC (WC)]

Wow... go me... that's some nice spelling Origin...

Re:first post

[Anonymous Coward]

So what, you reload every 30 seconds?

Loser!!!!!

Looks like you can still fool Venture Capitalists

[PaddyM]

All you need to do is have "business" as part of your website; to show you have some sort of business plan I guess.

I mean Business2.0.com is like the lamest thing I've heard since the "Every kiss begins with Kay" slogan.

Didn't Electronic Arts Publish M.U.L.E?

[Anonymous Coward]

Any company that publishes a game like M.U.L.E. deserves to be bigger than Disney.

EA can turn a dud out just as easily.

[Anonymous Coward]

Witness NASCAR Thunder 2003 for PC. The console version were found entertaining by their players, but the PC version we found by racing sim enthusiasts to be horrible in every way. It didn't hold a candle to the 1999 offering by their competitor, Papyrus.

No Sweat!

[dmomo]

EA is not quite there yet!!

"it's almost absurd to compare a $2 billion software maker with a $25 billion diversified media giant.

If you are reading it... chances are, Disney is aware of the same information.


money Gordon hints could be used to expand into movies or music. In any event, Probst is clearly way beyond thinking of EA as merely a creator of software toys. "Our goal," he says with no hint of self-consciousness, "is to become the greatest entertainment company ever.

So, given the quoted valuation differences, and EA's stated goal, my question is.. how hard would it be for Disney to make EA an "offer they can't refuse"?

Maybe the next version of Sim City is going to include a big fat Epcot Center monument!!

Re:first post

[Anonymous Coward]

If you are a native american, please disregard the rest of this post (seriously, don't read any farther). It's spelled LOOSER

Huh?

[bleckywelcky]

Woa, that's really weird. Disney owns ABC, makes (er copies) tons of movies every year, releases so many old movies every year from the "Disney vaults", owns and operates several multi-million (billion on some?) theme parks and recreation centers, etc, etc, etc ... and yet EA can somehow get to their reaches by producing video games? Ming boggling. Yes, I did not read the article.

Re:Huh?

[phong3d]

EA may have a diverse base of game genres it releases, but its real moneymaker are its sports franchises. NFL, NHL, NBA, NASCAR, etc... tweak the graphics, update some AI elements, new UI, update the rosters, add in some new bennies, slap on a new logo and charge millions upon millions of people $50 every single year for what is essentially the same game that came out last year. Yes, there were big leaps when EA migrated from the Genesis to the Playstation and introduced 3D graphics as well as other platform changes and subsequent leaps in graphical detail and game depth, but a slant left pass is the same play as it was 10 years ago. You really can't beat that.

Re:Huh?

[FunkSoulBrother]

True, but you'd have to think that Disney makes an equal or greater amount of money off those same sports via ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPN News, and Various ABC broadcast sports contracts. It is a bit mindboggling that EA could get anywhere close.

Re:Huh?

[/dev/trash]

That's why I buy Madden games a year later.

Re:Huh?

[Geeky Frignit]

You know, I'm a big fan of the Madden games, and it's not as simple as all that. Each year, there are usually new features added into the games that make them different. Plus, for hardcore sports fans, that roster change is a big deal, and that's not something that up until recently (though I am sure nobody plans on doing it) they could change on the old game. But with gaming consoles becoming adding hard drives, network adapters, etc., one would hope to see an updatable roster in the games.

In the end, I have no clue what I am talking about.

Oh, and FIRST POST, in a couple of months for me anyway

Re:Huh?

[Jace of Fuse!]

Actually, there isn't a whole lot to making a Sports game. The costs of developement lie mostly in liscensing costs. Technologically speaking, they are really empty. Let me rephrase that. They are really, really, really, really empty.

Don't believe me? Take a out a pencil and paper and draw a map of a football stadium. Now do the typical adventure game level. Now try to invision one in polygons, and then the other. It won't take you long to see where I'm going with this.

You mention updated rosters, but yet you admit they would be simple enough to update live over the internet. Sports games are crap. They're crap to develope and they're crap to play. Unless you are a sports fan, there is absolutely nothing about the typical sports game worth playing.

You can hate Mafia themed movies or books and still think Grand Theft Auto 3 is fun. You can absolutely loath Sci-Fi but find Metroid Prime to be a real test of skill. Finally, you can think puzzle games are stupid and pointless but still get trapped for hours playing Tetris. But if you either hate sports, or much like myself are largely indifferent, it won't take you 5 minutes to realize that sports games blow goat cheese.

Fortunately for Sports Game developers, there are a lot of diehard sports fans. It doesn't matter that the games suck and require no skill to play (for a real gamer, that is). It doesn't matter if the graphics are drab, low polygon, empty, and lacking creativity. If the jock looks like a football player, the ball is brown, and the men all pile up on top of each other, it'll work for any NFL fan.

More often than not, when a gamer moves from the "casual gamer"* stage into the "diehard fanatic"**, they give up on sports games. I've seen it many times, but it normally takes about 5 copies of Madden before that gamer realizes he's been had.

*Casual Gamer = Doesn't play very often; first machine was a Playstation.
**Diehard Fanatic = Either started prior to the Atari 2600 or has started more recently and bought every system to make up for their late coming; Typically buys a very large television to play video games and stops watching TV altogether; Dumps girlfriend because she's no longer a challenge in Quake (or she always wins (or he never had a girlfriend)); Suscribes to gaming magazines; "Hint books are for lamers"; etc.

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Emporor Ming does not play Boggle. He's strictly a Scrable kind of guy.

But EA is only games

[jbfaninmo]

While EA is pretty much the biggest player in the video game market, that is about all they are involved with. Disney owns ABC and Disney Channel, has more than one film studio, prints at least one magazine, publishes books and owns some of the biggest characters around.

I guess Disney's biggest problem is getting any of these properties to perform decently...

Not a fair comparison

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering computer games cost about $50 USD and movies cost about $5-15 (depending on showing and location) its not a fair comparison. Assuming the person sees the movie a second time and gets a soundtrack/DVD of it, thats about $50 and thats a generous assumption.

guh

[Anonymous Coward]

why don't you read the fucking article, hosebag?

So...

[Z0mb1eman]

Do we start hating EA now?

No?

Yeah, didn't think it would make a lot of sense.

How about now?

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Bigbiz apolegectic!

Re:So...

[mcc]

I hate EA already. I can't remember the last time they've produced a game i liked, but i can give you multiple recent instances where they bought a company that made games i really liked-- and then ran that company into the ground, preventing them from making more games i like.

Re:Looks like you can still fool Venture Capitalis

[Anonymous Coward]

What kind of an attitude is that?

How are we going to get good ole USA on her feets again with negativity like that?

If you dis corporate america, the terrorists have already won.

This is the future...media = interaction

[ACK!!]

I remember Archon. I remember saying that Activision and EA were the ones along with Sierra that could really go all the way. I liked the Atari computer too so I was not all right and everything.

The game industry is taking over. The media conglomerates are going to keep messing around and ticking off consumers and playing politics. One day the suckers will turn around and realize no one is just dumb watching anymore. They are all playing.

Most of the time I would rather play a good computer or console game than watch tv. There are still some good movies out there for sure, but I would rather play a good game than watch a bad movie. The media guys have to realize they are not the only game in town anymore. Yes, BTW, there are plenty of bad games too just the industry is growing by leaps and bounds.

Re:This is the future...media = interaction

[Mojojojo Monkey Inc.]

Most of the time I would rather play a good computer or console game than watch tv. There are still some good movies out there for sure, but I would rather play a good game than watch a bad movie.

And as Jack Handey once said, "I'd rather be rich than stupid."

Re:This is the future...media = interaction

[Anonymous Coward]

ahh yes. Archon. a classic. it made the 800xl worth owning.

BotSequitur V1

[BotSequitur]

Non Sequitur \Non seq"ui*tur\ [L., it does not follow]
n 1: a reply that has no relevance to what preceded it

AutoGoogle
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The title is a little misleading

[Ghoser777]

If Linux took over the desktop market, I don't think a title of "Linux As Next Microsoft" would be appropriate. Why? Because that brings a long not only that Linux has taken over the desktop market, but also all the negatives that can be attributed to microsoft. Why does this matter? Well, I don't think EA is becoming the next Disney in the way I think fo Disney. Disney use to conjure up warm feelings, but I think the slashdot community as a whole would agree that since Walt got cryogenically frozen (or whatever), Disney has done plenty to rise the ire of observers. And I see no reason to apply those negatives to EA (not yet at least).

