Gabe Newell on EA's Origin: I don't think thy're doing anything super well yet

If only EA wasn't attached to Origin

Seems a lot like Steam to me. Look up game, buy game, download game, play game... etc.

Obviously it has less games though, and the prices are high. BF3 was $60 on there but was $30 on Amazon. And that was strange too, how is it an Origin exclusive if I can buy it on Amazon?

BF3 is the only game I have on Origin at the moment, and I think it's crappy interface is more to do with the game than the service itself. If not, that would suck.

I bet EA will make a better effort to keep games up to date though, so I'm not buying games that don't funtion on my PC because they are too damn old.

The point is Origin isn't just a big bad turd-sprayer hoping to rain some sticky-brown on everyone.

JohnF111

EA never wants to operate on a level playing field, they want to dominate.They don't want to compete with Steam, they want all of the DD money from their games going to them only. That is the only reason Origin exists. And it will always be second rate because of it.

Competition is great for business, but EA had since 2003 to compete with steam....waiting until now, steam had had nearly a decade to make a fanbase and perfect their model and system.....Sorry EA, you lost :P

[QUOTE="rzepak"]

[QUOTE="Chris_Williams"]

yeah because when steam first launch it was perfect....

I didnt have any major problems, but more importanly Steam was launched 8 years ago...they had nowhere to look for inspiration.

[QUOTE="Chris_Williams"]

[QUOTE="rzepak"]

I didnt have any major problems, but more importanly Steam was launched 8 years ago...they had nowhere to look for inspiration.

blue_hazy_basic

HL2 release completely killed the service. For people installing boxed copies of a singleplayer game and not being able to play it for many hours, or days, was a pain in booty

[QUOTE="blue_hazy_basic"][QUOTE="Chris_Williams"] either way, steam beginnings weren't pleasant, I prefer steam over origin but steam had its problems when it launched 8 years ago, not for everyone though, just like origin doesn't mess up for everyone. Also i hope origin gets better because it will make steam get better or hopefully something comes and challenges steam. Competition is good

HL2 release completely killed the service. For people installing boxed copies of a singleplayer game and not being able to play it for many hours, or days, was a pain in booty

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="blue_hazy_basic"] Why wasn't steam pleasant at the start? i'd like some specifics on this?blue_hazy_basic

HL2 release completely killed the service. For people installing boxed copies of a singleplayer game and not being able to play it for many hours, or days, was a pain in booty

Back in the day steam had lots of stability issues

[QUOTE="blue_hazy_basic"][QUOTE="wis3boi"]

HL2 release completely killed the service. For people installing boxed copies of a singleplayer game and not being able to play it for many hours, or days, was a pain in booty

wis3boi

EDIT lol @ your gif

[QUOTE="Chris_Williams"] and i'm hoping something becomes as big as steam, they need some competition and we (consumers) win either way Planeforger

Problem is, EA isn't exactly 'competing' with Steam - they're outright refusing to sell their games on Steam, and that's terrible for consumers.

Instead of granting us the same stock on multiple stores, forcing Steam to lower to prices to stay competitive, EA are actually limiting the options that consumers have. This wouldn't be a problem if their store was great...but it's terrible for anyone living outside of North America.

Most of their sales and some of their pre-order bonuses are US-exclusive (unlike Steam), all of their games are regionally-priced (unlike Steam, where only some games are like that), and every other online store that sells Origin keys is region-locked (unlike Steam).

It's definitely the most expensive DD store for Australian users - we'd probably get cheaper retail prices, and that's weird since games are notoriously expensive here as it is. Want Alice: Madness Returns or Dragon Age 2 on Origin? They're the equivalent $82 USD here, each. At least Alice is $50 on the Steam store, and Steam has worldwide sales to reduce that even further.

So...uh, no, consumers don't win with Origin. It's pretty much the worst thing to happen to digital distribution here in Australia.

wis3boi

:lol:

yeah because when steam first launch it was perfect....

Chris_Williams

[QUOTE="Chris_Williams"]

yeah because when steam first launch it was perfect....

Human-after-all

[QUOTE="Human-after-all"][QUOTE="Chris_Williams"]

yeah because when steam first launch it was perfect....

Chris_Williams

[QUOTE="JohnF111"]Competition is good, fanboyism from idiots who don't buy games on Origins because it means having an extra program on their PC running is bad...Crossel777

Fanboyism has nothing to do with not wanting another program taking up resources on your computer. Nobody wants 20 DD programs installed on their computer. The rise of a new DD service will inevitably lead to the downfall of another service. Sony is proof of that. Competition destroyed them. Nobody wants steam to go anywhere. Why should they? It offers them everything they need.

Competition is great, what we have right now with Origin is not really competition though. It's simply, use Origin for all our published games, you can't get them anywhere else. That's not competition. Put them on Steam also and then you can have competition, with both the platforms competiting with one another.

