Difference between revisions of "Electronic Arts"

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With a large corporation like EA Games unable to monopolize video game markets buy using their monstrous income profits to buy out title rights, this is big ethical win for the video game community.  Another aspect of ethics that are being explored are the intentions of FIFA, the associated organization in which EA bases it’s popular soccer video game series off of.  FIFA is the organization oversees the international soccer play, but recently has had allegations of fraud and money laundering.  Many believe EA Games should take a different approach to soccer games, reinventing the name and affiliations of the game’s primary identity [http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/27/8672659/fifa-arrests-corruption-ea-sports-video-game-sponsorship].  However, such a major change in the system could deter current users from the game, because it is altering the traditional format in which they have enjoyed the game for many years previous.  Either way, EA Games will be required to make choices that will continue them on their successful journey, but the ethics of information will be cautiously weighted factor.
 
With a large corporation like EA Games unable to monopolize video game markets buy using their monstrous income profits to buy out title rights, this is big ethical win for the video game community.  Another aspect of ethics that are being explored are the intentions of FIFA, the associated organization in which EA bases it’s popular soccer video game series off of.  FIFA is the organization oversees the international soccer play, but recently has had allegations of fraud and money laundering.  Many believe EA Games should take a different approach to soccer games, reinventing the name and affiliations of the game’s primary identity [http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/27/8672659/fifa-arrests-corruption-ea-sports-video-game-sponsorship].  However, such a major change in the system could deter current users from the game, because it is altering the traditional format in which they have enjoyed the game for many years previous.  Either way, EA Games will be required to make choices that will continue them on their successful journey, but the ethics of information will be cautiously weighted factor.
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==Games==
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===== NOTE: This list is from the actual Electronic Arts Wikipedia site [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts] =====
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{{Main|List of Electronic Arts games}}
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{{Refimprove section|date=September 2012}}
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Some of the most notable and popular games of video game history have been published by EA, and many of these are listed below. Though EA published these titles, they did not always develop them; some were developed by independent game development studios. EA developed their first internally developed game in 1987.
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* ''[[Pinball Construction Set]]'' (1983) by [[Bill Budge]]<ref>{{cite web|quote=In 2008, ''Pinball Construction Set'' was awarded at the 59th Annual [[Technology & Engineering Emmy Award]]s for User Generated Content/Game Modification|url=http://kotaku.com/342028/2008-tech-emmy-winners|title=2008 Tech Emmy Winners|last=Ashcraft|first=Brian|publisher=Kotaku|date=January 8, 2008|accessdate=August 30, 2012}}</ref>
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* ''[[M.U.L.E.]]'' (1983) by [[Dan Bunten]] and [[Ozark Softscape]]
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* ''[[The Bard's Tale (1985 video game)|The Bard's Tale]]'' (1985) by [[Interplay Entertainment|Interplay Productions]]
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* ''[[Skate or Die!]]'' (1987), EA's first internally developed title
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* ''[[Madden NFL]] series'' (1989–present)
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* ''[[Populous]]'' (1989) by [[Bullfrog Productions|Bullfrog]] which EA acquired in 1995
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* ''[[Wing Commander (franchise)|Wing Commander]]'' series (1992 onwards, previous games published in-house)
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* ''[[Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf]]'' (1992) by EA's High Score Production group
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* ''[[FIFA (video game series)|FIFA]]'' series (1993–present)
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* ''[[Dungeon Keeper]]'' series (titles from 1997 to 1999) by [[Bullfrog Productions]]
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* ''[[Ultima Online]]'' (1997) by [[Origin Systems]]
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* ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' series (titles from 1999 to 2013) by [[Westwood Studios]] (earlier titles released by [[Virgin Interactive]])
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* ''[[SimCity]]'' series (titles from 1999–present) by [[Maxis]] (earlier titles released by other publishers)
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* ''[[Medal of Honor (series)|Medal of Honor]]'' series (1999–2012)
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* ''[[Need For Speed (series)|Need For Speed]]'' series (1994-2015)
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* ''[[James Bond games|James Bond]]'' series (1999–2005)
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* ''[[American McGee's Alice]]'' (2000)
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* ''[[The Sims]]'' series (2000–present) by [[Maxis]] (2000-2006, 2013–present) and [[The Sims Studio]] (2007-2012)
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* ''[[Battlefield (series)|Battlefield]]'' series (2002–present) by [[EA Digital Illusions CE]]
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* ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'' series (2007–present) by [[Crytek]]
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* ''[[Rock Band]]'' series (2007–2010) by [[Harmonix]]
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* ''[[Spore (2008 video game)|Spore]]'' series (2008–present) by [[Maxis]]
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* ''[[Army of Two (series)|Army of Two]]'' series (2008–present) by [[EA Montreal]]
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* ''[[Dead Space (series)|Dead Space]]'' series (2008–present) by [[Visceral Games]]
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* ''[[Mirror's Edge]]'' (2008) by [[EA Digital Illusions CE]]
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* ''[[Dragon Age]]'' series (2009–present) by [[BioWare]]
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* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' series (starting with the PC release of [[Mass Effect (video game)|the first game]], the original Xbox 360 version was published by Microsoft) (2008–present)
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* ''[[Dante's Inferno (video game)|Dante's Inferno]]'' (2010) by [[Visceral Games]]
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* ''[[Star Wars: The Old Republic]]'' (2011) by [[BioWare]]
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* ''[[Star Wars Battlefront (2015 video game)|Star Wars Battlefront]]'' (2015) by [[EA Digital Illusions CE]]
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===Upcoming titles===
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* ''[[Unravel (video game)|Unravel]]'' (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)<ref>{{cite web|title=EA Announces Incredible-Looking Indie-ish Yarn Game Unravel|url=http://kotaku.com/ea-announces-incredible-looking-indie-ish-yarn-game-unr-1711483248|last=Schreier|first=Jason|date=2015-06-15|accessdate=2015-06-15}}</ref>
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* ''[[Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2]]'' (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title = New Battlefield Game Coming in 2016|url = http://au.ign.com/articles/2015/07/30/new-battlefield-game-coming-in-2016|accessdate = 2015-06-30}}</ref>
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* ''[[Mirror's Edge Catalyst]]'' (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)<ref name=":02">{{cite web|title = New Mirror's Edge, Plants vs. Zombies Games Coming in Early 2016|url = http://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-mirror-s-edge-plants-vs-zombies-games-coming-i/1100-6427116/|accessdate = 2015-05-23}}</ref>
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* ''[[EA Sports UFC 2]]'' (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
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* ''[[Mass Effect: Andromeda]]'' (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)
  
