By John Walker on October 30th, 2008 at 11:03 pm.
Valve are being rather bold about their advertising spend for Left 4 Dead. $10 million, we’re told, quite a lot. Don’t they know that a gentleman doesn’t know how much is in his advertising budget? Anyhow, a lump of this money is being spent on TV spots, which are of course already on the internets. Of course posting adverts is just what they want us to do, so, er, we’re doing it ironically.
It’s something of a treat to see an advert for a game that doesn’t make you want to set your PC on fire and take up knitting. I wonder what someone who’s never heard of the game might think, watching that. There’s possibly a risk of zombie-fatigue in the general populace, but I think that might make things look intriguing enough to get past it. Sort of like how Charlie Brooker’s Dead Set couldn’t be a more traditional zombie story, but is done well enough for that not to be a problem.
30/10/2008 at 23:09 fishmitten says:
I’m not a big fan of the song they chose, but that is a damn well-put-together ad.
30/10/2008 at 23:14 Rook says:
I still think the box art is shit.
30/10/2008 at 23:17 Gladman says:
Why? Everyone that plays PC games already knows it’s coming out, and are pretty excited for it. :/
30/10/2008 at 23:18 Donald Duck says:
Nice ad. Makes it look like a Grindhouse flick.
30/10/2008 at 23:25 Y3k-Bug says:
@gladman
I’d assume its for the millions who have no idea it exists.
30/10/2008 at 23:25 Y3k-Bug says:
EDIT: Its also moreso for the xbox 360 owners, as clearly evidenced by the EA branding at the beginning.
30/10/2008 at 23:43 I don't understand this comment system says:
Yeah, if I was Valve I would be putting my logo up there instead of EA. Build up some brand recognition.
30/10/2008 at 23:43 Bhazor says:
I kind of hoped Gabe would be smart enough not to pay that much money to get it on tv when they could have put it on youtube for free.
Also I’m not sure how many people would spend £25 to £50 based solely on an advert.
30/10/2008 at 23:45 Rei Onryou says:
I couldn’t be more hyped for this game. Hell I’d rip off my left thumb if it meant I could play it sooner.
30/10/2008 at 23:48 subedii says:
EA are publishing the store version (PC and 360), that’s pretty much the extent of their involvement. Apparently they kept trying to involve themselves in other aspects of the project (design, advice, focus testing etc.) but Valve kept turning them down saying they had it covered.
A part of me is very thankful for that fact.
30/10/2008 at 23:48 Cigol says:
Is it Valve spending the money or EA? I’m guessing it’s EA considering their logo is so prominent. It’s a good advert but the pre-rendered look of it is obviously bogus. Right?
30/10/2008 at 23:52 (pun intended) says:
@Gladman:
It is incredibly easy to not keep up with gaming news. I’ve been playing PC games with some regularity since Doom and for a lot of that time probably couldn’t tell you what most of the big-name titles were at the moment, unless I or a friend was playing them. Our attention was usually just elsewhere. And while there are undoubtedly a ton of people chomping at the bit to play Left 4 Dead, there are also any number of infrequent PC gamers, non-gaming zombie movie fans, and poor, deluded console-only people that had no idea it existed.
30/10/2008 at 23:52 Butler` says:
@subedii
Haha, imagine the scene.
EAguy “Hey guys, I’ve got this really great id-”
Valve “Just… shut up.”
31/10/2008 at 00:04 Jahkaivah says:
@Rook
A LEFT hand with 4 fingers belonging to a DEAD guy, whats not to like?
31/10/2008 at 00:08 Sev3rity says:
Im fighting the urge not to finish myself off while watching this… at work… once I get home its a different story…
31/10/2008 at 00:11 Down Rodeo says:
Fantastic song, interesting choice though. Grounds for Divorce? Ah well, they are popular right now. And I still think this looks awesome.
31/10/2008 at 00:30 Cronus says:
The video didn’t work for me. I don’t know if I’m the only one, but videos off of RPS seem to only work 50% of the time.
31/10/2008 at 00:30 Nick says:
I like that song a lot, though I do wish there were more in it’s style on the album, I really don’t like that other one with the horribly dull refrain in a ‘Hey Jude’ fashion.
