2006-02-17 08:27:09 BLACK for Xbox Leaked by 1 of 350 EA fired employees

Electronic Arts today is in mourning as a leaked version of BLACK, it’s eagerly-anticipated title, has been downloaded across the world by professional pirates. The source of the leak is still being investigated, but it should be noted that the leaked game is in PAL format.

It does seem that the source was one of the 350 recently fired employees. EA have a lot of work on their hands before the release of BLACK and this was the last thing that they needed.

http://www.clubskill.com/Game_News/2722

2006-02-17 09:44:49

That's not gonna look good on his/her resume...

And why the hell would you want to add injury to insult?
Not only are you fired, now you could get investigated and possibly fined/thrown in jail.
(presuming it is a former employee)

lmao.

---
"That stuff is so strong, it's religious"

2006-02-17 11:23:07

Shit Happens...and if it's gonna happen to anybody I am glad it's EA. I do feel sorry for the boys at Criterion they are a great group of guys and are the ones developing this not an internal group at EA.

Even If it was one of the 350 people that got canned who leaked it, it is unlikely they will be caught.

2006-02-17 12:10:12 In reply to grifter_66 (2006-02-17 11:23:07)

Okay what the guy did isn't a good thing but saying like: "I'm glad it happens to EA" is a bit harsh i don't understand why everyone hates EA that much....

I agree they did some stupid things in the past: Like bad support for alot of games they "made/published" (i'll get back on this later in this post :D) like BF2 , Generals etc. I even hated them for not including systemlink in almost all of their xbox games. Also allot of people blame EA for messing up a series they loved before "EA touched it". They also do allot of easy cash ins according to some people.

BUT (yes this is a big BUT) allot of people forget it's not EA making all the games they deliver to us. Half of the time they just are the publisher and when a game sucks people blame it on EA. Everytime something bad happens: A game sucks, the support is crap or whatever; IT'S EA'S FAULT!

This kinda makes me think twice before saying: EA f*ck*d up another good series/game. I don't think it's good for anyone if they do this shit to a company even if it's out the name of revenge (how childish it may seem).

I have had allot of good experiences with games from EA and i'm just hoping they continue publishing making games cause somewhere between the bad support and "shitty games" are some true jewels amongst the games that i'm willing to buy and play....

2006-02-17 13:20:20

Actually you have it backwards most of the games that come out of EA are done in house. They have a few outside developers that they own and havn't broken up and redistributed to their three Hellish kingdoms err i mean branches.

You may not be old enough to remember when EA was a good company but they were (late 80's to early 90's) unfortunately as they got bigger and started buying small developers they seemed to lose any and all creativety even as they absorbed these small talented devs it seem the creativeness was just absorbed and turned into mediocrity.

The reason why people HATE!! EA is because they have perfected the art of assembly line game creation they never make anything better or push the envelope in any way, they just churn out clones of the same games year after year buying up the writes to so many potentialy good games and destroying them. The only time anything good come from EA is because it is being released by a company EA just bought.

EA has done more damage to this industry than all those little psychos commiting crimes and blaming them on video games and the Gov officials who believe them combined.

EA is a big reason for these multi generational ports, the lackluster graphics in most games last gen. (they set a low standered which people followed)and alot of the craptaculer and Asstastic movie to games ports.

first it was Acclaim who sucked the life out of games then EA and it looks like Activision will pick up the reins next.

Even if they were just a publisher, which they are not, they are still responsible for funding, ok'ing and releasing the same trash every year. I am not saying every game from EA is bad actually very few can be considered bad they are just completely average in every way. EA game are like a bowl of gritz or Oatmeal they may fill you up but they are not very appetizing yet all you have to do is add a little somthing extra and they become a great breakfast EA just wont do that.

So whats the point of this rant? If you play EA games your breakfast is gonna taste like shit :)

2006-02-17 17:20:52

First of don't give me that your not old enough crap, secondly i think your kinda over exaggerating about EA's "assembly line" game making
i think we should cut em some more slack and if u don't like a game, don't freakin buy it :D

2006-02-17 17:27:51

LOL yea that age thing that grifter uses is annoying...

But i do agree with him on most of what he said.

2006-02-17 18:11:48

Either way, this guy chose the wrong path.

He may be laughing now, but he's gonna be crying later.
I'm pretty darn sure of that.

He should have just smoked a phatty and called it a day.
Other jobs await.

---
"That stuff is so strong, it's religious"

2006-02-17 20:46:10 In reply to FireWire (2006-02-17 12:10:12)

How about last year this time when they threatened a hostile take over of DICE because DICE would not sell to them? (i.e. DICE owns the Battlefield franchise and EA was going to do whatever they could to get it). Then after taking over DICE, they fired the Trauma Studio guys (the people who made Desert Combat for BF42) and screwed this small dev house out of $300,000.00. DC made BF what it is in sales and prolongued the life of the franchise (for over a year more people played DC than BF42!). So they tend to treat their employees like crap, like all other big companies who are driven by STOCKS and not longterm CONSUMER satisfaction.

Making a year-over-year profit is more important than the longterm health of the industry.

