I actually cannot believe this, but in one of the most retarded bullshit moves ever pulled, EA has region locked online play with its latest game, Army of Two. What this means is that those who own a PAL copy of the disc cannot actually play the game with those who own the American version.
Upon searching through the PAL version's manual, this particular little tidbit of information was discovered, neatly tucked away and not actually promoted on the cover like it should have been -- because, y'know, CUTTING THE BALLS OFF OF YOUR ONLINE MODE IS PRETTY F'ING IMPORTANT:
"NOTE: The online game modes in Army of Two are not cross region compatible and is only supported between PAL discs."
If you happened to get hold of this game in the hopes of playing with someone across the pond, well sorry but it appears you're fresh out of luck. EA, in its infinite wisdom, has chosen to completely negate the entire point of online multiplayer by restricting a huge percentage of the players from each other. This is actually so mind-numbingly stupid I don't even know how to properly rant about it. It kind of speaks for itself.
Consumers from Europe who have tried to play with their American friends have been cockblocked thanks to this incredibly ludicrous situation that differentiates PAL versions of the game as "Army of Two (EU)" on Xbox Live. At least one PS3 player has said that both the MS and Sony platforms are subject to this region locking.
Just ... what the HELL, Electronic Arts? Despite the crappy reviews, I still wanted to play this, but now I certainly won't be bothering. European gamers demand a reason why you chose to do this to them and their American friends.
Contest:
1:02 PM on 03.11.2008
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It's not that big of a deal, but it's pretty awkward / lame. Hopefully they don't get used to this.
Jim it's ok, me and you are GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS. We will just beat Halo 3 again on legendary.
Now come here baby
/embraces
Next time there's an empire to be built, you're not invited.
Also, poop on this game.
WE MARCH ON EA TONIGHT!!!!
Also, LOL @ MaxVest
As for the actual story:
I can't believe EA went out of its way and likely paid more money to do this. I really want some info from EA about why. Hmm. Time to generate an e-mail about my "brother" who lives in Europe and we want to hit up co-op.
Well, to be fair, Destructoid gave it a crappy review but it got good reviews from most sites. A 75% average on Gamerankings is hardly crappy. This is also one of those cases where players are rating the game much higher than the critics (Lost Odyssey was the same thing).
That said, this online play crippling is just stupid. My brother lives in Japan (but his 360 is registered as US) so I'm hoping this won't keep him from being able to play with myself and my other brothers.
My bet is that it would have taken more effort to make the discs compatible so they did nothing instead and the games just don't work by default. Not that they locked them, but that it's almost as if EA put out two different games.
Yeah, but we're soo used to Nintendo's online play being crappy that we've become numb to getting the shaft from it.
I'll pass on this now...
Jim forgot to add that tidbit.
MaxVest, how much did your zinger machine cost? I really need to invest in one of those.
Yeah, it sucks not being able to play with your cross atlantic friends. On the other hand though, some kind of region filter is something many people are begging when they just finished a lagging round of Halo or Cod 4. EAs method though is just a little extreme...
EA, this is the point. You quite clearly missed it.
Can't say I'll miss you Americans.
Before letting EA get in their good graces, people should evaluate what EA *does*, not what EA says. Hopefully this will work as a reminder.
Tis retarded though. There's things you can do... it didn't have to be this way.
WHY THE FUCK DO YOU KEEP SCREWING EUROPE IN THE BUTT.
...in the butt?
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