F-bacher

Re:The title is a little misleading

[MeanMF]

If Linux took over the desktop market, I don't think a title of "Linux As Next Microsoft" would be appropriate. Why?

Well one more reason would be that Linux isn't a company...

Re:The title is a little misleading

[sillobalso]

Well, I don't think EA is becoming the next Disney in the way I think fo Disney.

what you doing thinkin fo disney?

Lobbying?

[yerricde]

Electronic Arts won't be the next DisneyCo until EA starts lobbying to the United States Congress for copyright laws that further restrict consumers and other authors and publishers. Look how much money DisneyCo contributed to get the Bono Act passed in a desperate attempt to keep Mickey Mouse locked up.

Re:Lobbying?

[pi_rules]

to get the Bono Act passed

Wasn't the Bono act a good thing? To keep our kids from accidentally skiing into trees or something?

Thank you... I'll be here until my Karma burns up. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

Re:Lobbying?

[yerricde]

Wasn't the Bono act a good thing?

No. Retrospective copyright term extensions devalue the public domain.

To keep our kids from accidentally skiing into trees or something?

The contents of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act had nothing to do with Rep. Bono's cause of death. If you want safety tips for alpine skiing, look here.

Yes, I got the joke, but I didn't find it funny.

Re:Lobbying?

[poot_rootbeer]

Exactly!

Disney spends its money on buying bad copyright legislation, and EA gets to benefit from it without spending any money!

EA therefore has lower expenses and will catch up to Disney over time.

I doubt it.

[Mac Degger]

Looking over their past, the only current well selling game I can think of is the Sims (admittedly, I'm not to sure about this and am too lazy to check up on this). Also, I've heard that their sports games, while being quite good in the past, now suck.

And an even bigger reason why I doubt EA will be the next disney is because of mismanagement. Check out places like fatbabies.com for information from the inside...doesn't look good, does it?

But the biggest reason is this...the next disney for the games industry is aalready shaping up to be Microsoft; they bought Rare, Bungie and a whole host of other companies. That, plus their expansive inhouse dev section put them at the top of the heap, I'd think.

Classic Movies?

[Anonymous Coward]

Like Fantasia 2000, Cinderella 2, etc.

I see..

Re:Classic Movies?

[sootman]

I agree--if Disney as we know it came into existence today, they'd have a hard time being the next Disney. Luckily, they've got a hundred-year head start.

Disneys days are numbered

[geek]

Honestly, Disney hasn't had an original idea in decades. That's why they contract with Pixar and Dreamworks.

The Disney theme parks are a joke now too. Way over priced, played out, and don't even get me started on the gang activity in the L.A. one close to where I live.

Now maybe it'll be EA, not likely, but it will be someone. The theme parks are rare, I mean their are only TWO in the US. Six Flags has them beat in this department although they suffer the same problems.

The only place Disney has a strangle hold on is cartoons and movies. The Disney channel is great for kids too. If only Hannah/Barberra were still around, maybe that would change.

Tour Of EA

[Anonymous Coward]

My MediaTech (Web CS Class, HTML, Flash ect...) is going to tour the EA Studios in Buraby (sp?) BC, in Febuary... I myself can't wait.

stock..

[Nova1313]

they were doing really good in the stock market for a while. It almost hit 75. Then it dropped but it's climbing slowly again. So financially they are pretty stable. They seem to be increasing profits alot. And the games they put out for the most part sell well... Besides nascar cause well you only even turn one way so you don't even need a whole dpad to play :p but seriously most of there games are quality that can compete with there competitiors.

Cool!

[Chexsum]

Ive always guessed Electronic Arts produced the best games and known that producing games can bring in more money than movies. Though, its surprising that EA is almost as productive as Disney after such a short lifetime. :)

SIMS Online will be sweet and more enjoyable than any amount of movie watching IMO!

The bonuses of being a large game company.

[Ianworld]

It would good for EA to grow as large as it can. The bigger it is the more code it has in its database for its programers to call upon. Also if it expands into music and movie industries those are more resources it has at its disposal. Eventually if it needs an ingame movie it can go to the movie department and get it made there. If it needs music, they can get it from their music department. It should also allow them to have people dedicated to writing stories for games and other specialized positions. Diseny is in their grasp. It would bring only more respect for the game industry. Interactivity is so much better than just sitting and watching!

By the way did anyone notice that they are creating their own version of a theme park. Its called RollerCoaster tycoon. ;) They even are creating their own world dedicated to their profit. Thats right the sims online shipped today.

"Magellean circumsized the world using a a new brand new Clipper!"

Re:The bonuses of being a large game company.

[Samir Gupta]

Actually, much of EA's growth has been through acquisitions of companies such as Maxis, Origin, Westwood, etc, and putting them under the EA umbrella. For the most part, the various studios pretty much still are autonomous (ie, they're still geographically located where they used to be), and there is really little cooperation, at least from a technical/development perspective (there's lots of cross-marketing, though). There are, I admit, advantages, and disadvantages, but within the EA world, there are not too many cross-studio synergies as one might initially expect.

In Capitalist Economy

[Anonymous Coward]

Your competitors surpass you if you don't stay on the cutting edge. One, turn out great product. Two, do your thing??? whatever it is??? Three: Profitable companies know to TREAT Regularcustomers YoU Like Loyal customer they are.

come on people it's simple! (Notice the correct usage of the contraction for "it is".(and the "geek" usage of the period outside of the quotes))

yes, EA really is that big.

[herrd0kt0r]

EA has made 1.5 billion in revenue last year, and reaped 100 million wingwangs this year alone. you can read about it here. the scale of their sports franchise alone is staggering: with tens of millions of clams being spent for marketing their sports games this year!

you might think of EA churning out craptastic games that leave you consistently overwhelmed, but the truth is that there are lots of people out there playing their console games. i mean, people i normally don't associate with, like, you know. people who play sports. and exercise. and stuff. physical exertion. pull-ups. push-ups. i dunno. i'm outta my league here now. but you know, like, THOSE people. the meatheads.

they like EA games.

and there are lots of meatheads out there.

me? i prefer more academic pursuits. if EA came out with a game like Madden for people like me, i'd give them a lot o my coin. say, instead of Madden, they had Fiercesome Librarian 2003. or Raging Geeks League Slide Rule Competition '02 (RGL '02).

but nooooo. they did their market research and realized that these sports fans can beat people like me-- the people who program these games, up. so they make stuff to appease them.

and it's gotten them a lot of moolah!

why, i remember loading up Racing Destruction Set on my c64, and watching the big square/circle/triangle change colors. i also remember modifying my 1541 drive with JiffyDos, which was a small add-on cache for the drive. SUPER LOAD TIMES!

i'm rambling. the point i'm trying to make is that yes, EA really is that big. and they're getting bigger. the sports nuts/meatheads control the market. and their population grows! fellow slashdotter, you know how always find yourself at home, alone, on friday nights? that's cause all the HAWT chix0rz are out getting their mack on, and their clothes off, with the big burly men who buy EA Sports games.

CITIZENS OF SLASHDOT! SCREW THE RIAA! SCREW THE MPAA!
FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS ON EA!
WORK HARD! GET MUSCLES!
AND TOGETHER WE CAN SCORE TEH HAWT CHIX0RZ!

Re:yes, EA really is that big.

[h0ss]

AND TOGETHER WE CAN SCORE TEH HAWT CHIX0RZ

Sorry, man.

I'm not interested in a threeway with a dude who uses all caps. Or with any dude, for that matter, but especially not a caps abuser.

Re:yes, EA really is that big.

[WWWWolf]

if EA came out with a game like Madden for people like me, i'd give them a lot o my coin. say, instead of Madden, they had Fiercesome Librarian 2003. or Raging Geeks League Slide Rule Competition '02 (RGL '02).

Oh, but I'd pay them if they'd stop prouducing games with "year" versions. I don't want to buy a football game that's built to last for an year or supported beyond that. I'm not a sports person, but would like to play football on computer every now and then... next time may be near.