Or about how the NFL and EA began a lawsuit against a NEWSPAPER for reporting the NFL exclusive 4 months before it was announced and they said there was ABSOLUTELY NO TRUTH to the lies... then it turns around and is true--because they thought best to make a joke out of it and "offer" it up for others. Of course EA claims innocense... as they went out and then proceeded to buy the NCAA and AFL licenses as well (to screw consumers so there is no competition) and then took it even farther by snagging the name of their competitors product (ESPN). In a nutshell EA is anti-competitive.

Or it just could be any number of things... like the constant recycling of franchises and lack of committment to games? e.g. The CEO has publically stated they ship games on time and if it is has big faults people can just buy the sequal. This explains why we had to wait 8 months for a DARN PATCH for BF2 but they found the time to make 2 expansions.

Or how they killed C&C, Ultima, and a number of other franchises by their "dump it down and sequalize it" mentality?

EA does some good stuff too -- but they get ragged on because they are the "Poster Boy" for the industry. They are not the only one who is shady, but they by far have the longest history and as the biggest 3rd party company they set the trend.

Fact is I bought BF2 brandnew and their broken patch (1.1) and lazy attitude in fixing it made the game unplayable; and then they took 8 months to fix stupid little things--like the red-tag error or dolphin diving. They also lied to consumers. Before the release they stated they WOULD have free content. Now they have taken that back and are instead only selling it.

I can live with delays, but when a franchise sells 4M copies of a game you owe it to your customers to do what you promised because clearly 4M copies of a PC game is insane and is VERY profitable.

Ps- Whoever pirated this game is a schmuch. Stealing is Stealing.

2006-02-17 21:03:41

Agreed, but when you think about it, it would happened sooner or later, and if you were an EA ex employee who had been treated like a piece of crap i should imagine that you would want some sweet revenge too.

2006-02-17 22:33:45 In reply to FireWire (2006-02-17 17:20:52)

I didn't mean it as an insult, I was saying that in the late 80's early 90's EA was putting out really good and arguably some of the most revolutionary games of that time. I don't know your age thats why I said you MAY (may being the key word in that statement) not be old enough. If you know what they were and compare them to what they are today you would know why most of us HATE them.

Get off the "I'm offended by age trip' it is stupid. Age has a lot to do with what games you grew up playing there for affecting perspective and tastes.No I am not, How the hell do you think they get those same games out every year with very little changes.It is not about rather a single game is good or not it's about the negative affect they are having on the entire industry.

2006-02-18 02:19:38

It's really easy, if you don't like EA, don't buy their games.. Simple as that..

But then also don't be a hypocrite loser and still play their games by pirating them..

---
www.cyberwarriors.nl

2006-02-18 05:35:46 In reply to Inflatable (2006-02-18 02:19:38)

you seem lost, no one here is pirating anything and considering you don't know the person who did where the hell does this "hypocrite loser" come into it.

You guys sure do take things personaly here.

2006-02-18 05:49:34 In reply to Inflatable (2006-02-18 02:19:38)

Sorry, not everyone who has a critical word against EA is a pirate. I don't pirate (very unethical... if I don't want people stealing my software I sure am not going to steal someone else's software), further Madden is my favorite football franchise. I do speak with my money. I have bought quite a few EA games in the past and in recent years that number has dwindled significantly. The way EA has treated its BF fans (BF:V anf BF2) has further directed my "voice" -- i.e. I wont buy another BF game until it is completely patched and supported which means I probably wont get the next one OR will be one of those lucky people who get it for $25 :D As a Madden fan I know a lot of other Madden fans pissed about that situation as well. I still have not bought 2006 and think Madden 360 is a total joke of a game. If Madden had rocked I would have been forced to get a 360. At this point I am hoping VC comes out with a killer Hall of Fame game or whatnot so I can speak loudly with my money.

2006-02-18 06:17:14

I'll only buy games from Criterion. I really want FNR3 but I havn't decided if I want it bad enough to give EA my money. On the other hand the group of guys who created that game deserve every penny. tough decision

2006-02-18 06:28:58

What for some reviews, wait a couple weeks and listen for some "post euphoria" feedback. Maybe even rent it.

e.g. CoD2 got good initial reviews but the online bugs have really hurt it. Sometimes a game (::cough:: Halo 2) comes out with hype and great reviews, but when the euphoria wears off you are like "This is it?" Now Halo 2 was a great game, but it was short. FNR3 seems to have poor SP. If you are into the online stuff and NEED a killer game to show off your killer 360 consider it... but no harm waiting :D

Also, with GRAW and Oblivion and a couple others coming you may find yourself happy you waited... or you may need something to hold you over ;)

2006-02-18 07:10:51

I planed on getting FNR3, Oblivion, Burnout, GRAW, Blazing Angels and The Outfit. Yeah so I'm never eating again. I'll probably sell a couple of the neighbor kids, that way I can get my XBL gold acount as well and maybe have enough left over for pizza.

Don't worry their little shits so I don't think their parents will mind.

2006-02-18 07:24:29

Sell a couple for me and send me a 360 ;)

2006-02-19 00:11:30

This all sounds really interesting...

Grifter do I need any sort of licenses to run such a business?

2006-02-19 02:27:53 In reply to Optimusv2 (2006-02-19 00:11:30)

Nope, the only rules are you can't sell them to creepy old men and you can't tell anyone about it.....DAMN!! Sorry guys gonna have to kill you all now.