'EA Indie Bundle' Ruffles Feathers

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Electronic Arts has drawn criticism recently for its decision to release a bundle of games from independent studios that EA had previously published under the Indie banner. The major complaint isn’t a legal one as you would expect, but more on the level of ethical grounds. It goes to the root of the name and most feel that EA is anything and everything but an Indie company.

However, Twitter has been abuzz with developers noting their distaste at the use of the word "indie" from a huge corporation like EA, with some accusing the company of trying to cash in on a grassroots term.
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Don't all the major film production companies have "indie" wings (fox searchlight, Warner Independent Pictures, etc.)? :p
 
and this is where indie companies start to bother me.

Just because its a major publisher releasing this stuff it doesn't mean that your product is no longer "indie." Besides if they can release it that means your company gave it the right to do so. I know this isn't every company and I bet the ones who are complaining are probably ones who are self published too.

Either way, these are still indie games and I will go on record and say 90% of indie games are boring. Those 10% sure are gems though.
 
To be honest, does it really matter if a game is indie or not? No matter who or how it's published, if it's a good game then it is. End of.
 
Trimlock said:
Either way, these are still indie games and I will go on record and say 90% of indie games are boring. Those 10% sure are gems though.
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Agree. Though its more like 99%. There are rare gems which are good...but you could say that about "mainstream" games.

There are so many shitty indie games which are "hey wouldn't it be cool if in there game where you had to like turn the world". Cue 234596 levels samey levels based soley off the same game mechanic. The next "indie" game that makes some half assed shitty snes style 2d game and puts "UNIQUE VISUAL STYLE!!!111" will get a tantric beating.

Developers seem to use it more as an excuse to produce something shitty. "hey don't blame us theres only 3 levels and shit graphics! It's an indie game yo!!!"
 
I didn't even know EA had an Indie bundle until they caused an uproar.

Any kind of press, good or bad, is great for the company.
So long as people keep EA in the news, they'll keep making money.
 
Web definitions:
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. ....
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_game

hence why they can't and shouldn't use the term.

Indie games have always been associated with games that were more creative as they weren't limited by the demands of publishers.

Is EA trying to cash in on the indie term? Yes , simply because in the last couple of years it has turned into a multi million dollar market.
 
DeathPrincess said:
Agree. Though its more like 99%. There are rare gems which are good...but you could say that about "mainstream" games.

There are so many shitty indie games which are "hey wouldn't it be cool if in there game where you had to like turn the world". Cue 234596 levels samey levels based soley off the same game mechanic. The next "indie" game that makes some half assed shitty snes style 2d game and puts "UNIQUE VISUAL STYLE!!!111" will get a tantric beating.

Developers seem to use it more as an excuse to produce something shitty. "hey don't blame us theres only 3 levels and shit graphics! It's an indie game yo!!!"
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I agree with this!
 
maboblivion said:
Web definitions:
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. ....
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indie_game

hence why they can't and shouldn't use the term.

Indie games have always been associated with games that were more creative as they weren't limited by the demands of publishers.

Is EA trying to cash in on the indie term? Yes , simply because in the last couple of years it has turned into a multi million dollar market.
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Would you also say Valve is not indie then? EA publishes all Valve retail products under the EA Partners label - the same label that EA published all of these games.

All of these games were developed by indie studies and published through EA Partners. But why would the internet care to do research? Pitchforks first, rational thought second.
 
Like the notch the maker of minecraft said at one point when u become too big or successful you can't call yourself indie anymore.

Valve isn't indie.
IF it's like indie games being published on steam ...but on origin , than they are still
indie and i'll put my pitchfork away ah!
 
Zzdxl.jpg
 
screw EA
They sell games that are MP and have NO servers in my country.
I learned the hard way. Assholes.
 
maboblivion said:
Like the notch the maker of minecraft said at one point when u become too big or successful you can't call yourself indie anymore.

Valve isn't indie.
IF it's like indie games being published on steam ...but on origin , than they are still
indie and i'll put my pitchfork away ah!
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Indie doesn't mean "small"; it means "independent".
 
People are actually upset over that, huh.

Touchiness over the smallest possible detail, piracy, organized downrating campaigns and forum trolls, failed boycotts... PC gamers are just crying out for abandonment. :rolleyes:
 
what about reports on how you buy EA games for android or ios and now they are telling you are only renting the games for 1-2 years
 
DeathPrincess said:
The next "indie" game that makes some half assed shitty snes style 2d game and puts "UNIQUE VISUAL STYLE!!!111" will get a tantric beating.
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Don't forget the ones whose marketing points include "cool soundtrack."
 
