That might be a little bit of an overly exaggerated feeling that I have regarding the game company - no, wait, I can assure you it is not.
I don't usually make posts from home, but I've been so enraged by EA's business practices, that I just had to get something off my chest.
Around E3 2011, EA came out and said that they were going to be offering up an "unprecedented partnership" with Nintendo. They touted the shit out of the Wii U, specifically remarking on the online structure, the graphics and the platform.
In 2013, the relationship doesn't seem all that great. There have been plenty of excuses thus far. We know that the install base for the Wii U isn't spectacular right now (partially because they have no games, thanks to companies like EA). There's speculation that the graphics are limiting - some have even said that the system can't run certain engines. This is a bullshit claim, by the way. If you can build your engine for the PS3 or 360, it can run just fine on the Wii U. You just have to tweak some things to work with the system's architecture.
But I digress. Despite any speculation, there's clearly a more venemous umbrage between at least one of these two companies. You don't sever all ties to one of the big three unless you're incredibly butt-hurt, and we've seen very little support from EA since that E3 2011 announcement. Sure, we got their big title, Mass Effect 3 - but we got it without any real shot. The game was delivered without its prequels, and without a fair chance. While other systems got the whole trilogy, Nintendo was left in the dark. And why was this? Because already at this point, EA wanted a scapegoat. The company wanted to be able to condemn Nintendo for low sales and interest.
Why, though, is EA in such a bad way with the company? Electronic Arts is one of the biggest game companies out there. It's been around since at least the early 90's - you'll have to forgive me if I don't care to look up the actual date. I'm being Mike the blogger, tonight, not Mike the faux-journalist. But, even in the 90's, the company has acted like a spoiled, entitled brat that hasn't got its way. EA always wants preferential treatment, usually at the detriment to any other company out there. They've tried to make deals with Sega, and when that company declined, EA took steps to try and get their way to spite them. That should have been when someone cut the head off the beast.
You see, during the days of the Genesis (Sega's, not the Bible's), EA decided they were going to produce their own Sega carts. This is why the EA packaging differed so much from Sega's typical games. The house that Sonic built eventually let Electronic Arts know that they had the capability to block any and all EA games. Rather than make due on that threat, Sega bowed, and came to an agreement with EA that was still better than the other developers of them time.
Twenty years later (damn, I'm old), they had the "unprecedented partnership" with Nintendo - an ultimatum that is currently affecting both companies. You see, EA has a service, called Origin, that was once rumored to be coming to Nintendo. However, this would have put a nigh-unthinkable access to a third party on a console. Eventually, Nintendo came to its senses (same thing happened post SNES with another company, if you recall). But EA, so close to getting in bed with one of the most prolific console designers and game developers, became, in essence, a jilted lover. It took its ball and went home.
It's true that Nintendo's latest console does not have a large install base just yet. 4 million consoles (again, I'm guessing) doesn't look like anything compared to the nearly 80 million each that the PS3 and 360 offer. Even so, you've got to think that your company can only benefit from the inclusion of software on a system. It may be a fledgling now, but some day, it'll be in the same shape as the 3DS, selling hundreds of thousands per month.
And what about the 360 and the PS3 successors? What will EA do regarding them when they don't utilize Origin, and start off with the same slow ascent? It's likely that the other two systems won't inflict as much ire, because discussions never proceeded as far. They've already had their online system in place for some time, and both are fairly robust. Even if they sold more poorly than the Wii U, EA will support them, just to spite Nintendo.
My only hope is that Nintendo responds in kind. There will be a day when EA recognizes that there is money to be made on a Nintendo system. There will be a time when they decide to bury the hatchet, and go back to this so-called "unprecedented partnership".
I can only dream of EA being put in their place. I want to read, at some point in 2014, that Nintendo is ceasing to allow EA published games on its systems. If there was any such thing as karma for a company, that would be it.
I know that there are real people, with necessary jobs at EA, and I wish them all the luck in the world. Still, I wish you that luck at another place of business. One that doesn't employ shady tactics to undermine the industry and its consumers. One that doesn't try to act like a schoolyard bully to get back at a company. Business is business, as they say, and being that you're the worst company in America (2 years running!), I long for the day that your business crashes and burns, and you get what you deserve.
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