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EA turning all of its brands into "online universes"

mocoworm

Member
Searched but found nothing.

EA turning all of its brands into "online universes" - FIFA, Medal of Honor, Battlefield, Need for Speed, the lot.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-20-ea-turning-all-of-its-brands-into-online-universes

EA is turning all of its brands into what it calls "online universes".
At EA's UK showcase this week, EA's Northern Europe boss Keith Ramsdale said all of EA's game franchises, including FIFA, Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Star Wars, The Sims and Need for Speed, were being transformed in this way.

This means more than simple online play, Ramsdale explained. It involves being able to play a "brand" across multiple devices, each one contributing to a singular goal - and profile.

Ramsdale used FIFA by way of an example. "Imagine a player gets up in the morning, plays an online match on his 360 before going to work," he said. "On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone.

On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone.
"Here's the thing: when he gets home to play again on his 360 that evening, all those achievements and upgrades will be alive in his game."

Ramsdale said online universes allow the consumer to play "how he wants, when he wants and on the device he wants".

"We're very focused on transforming all of our brands into these online universes. That gives the consumer full control of how and when they play in a rich world of content."
We've already seen some of this with the BioWare developed Mass Effect 3. Players are able to contribute to their Galactic Readiness in the main game by playing the Mass Effect Datapad companion app on their smartphones.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
nnl9M.gif
 

Polk

Member
So we should expect some things will be locked out of some version of the game to sell you two or more copies of the game?
 

Zomba13

Member
Horrible move. If EA wants all their things to have 'online universes' then they are going to have to stop shutting their servers down after only a few years.
Of course, they will still shut these 'online universes' down to make you buy their latest entry into the franchise.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Man, this is one of those depressing news bits that reminds me that if EA didn't keep publishing so many awesome games I would hate them so fucking much.
 

Valnen

Member
So if I'm understanding something right, this doesn't really change anything, it's just an introduction of cross-platform tech.

Why are people getting scared of this again?
 

Glass Rebel

Member
Do they treat them like shit?

Is taking a game that customers bought from the service so that you can't get it on your device anymore unless you made a backup beforehand just to replace it with virtually the same game with added microtransactions treating them like shit?

I honestly don't know because I never bought an EA game on iOS.

Edit: Wait, I bought PvsZ, which is basically an EA game now. Nice microtransactions too, don't remember whether that was before PopCap was bought. I was pissed.
 
If you don't know what's the current fad among publishers and what they perceive as best way to fuck over customers you just need to look at EA strategy :)
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
I hope it means that they turn Mass Effect into Elite but with shooting.

yeah, I know, not happening.
 

soultron

Banned
This is already happening. Look at any game that has an app associated with it.

This is just taking the next step of allowing inputs rather than limiting you to viewing static output from the game.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
do any of the console platforms stop you doing this? Eg having cloud saves that are accessible by other apps/websites, which directly affect your game?

Sounds fine, but itsn't it the usual shit that gets trotted out about integration of online blah blah smartphones?

How exactly are you practicing free kicks on your tablet with no buttons when you have to actually take them with a controller on a completely different machine?
 

Gowans

Member
"Imagine a player gets up in the morning, plays an online match on his 360 before going to work," he said. "On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone.

On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone.
"Here's the thing: when he gets home to play again on his 360 that evening, all those achievements and upgrades will be alive in his game."

Do they not release we have lives, work, families, OTHER HOBBIES we don't need to be playing games all the time.
 

Polk

Member
So... Transfarring?
Not really (I think)
Transfarring means every version is the same.
EA isn't saying every version is exact, just every version can talk to each other.
Lets say for the next NFS there's iOS/Android tweaking/decal making program you could buy so you could make some changes when you aren't home.
Or in the next Tiger Woods you could train putting on the go.
 
Ideal model:

1. Purchase EA game
2. 1GB patch required. Download it
3. Install patch, another 500MB patch required. Download it.
4. Install this patch
5. Demo mode enabled. To enable full content, please enter online pass
6. Try to purchase key, servers unavailable, please try again tomorrow
7. Purchase online pass for an extra $10. Enter key
8. ios pass required, pay $10 for a key.
9. Tablet pass required, please pay $10 for the key.
10. Thanks for choosing to play an EA game, unfortunately the servers for this game are no longer active. Please purchase EA game year n+1
11. Goto 1.
 

pixelpushr

Neo Member
How is this bad? I hate online passes and EA's habit of shutting down game servers but this bit of news doesn't sound that bad to me. It actually sounds pretty cool.
 

Antioch

Member
Not really (I think)
Transfarring means every version is the same.
EA isn't saying every version is exact, just every version can talk to each other.
Lets say for the next NFS there's iOS/Android tweaking/decal making program you could buy so you could make some changes when you aren't home.
Or in the next Tiger Woods you could train putting on the go.

Still, the concept of making progress in a game by doing stuff on a portable away from the console is quite similar between the two, idk.
 

Tacitus_

Member
How is this bad? I hate online passes and EA's habit of shutting down game servers but this bit of news doesn't sound that bad to me. It actually sounds pretty cool.

It is a nice idea on paper.

However, this is EA. Expect something to go horribly wrong.
 

Omikaru

Member
Normally I wouldn't see any of this as a bad thing, but EA is doing it so it's bound to be fucking terrible for their customers.
 
I wonder how much EA market capitalisation will be wiped out when the videogames market finally crashes from people not being able to pay 60/70/80/90$ for shit games?
 

ShinNL

Member
How is this bad? I hate online passes and EA's habit of shutting down game servers but this bit of news doesn't sound that bad to me. It actually sounds pretty cool.
But if you combine the 3, you end up with your profile and paid online passes (for smartphone, for tablet, for console) expire after 2 years when the server shut down. Since all games will share an "online universe", it means all games will be unplayable (all 3 devices) when that happens. Doesn't sound pleasant to me.
 

Goldmund

Member
Attaboy, EA. Offline gaming sucks. I was a grand video game detractor until Microsoft came along and invented online play in 2005, EA perfecting it in 2010.
 
"Imagine a player gets up in the morning, plays an online match on his 360 before going to work. On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet. At lunch he looks at the transfer window on his PC. On the way home he chooses his kit on his smartphone."

I've read these scenarios so many times now, in the last 6 years. Never works out (or even works at all). No 3G connections on the bus, not allowed to play games on PCs at work, etc. Let alone that nobody thinks about a game all day, and even would want to do all this.
 
They'll be able to charge you with an online pass for each device too. Sounds like a stroke of genius. I wish I would have thought of it.
 

Shadybiz

Member
How is this bad? I hate online passes and EA's habit of shutting down game servers but this bit of news doesn't sound that bad to me. It actually sounds pretty cool.

Definitely correct. However, I still can't even consistently get into a BF3 game with my squad intact from the lobby, so I expect some problems with this.
 

D4Danger

Unconfirmed Member
"Imagine a player gets up in the morning, plays an online match on his 360 before going to work," he said. "On the bus, on his way to work, he practices his free kicks on his tablet.

because that helps when you back to using a controller

seriously, who came up with this nonsense?
 
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