How many of you remember when EA was good?

[Coalfax]

I'd have to wager that the average AT member isn't old enough to remember those days...

Sad really, but EA did use to be something of quality, rather than a IP churn center

 

[GagHalfrunt]

"How many of you remember when *THE INDUSTRY* was good?"

The industry as a whole was never good. The industry always churned out more crap than classics. I remember when gamers used to be a little more savvy about which games they bought. It used to be pretty hard to weed out the good games from the bad, you had to wait for the latest issue of a couple of gaming magazines and hope the reviews were accurate. Now every game is reviewed in 100 different places the day it goes on sale. There's no longer any excuse for buying shit. Anyone that buys a game that sucks can't blame the industry for making crap, they need to blame themselves for buying crap. Spend the money on the good games, use a couple of brain cells to avoid the bad ones and there isn't any problem.

 

[ponyo]

I remember buying the original John Madden on the Sega Genesis and being amazed at the graphics and the gameplay. Same with Lakers vs Celtics and NHL Hockey. All three games were so much better than any existing sports games at the time.

 

[Maximilian]

I remember seeing this.

And not thinking bad things.

Yeah "General Chaos" on the mega drive had that logo on it, it was a fun game!

 

[shortylickens]

Yeah back when EA was good there were a buttload of crappy little companies putting out tons of garbage.

 

[snickersnack]

EA was cool back when they used the record album-like packaging. I started disliking them when they began buying up legendary devs, sucking them dry, and then discarding the husks back in the '90s.

 

[power_hour]

Yeah I remember when they were trying to be a decent gaming company. Not sure what happened.

Just curious if they actually realize they have a PR problem now. I can only imagine the conversations in their boardroom. It would probably involve lots of giggling and high fiving.

 

[greenhawk]

had to say. The earliest memory of EA was when I was at uni playing Bullfrog's games like syndicate ect.

then EA bought them, and so started being good at eating the competition. I pretty much consider them past there good old days after that.

 

[paperfist]

I remember seeing this.

And not thinking bad things.

I still have a few C-64 games with packaging that said EOA, but can't remember what the middle initial stood for, do you?

 

[Crono]

I can't remember when they went downhill, but I liked them when this game came out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrTz2SpsIXA

That and Raptor: Call of the Shadows used to be my favorite 2D aircraft shoot 'em up games.

 

[OSULugan]

Loved Bard's Tale...

Have very frustrating memories of Mail Order Monsters and Archon II: Adept on the Atari computer we had. Of course, I was like 6 or so, when we got those games.

 

[shortylickens]

Raptor is available on GOG.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I remember seeing this.

And not thinking bad things.

Seconded.

 

[paperfist]

Seconded.

I think I finally figured out why gaming was so great then. Everything was new! When you played something from that era chances were you never seen anything like it before and even the equals brought something new to the table.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I think I finally figured out why gaming was so great then. Everything was new! When you played something from that era chances were you never seen anything like it before and even the equals brought something new to the table.

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty sure it was awesome because I was 6 and easily impressed.

 

[Ganeedi]

Archon and Wasteland were good.

Seven Cities of Gold also comes to mind.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yeah back when EA was good there were a buttload of crappy little companies putting out tons of garbage.

Unfortunately, EA bought them all up now, and thus they are 98+% crap.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I think I finally figured out why gaming was so great then. Everything was new! When you played something from that era chances were you never seen anything like it before and even the equals brought something new to the table.

I have to admit, I think this is it exactly. It is why I love(d) Guitar Hero, Rockband, Rocksmith. They were doing something new that hadn't been really done before.

 

[CottonRabbit]

I enjoy EA games right now, so I don't have to remember back very far.

 

[JujuFish]

I still have a few C-64 games with packaging that said EOA, but can't remember what the middle initial stood for, do you?

The logo is a square, circle, and triangle. EA couldn't go by Electronic Arts in the UK originally, because a company already existed with the name there, so they came up with EOA based on their logo. Thus, the O doesn't actually stand for anything.

 

[cmdrdredd]

The industry as a whole was never good. The industry always churned out more crap than classics. I remember when gamers used to be a little more savvy about which games they bought. It used to be pretty hard to weed out the good games from the bad, you had to wait for the latest issue of a couple of gaming magazines and hope the reviews were accurate. Now every game is reviewed in 100 different places the day it goes on sale. There's no longer any excuse for buying shit. Anyone that buys a game that sucks can't blame the industry for making crap, they need to blame themselves for buying crap. Spend the money on the good games, use a couple of brain cells to avoid the bad ones and there isn't any problem.

Problem is there are times that some games are pretty good if you don't expect too much but the reviewers are very harsh toward it.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

Loved Bard's Tale...

Have very frustrating memories of Mail Order Monsters and Archon II: Adept on the Atari computer we had. Of course, I was like 6 or so, when we got those games.

Mail Order Monsters.....man, talk about taking me back. Probably the first game ever where a Brontosaurus could launch a tactical nuke at a T-Rex. Only problem was after a certain point you only ever fought the 'almighty' Sluggo, who had perfect stats but only ever melee'd, so you could spank him with tac-weapons and a grav gun every time.

Both of those are Paul Reiche III games. One of those barely known favorite designers - 'course, he gets a lot of credit for Star Control 2.


Wow, talk about way back when. Racing Destruction Set, Realm of Impossibility, M.U.L.E, 7 Cities of Gold. Between EA and Epyx, cover half my early childhood.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Problem is there are times that some games are pretty good if you don't expect too much but the reviewers are very harsh toward it.

That's the whole concept behind composite review archives like metacritic. It's a hell of a lot easier to make a decision when you have 50 different reviews at your fingertips. You have to do your due diligence on which titles to buy, but the information is always there if you're willing to look.