Er, yeah, I like the ad too.. nice little humerous touches as so forth.
31/10/2008 at 00:48 Y3k-Bug says:
@subedii
Is there a link that says anything of that situation? I’d love to read about it.
31/10/2008 at 00:53 qrter says:
“It’s the zombie apocalypse. Bring friends.” ..is a good line, I have to say.
31/10/2008 at 00:55 Ginger Yellow says:
“I’m not sure how many people would spend £25 to £50 based solely on an advert.”
In the UK, loads. Look at the charts some time. Apart from those Wii party games, the charts are dominated by heavily advertised and/or licensed games. You’re almost guaranteed sales if you advertise on the telly. Look at Juiced 2 – would that have sold anything at all if it hadn’t had blanket advertising? As it was, it was near the top of the charts..
31/10/2008 at 00:58 Simon says:
what the hell, I had to put in my age to view this ad? Is the tv going to tell little kids to go away before it goes on? Is it only going to be showed on the Adult Channel? Bah
31/10/2008 at 01:40 subedii says:
@Y3k-Bug:
Don’t get me wrong, Valve said their relationship with EA was very good, it’s just that little snippet stood out to me, and to be honest, I’m glad that they didn’t get to have any say on the final product.
====================================
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19695
“We had been socialized to doing so many things ourselves, whether it’s box creation, funding our own development, etcetera,” he said, “that when we came to meet with folks about a distribution deal – and I use that phrase intentionally – we were looking for somebody to do a certain set of services that we didn’t want to do, or weren’t versed in, and nothing more.”
All of those “distribution deal” conversations, Lombardi said, were fraught with extra offerings that Valve wasn’t interested in taking. “We’re like, ‘You know, we’re really comfortable doing those pieces of the business ourselves, and that’s what we want to do,’” Lombardi recalled.
31/10/2008 at 01:46 The Poisoned Sponge says:
This trailer made me seek out Elbow. I now like them some. Trailer good. Me want play.
31/10/2008 at 02:07 Nimic says:
I love Valve.
31/10/2008 at 02:31 Gorgeras says:
It keeps happening. Games which I long intended to purchase have some fatal flaw revealed about them, discouraging me from shelling out.
How did I only just manage to discover EA are publishing?
There are some EA games which I make allowances for, prepared for the fact that there is going to be some disappointment in some murky place. But never for a Valve, Rockstar or Lionhead(who should have stayed the hell away from EA for the probably now dead Black&White series) game. They have a certain character that make them wonderful but fragile, containing risks that can’t be tampered with by filthy hands.
Left4Dead now joins FarCry 2 and Fallout 3 on my list of ‘so close’ buys. I hope GTA 4 doesn’t get added. It’s my last intended purchase, although Bully is also under consideration if the damn thing actually appears somewhere.
31/10/2008 at 02:39 Y3k-Bug says:
@Gorgeras
Its not an EA game in any way, shape, or form. EA is just doing distribution, ie getting the game in stores. Valve made it, Valve paid for it, EA has zero say in what Valve can or cannot do with the game.
Bully for PC? Thats been on Steam for like a week now.
31/10/2008 at 03:11 Alex says:
Steam has a 1080p version for all of you with too much money to spend on monitors.
31/10/2008 at 03:16 dirksauce says:
From the very first minute I heard that song, I knew it would somehow show up in a Valve product. There’s a part somewhere around the middle that is very reminiscent of “What Kind of Hospital Is This?” from HL:EP1.
So yeah.
31/10/2008 at 03:27 RobotLiberationArmy says:
Valve has had a deal with EA since the Orange Box. You know that, right?
31/10/2008 at 03:29 The Hammer says:
Hasn’t it been since Episode 1?
31/10/2008 at 04:34 Doglog says:
@Cronus
Because it’s shitty gamevideos. Here’s what you want, from gametrailers:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/283874.html
31/10/2008 at 05:25 qrter says:
Even earlier than that – the news stories concerning the EA/Valve deal are all more than 3 years old. From the Eurogamer news blurb at the time:
“The first two products under the distribution agreement will be the newly-announced Game of the Year edition of Half-Life 2 (including Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life: Source) , along with a standalone Counter-Strike: Source (also featuring Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Day of Defeat: Source). Both will be released in “winter” according to EA.
