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EA says, "Recession actually a good thing"

Sometimes gaming execs say things that are so blatantly in defiance of reality that you wonder if they really believe themselves.

The impact of the cratering global economy on the game industry is not a bad thing necessarily says Riccitiello. It is a "blessing." Hard times means we'll see less "junk" on the store shelves.

"A lot of the riff-raff is going to go bankrupt," he said. "Our company was too big for the current economic environment," he also stated, "and it was probably slowing us down."

Tell that to the thousands of poor schlubs who got laid off. How horribly insensitive.

Posted Feb 20 2009, 10:00 AM by Cole Stryker with | with no comments

Filed under: cole stryker, bullshit!, electronic arts, depression, layoffs, economics

Dante Works on his Abs for New EA Game

How horrible is EA's Dante, yet another ripped meathead hero? Wouldn't it have been cool to play as a frail old dude? Can we just assume that a medieval poet isn't going to have access to a bowflex? Why not provide the player with a frail character who has to overcome certain obstacles that arise simply because he's not Sylvester Stallone? Maybe something with nuance that speaks to the human condition. No?

Posted Feb 18 2009, 03:30 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: cole stryker, sexism, electronic arts, dante's inferno, dante Alighieri

Brütal Legend Has a New Home

Well, this is the best news I’ve heard maybe all year. Tim Schafer’s upcoming heavy metal roadie action adventure Brütal Legend has finally found a new home. Before I tell you who it is, you should properly prepare—watch the sweet new teaser trailer above, then close your eyes and throw up the horns.

Are you still reading somehow? Okay, then open your eyes. It’s EA.

Posted Dec 12 2008, 10:00 AM by Joe Keiser with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: ea, electronic arts, tim schafer, brutal legend, joe keiser, heavy metal, double fine

Yahtzee on Dead Space: Competent But Bland

Everyone's favorite fedora-wearing snark king is back again this week with another review, this time dealing with EA's new action/horror title Dead Space. On a certain podcast I can't quite remember, I heard Dead Space referred to as Now That's What I Call Survival Horror Vol. 1; meaning, of course, that the game combines several popular features of existing survival horror games into a single compilation. From what Yahtzee says, it looks like this description is pretty accurate:

I really do think Dead Space's familiar-to-a-fault game play is a result of the publisher; really, anything with the EA brand these days is designed to be friendly and inoffensive. In this era of gigantic publishers, it feels like a certain dumbing-down is happening. Take a look at Activision's Call of Duty 4; the game refuses to tell you what Middle Eastern country you're in--although it should be pretty obvious to anyone with a passing knowledge of current events.

Posted Nov 05 2008, 03:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments

Filed under: ea, yahtzee, zero punctuation, dead space, bob mackey, electronic arts

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.