Where is the Generic, Customizable Soccer Game??? =) No yearly upgrades - just random names and customizable players. No "hit the button and it's a GOAAAAAL" style playability - make playing the game a damn science. How about multiplayer - the net game side doesn't seem too wide in EA's games? Many companies make great soccer games for Playstation and like, but I have a computer, and for computers, there's only EA Sports.

Internation Soccer published by Commodore in 1982 has stood the test of time and it's name hath been engraved in gold letters to the History... Where's the PC's answer to that, may I ask?

Yeah!

[RyanFenton]

If this keeps up "Mickey Mouse" might end up meaning cheap and unreliable. Wouldn't want that to happen! ;^)

Ryan Fenton

Re:Looks like you can still fool Venture Capitalis

[Anonymous Coward]

butbutbut... every kiss _does_ begin with K

conservative potheads

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm so damned sick of the DAMNED CONSERVATIVES who sit around and smoke pot all day and talk about "war" - hello, the world doesn't really work that way, loosen up and STOP CUTTING your HAIR!

I'm telling you folks, I told you so.

Re:first post

[Anonymous Coward]

troll say, who is loser? loser who lose, or loser you tells loser, you are loser!

How To Bitch-Slap Disney AND EA...

[Anonymous Coward]

YOU know what to do...

Righto

[HongPong]

Just because video games are a good market means that Wing Commander and the Sims == like 1/3 of radio stations and, ohh, ABC, and a huge chunk of cable (ESPN etc) to name but a couple holdings... whatever, video game companies will never equal dominant mass media for influence or size. Until you can get opiate tabs with your GTA...

Sounds from the article that the CEO doesn't even know how to exploit women for their image... Jesus Christ, Disney was good at that and he didn't cater to the teenage male market like EA...

Business 2.0 is 0wn3d by AOL/Time Warner anyway, its in their interest to make it look like our modern media megaliths are still threatened by West Coast programmers... And yes i feel sorry for the poor losers that are going to fork over all that money to play an online game which is actively being infiltrated by fucking Intel and McDonald's advertisements.

I think it makes sense to say that EA type big releases will start to acquire a stronger gloss of professionalism because they can import Hollywood talent, (effects. art and voices) but yes even the SuperMcSimsOnline is just a video game.

This is slander in my book...

[Sir Network]

I find the comparison between EA and Disney to be a little more than revolting. I seriously doubt that EA has plans to pocket a Fritz Hollings or two as Disney has done.
(in case you've forgotten, visit the EFF's Tinseltown page)

Seems we're so busy patting EA on the back that we fail to notice that we're spitting in their corporate face.
They're a great game company, but drop this comparison. It's an insult to EA's collective integrity.

Re:This is slander in my book...

[Anonymous Coward]

"This is slander in my book... "

I don't consider "Baby's First Pop-up Book" a book.

Re:This is slander in my book...

[Sir Network]

I guess you were bashing my old sig. It was a reference to a word problem "Flowers for Algernon". No one seems to get it, so I swapped it out.

Didn't EA buy Air Warrior...

[B3Geek]

and then kill it?

Okay, so there was the matter of some crufty, probably 80's era networking code - but I digress.

$GOD the hours I spent playing that game. My memories of the 30-man squad nights flying from Ghost and capturing Solo and beyond are nothing but good. There hasn't been an online flight sim since with the community and fun element. For those not familiar with the game, or how long it had been around before EA squished it, some sense of the community and the angst felt by the AW neophyte can be had by reading the series of postings by scavenger to the old AW mailing list. Someone please buy this thing from EA and resurrect it.

I go diving down.

Re:Didn't EA buy Air Warrior...

[Anonymous Coward]

They also killed Multi-Player BattleTech while it was in beta and UO2.

Have you tried Aces High?

Quality material?

[T-Kir]

How about The Sims, and it's almost "Magic The Gathering" likeness regarding expansion packs?... EA (and Maxis, but isn't Maxis a wholly owned subsidiary?) have certainly made a lot of money by recycling that piece of crap over and over and over again (talk about a cash cow)...

...and yes, that might be considered flamebait to those who like The Sims series, but come on... when I played it, it took like 15 minutes just for a man to go for a piss! (unless it included time spent doing other things in the bathroom?) among other woeful "gameplay" issues.

I know I shouldn't be boxing EA because of my gripes against that game, they do come out with a lot of good stuff (i.e. Medal of Honor). Anyway, rant over!

Re:Quality material?

[gmhowell]

15 minutes to take a piss? When your prostate gets to be the size of a baseball, you'll be happy if you can take a piss that quickly.

Re:Quality material?

[eggstasy]

Well, let's put it this way, expansion packs are dirt cheap compared to the original game, like a third of the price. It might seem that you dont need no steenkeen expansion packs, but play a full sims with every expansion for a month and then try and go back to the original game. You will be saying "I can't believe how I got addicted to something so crappy!" like I did. It's one heck of a lot better after the expansions IMHO.

Dodgy publishing

[Anonymous Coward]

They also have a bunch of mediocre games published, and they are not what I would consider an innovative video game publisher.

While EA has its own development teams, much of the innovation came from independent developers like BullFrog and Origin that EA eventually bought after publishing games for them (much easier to control budgets, cut costs, share resources and cut royalties if you actually own them!).

Many of the games, especially the sports ones rely on the same repeated blend with slightly changed or upgraded features.

Similar in many ways to Disney.

For god's sake!....

[_ph1ux_]

I hope not. I recently came back from disneyland - and I must say - what a rip-off farce that place is. It is nothing but corporate marketing and a store with the very thin veil of a theme park.

Space Mountain - Brought to you by FedEX.
Star Tours - brought to you by Energizer.
and many many others. (problem is that Disneyland has very few actual rides - go to great america, far far far better place)

The place was terrible - an army of strollers and every ride practically exits you into a store of some sort.

I bought a single piece of Pizza and a water - and that was $10.00 - I had to get a sweatshirt because it was freezing, and my wife really wanted to see the parade, $60.00. A disney cup, $10.00. The same Lego Pieces you can buy at lego.com were literally twice the price. 9.99 for a 3 man starwars set rather than the 4.99 I paid for the same set online. All of this on top of the $45.00 per person we paid to get in (and mind you that this is only for the TRADITIONAL disney SIDE of the park - if you wanted to go to both California Adventure AND Disneyland, well that'll be $90.00 Buddy, thats per ticket.)

If EA turns out to be anything like Disney - I will certainly boycott them. The only reason we went was because my wife had never been there before.

Once a lifetime is enough, go when you are 5 or 6 and never again (unless you are forced to take your kids - which I would recommend against)

Fuck Disney - they dont represent anything but corporate greed and the fact that the consumer is justa number with a pocketbook full of money that the arebent on liberating you from.....

Re:For god's sake!....

[Anonymous Coward]

Blech, had to use my mod points earlier...

From what I hear California Adventure is a waste of time anyways. If you don't think there's many rides in Disney Land, I believe there's far less in California Adventure. I personally like Knott's Berry Farm.

Re:For god's sake!....

[Anonymous Coward]

If EA turns out to be anything like Disney - I will certainly boycott them.

all the complaining about the prices at Disneyworld (which, mind you, should not have come as a shock to you, unless you live in a cave at the bottom of the ocean), and yet, you still paid them.

if you paid 10 bucks for a slice of pizza and a watter, and 60 bucks for a sweatshirt, the only person you can be mad at is yourself.

no offense, but if disney represents corporate greed, you represent the mindless lemmings that allow them to continue their business.

Re:For god's sake!....

[Thenomain]

Space Mountain - Brought to you by FedEX.
Star Tours - brought to you by Energizer.

I feel the same way about the bowl games, these days. Even the halftime shows are heavily sponsored. What a ripoff. I'm never paying to go to the Superbowl ever again!

Re:For god's sake!....

[clarkc3]

Fuck Disney - they dont represent anything but corporate greed and the fact that the consumer is justa number with a pocketbook full of money that the arebent on liberating you from.....

But I've heard Michael Eisner is such a nice, caring guy ;)

Re:For god's sake!....

[Nintendork]

"if you paid 10 bucks for a slice of pizza and a watter, and 60 bucks for a sweatshirt, the only person you can be mad at is yourself."