Meanwhile, the Xbox version of Half-Life 2 will be distributed and published by EA, with a release date confirmed for October.”
31/10/2008 at 05:27 qrter says:
Those first two are the boxed PC versions of GOTY HL2 and standalone CS:S, to be clear.
31/10/2008 at 05:40 Rhalle says:
Lombardi is Valve’s Rasputin, and Newell doesn’t know it.
He’s been bad for Valve the whole time he’s been there.
Oh, and a Valve game advertisement with a big EA logo splashed on it? Say what you will about it ‘just being the publisher’, but I’ll say this: Game over, man. Game over. It’s a foreshadowing. You can count on it.
I’m on the fence for L4D, too. I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying it; but I’ll be forcing down the consolized interface, the Source engine compromises and the ‘achievements’, all while hoping against hope that that sort of thing isn’t only going to get worse in future Valve titles, which it undoubtedly will.
31/10/2008 at 05:55 Nimic says:
People who aren’t going to buy this game due to EA are laughable. This game has nothing to do with EA, except that they are publishing. If you buy from Steam (which I certainly have), you avoid even that.
31/10/2008 at 07:02 qrter says:
This is certainly true. EA would’ve rather seen Steam disappear as part of the deal, but that didn’t happen ofcourse.
31/10/2008 at 07:32 Tei says:
I don’t watch TV anyway, and I already know L4D because some friend talking about it in ventrilo. What a no-waste of money, I suppose.
31/10/2008 at 08:04 Heliocentric says:
Not publishing, just distribution of the boxes.
31/10/2008 at 08:26 Tricky says:
Also, anyone doubting that a good TV ad will get people to buy your game need only look at last Autumn’s splash of ads for Assassin’s Creed – that was a huge factor in how many people bought that game.
31/10/2008 at 08:35 Tei says:
Maybe I sould archive this thing in “Creating screenshot is a art in himself”. So this Ad is art, in a sense. It create “another game”, the idea of another game. I suppose the checkbox thingie is black humor, that is a bonus on my book. And there are double barreled shotguns. And I am firmly PRO shotguns.
Anyway If you are into this type of things (weapons), has been probed and probed that the best weapon to fight zombies is a baseball. There are a really long and informative thread about the topic on the XKCD forums.
But I digress.. we are talking about screensh^H^H.. a ad-video.
31/10/2008 at 08:38 Tei says:
postdata:
Firearms are almost useless against zombies. You run low of ammo fast and what?. no ammo= you death. Theres also the thing zombies are already death. You don’t want to kill zombies, you want to stop then from move. Even If you cut in half a zombie with a powerfull shotgun, you have created a crawling zombie, a dangeous one that will byte your legs.
note: I miss the edit button :-(
31/10/2008 at 09:11 ChaosSmurf says:
I really liked the music personally >.>
31/10/2008 at 09:27 Capon says:
Love the eyes of the characters. Remind me a good bit of the TF2 crew.
31/10/2008 at 09:34 MonkeyMonster says:
The old guy’s voice – its father gregorius is it not… and apologies if this has already been discussed/mentioned/yawned to death/ripped off an eaten/AIM’d/grabbed by a long tongue and strangled/pulped by a big beastie.
31/10/2008 at 09:48 Serzus says:
That’s a rather nice ad… Last week I spotted a billboard ad in Boston, which surprised me a bit… Not often games get space like that. Granted, it was right by BU, to the students of which they will probably sell many copies.
31/10/2008 at 09:57 Owen says:
Winning the mercury has done Elbow so much good and fair play to them, they deserve it.
Only selfish downside is that it’ll be a lot harder getting tickets to their gigs! :)
31/10/2008 at 10:18 Larington says:
LOL @ the people who can’t tell the difference between a publishing deal and a distribution deal.
For goodness sake.
