26 replies to this topic

[Mendon]

"Electronic Arts said today it has reached an agreement to acquire Popcap Games, makers of Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies. The deal will cost EA $750 million total."

THE REST OF THE STORY


Sigh.......



Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:07 AM.

[cimerians]

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ventrra]

Alas, poor Popcap! I knew them, gamers; fellows of infinite fun, of most excellent fancy.

[cimerians]

EA is forcing their client unto people. I love Steam and refuse to use their crap. EA also uses online pass. This is brutal news cause I'm a popcap fan.

[HammR25]

Nice to see the owners of PopCap games reach the American dream. They grew their brand enough to be bought out by a huge corporation.

[iswitt]

Future Plants versus Zombies games will be dead to me before they are even announced.

[Random Terrain]

Does EA ever make money off these deals? Or does EA have so much money that it has become a gigantic sentient creature that just wants to devour every game company it can without caring about profits? It would explain a lot if EA isn't a company and is instead a monster that must feed to live.

[Ghost Soldier]

Look for rehashed games with updated rosters that you can purchase every year. Lets hope that EA leaves them somewhat independent so they can continue making great games.

[Mord]

Unfortunately that'll be less profitable than milking it every year, so I won't hold my breath on that one.

[n8littlefield]

Yay! I was hoping EA would be the winner of the bidding war. Popcap makes great games, but unfortunately they are very PC/iPod focused - the DS/360 versions of Plants vs Zombies took forever and the distribution of Bookworm and Peggle DS were pretty terrible too (at least initially). Zuma on the 360 feels like a quick port as it doesn't even fill the screen well in HD.

EA behind them will hopefully speed that up and improve their ports. I'd love to get 360/DS/PSP ports of the Bookworm Adventure games - and the PSP never got Plants vs Zombies.

EA has improved over the years, they are much better than seeing Popcap go to Zynga who was one of the other bidders. And EA isn't the only one guilty of the sequel thing - think of how many versions of Bejeweled Popcap has put out...

[cimerians]

n8littlefield, on Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:22 PM, said:

Yay! I was hoping EA would be the winner of the bidding war. Popcap makes great games, but unfortunately they are very PC/iPod focused - the DS/360 versions of Plants vs Zombies took forever and the distribution of Bookworm and Peggle DS were pretty terrible too (at least initially). Zuma on the 360 feels like a quick port as it doesn't even fill the screen well in HD.

EA behind them will hopefully speed that up and improve their ports. I'd love to get 360/DS/PSP ports of the Bookworm Adventure games - and the PSP never got Plants vs Zombies.

EA has improved over the years, they are much better than seeing Popcap go to Zynga who was one of the other bidders. And EA isn't the only one guilty of the sequel thing - think of how many versions of Bejeweled Popcap has put out...

Don't even get me started about EA.

I am against any and all forms of censorship in videogames. Or should I say stripping ones creative control over a game? They have killed so many devs and games I've lost count. Not to mention DRM.

A small sample of this:
http://grumpygamer.com/1547879

I'm not going to change your mind. If you love them. Good for you. Hope you get PvZ on your PSP someday.

[the.golden.ax]

EA is a disease.

AX

[Jess Ragan]

Uh, at least it wasn't Activision?

[Mendon]

Jess Ragan, on Thu Jul 14, 2011 12:53 AM, said:

Uh, at least it wasn't Activision?

I don't know..... Call of Peggle sounds fun and they would have an all new line-up of Zombies for Zombie Mode.


Mendon

[Necron99]

the.golden.ax, on Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:22 PM, said:

EA is a disease.

AX

While I hate EA for many reasons, I have to admit, the last few years they seem to have come to some form of an understanding about how the developers want things done. They still are buying out these guys but for the most part they are leaving them to their own devices. This may all be leading up to this "origin" thing though. They need titles for it. and god knows most of what they have could easily be forgotten. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that EA will leave Pop Cap alone to do their business.

[Mord]

Necron99, on Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:12 PM, said:

the.golden.ax, on Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:22 PM, said:

EA is a disease.

AX

While I hate EA for many reasons, I have to admit, the last few years they seem to have come to some form of an understanding about how the developers want things done. They still are buying out these guys but for the most part they are leaving them to their own devices. This may all be leading up to this "origin" thing though. They need titles for it. and god knows most of what they have could easily be forgotten. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that EA will leave Pop Cap alone to do their business.

At the same time, Dragon Age II was where that franchise started going down hill - which is when EA got it's hands on it and essentially forced the developer to rush it out the door ASAP to capitalize on the popularity of origins. And despite the outcry, Dragon Age 3 is being rushed in the same manner. They aren't activision, but just because something isn't a devil, it doesn't mean it's an angel.

[Jess Ragan]

Quote

They aren't activision, but just because something isn't a devil, it doesn't mean it's an angel.

And the same could be said for PopCap, which built its foundation on "borrowing" other developers' ideas. Zuma is Puzz Loop/Magnetica, while Pixelus is Guru Logic Champ with a Greek makeover. They only started making original games fairly recently, so I would hesitate to deify them or mourn their perceived loss.

[Tr3vor]

R.I.P.

[Random Terrain]

Jess Ragan, on Sun Jul 17, 2011 4:44 PM, said:

And the same could be said for PopCap, which built its foundation on "borrowing" other developers' ideas. Zuma is Puzz Loop/Magnetica, while Pixelus is Guru Logic Champ with a Greek makeover. They only started making original games fairly recently, so I would hesitate to deify them or mourn their perceived loss.

We've all seen a lot of crappy rip-off clone games, but that company did a better job than most. They made fun, high quality rip-off clone games.

[bloodreptile]

Madden versus zombies 2012 anyone?
What about Dead space versus plants?

I do not know why people are being so hard on EA after all they have given us so many great games like Madden 93 to 2011.... and err err...
Dead space and ....
inferno
and Burnout paradise?

Okay only kidding EA you suck a**

[Chuck D. Head]

Random Terrain, on Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:54 AM, said:

Does EA ever make money off these deals? Or does EA have so much money that it has become a gigantic sentient creature that just wants to devour every game company it can without caring about profits? It would explain a lot if EA isn't a company and is instead a monster that must feed to live.

I wish it would worry less about feeding, and more about wiping after it $#!Ts on the consumer.

[Video]

Sigh, well, Rest in peace Pop Cap, we knew you well

Funny6 thing is, they reason Pop cap did well was because they didn't have all the DRM Bullshit that EA's going to tack on, and then wonder why it won't sell for them.

[Mendon]

Video, on Mon Jul 25, 2011 4:27 PM, said:

Sigh, well, Rest in peace Pop Cap, we knew you well

Funny6 thing is, they reason Pop cap did well was because they didn't have all the DRM Bullshit that EA's going to tack on, and then wonder why it won't sell for them.

I can also see you paying to unlock additional zombie and plant characters at 99 cents each with a Backyard Add-on Map for $5....


Mendon

[ApolloBoy]

..And nothing of value was lost.

[Mendon]

"A lot of it was about rediscovering, for us, that EA actually cared about games. That was an eye-opener for me; I mean I know John Riccitiello's been saying it for a long time, but I've heard that sort of thing before. Just because a CEO is saying it doesn't make it so. But then you walk through the halls of EA and see people who are genuinely excited about games. - PopCap CEO Dave Roberts"

Huh?????

That must be some powerful South America smoke, Mr. Roberts!




Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:23 AM.