Highwind said:
Don't forget the ones whose marketing points include "cool soundtrack."
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Noo, it's "Cool soundtrack by "industry legend" Zumgai Uvnevaherdov!!!"


Like recently, an indie game called "superbrothers" came up on steam, and it listed "Treat your ears to an album's worth of original music created by the legendary composer Jim Guthrie." :eek: Yeah...me neither.

But Legendary Jim motherfucking Guth fucking Rie, yo!!! :eek: I asked a few people and none of us had ever heard of them... Turns out he was in some band at some point or something or something and makes cassettes or blah blah.

Which another another annoying thing "indie" games like to do is over sell everyone connected to it. Then have too much of them in the promotion. Especially when they show them. I don't give a crap what the people look like that made the game, I don't care what peoples names are. You are not kim kardashian, you make games. Give me decent games, not your shitty life story and videos of your neckbearded faces. I like David Perry games (well, did) I have 0 clue about his appearance, nor do I care. I do not want to add him on facebook or follow his twitter feed or hear about his cats. Because I don't play games to get all friendly with the staff that make it, nor join their fan clubs. :D
 
Wait, because of an independent developer went to EA to publish and distribute their game, they are no longer indie? So, they are now corporate sellouts?

Wow. ID used to be an indie developer until they made it big. Now, I guess they are sellouts. Sad. So many games could have been made until they sold their souls to be with the big guys.

Sure, I don't like some of the big publishers, and I can't stand trade groups (MPAA/RIAA), but come on. Is the indie developer really going to suffer now from these hippy douchebags poseurs because they chose a large company to distribute their wares?
 
eggrock said:
People are actually upset over that, huh.

Touchiness over the smallest possible detail, piracy, organized downrating campaigns and forum trolls, failed boycotts... PC gamers are just crying out for abandonment. :rolleyes:
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Just incase you haven't notice, Notch is one of the most vocal ones about this. Brian Fargo twitted a link to Notch's comment about this last week or so, and he was very vocal.

Notch is a developer, not a PC gamer. This reaction is coming from the people who make games.

Take your PC gaming bashing elsewhere.
 
DeathPrincess said:
Noo, it's "Cool soundtrack by "industry legend" Zumgai Uvnevaherdov!!!"


Like recently, an indie game called "superbrothers" came up on steam, and it listed "Treat your ears to an album's worth of original music created by the legendary composer Jim Guthrie." :eek: Yeah...me neither.

But Legendary Jim motherfucking Guth fucking Rie, yo!!! :eek: I asked a few people and none of us had ever heard of them... Turns out he was in some band at some point or something or something and makes cassettes or blah blah.

Which another another annoying thing "indie" games like to do is over sell everyone connected to it. Then have too much of them in the promotion. Especially when they show them. I don't give a crap what the people look like that made the game, I don't care what peoples names are. You are not kim kardashian, you make games. Give me decent games, not your shitty life story and videos of your neckbearded faces. I like David Perry games (well, did) I have 0 clue about his appearance, nor do I care. I do not want to add him on facebook or follow his twitter feed or hear about his cats. Because I don't play games to get all friendly with the staff that make it, nor join their fan clubs. :D
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Wait a minute Kim Kardashian is famous for no reason at all...unless you count having a mutated fat arse, a god awful family as a whole, and a really bad track record with relationships as a claim to fame?

The Indie games developers are trying every possible way to get a game noticed without having to go through a big publisher to get it advertised, if that means making a developers cat a facebook friend so be it.

EA has got a little out of hand lately, I don't remember the last time I saw a game go on sale on Origin that I could get cheaper somewhere else (Mass Effect 2 is a perfect example of that, I bought the collectors edition for $9 on Amazon, EA/Origin still want $30 for it), and the ones that are on sale aren't worth the time or money.
 
Hornet said:
Just incase you haven't notice, Notch is one of the most vocal ones about this. Brian Fargo twitted a link to Notch's comment about this last week or so, and he was very vocal.

Notch is a developer, not a PC gamer. This reaction is coming from the people who make games.

Take your PC gaming bashing elsewhere.
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So all the comments agreeing with Notch are--all made by developers? Notch's voice may be the most visible but he's not the only person (developer or otherwise) that's being vocal about it.

EA (Partners) published games from small development studios, or 'indie' developers if you will and sold a so-called'Indie bundle'. BFD

It's far better than if EA bought the development studio and siphoned the talent into the next iteration of Madden.
 
