Blog Archives
Russia Gives The Sims 4 an Adults Only Rating
Citing the controversial so-called “Protection of Children” law, the video games rating board in Russia has classified The Sims 4 as “prohibited for children” ahead of its upcoming release in the second half of 2014.
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Comcast and EA Working on Deal to Stream Games
It looks like PlayStation Now might have some competition before it ever hits the market. Two two-time Consumerist Worst Company in America winners, Electronic Arts and current champion Comcast, are reportedly working on a deal to stream EA games to Comcast customers.
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EA Adding Microtransactions to Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare
In a move that will surprise absolutely no one that has played an EA game in the last few years, they’re adding microtransactions to one of their games. This time, it’s Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare that will see the addition of microtransactions to the game this week.
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Yet Another Battlefield 4 Bug is Discovered. Will This Game Ever be Fixed?
In news that should surprise absolutely no one, another bug has been discovered in Battlefield 4. Whether this bug has existed since launch and never been documented with proof until now or was inadvertently created with another patch isn’t known.
What I can tell you is that you shouldn’t shoot in the vicinity of downed soldiers. The new “Death Shield” bug will make you pay by launching projectiles you fire toward a downed soldier back at you and killing you.
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Amy Hennig Joins Visceral Games as Star Wars Creative Director
When you’re talented, people are going to want you. Just look at former Naughty Dog superstar Amy Hennig. The former creative director on the Uncharted franchise has moved from a game inspired by a LucasFilm franchise to working on a game that is a LucasFilm franchise. She’s turned to the dark side and joined EA’s Visceral Games to head up their upcoming Star Wars game.
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EA Eliminated in First Round of 2014 Worst Company in America Poll
The two-time reigning and defending Golden Poo winner as Consumerist’s Worst Company in America won’t be scoring the three-peat. Electronic Arts was bounced from the 2014 Worst Company tournament after suffering a close first round exit at the hands of Time Warner Cable.
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Critics Corner: Titanfall
All the teaser videos, all the previews, and all the hype comes down to this. Hype doesn’t make great games. Even I’ve helped feed the machine with my column about how Titanfall could be transformative for the FPS genre. I might have been reaching since early reviews suggest that the story campaign seems tacked on. Mind you, I doubt anyone is buying a multiplayer-only game for the story mode.
Titanfall didn’t quite set the world on fire with the critics. Sure, it got a lot of 90s but a game with this much hype is the sort where you have your expectation set at 100. If you love multiplayer FPS game, you’ll probably love it. If you’re on the fence, it looks like it comes down to whether you prefer story or shooting. One will cause you to buy it and the other will cause you to pass.
Also, Polygon’s review indicates that Titanfall was reviewed in an enclosed environment, not in the live, retail environment so the reviews may not necessarily reflect the current state of the game.
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Is EA Not Issuing Review Copies of Titanfall on PC?
I’m used to not getting review copies of games from publishers. In fact, I would be exaggerating if I said that my success rate is better than 1 out of 10. So I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t get a copy of Titanfall to review.
However, I quickly noticed something. Not only was I not doing a Titanfall review but nobody is doing a Titanfall review. At least, not on PC. A quick look online shows that either nearly no one is getting PC review copies or Microsoft swung a deal so the PC embargo is later than the Xbox One embargo.
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One of the Battlefield 4 Class-Action Lawsuits Has Been Dropped
Back in December, we brought you news of a pair of class-action lawsuits being brought against EA on behalf of investors as a result of the poor state of Battlefield 4 at release and the connection that the condition of the game affected the company’s share price.
This weekend, a little digging by GameSpot found that one of the two class-action lawsuits against EA over Battlefield 4 appears to have disappeared. That marks the first time in recent memory that EA has one something that isn’t the worst company in America award.
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Titanfall is Poised to Completely Change the FPS Genre
When I was at Fan Expo last August, someone in line for the State of Gaming panel asked the group of us waiting where we thought the industry was headed. Increasing the quantity and quality of free-to-play games was a popular answer. More mobile games for core gamers was another answer. Motion controlled games on Kinect, Wii U and PS Eye finally becoming proper gaming was a less popular suggestion but it was made.
After some pondering, I realized that those answers weren’t wrong but I had a better one. While all those ideas might be right, I think Titanfall might be a harbinger for where the industry is headed. It has nothing to do with mechs or pretty graphics or third-party triple-A games going exclusive. It has everything to do with dropping the single-player campaign and launching a game with only multiplayer.
et geekera 