And I was beginning to think that EA publishing Dead Space & Mirrors Edge might finally trigger a time when people would give the letters EA a chance instead of just judging the whole company on its sports division. (SIGH)
31/10/2008 at 10:38 Richard Beer says:
What Nimic said. If you’re getting all high-horsey about Left 4 Dead because EA are doing the physical distribution, you’re quite badly missing the point. Valve are using EA to do the things they don’t want to do. You think Gabe Newell is likely to sell out to EA given how much money he’s made doing the complete opposite for the last, like, 8 years? Get real.
I’ve already pre-ordered this on Steam so my EA involvement is nil. Personally I’m very happy about that because I’m still a little bitter after buying Spore from their digital store and not being able to get a refund, but EA have nothing to do with L4D so who cares?
31/10/2008 at 10:45 subedii says:
@ Larington:
To be fair, I’m not going to avoid this title since I know that EA haven’t had any input on it. I don’t avoid EA titles in general. However, I have avoided Dead Space and I’m probably not going to bother with Mirror’s Edge, largely because of EA’s stance on install limits (not to mention the recent silliness to do with forum banning being linked to your online games). There’s plenty of other titles I can spend my money on. For me, those two titles mentioned have strangely resulted in the opposite effect.
Anyway, back on topic, and at least I’m glad that nobody’s putting down L4D on the fact that it has running zombies. IIRC that was the case last time there was a post on this game. :)
31/10/2008 at 10:52 ChaosSmurf says:
BUT IF EA HAVE TOUCHED IT IS EVIL AND WE MUST PIRATE IT OR WE ARE NOT GOOD HUMAN BEINGS.
31/10/2008 at 10:52 Jahkaivah says:
@ Larington
It gets worse, there are people who actually assumed Left 4 Dead would have DRM.
@ Gorgeras
Did you buy Orange Box from retail, do you have a physical copy somewhere?
Guess what? EA DISTRIBUTED IT…
*Maniacal Laughter*
Honestly, its not worth not buying awesome games, just because EA somehow got involved in its distribution. If you are REALLY that bothered just buy the game other steam, EA gets completly cut out of the chain then.
31/10/2008 at 10:53 Larington says:
Yeah, I can understand that view.
My fellow students are absolutely loving Dead Space at the moment so whilst its not on my ‘get it now’ list, its certainly edging towards my ‘get it during a quiet period’ list.
It does bug me though when you get something like Left4Dead where Valve are just using EA for distribution and pretty much nothing else, but just because that logo is there suddenly makes the game a complete no-go, even on steam. It just seems silly, and really judgemental.
That said, I kinda regard SOE as a no go area at the moment, though I’m tempted to give The Agency a free trial go when that comes along, just to see if they’ll learn any lessons about not screwing the game up following release (Planetside – I’m looking at you, and your core combat and battleframe robotics).
31/10/2008 at 10:58 The Sombrero Kid says:
eehh what about dumdumdum the infectious DRM on those games!
i’ve got a t-shirt from elbows first tour that makes me super cool :D
31/10/2008 at 11:01 subedii says:
Well Left 4 Dead isn’t going to have install limits or anything beyond Valve’s own Steam requirements. Like I said, EA don’t have a say in those things. So quit worrying about it.
31/10/2008 at 11:03 Larington says:
You can save a whopping 75 pence if you buy from play.com, even though the currency conversion for UK has taken a real hammering of late (44.99 USD = 27.7449 GBP according to xe.com, the currency converter I usually use).
Already pre-ordered over steam, but if I hadn’t I’d be half tempted to order it from play…
Just to make a point.
31/10/2008 at 11:06 KindredPhantom says:
Good advert. The spore advert wasn’t that bad either.
31/10/2008 at 11:09 Larington says:
I must confess that initially I was put off by the idea of running Zombies, but, when you look at the gameplay of L4D and think about how the game would play with slow zombies… I think I’ll be ok with fast zombies.
31/10/2008 at 11:09 DazzeL says:
Wow, that ad looks really cool. I bloody hope it gets some air time on UK screens.
As for the EA debate – who cares tbh? If you don’t like them or their games then don’t buy them. If you want to boycott them as some sort of protest then go ahead. Trouble is very few others will whilst the actual games are good. That’s why EA will always win.