  

Revision as of 22:12, 18 February 2016

Electronic Arts Inc. was founded on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins

Electronic Arts, Inc. (or EA Games) is an American technology company responsible for designing many popular video games. Games such as the FIFA series games, NBA Live, the Sims, the Need for Speed series games, and many more. Among Nintendo, valve, and Activision, EA Games ranks among the largest revenue-generating video game companies in the world [1].

Online Gaming

One unique feature that EA does well is providing an online environment for their users to play. Allowing players to engage competiviely with others around the world inhibits a new experience that is unique. Although usually a service provided by the console is necessary to play online with other players (such as Xbox Live or Playstation Network), this is a very popular method of gaming [2]. Creating new friends within the gameplay setting is a common way for users to get more out of their gameplay experience.

The online community can be seen as an Information Communication Technology or an ICT. An information communication technology is anything that can be used to communicate electronically. Luciano Floridi claims, we are in the infomration age where communication systems are necessity of life. Typically, most think of cellulcar devices, computer communication like email, or even radio. However, these gaming consoles now have interactive methods of communicating, whether it be chatting over text messages on screen or over recorded voice messages. EA, along with other game designers, often allow online multiplayer gamers to communicate while the game is happening, which allows them to strategize, or even trash talk the other team. Since gamers are paired up all over the world, this is an effective method for news to travel quickly across the globe, through the gaming community.


