Spouse of EA employee journal

[Darksol]

We usually talk about how EA blows most of the time, and the declining state of the industry. I thought this live journal was a good read.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/

I guess I don't want a job at EA anytime soon . LOL

[Darksol]

Reading the comments section was interesting. Other game programmers have found their way there and are relating their experiences.

[WorknMan]

If I could get EA CEO Larry Probst on the phone, there are a few things I would ask him. "What's your salary?" would be merely a point of curiosity. The main thing I want to know is, Larry: you do realize what you're doing to your people, right? And you do realize that they ARE people, with physical limits, emotional lives, and families, right? Voices and talents and senses of humor and all that? That when you keep our husbands and wives and children in the office for ninety hours a week, sending them home exhausted and numb and frustrated with their lives, it's not just them you're hurting, but everyone around them, everyone who loves them? When you make your profit calculations and your cost analyses, you know that a great measure of that cost is being paid in raw human dignity, right?

LOL, since when have coporations given two sh*ts about human dignity? Hello???

[Shane R. Monroe]

Yeah, its not JUST in video games either ... the heat is on. All I see day in and day out on TV are these stupid local vocational colleges screaming about how video games make far more than movies and that if you plan to EAT in the next 10 years, you better the hell be a video game programmer. Its insane.

Its all part of the eventual crash though. Yes, I still hold true that there WILL be another video game crash ...

[WorknMan]

Its all part of the eventual crash though. Yes, I still hold true that there WILL be another video game crash ...
You think this crash will be because of the overall economy being run into the ground, or just a crash on its own?

[patman]

That's unfortunate. I would expect crazy hours leading up to a deadline but to expect people to work hours like that on an everyday basis is unbelievable. That's like something out of Dickens.

[Shane R. Monroe]

You think this crash will be because of the overall economy being run into the ground, or just a crash on its own?

Honestly, I believe it will be on its own. Even when the economy is CRAP, people are buying games. Why? They need the escape.

This won't be a crash where video games just go away like the early 80s. But I believe the problems are becoming the same - too much product.

We have a real flood of not just software (where the me too thing is getting out of control - the sports data discs are getting out of control) but HARDWARE. The FLOOD of handhelds (the stand alone Jakks crap, the DS/PSP, Zodiac, et al). The flood of cell phones. The flood of new consoles coming (hell, the Xbox just caught on - now we get another one). EVERYONE wants in on the video game craze. If the Phantom works out (dumb asses), then there are going to be a MYRIAD of knock off devices.

So, we have 50 ways to play games - and retailers ALREADY bitch about shelf space and stuff like Steam is coming to rid the retailers of their issues. Hell man - things are getting confusing for the die hard gamer - let alone the casual gamers. Throw in the HitClip wanna be video players that Wal-Mart et al are shoveling out in droves. There will be an iPod that plays videos and probably games before long.

Its not that there isn't a market for a gagillion games. Its the fact that the consumer ain't gonna put up with what is, in essence, exclusivity dictating they buy hardware over and over again.

We'll see what happens - something is going to happen; no doubt there. But who will be left on top? God, let's hope it isn't Microslut.

[WorknMan]

I'm wondering - does ANYONE need (or even want) a portable mp3 player that plays jpegs, let alone videos? Am I in the minority here? I also don't care about a cell phone that plays games. Well, maybe if I could play Space Invaders while waiting at the dentist office, but that is as far as it goes.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Well, they are coming - need or want or not. And as for cell phone games - you heard the previous batch of RGR forum people; tons of them thought it would be great to have cameras, voice recorders, mp3 players, video playback, and eveything else in their cell phone.