A Tale of Time

The other day I was reading a Kotaku article on the cinematic Full Motion Video (FMV) sequences from PC games in the 1990s. It really brought back a tidal wave of memories from the first games I played on the PC. Dark Forces, X-wing /Tie Fighter, MegaRace, The 7th Guest. Everyone loved prerenedered CGI with FMV.

This was golden age of gaming. When the PC had more power that could be possibly imagined on a console. My Packard Bell 486DX with 8MB of ram was eventurally upgraded to 32 megs of ram. Old games like this I wish I hadn't thrown them away. I haven't played them in eons, but games seemed to rely on story a bit more when graphics looked like shit. Everything had a back story. Even crapy-ass MegaRace. MegaRace for the uninitiated was a racing game that was set in the future. You're host Lance Boyle explained how you were part of a Virutal TV show in this mix of Mad Max and The Running Man. The concept was simple. You race trying to knock the other cars off the track or shoot them with your machine guns. Eventually you'd get to the pack leader to beat the level. The game probably would never fly these days, but to a 10 year old, it was "da shit."

Another game I miss surfaced around the 1995-1996 Era. I remember playing this on an IBM Aptiva with a Ati 3D Rage card. Mechwarrior 2! Yeah, that was our first taste of online multiplayer. At that time we didn't really get into LAN Parties yet, but we sure as hell played alot of direct connect modem games. Doom and Quake were other great games we played durring this time. However, I think Mech Warrior sticks out in my mind. The graphics were total shit. Pretty much bland polygons with a few sprites scattered here and there. However, the FMV movies were killer for the time. The game set in the Battletech universe (table top game) pitted the Jade Falcon clan against Clan Wolf. Many of our summers were spent blowing each other out of our mechs. Good times.

I'm guessing that alot of the FMV videos we saw durring the mid-1990's were a result of the graphics. Because the developers couldn't really tell a dramatic story with the game engine, they had to use cutscenes with FMV to fill in the gaps left by the game play. I'm not really sure if this post has a point, but I just like thinking back to a fonder time.

This Hang-Up Of Mine

For some reason I'm on an Anti-EA kick this week. I don't know if it's because of the whole 3 installs of spore or the fact that I'm still kind of pissed off about Battlefield 2. Lately, the chip on my shoulder has grown immensely. It seems to be less of a chip and more of a block. Scanning the game news this morning, I caught up on the past couple of days. Specifically the EA-Take 2 merger deal. I had commented on this situation a while ago on Nor-Cal Gamer. I always have a few reservations when small guys are gobbled up by a heart-less overlord.

Take 2, a company that has put out a plethora of great games, including sports games to take on the gargantuan EA Sports lineup. My problem of this acquisition roots from something far deeper than just evil corporations and all that mumbo-jumbo. My problem is with EA corporate culture. Obviously, everyone wants to make money, and yes, you are beholden to your stock holders who have a vested interest in your company. However, as a producer of games, you should also be considerate of the gamers who buy your products.

Being a businessman, I know that the bottom line is important. If I was to piss off my customers would talk, and I would end up with a bad reputation, ergo I would probably lose clients or end up not getting any new ones. I don't think this model applies to EA. Because there are enough people who buy EA products that don't read game news, read EGM mag, or any other gaming website, they can get away with pissing on a good chunk of their clients without going in the red. This disconnect between corporate power and consumer only give EA more power to impose their will upon you.

Look at Spore for example. Out of the box, you have 3 installs of the game. So you install once when you get it. Say, you upgrade your rig, format and install Spore for the second time. Then, let us assume that you're one of the most unlucky bastards around and your hard drive fails. You buy a new HD and install Spore for the 3rd time. Now, you're no pirate, but you're forced to buy another copy of the game because the DRM says so. 3 installations in the life time of the product. I remember when WinXP came out, people were throwing fits over the activation, this seems a bit excessive to me. I understand the concern to curb piracy, but It doesn't, and did not in this case. Spore was on torrents days before it was released to any retail outlets. The only people the DRM hurts is the people who actually buy the game. From the press releases and commentary floating around the web, it doesn't look like EA actually gives a shit.

EA is huge company. They make millions off of a Monopoly in the football sim market (Madden), the quality of their annual release of EA Sports titles gradually slides lower and lower. In business school we learn that competition is what drives innovation. The goal of continually improving or upgrading your product to stay ahead of the next guy. I think EA has gotten so big they have become complasent. They hold so much power, that if someone does try to innovate and move past the lumbering beast, they can just reach down and gobble them up. In a market of billions of dollars, the last thing you want is a slow moving business. The public is fickel, and there are only so many bullshit games you can throw at us before we revolt. If you want more people to buy your games, focus on your market. Don't just throw out a half-baked shooter and slap the "Battlefield" name on it. Let your developers work their magic, keep your business tactics out of the development process, and release a decent game. Maybe that would curb piracy. A new, innovative game that caputres the audience like never before, not just the same-old rehashed bullshit we've seen 10000 times.

UPDATE: Via MTV Multiplayer EA says they will be loosening the DRM on Spore. These are the numbers they are quoting:

Mass Effect
• Total activations: 183313
• Users activating on only 1 machine: 77%
• Users activating on more than 1 machine: 23%
• User trying to activate on more than 3 machines: 0.9%

Spore Creature Creator
• Total activations: 453048
• Users activating on only 1 machine: 77%
• Users activating on more than 1 machine: 23%
• Users trying to activate on more than 3 machines: 1%

Spore (main game)
• Total activations: 437138
• Users activating on only 1 machine: 86%
• Users activating on more than 1 machine: 14%
• User trying to activate on more than 3 machines: 0.4%

Ok, yeah thats all fine and dandy, but what about over the life of the product. Mass Effect has been out for the PC since May 27, 2008. The creature creator has been out a month. So pretty much EA is figuring that after 1 year you are proably not going to play your game any more. Hmmm....thanks EA.