You're right. They could have paid a dollar (It's been a few years, so maybe more) to place sweatshirts in a locker and retrieve them later when it got colder. Also, they could have starved since it's against the rules to bring in food/drink from outside the park.

I think the problem is that Disney is a corporate empire that takes advantage of the public. The execs that drive this greed will all burn in Hell. Coca Cola and Oreo commercials are the same way! Until the average Joe stops watching TV, he/she will continue to be the target of shameless marketing that does anything it can get away with. A good example for is alcohol advertisements. 25 percent of the alcohol advertisements on TV were more likely to be viewed by minors than adults.

-Lucas

Re:For god's sake!....

[ivan256]

25 percent of the alcohol advertisements on TV were more likely to be viewed by minors than adults.

This just in... 25% of people are more likely to be minors than adults.

Re:For god's sake!....

[Nintendork]

Take a look at what you said and do the math. Thanks for strengthening my statement.

Re:For god's sake!....

[ivan256]

Do what math? All I did was point out that your provided statistic was irrelevant without additional information. Your comment was meaningless, yet written in a way to imply meaning. Similarly, my comment was meaningless, and you fell for your own type of propaganda. Even from your statistic and my (made up) statistic combined, you could not derive any useful information mathematically because you lack too much information. You can, however imply either poor marketing skills of beverage compaines PR departments or a vast conspiracy to get children to drink just as easily as I implied that you were talking nonsense.

I in no way strengthened your argument.

Re:For god's sake!....

[Nintendork]

How could the presented statistic on alcoholic beverage commercials not lead you to a single conclusion? I'm sorry you did not understand the meaning behind the statistic. I was making the point that alcoholic beverages are marketed at youth. This information was used to back up my rant on shameless marketing.

Re:For god's sake!....

[ivan256]

How could the presented statistic on alcoholic beverage commercials not lead you to a single conclusion? ... I was making the point that alcoholic beverages are marketed at youth.

I fully understood what you were trying to imply. You cannot draw that conclusion from your statistic without other details. If you think you can, you're mistaken. Without other details, that statistic is just a number presented in a biased way to induce prejudice. Just because the media cartel pulls that crap doen't mean it's a vaild way to draw conclusions.

How does your statistic compare to other types of advertising? Is having 25% of your ads shown when your target isn't the majority of the audience better or worse than advertising for other products?

When children are the majority of the audience for a particular ad, how large is the majority? Is it 90% or only 51%? Perhaps they're marketing to the 49% of adults that are watching during that 25% of ads.

Are children who see alcohol ads compelled to drink it, or do the ads present adult situations that don't appeal to children hence making it irrelevant that one in four isn't viewed primarily by adults?

Where did your statistic come from? Is it even accurate?

When a family of four is driving in a car, 50% of the people looking out the windows are minors and can see alcohol billboards. Does this mean that the manufacturer is trying to push the alcohol on minors? Would you say the same about the local talk radio station's billboard? The investment bank? The retirement community that doesn't allow children?

Who do you consider children when you state that statistic? Are 18-20 year olds included in that, since they're not minors, but not of legal drinking age? How do you target 21-30 year olds without having 18-20 year old people see your ad?

Your entire point is moot anyway, because children imitate their parents when it comes to drinking behavior. Compared to that ads are practically irrelevant.

Re:For god's sake!....

[Nintendork]

I think you make a few really good points about the statistics being a little vague. if you look at my original posting, I did provide a link to the recent AP article regarding alcoholic beverage advertising. I never said that parents aren't the largest reason why children screw up. I was simply stating that corporate greed can easily be seen when the advertising is irresponsible and shameless.

IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

Disney is the next EA!!!

Lost Potential?

[USC-MBA]

First off, congratulations to EA for moving strongly to the lead of a highly competitive market. Videogame fans are notoriously fickle and hard to please, and EA's success is a trubute to the company's leadership, vision, and especially the talented, hard working employees.

However, I can't help feeling more than a little ambivalent about the current state of the software market. The vast majority of software produced and purchased today is either business software or games. Educational software is a small fraction of the market, and is mostly used by institutions.

Back when I was in High School, in the mid-1990s, there was an excitement in the air about the potential of computers and the internet to expand people's minds and change society. Today, that culture is looked at as a thing of the past, and the only excitement tech issues generate is over the latest FPS or email worm.

It really appears that, especially given the huge improvements that have been made in technology that we have all seen since the mid-1990s, that the potential for the computer to help individuals educate, develop, and improve themselves is being lost by the wayside. I guess people prefer shooting railguns at each other.

You didn't work at Maxis

[TwoBit]

You state that you worked at EA/Maxis. Well that's not right because you worked in Tech Support. I know this because your previous posting history indicates so. Maxis doesn't have a Tech Support department; EA does tech support. Maxis doesn't treat their employees poorly, as you suggest. Employees there work hard, but get rewarded well. You are confusing your job at EA with an actual job at Maxis. These are two different things. So please don't state that you worked at Maxis when you didn't. By the way, I work at Maxis.

Re:You didn't work at Maxis

[stefanlasiewski]

Er, maybe he worked at Maxis tech support before EA gobbled up Maxis?

I think I read this before...

[Psyko]

I remember reading this before I'm not sure if it was here or not, but it said that currently EA sells something like 2 out of 4 games sold in the us currently...

Uh...

[autopr0n]

Last time I checked, my supermarket had about 6 or 7 video game mags. About the same as the number of cooking mags, bridal mags, or hot-rod mags.

Re:Uh...

[balloonpup]

That's something I never quite got. Why would someone get a subscription to a bridal magazine. Do people really marry that often? hehe

Re:Uh...

[evilviper]

I'd say you are one of the few. Most supermarkets have many more than that. Besides, there are gaming stores that have tons... When was the last time you saw a store that focused on logging?

You've just won the superbowl...

[zentex]

Where are you going next?

I'm going to EA-Land!

...thank you! I'm here all week.

EA vs Disney

[netwalkr]

Let us consider the facts here so that we come to a good overview/understanding of these companies.

1) Disney stock has been at an average of 16-17 per share in the past few weeks. End of Q3 2001 (around 9/11) shares took a major beating and have yet to recover.

2) EA financially is doing incredible; their 52 week average is between 50-70 per share. During 9/11 they took a slight beating but have dramatically recovered and still gaining fast. They hit there all time high of around 73 per share when BF 1942 was released Sep 17 2002.

3) Disney movies have lost there "magic" Treasure planet is mediocre at best. Lilo & Stich was good but was met with mixed reviews.

The price of theme park admission is absurd (5 day pass $300) + lodging, food, etc... I personally will never go again.

4) EA games current releases are among the best games ever created (BF 1942, MOH, The Sims and all the expansions packs available).
With regards to media they sponsor major sporting events including the Super Bowl, Nascar, and the Olympics. Doesn't get much better then that!

In conclusion, I can only speculate that EA will become the next media giant. I am looking forward to the next American McGee's game OZ.

Shaun

fa!

[Anonymous Coward]

Suits me. Change is inevitable and often good. The disney envisioned by Walt is dead and gone anyway.

What this article misses...

[WookieOnTheRun]

There are 2 problems with this article. First off, as the article says it really isn't fair to compare these two companies as their individual focuses are entirely different. Disney is a media giant, and is not focused on its video game market solely-- so it would make sense that ea could surpass them. its the same reason why nintendo has a better shot of surpassing the more diversified game makers. It also fails to recognize brand recognition. A lot of parents (the ones with the money) buy video games for their kids purely on the brand name of Disney (albeit a misleading name). Just a few things I noticed.

EA did NOT make Wing Commander

[Richard Mills]

Hey guys, how quickly we forget our video gaming history! Wing Commander was made by Origin (anyone recall that "Lord British" guy?), which was, sadly, gobbled up by EA.

Games games games

[mtec]

Simulated life.

Hours in front of a computer in a make believe world.

Does it count?
Does Saint Peter check off the simulated good deeds and intentions and take off for the bad? Or does the time show up as blank holes in the real-world continuum when they get the big book out.

Sometimes when I listen to gamers I get the impression that given the opportunity to live in a Matrix-like world, many gamers would surely rather 'jack-in'... For good.