I've never read so many fail responses to one post. Kids always think they're the center of the universe and since they've never heard of them, they can't be important to anyone else. Grow up and you'll realize no one cares about you either. Really.
 
Outamyhead said:
Wait a minute Kim Kardashian is famous for no reason at all...unless you count having a mutated fat arse, a god awful family as a whole, and a really bad track record with relationships as a claim to fame?
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But thats what this is. Use of "fame" (aka the famous people you have to look up to find out who they are otherwise you'd be oblivious), where someone is famous for no reason at all to promote some crap. If a game is decent, it can be sold on it's own merits. Put that kind of content first. Release a demo. If one person plays a game and tells two others it's great, and they tell 3 more, theres a cascade effect. But indie games keep going for the moronic "personality cult" tactic, when what should be the most important thing is the game itself. The more fluff and filler something has, the more you can be garanteed the product is sorely lacking.


defunctdoormat said:
Grow up and you'll realize no one cares about you either. Really.
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Where was the argument for this point of view stated? But good you can also see how that kind of "hero in their own mind" crap is annoying. :p
 
Look at it this way: if some band gets some major record label to distribute their cd, can you still call them an indy band?

Either way, I think a lot of the annoyance comes from the fact that this is clearly a marketing gimmick attempting to cash in on the term "indy." That's what verifiable indy devs do all the time, but when it's a massive megapublisher like EA doing it, it just rubs a lot of devs (and consumers like myself) the wrong way.
 
eggrock said:
EA (Partners) published games from small development studios, or 'indie' developers if you will and sold a so-called'Indie bundle'. BFD
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Again, "indie" does not just mean "small". If a studio is under another umbrella corporation then they're not "indie".
 
these studios aren't "under" another umbrella corporation they're simply published by EA on consoles (which require a publisher).

Shank, for example, was recently offered in a humble bundle DRM free and no one complained about it then.
 
mope54 said:
[SNIP]they're simply published by EA on consoles (which require a publisher)......
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This is what needs to change. Microsoft/Sony need to take a page out of Apple's book and get on board with a much more broad approach to console development.

Big budget games will still be successful and still need a large company behind them, while smaller independent dev companies can also exist.

I still don't see what Microsoft and Sony get out of the overly limited/closed structure they have. Just going with something like Apple's slightly less (but still very much) limited store would be a huge gain for them. XNA is definitely a start for MS, but it needs more.
 
Makaijin said:
To be honest, does it really matter if a game is indie or not? No matter who or how it's published, if it's a good game then it is. End of.
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I think you are young to these forums and gaming in general. "If its a good game, then it is. End of."? Hardly around here. WAHHHH, I can't buy it on steam. WAHHH, it's available on Origin. WAHHH, it runs better on company A's product than Company B's. WAHH, It's fun but doesn't take advantage of my DX11 cards. WAHHH, it's fun but came out on consoles first.

People will cry about relatively fun games for a multitude of different reasons.
 
mope54 said:
these studios aren't "under" another umbrella corporation they're simply published by EA on consoles (which require a publisher).

Shank, for example, was recently offered in a humble bundle DRM free and no one complained about it then.
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The issue is not the developer's situation. The issue is that EA is somehow indie too. When the developer gave EA publishing rites, the 'indie' aspect ended with the developer phase. EA is by no means an indie organization especially its publishing aspect.

They are also exploiting the 'indie bundle' catch phrase which thanks to the humble indie bundle implies most of the money going to developers. I'm not sure that's the case here either. But that's a secondary issue.
 
The games are indie developed and owned. This is EA the publisher saying here's a pack of our independently developed and owned games. These games, and the funding that created them, are an entirely different thing from the EA gaming you're associating with the name "EA".

This is not like EA and DICE or EA Madden. This is like when EA publishes Left4Dead. You don't consider Valve games published by EA to have anything to do with EA other than putting the box in the storefront do you?
 
mope54 said:
The games are indie developed and owned. This is EA the publisher saying here's a pack of our independently developed and owned games. These games, and the funding that created them, are an entirely different thing from the EA gaming you're associating with the name "EA".

This is not like EA and DICE or EA Madden. This is like when EA publishes Left4Dead. You don't consider Valve games published by EA to have anything to do with EA other than putting the box in the storefront do you?
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I dunno, thing is indie means independent, if EA publishes it ea *might* have had financial and developmental input thus negating the indie part.
 
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