[JackKieser]

Good fucking SHOW, guys. WOW. Well done, well written, well researched, well argued...

...someone at EA better pay some damn attention to this.

[MojoHamster]

When marketing is more lucrative than development in directing sales, the craft dies.

If ever there was an argument against the foolish assumption that competition drives creativity, here it is, naked in the wind. Yes Capitalism, welcome to shrinkage.

I'm glad someone with an audience is finally holding a microscope up to EA.

[JackKieser]

You're talking about the profit motive, right? That profit isn't a good driving force for innovation / creativity?

[Kenogu Labz]

Weee've been over this before. Competing for profit can force companies to make decisions that benefit the consumers; but, while competition isn't inherently bad, corporate greed destroys what good could have come out of it.

Looking forward to watching when I'm back from class.

EDIT: Aaaand I missed your point entirely. Yeah, on the creative/innovative side of things, profit doesn't really help. It's inherently a risk to innovate: one most companies aren't willing to take.

[MojoHamster]

Originally Posted by JackKieser

You're talking about the profit motive, right? That profit isn't a good driving force for innovation / creativity?

Well, if I was to give credit where it was due, I would at least have to concede that it drives marketing innovation and creativity. Similarly, statistical analysis has to evolve to account for the benefits of creative marketing.

But in relation to the quality of video game production, absolutely. Indefinitely, perhaps not.

Given that the 'profit motive' is rather demonstrably a component of Capitalism (admittedly, somewhat a vague word at best) then, I meant Capitalism, but I am assuredly educated by your use of term 'profit motive'.

I'm really the internet equivalent of a drunken tramp shouting at a wall, but the example of Capitalism as a driving force for creativity is something I've been exposed to on numerous occasions.

Finally, I boldly exclaim whilst paraphrasing Jon Stewart - "I disagree with Capitalism but I'm pretty sure I'm not Stalin."

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

Very big fan of this episode. Repeating the statement; well done.

[Kenogu Labz]

Indeed, finally watched it. Most excellent, and hope they get a chance to see it.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

I'm going to chime in by repeating what I said to a friend over facebook on the issue and the episode,

What happened to gaming and EA? Excessively huge budgets required to develop in the current generation and short-term profit mongering by management of said gaming companies that don't even have a real history inside the industry(looking at you, Bobby Kotick). This leads to less risk-taking and more catering to the lowest common denominator of the gaming audience, which incidentally includes most of its audience.

It's kind of hypocritical of Sepphire(albeit not intentionally so) to say that the gaming audience doesn't want this sort of experience(or advertising) when all you have to do is turn on your headset while playing whatever FPS is currently in style on XBL to see a lot of the audience for what it is: a bunch of Jason Statham/Vin Diesel-wannabes, 14-year-olds who haven't even started puberty yet, racists, homophobes, etc. There are statistics that show that the average gamer age is 35(or near that age), but what the hell does that tell us about their mental state?

There's no doubt that EA's marketing is hardly setting an image for gamers as responsible, well-adjusted, mature individuals and it would be lazy of me to ignore the fact that there are plenty who do fit this profile, but until the majority of the gaming audience lives up to that image, business is business due to the earlier points.

[BardicKnowledge]

Originally Posted by JackKieser

Good fucking SHOW, guys. WOW. Well done, well written, well researched, well argued...

...someone at EA better pay some damn attention to this.

Agreed completely. Reading the letter at the end was the perfect way to close it. Hopefully large VG marketing people everywhere take note.

And Malaki, while I agree that there are whiny 12-year olds all over the FPS scene (which is part of why I don't have any big FPS games on my console), EA's recent marketing has specifically been hurtful to the industry, and there's no other good way to say it.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Originally Posted by BardicKnowledge

Agreed completely. Reading the letter at the end was the perfect way to close it. Hopefully large VG marketing people everywhere take note.

And Malaki, while I agree that there are whiny 12-year olds all over the FPS scene (which is part of why I don't have any big FPS games on my console), EA's recent marketing has specifically been hurtful to the industry, and there's no other good way to say it.

I'm not arguing that the ads aren't reprehensible or damaging to the industry, however I AM arguing that the gaming audience in general is just as reprehensible, and that's a hard pill that we all have to swallow.

Look at youtube video comments, gaming news sites comments and forums, as well as other gaming forums. People can cry all they want about how those aren't indicative of the gaming population as a whole, but then what do we use as a barometer to determine that if that statement is true when there is so much evidence against it?