Ethical Issues

Buyout

Back in December of 2004, EA Games signed a contract with the National Football League (NFL) for publisher exclusivity for trademarks of the NFL, NCAA, AFL, and NFLPA [3]. Essentially, this gave them a monopoly over all football based video games, such as the popular series’ of Madden, NCAA Football, and other popular football games. These games were being produced for Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo consoles, as well as PC games.

What this meant was companies such as 2K Sports, could no longer make football games. Without the right to trademark and copyright information, no team names, player names, or affiliations could be created within the game. As James Moor states in his “Why We Need Better Ethics for Emerging Technologies,” as technological revolutions increase their social impact, ethical problems increase. Although the gaming industry may not be a life-altering technological revolution, this was indeed a revolution within the gaming industry itself. The rights to sports related trademarks and logos is very important, because a large part of the market of video games sales relies around the sales of sports games. When EA bought the rights to the NFL’s associations, it was a sign to smaller, less competitive game design companies that they wouldn’t have a shot in the football market.

Action Taken

In Pecover vs. Electronic Arts, EA was challenged to their rights of the NFL trademarks for game creation. Other companies like 2K Sports protested by claiming they had the right to create games using these same, popularized NFL teams [4]. The lawsuit ended in EA games, performing a settlement with the prosecutors in the litigation case against them. They we’re required to pay $27 million dollars in a settlement fund, which entitled all those who had bought EA games between 2005 and 2012 a small portion of their money back. [5]. The refunds were given based on which system and games were purchased during these years. Although it was a small portion of the profits EA made for these games, it was a big win for smaller game competitors.

Resolution

With a large corporation like EA Games unable to monopolize video game markets buy using their monstrous income profits to buy out title rights, this is big ethical win for the video game community. Another aspect of ethics that are being explored are the intentions of FIFA, the associated organization in which EA bases it’s popular soccer video game series off of. FIFA is the organization oversees the international soccer play, but recently has had allegations of fraud and money laundering. Many believe EA Games should take a different approach to soccer games, reinventing the name and affiliations of the game’s primary identity [6]. However, such a major change in the system could deter current users from the game, because it is altering the traditional format in which they have enjoyed the game for many years previous. Either way, EA Games will be required to make choices that will continue them on their successful journey, but the ethics of information will be cautiously weighted factor.


Games

NOTE: This list is from the actual Electronic Arts Wikipedia site [7]

Template:Main

Template:Refimprove section Some of the most notable and popular games of video game history have been published by EA, and many of these are listed below. Though EA published these titles, they did not always develop them; some were developed by independent game development studios. EA developed their first internally developed game in 1987.

Upcoming titles


References

Moor, J. In Why We Need Better Emerging Technologies. Retrieved February 15, 2016.

Floridi, L. Ethics After the information Revolution. Retrieved February 16, 2016.

[1] http://www.thetoptens.com/top-video-game-companies/

[2] http://www.techtimes.com/articles/47085/20150418/playstation-plus-vs-xbox-live-gold-which-online-service-is-best.htm

[3] http://www.technobuffalo.com/2011/04/07/ea-sued-for-supposed-monopoly-over-football-games/

[4] http://www.technobuffalo.com/2011/04/07/ea-sued-for-supposed-monopoly-over-football-games/

[5] http://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/7/23/3177295/ea-sports-monopoly-lawsuit-settlement

[6] http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/27/8672659/fifa-arrests-corruption-ea-sports-video-game-sponsorship
  1. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian · (January 8, 2008) · 2008 Tech Emmy Winners · work · Kotaku · August 30, 2012
  2. ↑ Schreier, Jason · (2015-06-15) · EA Announces Incredible-Looking Indie-ish Yarn Game Unravel · work · 2015-06-15
  3. ↑ lastname, firstname · (date) · New Battlefield Game Coming in 2016 · work · 2015-06-30
  4. ↑ lastname, firstname · (date) · New Mirror's Edge, Plants vs. Zombies Games Coming in Early 2016 · work · 2015-05-23
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