Re:Games games games

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're talking about online games, your good or evil deeds will most likely effect others. You may not improve their life, but you have the opportunity to make then happy or piss them off for a short time. They way you interact with other people in that venue is not very different than how you interact with people on the telephone.

Now if you want to talk about blank holes in the real-world continuum, let's talk about watching TV.

Re:Games games games

[mtec]

Now if you want to talk about blank holes in the real-world continuum, let's talk about watching TV.

Zackly...

That's why I no longer have a TV, (my entertainment is now a mixture of real books, audible.com books and Netflix.com).

Re:Games games games

[Ponta-kun]

So you think that reading books is somehow inherently "better" than watching TV, or playing a game?

Books have very little opportunity for interaction with others, outside of reading them to children in libraries, to disabled, etc.

I will not try to argue that TV is worthwhile, since in this day and age, the programming very clearly is a mere shadow of its former self, at least stateside.

But games these days do provide great opportunities for interaction, and to lesser extent, they always have.

I'm not trying to flame, just don't quite get why you would suggest a total lack of karmic gain/loss potential in video games, when clearly there is more available than in watching TV, and in most cases, reading books.

I play games that are fun, and I don't play games that I find dull. Entertainment is there to entertain, and as far as it does its job, I enjoy it. The only books I've read in the past 5 years were either Terry Pratchett novels. Damn funny, all 5 that I've gotten so far. =)

Re:Games games games

[Anonymous Coward]

Books do provide interaction with other human beings. Books are little more than the recorded thoughts and ideas of another person(s).

Granted, just about any work of authorship is. What makes books special (IMO) is both the quantity (you find a book on just about any topic you want) and the quality (a lot of books = there's bound to be at least one good one).

Compare that to games or TV. These are both more capital-intensive than writing a book, and because of that, need to appeal to a lower denominator. The quality (at least in terms of presentation) of games and TV can be high, but you're not going to find much educational content in most games or TV shows.

There are, of course, exceptions. I watch a lot of PBS (at least when I can get a signal), and there are games that teach more than the exact sequence needed to reload an M-16 (for example, I've heard it pointed out that games like SimCity are highly instructive, and have been used in classrooms from time to time). But compared to books... no contest.

Hmm..

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess EA, like Disney, can finally afford its own senate seat.

I wonder if Disney's current senator will send his resume over to them. Or, at least he can request a salary increase from Disney.

I wonder how bad the hit to the already battered constitution will be.

keep in mind

[djupedal]

EA has direct contracts with many sports concerns (in addition to direct sales to the consumer)... Not sure Disney has those kinds of connections.

Re:keep in mind

[Stapler]

Disney OWNS many sports concern.

Re:keep in mind

[haa...jesus christ]

doesn't disney own espn?

isnt EA a canadian company...

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought EA was origionally a canadian company, i know there is a big EA center somewherez in burnaby B.C.

yeah im canadian, so?

#1 media company?

[greenfield]

I'm not sure that the article in question is really stating that EA is going to "surpass" Disney. It simply seems to say that EA wants to mimic Disney in terms of growth and management.

On a slightly different topic, I don't think it is necessarily accurate to call Disney the "#1 media company." There are good arguments that other companies, like AOL Time Warner, are the "#1 media company." Of course, it really depends on your criteria.

EA spams bad

[oblom]

EA spammed the email address I gave them as part of product registration and ignored my request to unsubscribe. But I guess it's just a part of doing business these days.

Re:EA spams bad

[Anonymous Coward]

thus, "MEDIA" company
arm and leg for unscribe
you got family members, they spam them too

If EA is anything like Disney...

[dr_dank]

then I'll be first in line for the Road Rash ride at their theme park.

Hope I get the billyclub... :)

Back in my day...

[John Harrison]

EA made a crappy word processor for the C=64 called Cut & Paste. We took it back and got Paperclip 64 from Batteries not Included which had a dongle that plugged into the joystick port and seemed to have about a 50% chance of working.

Other early EA software that I had included Music Construction Set and Hard Hat Mac. I was pretty sad about Hard Hat Mac since I had asked for Jumpman for Christmas, but Hard Hat Mac turned out to be pretty fun. The games came in giant boxes that resembled an LP sleeve.

The booth babe

[PD]

I was having a lot of trouble understanding this article. Basically, I hit the part where they were talking about a booth babe named Hecubah. Well, I couldn't proceed any until I had some imagery to work with. Found some too. Thanks Google!

Hecubah, the booth babe from the article:
photo

Pinocchio

[yerricde]

Or Disney's Pinocchio 2.0: Let's See How Bad We Can Screw Up The Plot And/Or Theme Of The Story This Time.

(Interesting tidbit: In the ending of The Adventures of Pinocchio, a novel by Carlo Collodi, it isn't 100% clear that the whole story isn't all a dream, just like that season of TV's "Dallas".)

As far as I know, American McGee's Alice is the closest that EA has come to playing around with classic tales.

If Bono Act hits tree like politician did...

[yerricde]

Even if Disney's Treasure Planet does rake in some dough late into its theatrical release, or if it sells exceptionally well on DVD and VHS, DisneyCo is in danger of losing two of its cash cows: the copyright on Mickey Mouse (© 1928 Disney) and the USA copyright on Winnie the Pooh (© 1925 Milne, licensed exclusively to Disney).

While you're waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on whether or not to free the mouse, you can civil disobey right now.

Re:If Bono Act hits tree like politician did...

[9jack9]

Hey, I liked Treasure Planet. My son sat in my lap for two hours and I got in a nice nap. A deal for $15.

Electronic Arts no longer artists...

[Jace of Fuse!]

I once read a very well respected Japanese developer said (I think it was Yuji Naka) [Some companies]"...make games at the desk." He was refering to game companies making games to make money, not to create something fun to play.

Electronic Arts is in the video game industry making sound business moves and producing disposable rubbish for an eager consumer base. They are no longer Electronic Artists and they no longer make great video games. This shows in the huge amount of crap they spew out each year.

Other companies were getting to be guilty of the same thing, but they seem to have realized it and are trying to make a turn for the better. Capcom, for instance, has pledged a shift towards quality and innovation, and shortly afterwards announced 6 new fairly unique looking titles.

3DO claims to be making a similar shift, and has cancelled many projects to focus on a few unique titles. Trip Hawkins even forked over his own personal money to help fund the company further along. How many CEOs do you know of who would do that? (Well, the President of Sega did that, too, then died shortly afterwards.)

Many of the more respectable publishers and developers are making this shift towards quality, but Electronic Arts openly clings to "tried and true" titles, even if it means saturating the market with crap.

I don't rant about it like I used to. I just stopped buying the shit. After all, there are other great video game developers out there.

Re:Electronic Arts no longer artists...

[zonker]

Iinteresting that you mention 3DO and Trip Hawkins... Trip founded EA back in '82... EA became a successful busines while 3DO floundered into merely a brandname...

Re:Electronic Arts no longer artists...

[WWWWolf]

Electronic Arts is in the video game industry making sound business moves and producing disposable rubbish for an eager consumer base.

Columnist Niko Nirvi in Finnish game mag Pelit described this kind of games as "burger games", which is pretty accurate - Junk food, indeed! The strange thing is, he's an experienced game journalist and been ranting about the death of innovation and How Going To The Stock Market Tends To Kill Creativity (A quote from a good column in Pelit 9/2000, "Any company that is involved in creative activity, but that summarizes its goal with the always popular slogan 'the only purpose of the company is to bring profit for the shareholders', is going down."), but there has been very little reaction until recently. Must have published the stuff in a too small country and in wrong language. =)

I dunno...

[Anonymous Coward]

...they haven't edited any Hong Kong movies to death or taken their sweet time getting Miyazaki's masterpieces to home video. So I'm saying "no" on this one.

