EA Buys Angry Birds Publisher Chillingo

[matchboxmatt]

[citation][nom]jimmysmitty[/nom]Um Bioshock was not EA. It was 2K Games. Mass Effect had EA as a publisher for the PC version only much like how the retail versions of the OB, L4D/L4D2 are published by EA only. They have no input into it besides marketing. Battlefield just isn't as good as it once was when only Dice was involved. BF2 was just BF1942 DC and BF2 wasn't that great.I think the most hate for EA is because they screw everything up. I remember the OB port that EA did without VALVes permision to the PS3. Was crappy and even Gabe Newell, Head of VALVe, took the blame for it even though he didn't want to publish the OB for the PS3.I just don't trust EA anymore either. They tend to buy up companies that start on the PC and then push them to be console mainly, PC second. It lowers the quality of the games and then the ports to the PC are just bad.This does sadden me though. I have been enjoying Angry Birds on my Ally for free.[/citation]

EA can't make a port without Valve's permission, it was a joint venture. They hired them to take care of that because they didn't want to deal with PS3 architecture themselves. You can only do so much for a port when the creators aren't putting any effort themselves into it. As for Battlefield, I'll leave that up to opinion, because BF2 was fantastic to several people, and at the end of the day, it's still DICE's product.

Being published by EA, if anything, is a blessing. They're not some evil conglomerate conspiring to corrupt anything they touch their hands on. They're a publisher with a killer marketing budget and a knowledge for what works, and they're brilliant at getting their studio's games out there.

 

[jimmysmitty]

[citation][nom]matchboxmatt[/nom]EA can't make a port without Valve's permission, it was a joint venture. They hired them to take care of that because they didn't want to deal with PS3 architecture themselves. You can only do so much for a port when the creators aren't putting any effort themselves into it. As for Battlefield, I'll leave that up to opinion, because BF2 was fantastic to several people, and at the end of the day, it's still DICE's product.Being published by EA, if anything, is a blessing. They're not some evil conglomerate conspiring to corrupt anything they touch their hands on. They're a publisher with a killer marketing budget and a knowledge for what works, and they're brilliant at getting their studio's games out there.[/citation]

Then exactally why has VALVe pushed to make Portal 2 for the PS3 as well? At the time, VALVe didn't want to do anything with the PS3 due to a very hard to code for arch but they are now on their own without EA.

I highly doubt that VALVe would have given the OK to EA to port the game to the PS3 and not verify it before allowing it to ship. They don't do that. There is a reason why VALVe has so many GoTY awards, dev awards and even awards for their game characters. They push the quality of the game as far as they can. If they had EA port it, I am sure they would have had a hand in making sure it ported over well.

I don't mind EA publishing. I think VALVe did it smart using their vast resources to publich the OB/L4D/L4D2. But that is all. They just publish it. If EA had their hands in L4D it would go full blown console then port to PC and that is not the way VALVe works.

Spore is a good example. Although Maxis had the main hand in it, after EA took them over it changed drastically and beyond the creature editor its meh.

 

[mayne92]

[citation][nom]jcurry1010[/nom]EA isn't a videogame company anymore they are a company that buys video game companies.[/citation]
Precisely...

 

[eyemaster]

What's the point of buying a company if you don't get their flagship product?

 

[matchboxmatt]

[citation][nom]jimmysmitty[/nom]Then exactally why has VALVe pushed to make Portal 2 for the PS3 as well? At the time, VALVe didn't want to do anything with the PS3 due to a very hard to code for arch but they are now on their own without EA.I highly doubt that VALVe would have given the OK to EA to port the game to the PS3 and not verify it before allowing it to ship. They don't do that. There is a reason why VALVe has so many GoTY awards, dev awards and even awards for their game characters. They push the quality of the game as far as they can. If they had EA port it, I am sure they would have had a hand in making sure it ported over well.I don't mind EA publishing. I think VALVe did it smart using their vast resources to publich the OB/L4D/L4D2. But that is all. They just publish it. If EA had their hands in L4D it would go full blown console then port to PC and that is not the way VALVe works.Spore is a good example. Although Maxis had the main hand in it, after EA took them over it changed drastically and beyond the creature editor its meh.[/citation]

Gabe Newell said himself that their approach of waiting for something to happen in order to make a market place easier to get into doesn't work, and that it showed when they shoveled Portal on EA's laps because they didn't want to do the work themselves. All EA did was follow through and port it for them. You can't port something that you don't have license to port for sale, that's illegal in every sense of the word. Valve consciously let them port it to the PS3, and after realizing how neglectful that is to the potential market on the PS3 they decided to branch out both to the Mac and PS3. If Valve didn't want a PS3 port of Portal, then there wouldn't have been one.

Also, Maxis has been a subsidiary of EA for well over 10 years, they didn't one day just say "Hey, lets make this game really shitty!". That's not how it works. Spore sucks because Spore sucks, not because there was interference with development. They want their studios to succeed. They're not telling them that they have to make a console game and then port it to PC like it doesn't matter. If Mirror's Edge, Mass Effect 2, or Medal of Honor are any indication, it's the exact opposite. Just like Valve, the last thing they want is to neglect a potential market.

It seems like most hatred for EA is baseless just because they're a big player. For the past 3 years, they've been focusing non-stop on capitalizing new IPs and investing in the making good games instead of cheap cash-ins. That's the entire reason why they acquired over half the studios they have in the first place.

 

[eddieroolz]

Good choice in leaving Chillingo.

On a side note, I still remember when this guy spazzed out because of some blog post.