EA sells game Tutorials

[CptStern]

holy shit it just doesnt end with EA

How fast can EA race to the bottom of the dung pile? Coming right off an opening salvo trying to establish themselves as the scumbag kings of microcontent by way of selling cheat codes or in-game money as Marketplace downloads, EA are now selling tutorials over Xbox Live, rebranding them "video strategy guides."

The videos are hundreds of megs, and cost about 2 bucks each. EA is currently selling the tutorial vids for the games Madden NFL 07 and NCAA 07 Football. By common report, they aren't helpful in the slightest: you'd get better tips downloading the strategy guide off of GameFAQs

First up, EA is now offering buyable tutorial videos for NCAA 07 Football and Madden NFL 07. Each 5-minute video costs $2 (160 MS Points) and covers subjects like passing or running. Hopefully we're all smart enough to go to the internet and find a free tutorial! Joystiq reports that the video is huge (246MB) and not very helpful at all. Tutorials have traditionally been included in games and that is how it should be.

http://www.aeropause.com/archives/2006/10/ea_charges_for.php

soon they'll sell you an empty box with a single sheet of paper saying:

"thank you for purchasing this game box, please proceed to EA online to download the game that didnt come in the box, have your credit card ready, operators are standing by to place your order. All calls $4.99/minute"


I'm getting tired of saying **** you EA

 

[AJ Rimmer]

The next step would be to buy the game code without any executable files or any rendering engines, selling them seperately at inflated prices.

 

[kirovman]

**** you EA

 

[-Psy-]

Throwing wood to the fire...

 

[Cerpin]

Just don't buy them. I know it's horrible, and that some people will buy them, causing them to continue with it.

 

[Gargantou]

This is getting plain silly..Oo

 

[CptStern]

Just don't buy them. I know it's horrible, and that some people will buy them, causing them to continue with it.

ya but they're not targeting us ..we're hardcore gamers, we're by far the hardest to please, most vocal, smallest segment of the video game buying audience ..this sort of stuff is aimed at casual gamers ..sooner or later casual consumers will get sick of forking out cash for incomplete games only to have to fork out more just to get the complete experience that they'll just stop playing/buying games altogether

I'm all for microtransactions that add something worthwhile/tangible ..but what EA is doing is just nickel and diming their way out of our pockets

 

[Beerdude26]

Holy crap :|

 

[Stormy]

Game guides cost a good £15 quid anyway which will probly work out to be around the same as this set of videos... what differance does it make?

 

[Beerdude26]

Game guides cost a good £15 quid anyway which will probly work out to be around the same as this set of videos... what differance does it make?

The tutorials are useless?

 

[CptStern]

Game guides cost a good £15 quid anyway which will probly work out to be around the same as this set of videos... what differance does it make?

so the game itself shouldnt have a tutorial? we should just purchase a tutorial before playing the game?

 

[Stormy]

It depends on your stand point, gaming is open to a much larger demographic then it used to be. Not everyone is a hardcore gamer who play non stop. Alot of people may be playing this game for the first time and having a set of video tutorials to help them get to grips with a game isnt a bad idea. Surly you have got your pants to play a game befor and after 10 mins they have thrown the pad down saying "i cant do it". For these types of people these tutorials are great and will open up a new audiance for game developers.

Secondly i dont want to say they are bad untill i have seen them for my self.


If you dont need the tutorials it makes the games cheaper for you. For others it will be a one off that will most likely alow you to understand all the madden games. People dont mind paying a small price if they are going to get some fun out of it.

 

[VictimOfScience]

Wait til we have to start paying for demos. The news should come out today at this rate....

 

[Mr. Redundant]

If you dont need the tutorials it makes the games cheaper for you. For others it will be a one off that will most likely alow you to understand all the madden games. People dont mind paying a small price if they are going to get some fun out of it.

that is not the point... we are paying them extra, no matter if it's 1 penny or 100 bucks, its extra, for instructional videos to PLAY THEIR GAME.

**** next manuals won't come standard.. we gonna be paying the price of strategy guides to see what requirements a game has.

**** that, and **** EA, there is no way you can rationalize selling this kinda shit, no way in hell.

 

[Beerdude26]

It depends on your stand point, gaming is open to a much larger demographic then it used to be. Not everyone is a hardcore gamer who play non stop. Alot of people may be playing this game for the first time and having a set of video tutorials to help them get to grips with a game isnt a bad idea. Surly you have got your pants to play a game befor and after 10 mins they have thrown the pad down saying "i cant do it". For these types of people these tutorials are great and will open up a new audiance for game developers.