The many faces of EA

[Albinoman]

EA is and owns:
EA (Medal of Honor, The Sims, 007:Nightfire..)
EA Sports (most every officially liscensed sports game)
Maxis (SimCity, SimEarth,...)
Origin Systems (Ultima series, Wing Commander, Privateer)
Bullfrog Productions (Populous, Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital)
Westwood Studios (all the Command and Conquer)

Now you add in all the studios:
Austin, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Irvine, Walnut Creek, Orlando, Vancouver, Tokyo, London

the co-publishing agreements:
Crave Entertainment
Digital Extremes
Digital Illusions
Disney Interactive
Fox Interactive
Krome Studios
LEGO Interactive
Pseudo Interactive
Sunflowers Interactive

affiliated label agreements:
Capcom
Delphine
Fox Interactive
LucasArts
NovaLogic
SquareSoft

This more or less means that they are the biggest game company out there, and have the foot in the door everywhere, even Disney.

All this stuff comes from a few sources, a lot of it is out of their legal documentation.

Good.

[Sj0]

I actually like EA. Their policy on releasing classic games is absolutely superb(they actually -- gasp! sell them!), and I've picked up dozens of old titles that way. It's refreshing to see a company which sees that there's some money to be made by deciding not to ignore the abandonware crowd. So... I don't think there's a problem if they become larger than they are.

Just because they don't YET have a theme park...

[yerricde]

Because I'll be booking my next vacation to Walt Disney World and not EA world.

Why Walt Disney World and not Time Warner World?

And yes, EA does have a theme park and a theme park. Who knows? Perhaps EA is planning a real (not Sim) theme park.

lets rephrase that...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Considering that EA has turned out some great games over the years"

becomes

"Considering that EA has bought some companies that turned out great games over the years, and then ruined them" (cough, Origin, cough)

So rent a console game

[yerricde]

video games cost $50 or so for a new game, while movies cost a few dollars at the theater

Coin-op video games cost 50c to 1 USD to play. Console video games cost 4 USD to rent. (PC games aren't rented in the USA because of 17 USC 109(b)(1)(A).)

The Voice of Younger Geeks

[sanity_slipping]

Cease your nostalgic rambling, oh great white-haired one! I would advise you to depart for your medicine cabinet at once, so that you may ingest your medications so as to alleviate the terrible pains caused by the arthritis from which you suffer.

EA, EA Sports, EA Big, Maxis, and who knows what..

[dWhisper]

It's a shame that Wing Commander was mentioned, and yet is about as dead of a series as they come. That is a series that has more-or-less gone to Microsoft in all but name (Starlancer and Freelancer), and is the closest that Mark "Aren't you that Skywalker Guy" Hammel will ever get to non-voice over fame.

I also noticed that where the Sims got a lot of time, their other biggest stable, EA Sports, only got two short blurbs. Madden has been the standard for Video Game Football for years, and most likely will continue to be for a while. Other notable titles like NBA Street, SSX Tricky and Medal of Honor were left off.

I don't get the reference to EA being the Microsoft of the gaming world. I could have sworn that Microsoft was the Microsoft of the gaming world, but who knows. I mean, Microsoft Games is one of their good points (and I know there are few), and they make a huge amount of games as well. That little X-Box thing, and AoM/AoE, plus their sports stable.

EA will never be another Disney in the sense of what Disney is. However, they could easily be to Software what Disney is to animated features and children's programming: the standard. I'm not sure if I own more Sierra or EA games. For the PS2 it's hand's down EA, and for the computer it's a little closer.

For them to really go into the entertainment industry, they would have to pull in something that could move them past being just a software company. Someone like Blizzard or Square Soft (I thought they used to have a stake in Square USA) could be what moves them closer to Digital Movie entertainment. I know that the Warcraft 3 made me think that Blizzard would someday go movie instead of game. But for now, they can rest on being the best publisher out there.

I thought family was out...

[MadAnthony02]

Let me get this straight. Yesterday we were told that Nintendo was screwed because they were making games that target children and not violent games targeted at teenagers.... Now we get that EA is going to become the next Disney in an article that starts off with the company's dislike of nearly naked hotties and says that they "don't have a violent hit like GTA"

Yes, I know the Nintendo article was in Wired and this one was in Business 2.0, but it still seems ironic that what one writer sees as a positive for one company another sees as a negative for another company.

EA's great moment

[Animats]

EA's great moment will come when some major sport goes on strike, and EA's game goes on TV as a substitute.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

beyond games, beyond geeks

[ccnull]

Like most interesting journalism, this is largely wishful thinking. EA will need to prove it's more than just a game company to become the player it wants to be. The company is largely beholden to other media companies for its content (LOTR game, James Bond game, Harry Potter game) and sports games are really a dime a dozen. Only The Sims has long-term promise as a stand-alone franchise... and once they try to make a Sims movie (and you know they will!) that will be the end of it. (Anyone remember the Wing Commander movie? Still trying to forget it, huh...)

But really, EA needs to look beyond gaming if it really wants to challenge Disney or any other major media concern. Sure, it's a powerhouse in the gaming world, but my mother's never heard of Electronic Arts, while she sure as hell knows who Disney is.

#1 Media Company - Disney?

[Evro]

Viacom: US$75.62 B
AOL Time Warner: US$60.44 B
Disney: US$34.77 B

I am sure a few others top Disney; why would anyone think Disney was the largest media company?

Chris Roberts

[asv108]

To avoid any misinformation, Chris Roberts was the mind behind Wing Commander, not Lord British. The wing commander series was way ahead of its time. I remember begging my parents back in 1990 for an 8 meg upgrade for my Compaq 286 in order to get enough "expanded memory" to play wing commander. It was really the event that got me interested in the nuts and bolts of computers. Back then you had to play around with config.sys and autoexec.bat files in order to play memory intensive dos games. BTW, that 8 meg upgrade cost $700.

How can they make this comparison?

[RedWolves2]

EA only creates software for all platforms. Disney does all of that. Plus they have their own channel. Plus they own ABC. Disney also has a enormous video library. I don't see EA doing any of that.

And finally does EA have a Magic Kingdom? Disney does actually three, plus also MGM, Epcot and Animal kindom theme parks.

Sports Games are profitable

[asv108]

EA dominates the sports game market. The best thing about successful sports games is that consumers want to purchase the latest release every year in order to get the latest stats. Nobody complains about having to buy a new version of madden every year, I'm sure M$ is jealous. So every year EA tweaks the previous release, updates the graphics, and puts in the new rosters. So its not like they have to do a complete rewrite for the next version of madden.

Another aspect of sports games is that they are very capital intensive due to licensing and the amount of statistical data. This prevents any small upstart from coming out with a noteworthy competitor.

Loyalty amongst sports game fans is another factor, people who have played madden for the last 10 years are not going to switch to NFL2K3. EA has made the wise decision to release their sports games for just about every platform. One other plus for the sports game genre is that it appeals to the growing market of older gamers.

Re:Sports Games are profitable

[Anonymous Coward]

At least they have SegaSports as competitor. I have no idea with consoles and it probably isn't fair to compare PC to console. I played NBAlive 2k3 and besides it's freestyle control, the game is crap. Freestyle control isn't even balanced well enough. NBA2k2 was realistic and had fewer AI problems.

In short, IMHO, more competition the better. It feels like bad news that EA is growing tremendously big, along with smaller "great" companies like, Origin, being bought. Back then, games came out with variety and competed for our undivided attention. Doom, One Must Fall 2097, Monkey Island, Full Throttle (LUCAS ARTS is the kind of adventure games). No doubt, there will be amazing titles from EA, but I feel choices will be less

Re:Sports Games are profitable

[9jack9]

MS probably isn't jealous, although they probably consider buying EA every now and then.

