Jaxon

I've already adressed this in a post a while back. It's not competition, because EA are not being competitive.

Trey

You'll forgive me for not searching for it. Could you reiterate? I don't know much about the platform so I'm legitimately curious.

Jaxon

Okay. For you.

Trey

That point is no longer relevant considering that they sell more than EA games on Origin now. Give gamers more options

And it's not dirty money because it's their game(s) and they are not morally bound to charge less for it because they don't have to give a cut to a third party distributor. It's smart business to maximize profit while maintaining the same offering price. If, down the road, the deals on the game are not satisfactory, EA will see less sales and lose customer faith. It's all about the market. But Origin in and of itself isn't evil. If it pressures Steam to have even more deals and lower prices, it's a win.

Granted, it's easy for me to say because I rarely game on the PC.

Jaxon

But it's not forcing anyone to do anything. There is literally no reason to use Origin over Steam. Especially since it's more intrusive software with a much more vague TOS.

I don't care if it's "smart business" to overcharge for their products. It's not "good business". EA can try and ride their customers for every penny for all I care. I'm not going to buy from them, and I don't think anyone else should either.

Mal

It would be smarter business to encourage digital sales by selling them at even just a minor discount. More people would be willing to buy a digital copy of a game if it saved them $10, which would still make EA significantly more money than them buying a retail copy. Charging exactly the same is just as bad for EA as it is for the consumer.

Trey

Not necessarily. If people were that hung up on ten dollars they would buy it used or buy something else entirely. It's not exactly like EA, or the rest of the gaming industry, charges sixty bucks for no reason. People buy games at that pricepoint. And most consumers don't consider the publisher's savings by selling a digital copy at full price.

Furthermore, the vast majority of EA's boxed game sales (and sales period) come on console. They made this gamble on the PC for a variety of reasons, one of which their margins would take the least hit in case of a backlash.

It's nice to say it's just as bad for EA, but in practice, it's probably not. They have a commodity that people want. People are willing to pay the industry standard for. They're not obligated to sell it cheaper, and it's no guarantee the products would be substantially cheaper on Steam as well. Not many people will pass up EA's AAA games over five dollars difference. Not nearly enough that EA would make more money by selling it cheaper.

As far as its competitive prowess in the market, that's still to be determined. It's not going to supplant Steam, so it's only an issue for you if EA makes games you really really want to play.

The reason to use Origin over Steam is EA published games. TOR, BF3, ME3. Those are a fair share of the "must have" games coming out this holiday season into the end of Q4.

And because Steam is a generally superior service now does not mean Origin won't gain ground in the future. That is, after all, what the platform is designed to do. Get a foothold into the digital arena as the industry makes the transition from physical media. They used their sought after games to stake their claim and obtain some users. Now they will renovate and update the platform, adding more titles to compete head to head with Steam. EA is playing for the long term. The pure value of Steam doesn't really manifest itself until a while into a particular game's lifetime, when the deals start to roll out regularly. Origin is a new platform. It has to take its first few steps.

Now, I'm not saying Origin is guaranteed to shape up. I'm only familiar with it on a conceptual level. I just think it's absurd to expect EA to sell its games cheaper than they have been for a while now on PC, just because they take in all the profit themselves by cutting out Valve or whomever. Their cost is also increased as they must now do more marketing because they no longer have the benefit of Steam's established userbase.

It ain't so black and white. It's good you're voting with your wallet instead of shouting "bloody murder" from the gamestore lines like some do. I'm primarily a console gamer and I don't require Origin to play ME3 on Xbox, so I can't get too worked up against EA.

Mal

I don't know about elsewhere, but everywhere I have been used games are a whole $5 less than brand new ones, maybe $10 if you're lucky. I always prefer physical copies of games, and will buy the collector's editions of games I am particularly excited about. However, if I have a choice between $60 for a standard case and disc or a $50 digital file then I'll happily save the $10.

You are probably right though, I am definitely giving the average consumer too much credit.

Jaxon

http://www.hlj.com/product/ENX31630

I want this so badly. However, it will cost a bit of money.

manta

I don't know if it's been posted but GTA 5 official trailer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5py_vFOOm80

Los Santos!

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LonelyNinja

So, GTAV takes place in my backyard. Faaantastic.

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Miburo

Trey is gay. Cyborg Ninja thing is boss.

Dark Souls getting a patch that gets rid of some of the unmanly shit pussies use in PVP, and making it easier to hook up with fellow sunbros. Fuck yeah. And looking at shit about Skyrim, awesome fucking beards. Now I'm pumped for that game.

OG

everyday i check for serious sam 3 and saints row da third preload >.>
just in case

Demi-God

Yeeeeeeeeeees! Saints Row 3 is going to be amazing, has Burt Reynolds in it.
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/11/04/sa...burt-reynolds/

Also, Gearbox (lovely people who made Borderlands) last time made the marriage proposal thing using claptrap. This time, they did a eulogy for a big fan of their game who died of cancer at the age of 22 and are going to make him an NPC in Borderlands 2.
http://soundcloud.com/tony-12-2/clap...ichael/s-tmwpd

Servo

sixxxxx days

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