31/10/2008 at 11:11 DazzeL says:
You get tax of around $8 on that $44.99 price as well Larrington. Works out at around £32 which is a shame, most retailers are less expensive.
31/10/2008 at 11:17 Larington says:
Oops, forgot about the tax, lemme check my purchases e-mail sub-folder:
52.86 USD = 32.4626 GBP
On the subject of which, this is starting to bug me. I’ve been using steam because I like not having to store all these game boxes, but if its going to be cheaper to order from friggin’ retail, why bother?
I can only assume publishers (et al) are still operating on the assumption of a 2 to 1 conversion rate when $45 plus UK tax wasn’t so bad.
31/10/2008 at 11:17 cHeal says:
Quality Advert. That is all.
31/10/2008 at 11:19 Dan Milburn says:
So it’s just me that thinks the ad’s rubbish then? And I love Elbow, but the song’s not well used there, the Burn After Reading trailer did it much better.
31/10/2008 at 11:40 The Sombrero Kid says:
@Larington
I’d guess it’s not that it’s that they don’t even think about it there’s a tonne of stuff to think about when you’re making a game and price localisation is one of those things developers don’t think about when they’ve got a one currency for all system like steam does the sooner they progress to presenting prices in each countries own currency the sooner we’ll get protection from this kind of thing
31/10/2008 at 12:27 Mogs says:
I would assume that it’s EA that are stumping up the cash for PR. That is typically the publisher’s responsibility, but then Valve & EA don’t have a typical developer/publisher relationship…
31/10/2008 at 12:38 Ed says:
Presumably the retail version comes Steam’d up anyway, so you’ll get it in your Steam account either way. So, sure, if it’s cheaper in the shops – go preorder it – you’ll get the Steam version anyway.
Was in GAME the other day, and saw that CS:Source was in the top 20 PC games still… Number 17 or something…
31/10/2008 at 13:53 Dave says:
That song just seems to fit Valve, somehow. The sound of the guitar is similar to the distortion found a few places in the Half-Life 2 soundtracks… a sound I’ve come to love and started using in my own music.
31/10/2008 at 14:18 El_MUERkO says:
What’s the song in the background?
I’m sure I’ve heard it somewhere before :/
31/10/2008 at 14:36 El_MUERkO says:
found it, the band are called Elbow and the song is “Grounds For Divorce”, here’s a rather bass weak video
31/10/2008 at 14:36 El_MUERkO says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL4mywCOJXA
31/10/2008 at 14:43 Bema says:
“I’m not sure how many people would spend £25 to £50 based solely on an advert.”
Adverts encourage people to find out more about stuff…
Not a bad trailer I have to say, although im not convinced it sells the awesomeness of the game that well.
31/10/2008 at 15:18 Gorgeras says:
If EA distributed the Orange Box, a considerable effort has been made to keep their name and logo off the box completely. The way it should be. But not so for Left4Dead. If they were able to worm their way into getting their logo on an advert and presumerably now have their logo on the box, it’s a concession too far and I dare not think of what comes next.
Regarding Bully; I’m afraid it’s only on Steam for some. In the UK, I’ve been looking for it on Steam all week. If anyone in Blighty has a version of Steam offering Bully, let me know.
31/10/2008 at 15:41 subedii says:
@ Gorgeras:
Look, it’s been said already, EA don’t have any say in the final product. Not the design decisions, not the DRM, not the choice of left handed or right handed character models, nothing. They’re just the guys putting the boxes on the shelves, and if you really want to avoid them that much, then Steam makes it easy to do so and give all your money to Valve and none of it to EA.
Their logo was also on the trailer for the Orange Box as well. Can’t say whether it was on the box, since like with L4D, I bought the Steam version.
31/10/2008 at 15:53 Ergates says:
Is your hatred of EA so strong that you’d refuse to buy a game just because it had their logo on? (A game they’d had no involvement in creating)
31/10/2008 at 16:08 Muzman says:
Probably depends where it’s being distributed to. Australian releases often get handled by weird people like Activision and Atari acording to the packaging, despite it being an Eidos game or something.