Heck, MS practically invented the rebox and resell strategy. Look at the products in their "Home Productivity" category, and see how many change very very little but are repackaged every year: Microsoft® MSN CarPoint, Microsoft® MSN eShop, Microsoft® MSN HomeAdvisor, Microsoft PowerPoint 2001 for Mac, Microsoft® Office 2001 for Mac, Microsoft® Personal Collection 2002, Microsoft® Proofing Tools, Microsoft® Publisher Deluxe with Photo Editing version 2002, Microsoft® Word version 2002, Microsoft® Works 7.0, Microsoft® Works Suite 2003, Word 2001 for Mac, Microsoft PowerPoint 2001 for Mac, Personal Finance, Microsoft® Money 2002 Suite, Microsoft® Money 2003 Deluxe, Microsoft® Money 2003 Deluxe and Business, Microsoft® Money 2003 Standard, Microsoft® Money 2003 Suite, MSN Companion, Microsoft Class Server 2.0, Microsoft Excel 2001 for Mac, Microsoft Great Plains: Small Business Manager, Microsoft PowerPoint 2001 for Mac, Microsoft® Excel 2000, Microsoft® Office 2001 for Mac, Microsoft® Office XP Professional, Microsoft® Office XP Standard, Microsoft® Publisher version 2002, Word 2001 for Mac, MapPoint 2002, MapPoint Europe 2002, Microsoft® Pocket Streets 2002, Microsoft® MSN Expedia.Com Travel Services, Microsoft® Streets & Trips 2003, MSN Companion, Microsoft ® Picture It! ® Photo Premium version 7, Microsoft ® Picture It! ® Photo version 7, Microsoft Excel 2001 for Mac, Microsoft PowerPoint 2001 for Mac, Microsoft® Greetings, Microsoft® MSN Explorer, Microsoft® MSN Yellow Pages, Microsoft® MSNBC, Microsoft® Office 2001 for Mac, Microsoft® Personal Collection 2002, Microsoft® Picture It! ® Digital Image Pro version 7, Microsoft® Picture It! ® Publishing Platinum 2002 5th Anniversary Edition, Word 2001 for Mac, Photo Imaging, Microsoft ® Picture It! ® Photo Premium version 7, Microsoft ® Picture It! ® Photo version 7, Microsoft® TV Photo Viewer, Microsoft® Greetings, Microsoft® Office 2001 for Mac, Microsoft® Picture It! ® Digital Image Pro version 7, Microsoft® Picture It! ® Publishing Platinum 2002 5th Anniversary Edition.

And also look in their "Reference Software" category (and yeah, there are a couple of duplicates): MapPoint 2002, MapPoint Europe 2002, Microsoft Enterprise Learning Library 2, Microsoft® MSN Yellow Pages, Microsoft® TechNet Subscription, Microsoft® MSN CarPoint, Microsoft® MSN eShop, Microsoft® MSN HomeAdvisor, Microsoft® TechNet Subscription, Microsoft Class Server 2.0, Microsoft® Encarta® Africana Third Edition, Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia Deluxe 2003, Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia Standard 2003, Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003 CD-ROM, Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003 DVD ROM, Microsoft® Personal Collection 2002, Microsoft® PowerPoint version 2002, Microsoft® SLATE Magazine, Microsoft® Reader 2.0 for the Pocket PC, Microsoft® Reader 2.0 for Windows-based PCs and laptops, Microsoft® Pocket Streets 2002, Microsoft® MSN Expedia.Com Travel Services.

Of course, they've got a few games, too, a good number of which they've hit a few times with the ol' rebox-and-resell stick: Rise of Nations, FreeLancer, Impossible Creatures, Links® 2003, RalliSport Challenge, MechWarrior® 4: Mercenaries, Asheron's Call® 2, Age of Mythology, Combat Flight Simulator 3, Zoo Tycoon Marine Mania, Links® 2003 Championship Courses, MechWarrior® 4 'Mech Paks, Zoo Tycoon Dinosaur Digs, Dungeon Siege®, Action Pack, Links® Expansion Pack Volume 2, Racing Madness 2, Bicycle® Casino Games, Bicycle® Card Games, Bicycle® Board Games, Asheron's Call Dark Majesty, Zoo Tycoon, Flight Simulator 2002, MechWarrior® 4: Black Knight, Links® Championship Edition, Age of Empires® II Gold Edition, MechCommander® 2, Links® Expansion Pack, Train Simulator, Starlancer®, Sports Pack, Return of Arcade Anniversary Edition, Racing Madness, Plus! Game Pack: Cards & Puzzles, Pinball Arcade, Pandora's Box: Game of the Year Edition, NFL Fever 2000, NBA Inside Drive 2000, Motocross Madness®, Motocross Madness® 2, Monster Truck Madness® 2, Midtown Madness®, Midtown Madness® 2, MechWarrior® 4: Vengeance, Links® Extreme, Links® LS 2000, Links® LS Classic, Links® 2001, International Soccer 2000, Golf 1999 Edition, Golf 2001, Flight Simulator 98, Flight Simulator 2000, Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection, Crimson Skies, Combat Flight Simulator, Combat Flight Simulator 2, Close Combat, Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far, Close Combat III: The Russian Front, Classic Board Games, Casino, Baseball 2001, Asheron's Call®, Allegiance, Age of Empires®, Age of Empires® Expansion: The Rise of Rome, Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings®, Age of Empires® II: The Conquerors Expansion, Age of Empires® Collectors Edition.

Plus the kids's stuff: Microsoft Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Explores Bugs, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus 3 CD Pack Vol. 1, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus 3 CD Pack Vol. 2, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Dinosaurs Jewel Case, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Explores Inside the Earth v1.0 Jewel Case, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Explores the Ocean v1.0 Jewel Case, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Explores the Solar System Jewel Case, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® in Concert: Activity Center, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Lands on Mars: Activity Center, Microsoft® Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Rainforest Jewel Case, Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Discovers Flight Activity Center, Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Volcano Adventure Activity Center, Scholastic's The Magic School Bus® Whales and Dolphins Activity Center.

So, don't underestimate the power of the Microsoft to repackage their portfolio a dozen different ways to consistently drive the cost per sale down-down-down.

Electronic Arts?

[sladelink]

heh, I remember when saying "Electronic Arts" to a villager in Ultima would make them say "With language like that, how did you become an avatar?". I'd pay money to see Lord British saying that in Ultima Online :)

Games, not "interactive movies"

[Rui del-Negro]

Wing Commander means the original game, plus Wing Commander 2 and the first Privateer game. All the rest were just endless video sequences with some short and repetitive gameplay between them. They weren't even described as games, the box said "interactive CD-ROM movie".

For a couple of years before being bought by EA, Origin really did create worlds. They made some of the best games of all times (Ultima 7, Wing Commander, Privateer, Underworld). Same goes for Bullfrog, and many other companies swallowed up by EA (I doubt Maxis will ever make another original game; they will just keep releasing Sims add-ons with more and more advertising). EA seems to have the Midas touch with a twist: all the gold it touches turns into crap.

Oh well, as long as they make some gold out of companies' last breaths, I guess the shareholders will be happy.

RMN
~~~

Re:Games, not "interactive movies"

[TC (WC)]

Privateer was released in 1993 when Origin was owned by EA... You also forgot Armada and Academy, neither of which could be remotely described as interactive movies. Secret Ops, while not quite the same, was less of an interactive movie than Wing Commander 1 or 2. I also doubt Prophecy said Interactive Movie on it.

Secondly, I'll point out that right on the Wing Commander 3 box it says "A CHRIS ROBERTS GAME", on the corner opposite the 'Origin Interactive Movie' logo... So even the box acknowledged it as a game, just like absolutely everyone else in the world.

However, none of this has anything to do with the post I was replying to, as I very much doubt anyone could be implying that the original Wing Commander was trashed to make way for Ultima Online.

Re:Games, not "interactive movies"

[Rui del-Negro]

They were not developed under EA management. EA usually buys companies when they have a couple of good games almost ready to launch (they may be crap at creating games, but they're not completely stupid when it comes to business). Privateer was developed by "native" Origin people from start to finish, and it shows in the way it creates a credible, consistent, interesting universe. Armada (that shares very few team members with the previous games) was more of a technology demo than a complete game (moving from sprite-based to polygon-based).

BTW, Ultima 8 and 9 are also "Lord British games" and they are absolute crap when you compare them to Ultima 6, Ultima 7 (either part, but especially the first one) or Underworld (either part). Chris Roberts and Richard Garriott may be the ones that "sign" the game, but the quality of the final product depends on the talent of the whole team and on the producers' policy. I have talked (via e-mail) with a few members of the U8 and U9 team and I know they did not agree with many decisions that were made by "the management" ("this needs more action", "who needs a party?", "no-one wants to bake bread in a game"). In fact, many left half-way through. Garriott was getting a bit tired and decided to cash in and let EA do as they pleased. And, oops, they did it again.

RMN
~~~

Wing commander

[Anonymous Coward]

"EA has turned out some great games over the years, including Wing Commander"

Well, Origin made that for them. Then Origin was thanked for it by getting crippled with god awful management decisions and being gutted until all that remained was an Ultima Online support staff.

