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.
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BUT IF EA HAVE TOUCHED IT IS EVIL AND WE MUST PIRATE IT OR WE ARE NOT GOOD HUMAN BEINGS.
@ 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.
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).
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
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.
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.
Good advert. The spore advert wasn’t that bad either.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Quality Advert. That is all.
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.
@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
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…
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…
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.
What’s the song in the background?
I’m sure I’ve heard it somewhere before :/
found it, the band are called Elbow and the song is “Grounds For Divorce”, here’s a rather bass weak video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL4mywCOJXA
“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.
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.
@ 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.
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)
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.
Given his involvement in Portal, they really should have used Jonathan Coulton’s Re:Your Brains.
Jonathan Coulton doesn’t need to be used for everything. :P
Yes, yes he does.
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.
Jesus Christ.
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?
The music should be swapped with REMs “End of the World as we know it”.
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.
@jonfitt
Or “Don’t Stop Me Now” by queen, nah actually that should just play over and over during the game.
A great game advert, a great song and a great game.
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.
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?
@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!
@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*
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.
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?
@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?
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.
@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?
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.
@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.
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***.
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.
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 :)
You know what? I’m thinking Gorgeras is a troll. Well played, Gorgeras. Except you weren’t at least funny.