Secondly i dont want to say they are bad untill i have seen them for my self.


If you dont need the tutorials it makes the games cheaper for you. For others it will be a one off that will most likely alow you to understand all the madden games. People dont mind paying a small price if they are going to get some fun out of it.

Ah. So, what you're saying is, that tutorials indeed aren't that needed, and they'll make the game cheaper by not adding them?

How about we take out multiplayer in Battlefield 2142, and you have to pay an additionnal 10$ to be able to play online? Because some people might only want to play in singleplayer! The game will be about 35$, but the following will not be included:
*Multiplayer (10$)
*Singleplayer (5$)
*Joystick Support (1.5$)
*Cheat Codes (1$ / cheat)
*Tutorials (2$ / tutorial)
*Sound (7$)
*A User Interface (3$)

 

[CptStern]

It depends on your stand point, gaming is open to a much larger demographic then it used to be. Not everyone is a hardcore gamer who play non stop. Alot of people may be playing this game for the first time and having a set of video tutorials to help them get to grips with a game isnt a bad idea.

did you read the article at all? 240 megs for a 5 minute video ..so instead of playing the game they'll have wait a few hours to download a 5 minute video that isnt very useful to begin with?

Surly you have got your pants to play a game befor and after 10 mins they have thrown the pad down saying "i cant do it". For these types of people these tutorials are great and will open up a new audiance for game developers.

how will having less tutorials available to the gameing public "open a new audience to developers?" if anything it would have the opposite effect

Secondly i dont want to say they are bad untill i have seen them for my self.

well fire up marketplace, pull out your credit card and start downloading

If you dont need the tutorials it makes the games cheaper for you.

I'd like to see even a shred of evidence that points to not having tutorials will make the game cheaper ..if advertising hasnt made the game cheaper why would you ever think not having tutorial would do the same ...you're just pulling shit out of the thin air with nothing whatsoever to back you up

For others it will be a one off that will most likely alow you to understand all the madden games. People dont mind paying a small price if they are going to get some fun out of it.

I will never buy a madden game if it means I have to purchase and download tutorials that teach me how to play the freaking game




look you're obviously an EA fanboy/shill who would pretty much excuse anything they do with some convoluted justification that makes little sense ..for the rest of us things like this leave a sour taste in our mouths ..sorry I just wont participate in price gouging

 

[Krynn72]

I'm getting tired of saying **** you EA

Put it in your sig. Thats what Im gunna do.

 

[hungryduck]

shit on EA and shit on sony too.

 

[Stormy]

You guys sound no better then people who complain about counter-strike... OMFG AWP!

I'm bored of all you narrow minded kids.

 

[Krynn72]

You guys sound no better then people who complain about counter-strike... OMFG AWP!

I'm bored of all you narrow minded kids.

Im beyond bored of all you fanboys that enjoy taking it in the ass from companies who realize they can step all over you and still you give them your money. So I guess we are even.

 

[CptStern]

You guys sound no better then people who complain about counter-strike... OMFG AWP!

I'm bored of all you narrow minded kids.

ya that must be it .. chock it up to "narrow minded kids" bitching on the internets ..yet someone as open minded as you are cant think of reasons as to why our complains arent justified

 

[-Psy-]

I'm bored of all you narrow minded kids.

I'm not like that but to be honest, EA are taking it to far with this micro transaction stuff.

I don't see why you have to pay for cheat codes or a tutorial on how to play the game (that is utterly worthless apparently).

EA are taking advantage of next-gen content unlike any other publisher but it's just for money.

There is absolutely no good reason for any of these micro transactions to be available.

EA are putting off casual gamers by offering this transactions.

Why would you pay £45 (?) for a game where you have to download and pay for content that could be important to enjoy the game and complete it over a full game with none of this crap?

I don't like the way things are going with Sony and EA at the moment...

I doubt their future.

 

[kirovman]

You guys sound no better then people who complain about counter-strike... OMFG AWP!

I'm bored of all you narrow minded kids.

So people who complain about a business taking their customers for a ride are "narrow minded kids"?

So what happens when these "narrow mind kids" vote with their feet and refuse to purchase?

I don't like the way things are going with Sony and EA at the moment...

I doubt their future.

Unfortunately, I don't doubt their future. Short of a large natural disaster, we the customer seem to be screwed as a lot of gullible fools are willing to pay up.