There’s no mention of EA on my Orange Box either.
31/10/2008 at 16:52 Ginger Yellow says:
Given his involvement in Portal, they really should have used Jonathan Coulton’s Re:Your Brains.
31/10/2008 at 17:33 subedii says:
Jonathan Coulton doesn’t need to be used for everything. :P
31/10/2008 at 17:40 Ginger Yellow says:
Yes, yes he does.
31/10/2008 at 17:42 Gorgeras says:
It takes less than a minute to find my post above explaining when I do and when I do not purchase something with EA’s mitts on it.
EA’s logo appears in the OB commercial, I can see it on Steam and it too has the same annoying hyperactivity intended to grab the attention of people I’d rather not meet in online multiplayer. No wonder TF2 got so many unexpected ass-hats. The physical retail box has no logo.
It does make me reconsider though. If I had seen the *OMG WE R EA* Orange Box advert, I’d have been discouraged from buying it the same way I’m discouraged from L4D. It’s going to take some more thought and solid reviews.
I did manage to find Bully…bottom shelf, HMV. Why GAME weren’t on the case is bizzarre. I felt dirty buying it from the evil empire that’s replaced my local Woolworths as 1# for bad offers. Steam in the UK still doesn’t have it.
31/10/2008 at 17:53 Saflo says:
Jesus Christ.
31/10/2008 at 18:20 Funky Badger says:
The ass-hats are the ones that like EA, right?
Is this a case of cutting off one’s, err, thumb to spite their hand?
31/10/2008 at 18:32 jonfitt says:
The music should be swapped with REMs “End of the World as we know it”.
31/10/2008 at 18:43 Jahkaivah says:
Gorgeras, you should by now have a little nagging feeling in the back of your head that you are wrong.
You don’t have to admit it, but I advise you give in to it.
31/10/2008 at 18:44 Jahkaivah says:
@jonfitt
Or “Don’t Stop Me Now” by queen, nah actually that should just play over and over during the game.
31/10/2008 at 18:45 Fumarole says:
A great game advert, a great song and a great game.
31/10/2008 at 20:13 Arathain says:
I thought TF2 was surprisingly free of ass-hats. Not that they weren’t there, but there didn’t seem to be that many of them. I have similar hopes for this. I had better, because enjoyment of the game will hinge on it!
I like the voices in the ad. I hope there are some cool automatic speech thingies in the game. Loved that in TF2.
31/10/2008 at 20:21 Gorgeras says:
If EA ever became as endeared to me as either of my hands(wonder what sub-text is considered when ‘spiting’ the hand is brought up?), it means I’ve either gone insane or they’ve been bought out by responsible and decent people.
Jahkaivah, I wasn’t aware that I had made any statement or claim to the effect of or relying on any right or wrong, true or false factor. EA don’t do anything out of charity and they are distributing for more than just what tiny profit it can bring them. Most of us suspect EA has attempted to gain a bigger role and have been given a firm ‘no’. I just take it one step further and assume they have most likely been given repeated firm ‘no’s. It isn’t a great leap.
EA have done the salami-slicing wear-them-down thing before plenty of times in non-ancient history. They’ve only ever been responsible when forced to be, so why let up the pressure?
31/10/2008 at 20:41 Jahkaivah says:
@Gorgeras
Fair enough, im not saying you should love EA and kiss their shoes, but it seems a little silly to constantly make excuses to why you shouldn’t buy a game they distribute when its established.that they have no impact on the games devlopment, and little to no benefits from its profits depending on where you buy it from.
If you can see that then great!
31/10/2008 at 20:50 Mo says:
@Gorgeras:
Make up whatever fantasy you want about EA and wanting to interfere with the games they fund, but all interviews have pointed towards them being a very hands-off/professional partner to work with. Valve has said good things, the always outspoken John Carmack has had very positive things to say. He even went as far as saying that the execs at EA knew more about videogames than the other publishers id talked to. They’ve teamed up with Suda51 (Killer7, No More Heroes) which is a pretty high risk move.
