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03 Dec 2011 20:23

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Tech: Electronic Arts attempts to nickel-and-dime die-hard Tetris fans

  • $30 per year to subscribe to a special Tetris club (?!?) source
  • » Wait, what?!? If you’re like us, you’re a huge fan of Tetris, one of the simplest, best video games ever created. However, Electronic Arts couldn’t leave well enough alone with its iOS edition, and rebooted it as a version of Farmville, essentially. Now, just to play the game (which you have to pay 99 cents for, by the way), you have to register for a special social network run by EA. And for the biggest fans, they’ve created a “T-Club” component, in which you pay $2.99 per month — or $30 per year for the die-hards — just for the right to get some extra power-ups. And the final kicker: The original iOS game, which was perfectly fine as-is, no longer exists on the App Store. For shame.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Aug 2010 11:05

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Politics: Top British military dude hates Afghan war-aping “Medal of Honor”

  • The point remains that part of this game allows you to play the part of the Taliban attacking ISAF troops in the area of central Helmand where British troops are operating.
  • A spokesperson for British Defense Secretary Liam Fox • Discussing the new “Medal of Honor” game, which covers the war in Afghanistan and allows you to take the enemy’s side during multiplayer play. You know, like just about every other type of game like this does. The game does not allow you to kill British soldiers, by the way, according to maker Electronic Arts. But Fox’s people stand by the comments, which included his belief that it was “shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban against British soldiers.” For EA’s part, they realized the game might spark a little controversy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Aug 2009 10:39

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Tech: Electronic Arts has to buy lots of ads to market a game

  • $10 million cost of creating an average Electronic Arts video game
  • $30 million cost of marketing the game – particularly on television source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Aug 2009 11:39

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Sports: John Madden says his namesake video game succeeds at its goal

  • I wanted it as a teaching tool to teach people about football and then not make it simple. This is kind of the way the game has gone. The game is easy to start, but hard to be the best at. It is hard to perfect.
  • Retired NFL coach and announcer John Madden • Discussing his still-popular video game franchise, one of the most popular video game series in history. And it has an effect on the players, too – they watch more football, go to more games and have more football knowledge than us normal people. To give you an idea, 43% of “Madden” players watch 16 or more hours of NFL programming weekly. Holy crap. Get off the couch, you bum. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Aug 2009 10:15

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Tech: Will Wright wants to go from game-maker to multihyphenate

  • We’re taking the idea that you can have a million people engaged not just in entertainment, but also have them creating huge amounts of content for other people to experience. The question is how can you transfer that to other fields besides games.
  • “The Sims” creator Will Wright • Discussing the possibilities of taking the more experimental ideas in his games – also including “Spore,” perhaps the most overhyped non-“Halo” game of all time – and trying to push them in other portions of the entertainment spectrum. He used the phrase “entertainment designer.” For those of you who get much joy out of seeing ultra-successful famous people possibly fail, keep an eye on Will Wright. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 May 2009 11:01

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Tech: The lack of DRM on “The Sims 3” makes it easy to pirate

  • 180,000 copies ganked via piracy source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2009 21:11

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Tech: The guy behind much of EA’s bottom-line, Will Wright, is leaving.

  • But he’ll still be working with them, he says. Wright, the crazy detail-oriented maniac behind such classics as SimCity, The Sims, and Spore, will be leaving to start a new game firm called Stupid Fun Club, which will try to think up new forms of innovative entertainment. Electronic Arts is backing the move both diplomatically and financially. They better; Wright is the guy behind some of their best games. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Mar 2009 12:41

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Tech: Electronic Arts learns from its DRM mistakes of “Spore” past

  • The Sims 3? No DRM. Just a serial code. Back in the dark ages of last year, this hotly anticipated game called “Spore” came out. Somehow, it managed to get completely overshadowed by its digital rights management scheme, which was particularly invasive and seemed to take ownership away from fans. Well, Electronic Arts has apparently learned its lesson; “The Sims 3,” out later this year, will not use any DRM at all beyond a serial code. Someone got burned. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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