 

[Gray Fox]

Ah. So, what you're saying is, that tutorials indeed aren't that needed, and they'll make the game cheaper by not adding them?

How about we take out multiplayer in Battlefield 2142, and you have to pay an additionnal 10$ to be able to play online? Because some people might only want to play in singleplayer! The game will be about 35$, but the following will not be included:
*Multiplayer (10$)
*Singleplayer (5$)
*Joystick Support (1.5$)
*Cheat Codes (1$ / cheat)
*Tutorials (2$ / tutorial)
*Sound (7$)
*A User Interface (3$)

Hmm, your on to something. You should really work for EA.

 

[esplin]

I know it's a little unfair, but I blame the casual gamer.

This all began when everyone started touting the "casual gamer" as the future demographic of videogames. Unfortunately, EA and other companies have understood the word "casual" to mean "imbred hick" and are trying to see just how much money they can gain from this new demographic.

Hopefully new gamers will prove smarter than EA believes and this will all dissapear shortly.

 

[Higlac]

im gonna start an EA rant thread, seriously this is rediculous

 

[Jintor]

It's been done. But seriously. ***k you EA. ***k you and ***k your ***king marketing plan.

 

[Asknoone]

****s sake. This is pathetic.

 

[Stormy]

****s sake. This is pathetic.

Close the thread!

 

[Asknoone]

Close EA!

 

[bam23]

Wow, there are games out there that already have video tutorials, free, AND come with the game.

Joobs.

 

[Stigmata]

You guys sound no better then people who complain about counter-strike... OMFG AWP!

I'm bored of all you narrow minded kids.

:|

It's one thing to complain about the balance of a game. It's another entirely when you complain about a game publisher announcing that you have to pay for tutorial videos that are worse than those for other games, which are free, and when they announce this practice for multiple games.

Seriously, if you think this is being "narrow-minded", go back to masturbating all over some corporate economics textbooks, and don't talk to us.

 

[GhostBoi]

I'm not like that but to be honest, EA are taking it to far with this micro transaction stuff.

I don't see why you have to pay for cheat codes or a tutorial on how to play the game (that is utterly worthless apparently).

EA are taking advantage of next-gen content unlike any other publisher but it's just for money.

There is absolutely no good reason for any of these micro transactions to be available.

Here is the catch...scroll down to see it:





































YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET THE TUTORIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(or any of the microtransactions):cheers:

 

[MorganFreeman911]

I love not having a 360.

 

[Stigmata]

Here is the catch:

YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET THE TUTORIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(or any of the microtransactions):cheers:

Here's the other catch:

Other games include tutorial videos that you don't have to pay for, which are apparently far better than the ones that EA is putting up on the Marketplace.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Meh, **** fanboys and **** bandwagons too.

But regardless of that, **** EA most of all.

 

[halem111]

ok everyone calm down i hate ea as much as the next poster but lets rationalise the situation

1. In every other game cheats, tutorials, game guides have all been provided FREE of charge with the game, if not are available from somewhere free of charge.
Ea have taken these out of the game and decided that if you want them you will have to pay for them.
Now providing tutorials and game guides is time consuming, and time equals money, therefore by making them they are losing money. Therefore if they can get people to pay for the time they have taken to make these things then they can make them without losing money. THAT IS HOW THEY HAVE RATIONALISED I THINK.
However its a bad rationalisation because these are things that should be provided as STANDARD with a game, you wouldnt go to a car dealership and buy a car only to find you have to pay extra to get a steering wheel and some wheels.

Therefore this thinking by ea is wrong and they are just abusing the micro transactions.

From what i undertstand microtransactions should be new levels or EXTRA content that you dont actually NEED, but will be fun to have like a new car on project gotham racing or a new mission on oblivion.
YES i agree they should just provide it free of charge but thats life.

So anyone that thinks ea are actually doing a good thing by charging for these things must be out of their mind

 

[StardogChampion]

I don't think this is much of a change. I remember at least 7/8 years ago seeing helplines at the end of game manuals that cost £1 per minute to call.

EA have probably been doing stuff like this since Fifa 95.

EDIT: Well looky here... I just opened the first manual I had to hand - Football Manager 2007. 2nd last page - "Be the best. Hints, Tips and Strategy for the latest SEGA games." £1 a minute.

EA are just doing this in a different way.

 

[Space Farm]

I dislike EA as much as the next guy, but this news doesn't really seem that bad. It's not like they are forcing you to download the tutorials...

 

[Steven]

wow