Point out anywhere, *anywhere* at all, where these companies have gone, “EA have deterred us from making the games we want to make”. They’ve offered to help their developers (as they should), but they’ve never helped where their help wasn’t needed.
Additionally, they’ve been developing some pretty risky and/or new IP recently (Spore, Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space) all the critical acclaim.
But yeah, EA are obviously the devil. *sigh*
31/10/2008 at 21:11 Heliocentric says:
Some of the powerful people in ea are stupid. And no-one is shutting them up.
The threats at spore complainers for example.
I didn’t even think the drm whines were right (beyond demanding a refund) as ea can do what the hell they like to protect their ip but, you don’t threaten dissatisfied customers with the disruption of their licensed property.
That is as they say, “Being a dick”.
I will be buying my l4d from retail though, about 15% cheaper.
31/10/2008 at 21:50 Gorgeras says:
Ahem, I don’t need to make up excuses or fantasies to apply arbitrary standards to EA. Good old fashioned prejudice is enough where they are concerned.
EA’s history speaks for itself, I need not go over it except to point out the supposed recent contrary examples are very hollow egg-shells. Spore was not a risk; in a rather worrying change in philosophy, Maxis resigned themselves to making a commercial success above any critical and artistic considerations. Will Wright sold out. No idea why. Might have been EA, or he might have snorted something.
It’s strikes me as disingenous that anyone would ask for a quote or ancedote from a developer to justify my opinion on EA. Why would I use such unfalsifiable evidence? How would I know what they say is true? There’s also the extreme improbability of it: very few developers sling mud at other developers very rarely; their chances of future work diminish somehwat. so why would an employee or ex-employee be less sensitive to this?
31/10/2008 at 22:09 James G says:
@Gorgeras
But EA actually own Maxis, whereas Valve are still independent. Indeed, Valve don’t even have to answer to shareholders.
But even if EA did own Valve, I am willing to judge each game on its own merits. Your attitude of completely writing off a game, even going so far to do so in hindsight, just because it has at one point seen EA is frankly a touch silly.
As to this: “No wonder TF2 got so many unexpected ass-hats. The physical retail box has no logo.” Indeed it doesn’t, so are you suggesting that EA has some magical ability to turn those who buy its games into tossers?
31/10/2008 at 22:25 Sev3rity says:
Wow, maybe I’m just the odd man out here, but I don’t give a flying rats ass who made the game, if it’s good I’ll play it, if it’s not, I won’t.
I don’t let something as trivial as that get in my way of a good time.
FYI, I have never, ever, ever had a problem with secureRom, it’s never conflicted with any other program, nor kept me from ever playing any game I had… as far as I’m concerned they can put it on every game that comes out. I’ll continue to have fun.
31/10/2008 at 22:43 Y3k-Bug says:
@Gorgeras
What fear of recrimination would John Carmack have? id is one of the most powerful, independent developers in the gaming industry. He has spoken ill of ATI, 3Dfx, and nVidia at various times throughout his career. He never holds his tongue for anyone.
Why would you think he all in a sudden would be afraid of EA? id is in such a position to where they can easily go somewhere else, and any other publisher would be glad to have them, as their games sell.
Why would you say that he could be lying?
31/10/2008 at 22:45 Y3k-Bug says:
Has EA made a lot of bad decisions with developers? Sure. Will they continue to do so in the future? Absolutely.
But like the music industry, once you get to a certain level of success, the musicians (in this case, developers) call the shots. As is the case with id, as is the case with Valve.
EA’s partnership with Valve really means nothing interms of game content.
31/10/2008 at 22:48 Mo says:
@Gorgeras:
You’ve obviously have never read an interview with John Carmack. As id software is privately owned and privately funded he pretty much says whatever he wants. He’s bad-mouthed many a publisher, and also said that the iPod (Classic) SDK was a joke, and when Apple “black listed” id, he mentioned that too. Gabe Newell said the PS3 was a disaster, and that Sony should just start over. Etc, etc.
Basically: if id software or Valve weren’t happy with EA Partners, we would have heard about it.
