Longtime readers of Destructoid may know by now that I have a level of quiet respect for EA CEO John Riccitiello, whose statements over his past year as head of the "evil" games company have lent a human, humble and above all, honest face to one of gaming's least trusted entities. With Activision putting EA in second place as a third party publisher, the company has had to learn some humility, and nobody understands that more than its boss.
In one of his boldest statements yet, Riccitiello has actually owned up to one of the company's most hated industry crimes -- the acquisition and destruction of other companies that saw the demise of Bullfrog, Origin and Westwood:
"The command and conquer model, the command and direct model doesn't work," said Riccitiello. He went on to concede that EA's past post-acquisition tactics backfired badly. "Bullfrog, Origin, Westwood--all no longer exist today because something broke. ... and I'll simply state that EA blew it, and to a certain degree, since I was involved, I blew it."
Say what you will about Riccitiello's words, but I can respect that. It's true that his humility may be influenced somewhat by the power of Activision, but I also feel that this man has been very consistent in his outlook and actions for the past year. EA has done some horrible, damaging things to the games industry, that much is true, and I adored Bullfrog especially. However, in EA I see a company that is trying to win back the trust of gamers, and attempting to be a publisher that deserves its place in the industry.
Cynicism is cool and all, especially against the trendy-to-hate corporate powers, but I personally trust John Riccitiello. His plans for current acquisitions like BioWare, giving them freedom and independence, is the right one, and EA's attempts to try new IPs with Army of Two and Dead Space hold promise. Perhaps the man's taking me for a fool, but for now, my respect for him remains unbroken.
Contest:
9:49 PM on 02.09.2008
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Anyone who says that the Command & Conquer took the same journey that it would have, had Westwood not been decimated just doesn't know the series.
It's not that all the C&C titles have sucked since Tiberian Sun, it's just that some of them have made no sense, or haven't even fit in with the universe. Red Alert 2 completely disregards the ending of Red Alert. Generals totally ignored the wealth of lore and storyline the team had to build off of with the prior games...
And when they finally went back to the original story line, they ignored the fact that Tiberian Sun had happened. At least they seek to rectify this with C&C3: Kane's Wrath (which I will buy, by the way. I don't boycott their games or anything, I just secretly loathe myself for buying them.) by explaining why GDI and Nod dropped their super-technology for... tanks and buggies, between Firestorm and C&C3... but I dunno. I'll know when the game comes out if I forgive them a little more.
Anyway, that was my rant of the day. Feel free to just gloss over it.
Glad someone realizes that something went wrong. Usually people don't step up like that, especially CEO's.
Soulless, money-grubbing corporations made my PC, my Xbox 360 and my television. Whales eat plankton.
But it sure is a tough choice between them.
Fuck. I loved that game. And now there will be no more. Any forgiveness I would have had for EA has been wiped away and replaced with twice the anger for that simple fact.
I'm fairly certain at the end of the day he still gets his big fat undeserving CEO paycheck for masturbating in a board room, which makes me have no pity for the motherfucker.
You feel sorry? Give yourself a goddamn pay cut, and put it into the paychecks of people who actually do something productive for a living, like making games instead of plundering companies to eliminate the competition, that'll show me how sorry you are.
Until then, fuck off.
Exactly, and while I appreciate the mia culpas coming from both Sony and EA, they aren't action. Words are meaningless unless they're backed up by something tangible, so until EA does something other than gobble up smaller companies I'll continue to have my skepticism.
Cut the bullshit EA, go back to your pit bull, screw 'em and dump 'em, ravaging and downright lowblow ways. Buy indie companies to enslave like some confederate tobacco farmer, consume rights to other things that people lik such as war genres to make official war game, and piss on mom and pop publishing companies that start-up worse than an Apple II on a good day.
I guess I can learn to forgive EA.
I like him.
Of COURSE actions need to back up the pretty words but at least this is a step in the right direction. You can spin almost anything to sound like a douchebag corporate PR move if you want to, regardless of whether or not it's genuine. No one is saying that we should all bow to EA and start hailing the company as some kind of messiah for the industry. It's just nice to see someone high up making a statement other than the usual self fellatio that we always hear. The past is done, let's see what they do for the future.
Totally and completely unforgivable.
Okay, so he admitted that he f*cked over some of the most brilliant companies in gaming history. Exactly what is he going to do to rectify the situation?
EA squash innovation and competition. We know that. Just because the CEO admitted it doesn't make it any better.
Apologies are free.
EA killed Theme Park/Theme Hospital and Command and Conquer
Bastards!
I want Dungeon Keeper back!
But EA:s getting there, every step they're taking seems to be in the right direction.. kudos!
Petroglyph née Westwood's newest RTS was dead on arrival. Universe at war suffers from substandard graphics (I'm looking at you particle effects), pathetically low unit limits, and windows live. On the other hand, C&C generals and the gloriously beautiful Tiberium Wars(C&C 3) are widely acclaimed by RTS fans on the gamereplays RTS Nexus, and have enduring competitive communities. Both of those games are amazing fucking fun and true to the spirit of Command & Conquer.
Honestly I couldn't be happier that EA acquired the Command and Conquer franchise. They saved the series from almost certain death at the inept hands of Windows live and Westwood-petroglyph. EA has exceeded all expectations in their new C&C offerings. The graphics and game balance of C&C 3 is top notch. For fuck's Sake.. EA single handedly resurrected FMV cut-scenes and KANE.
LOOOL