Tag Archives: EA

Retro Select, Videos

Retro Select: Boom Blox

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When we first heard that Steven Spielberg was making a game, I think the last thing anyone expected was a physics puzzler for Wii. And once that had been revealed, I think the last thing anyone expected was for it to be really good.

ButΒ Boom BloxΒ is both of those things — and I’d go so far to say it’s an essential part of any Wii library today. Offering a wealth of fun and exciting things to do for both solo players and groups of friends, this is physics puzzling done right — and not a soddingΒ Angry BirdΒ in sight.

Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget toΒ subscribe on YouTube for more!

Atari A to Z, Videos

Atari A to Z: Worms?

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EA, lest we forget, stands for “Electronic Arts”. And back in this company’s early days, they really stood by that name, releasing a variety of fascinating, experimental pieces of work that were notably different from a lot of other games at the time.

One great example from EA’s initial batch of five games isΒ Worms?, a take on a cellular automata model known as Paterson’s Worms. In the game, you control between one and four worms in an attempt to capture as much territory as possible by “programming” the worms’ behaviour.

It’s more of a software toy than a “game” as such, but there’s a lot of fun to be had here — particularly if you enjoy creating interesting patterns through judicious application of mathematics. Find out more in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.

Atari A to Z

One-Shots

Boom Boom Rocket: Classical (Exploding) Gas

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Quick! Name three Bizarre Creations games! GO!

If your entire list consisted ofΒ Project Gotham RacingΒ games, you just about scrape a passing grade. If you remembered to mentionΒ Metropolis Street Racer,Β take five bonus marks. Including anyΒ Geometry WarsΒ games in there (exceptΒ Geometry Wars 3,Β which wasn’t them) gets you an additional five marks. RememberingΒ The ClubΒ exists gets you a gold star — and hold that thought, we’llΒ definitelyΒ come back to that one.

IfΒ Boom Boom RocketΒ was anywhere in your list, however, you get exclusive membership into the Cool People Club. Benefits include never being able to get a small selection of classical music out of your head, the constant desire to tap your foot any time you see a fireworks display, and optional free hugs. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read on…

Continue reading Boom Boom Rocket: Classical (Exploding) Gas →

One-Shots

Microtransactions: The Battle Isn’t Over

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The controversy over microtransactions in full-price triple-A games has been brewing for a few years now, but it finally came to a head with EA’s release ofΒ Star Wars Battlefront II.

To recap: Reddit poster “MBMMaverick” was frustrated to discover that he had paid $80 for the game only to find that a favourite character, Darth Vader, was locked behind either an extremely long grind or having to pay further real money for a chance of unlocking him through the game’s loot box system. And with the variable character abilities and other unlockables in the game, this meant that the game most definitely had an element of “pay to win” about it, since those with the cash could simply pay up and get better things with which to dominate other players.

EA’s response became one of the most downvoted Reddit comments of all time, sitting at a mighty -676k points — that’sΒ minusΒ six hundred and seventy-six thousand — at the time of writing. And things didn’t get any better from there.

Continue reading Microtransactions: The Battle Isn’t Over →

One-Shots

You Can Keep Your “Games as a Service”, I’m Fine with Single-Player, Thanks

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EA’s recent announcement that it was shuttering Visceral and “pivoting” (ugh) the Amy Hennig-fronted narrative-centric single-player Star Wars project it had been working on probably didn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

It did, however, rekindle a discussion that last cropped up back in 2010 — once again involving Visceral, interestingly enough, this time with regard to the addition of multiplayer toΒ Dead Space — when EA Games’ Frank Gibeau commented that he believed “fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you’re out” experiences were “finished” and that “online is where the innovation, and the action, is at”.

The “pivoting” of the newΒ Star WarsΒ project is based on many of the same principles as Gibeau’s arguments from 2010: indeed, EA’s executive vice-president Patrick SΓΆderlund claimed that the decision was due to a perceived need to “deliver an experience that players will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come” — or, to put it another way, the oft-mooted idea of “games as a service”.

I don’t want that. And I’m certain I’m not the only one.

Continue reading You Can Keep Your “Games as a Service”, I’m Fine with Single-Player, Thanks →