On the subject of evidence, you’re right, the word of developers may not be true. However, this still leaves you without a shred of evidence. EA’s history isn’t the finest, but EA have admitted that themselves. And I may never forgive them for killing Bullfrog and Westwood, but they’ve manned up to their mistakes and have said that they’re working towards change. I’d like to give EA the benefit of the doubt. You know, “innocent unless proven guilty”. By all accounts, they seem to be working towards what they stated they would.
Also, Maxis were all about “artistic considerations”. They wanted to make a game that anyone could play and that anyone could be creative within. They were successful in this regard. Just because it isn’t an over-complex simulation (and thank goodness it isn’t) doesn’t mean they sold-out.
Anyway, I know this is a big waste of time, because EA haters will always hate … stuck in the past, unable to move on from preconceived notions, that type of thing.
31/10/2008 at 23:13 Weylund says:
God, that was an awful trailer. “Guys used to laugh at me when I hit the rifle range at lunch…” Did a sentient being write that? Yikes.
The music was completely useless – what about that music attracted anyone to it? Pretty much any band in any genre could have generated those 30 seconds of filler.
Did I watch the same trailer that you guys just did? I ask myself: on the off chance that the people who had creative input on the game approved this ad, how stupid are they, and what does that say about the game itself?
I’ve already pre-ordered L4D, so maybe I’m just anxious it’ll actually just turn out to be s***.
31/10/2008 at 23:31 Gorgeras says:
If you read into things, if you cherry-pick your examples, you will always be right. You can never fail to be right.
Why some small number of people have started with astroturf-esque posting here, only they can know. Lucky for the rest of us, claiming black is white and up is down doesn’t affect anything unless a whole lot of people start doing it. EA is primarily the overt and conspicous malefactor of the thinking influential opinionated game hobbyist, so no worries yet.
01/11/2008 at 03:32 Heliocentric says:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3171038
Okay… Now i might get spore. But the hype is gone, so I’ll be waiting until I see it cheap :)
01/11/2008 at 04:29 Grandstone says:
You know what? I’m thinking Gorgeras is a troll. Well played, Gorgeras. Except you weren’t at least funny.
01/11/2008 at 08:42 Funky Badger says:
Weylund: it’s not us, it’s you… ;-)
01/11/2008 at 16:11 Gorgeras says:
I’m a frequent commenter here and have a fair share of both agreements and disagreements with people. You Grandstone are among the few names I don’t recognise, so playing the troll gambit is a bit rich.
My first post in this thread was not in response to another poster, as would be indicative of a troll. My first post was me expressing an opinion as equally consistent and contrarian as other posts. I hadn’t picked up on some sensitive issue on which a storm could be provoked like a troll would. I didn’t know anyone was going to respond, no one had to respond. I thought my post was pretty unremarkable. I wasn’t expecting someone somewhere behind a keyboard to get that “Someone is WRONG on the internet!” reflex kicking in where they percieve the offender to be a threat to the free world and fight it as such.
Go read my first post and see how utterly boring it is. Now read the responses and consider wether they were really proportionate given the tone and the number of them.
01/11/2008 at 16:44 Okami says:
Yay, pointless discussions about developers selling out and the evil of EA for teh win!!
And EA bashing is soooo 2007! They are now the good guys and Blizzard/Activision are the new evil of video game publishing.
Move with the times, people!
01/11/2008 at 18:14 x25killa says:
Do all the zombies look like EA empolyees? Just wondering…
01/11/2008 at 21:49 PHeMoX says:
!!! 10$ million wasted on advertising… what’s the world coming to? !!!
I’m sure the game will do reasonably well regardless of how good the game is, just look at the recently released not-so-great Spore, but damn 10 million is a lot of money, especially when they take just about every opportunity they got to promote it through their own Steam.
01/11/2008 at 23:05 James G says:
@PHeMoX
I’m assuming that they’ve done the calculations and have realised that it will net them more than enough extra sales to make up for the advertising costs. I’ve got a friend who is currently looking at buying a 360, but doesn’t know where to start with the gaming media, and thus all the games he’s mentioned to me have been ones which have had television advertisments recently. Sure, he’s not an idiot and subsequently went to check out reviews and forums, but for people who don’t check the gaming news regularly it may be the only chance they get to here of a game.