Wing Commander??

[Jugalator]

Ooh, that brings back some ancient memories of mine... Hardly a game that has contributed to EA's greatness very much. :-) I personally think they made more money and has got more attention from the NHL series, etc. (that aren't just developed for consoles either, like you'd think from the summary posted here).

A little disappointed...

[wo1verin3]

that they didn't mention CNC Generals, looks to be an amazing game and it is one of the games that EA is counting on to increase market share according to Yahoo News bit. For some great info about cnc generals, check out RenegadeGenerals, cool fan site with lots of screens.

EA Games Disposable Garbage

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's hoping that SEGA continues to bridge the gap and eventually put EA in their proper place: the trashcan.

The only people who buy EA are the ones who don't know any better.

but come on EA games suck besides road rash

[17-50th post robot]

And everyone knows the only reason people buy the SIMS is to get the girls to make out with each other. Screw you Joe Montana Sports Talk Football

EA DEVELOPS SOFTWARE?!

[Anonymous Coward]

ok, they're a publisher. AND, who said wing commander was a cool game?

anyway, disney sucks

[Anonymous Coward]

ok i liked donald duck when i was a kid, but that's about it. I f***ing hated Aladdin & those later cartoons.

Well.....

[Alaryss]

If EA is the Disney of gaming... The that would make Blizzard ILM...... :-)

lament for Origin

[tdye]

Though it may have been pointed out already, it should be noted that EA did NOT produce Wing Commander; Origin did. You remember Origin... they made Ultima (and I don't mean the online version, youngsters). EA absorbed them, eviscerated their development staff and ran off the rest, then buried them.

While EA has in fact published some good games, WC was before its time (though I think WC3 was during the reign of EA).

Being from Austin, I'm a bit sensitive to this sort of thing... but it seems to me that EA has taken a page or two out of the Disney "How to Be an Evil Media Conglomerate" manual.

A bit OT...

[Corporate Troll]

... but what is fun about Sports Games? I just don't see the appeal of them. Even if they dominate Sports Games, I couldn't care less... It's not where my money will be going.

EA is already trying to upstage Disney...

[Delta-9]

On the new Madden 2003 they have all the pro-bowl players doing their solo interviews with the camera. Instead of, "Brian Boitano you just won the South Park Super Bowl what are you going to do now?" they have the EA slogan "If its in the game, its in the game" slogan by all the pro-bowl players.

It's not all crap.

[thatguywhoiam]

I'm shocked at the hubris towards EA's games in these posts. Not that I think they are a bastion of unassailable quality or anything; it's just that, off the top of my head, I can think of some great EA games:

- SSX
- LOTR: The Two Towers (fantastic, if you haven't tried it. One of the VERY few movie-game successes IMHO)
- The Sims (say what you will... chix dig it)
- Ultima Online (no credit for first really successful MMORPG? Come on...)
- Battlefield 1942
- Medal of Honor (I think...)

They've certainly doled out their share of crap, but they are hardly 100% drek. Some of it is only published, not developed, by EA, but we are comparing to Disney, right?

I also have a warm fuzzy for their old school stuff on the C64... California Games (or was that EPIX?), Skate or Die, Archon, Project Firestart, Budokan....

And I thought I was a game snob.

BTW, those 'meathead' games for the sports franchises are generally considered the best available. I don't like 'em either, but I respect the meatheads' opinion in this matter.

Re:It's not all crap.

[Anonymous Coward]

Medal of Honor - Dreamworks Interactive.
Battlefield 1942 - Digital Illusions CE.
Ultima Online - Origin Systems Inc.

Publisher != developer.

Re:It's not all crap.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry, forgot:

Sims - Maxis.
LOTR: TTT - Stormfront.

So that leaves ONE (1) game actually DEVELOPED by EA.

Re:It's not all crap.

[jafuser]

- The Sims (say what you will... chix dig it)
- Ultima Online (no credit for first really successful MMORPG? Come on...)

Since you brought up MMORPGs, which now also includes The Sims Online (in beta), I thought I'd mention this one as well which I'm currently hooked on... =D

Westwood studios (now owned by EA) has just started up a second generation MMORPG called Earth & Beyond. While it's not completely an MMO version Elite II, it comes pretty close. It has planets, star systems, trading, PvP games, teams, guilds, groups, mining, ore->componet->device refining/building, and some pretty eye candy to go with it all.

It's still in it's infancy and has some minor bugs on occasion, but nothing that blocks it from being quite enjoyable and addictive. They just released a monthly patch today as a matter of fact which added two major new gameplay elements to the game.

Has anyone else here tried it yet? I've only been playing it for a little over a week now and I'm down to 4 hours of sleep a night =D

I'm JE Kestrex on Orion if you want to group up or if you need any wormholes =D

next stop for EA

[samsonov]

I'm waiting for the EA World and EA Land. I want to rid the Sim Roller Coaster! Envision it now - Celeb's doing commercial spots with "You've just won the SuperBowl - now what are you going to do?" [big football dude] "I'm gonna go to EA World!" I can hardly wait!

Pinball Construction Set

[terrified]

Wing Commander? SIMS? bah. Pinball Construction Set. Now there's a game.

I want SimsLand and SimsWorld!

[briancnorton]

What they need to overtake is bicoastal themeparks. They can have houses with futuristic toilets and pets and such. A wing commander ride would be schweet though

Diseny's latest bombs

[xombo]

Have any of you considered all the recent Dinsey bombs? Atlantis and Treasure Planet were their most recent flops and almost every one of their movies for the last 4 years has lost money. Furthermore, with the recent lag in the stock market people are less likely to attend their amusement parks. It's fairly easy to see that Disney is quickly losing their share of the market and that only EA is versatile enough to take up the slack. More and more people are moving to dynamic medica because movies aren't enough to keep people entertained anymore. The closest thing Disney has is Disney Interactive and since Disney is so prevelent and regarded and children's entertainment there is no way that they could produce a title that will be well accepted by all age groups--or atleast the ones with money (teens and balding men).

All your GAME are belong to EA

[TuringTest]

Is that what you mean?

EA is not the next disney.

[actionvance]

They may one day soon, be as large as disney, but they are very different entities. EA owns SOME characters, etc, while disney on the otherhand, well - that is the bulk of thier asset. Its only a matter of time until MM falls into public domain, forcing disney to adapt.

"They have the world's most impressive catalog of

[voodoo1man]

intellectual property"

Ha! If by "intellectual property" you mean badly recycled folk tales, a bunch of expired copyrights on three or four over-exploited cartoon characters, and several films whose storylines were "borrowed" (think Lion King, Monsters, Inc.), then yes, they have plenty of "intellectual property."

Who plays the Sims?

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

I just don't get how this "game" and all it's expansion packs could be so popular. Seems like playing with a dollhouse if you ask me. To me, the only "Sims" that seems to have any potential at all is the Sims Online.

Re:I find Business 2.0 Annoying

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes but even they won't hire jon "take it up the ass" katz.

"M-Rated Dark Side" content made GTA3 good?

[wikthemighty]

What I can't get about this is from the article I got the impression that all they credited GTA3 with was being "mature"

What about the excellent gameplay? GTA3 is one the the best video games I've played, ever - and I've been playing games since the Atari 2600 VCS was new.

Taking the hookers and gansters out of GTA3 would not have made the game any less enjoyable to me. Swap in pong bazookas and um, masage artists (?!?) and the game would be just as fun to play... :)

How is this post a TROLL?!?!?

[SethJohnson]

How in the fuck is this a troll?!? Please metamod appropriately. Seth

Um

[Numair]

10 years late and two dollars short.

Last Post!

[alpg]

Risch's decision procedure for integration, not surprisingly,
uses a recursion on the number and type of the extensions from the
rational functions needed to represent the integrand. Although the
algorithm follows and critically depends upon the appropriate structure
of the input, as in the case of multivariate factorization, we cannot
claim that the algorithm is a natural one. In fact, the creator of
differential algebra, Ritt, committed suicide in the early 1950's,
largely, it is claimed, because few paid attention to his work. Probably
he would have received more attention had he obtained the algorithm as well.
-- Joel Moses, "Algorithms and Complexity", ed. J.F. Traub

- this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...