As a consumer I would prefer to buy my games on Steam as all my other games are on there. It would be nice if EA listened to me, their paying customer.

yeah because when steam first launch it was perfect....

Chris_Williams

Ahah, true ironic story.

I like how people keep saying EA is tying their games to Origin and you "can't get them anywhere else". In all actuality, you can get them anywhere else except for Steam. Valve, on the other hand, has tied all of their games to Steam and other than boxed copies at retail, you really cannot get them anywhere else.PurpleMan5000

Interesting bet by EA. They think losing some sales is worth it, if it helps establish Origin as a real competitor to Steam.

However, it stopped me buying ME3 and BF3. There were enough other games to play, so I decided to be part of those customers pressuring EA to release their games on Steam too.

Ok that article had tons of grammatical errors. But I do think Origins is way less convenient than Steam.

yeah because when steam first launch it was perfect....

Chris_Williams

Origin launched last year, in the shadow of many large DD companies, with an inferior service. There's no real getting around the fact that Origin simply doesn't live up to the pie it's trying to have a piece of.

[QUOTE="Chris_Williams"]

yeah because when steam first launch it was perfect....

Vaasman

Origin launched last year, in the shadow of many large DD companies, with an inferior service. There's no real getting around the fact that Origin simply doesn't live up to the pie it's trying to have a piece of.

Well, he's got that right.

Gabe is just jelly that EA can count to 3 and he can't, that's why he bashes on the superior Origin and XBL.

[QUOTE="Elann2008"][QUOTE="SPYDER0416"]

I hate Origin, the downloads always freeze and force me to restart for no reason while it also tends to stop working randomly or make me go offline. Steam is MUCH more well formed and easier to use and navigate.

SPYDER0416

Well apparently Origin has issues with backing up downloads from what I hear, so while my Steam works fine and never loses more then 2% of a download, Origin can get an error or go offline and I have to start ALLL over again. Its just poor design, I'm no computer expert, but you'd think they would want to prevent turning a 2 hour download into a day day session of repeatedly trying to get a game or patch to download all the way.

Plus even if they fix it all up somehow, Steam is still much more convenient, with a significantly larger library of games and better deals. I'm no Steam fanboy and I loved the concept of competition, but I guess the old adage of "EA games come with free misery" holds true for their software as well.

It also doesn't help that Origin is tied in to EA, not exactly a company that everyone adores. While Valve has their own share of haters, they tend to stay clear from the crap EA does.tagyhag

deva - "lulz lets release this mod as a $60 game, l4d! our 4 levels and 5 enemies are totally worth it!!"

devb - "You think zombie fan's will notice the lack of a chainsaw?"

deva - "will add it in later as DLC, **** it lets make $60 downloadable content, add a few more maps/modes, call it a day?"

[QUOTE="tagyhag"]It also doesn't help that Origin is tied in to EA, not exactly a company that everyone adores. While Valve has their own share of haters, they tend to stay clear from the crap EA does.savagetwinkie

deva - "lulz lets release this mod as a $60 game, l4d! our 4 levels and 5 enemies are totally worth it!!"

devb - "You think zombie fan's will notice the lack of a chainsaw?"

deva - "will add it in later as DLC, **** it lets make $60 downloadable content, add a few more maps/modes, call it a day?"

While I don't agree with your feelings on L4D, I do think Valve gets away with alot more than most other companies. Alot of people here tend to turn the other cheek for Valve.

[QUOTE="tagyhag"]It also doesn't help that Origin is tied in to EA, not exactly a company that everyone adores. While Valve has their own share of haters, they tend to stay clear from the crap EA does.savagetwinkie

deva - "lulz lets release this mod as a $60 game, l4d! our 4 levels and 5 enemies are totally worth it!!"

devb - "You think zombie fan's will notice the lack of a chainsaw?"

deva - "will add it in later as DLC, **** it lets make $60 downloadable content, add a few more maps/modes, call it a day?"

I like how people keep saying EA is tying their games to Origin and you "can't get them anywhere else". In all actuality, you can get them anywhere else except for Steam. Valve, on the other hand, has tied all of their games to Steam and other than boxed copies at retail, you really cannot get them anywhere else.PurpleMan5000

Wherever you buy them they are tied to Origin. You can't get them tied to Steam or any other platform. That's the point being made.

[QUOTE="tagyhag"]It also doesn't help that Origin is tied in to EA, not exactly a company that everyone adores. While Valve has their own share of haters, they tend to stay clear from the crap EA does.savagetwinkie

deva - "lulz lets release this mod as a $60 game, l4d! our 4 levels and 5 enemies are totally worth it!!"

devb - "You think zombie fan's will notice the lack of a chainsaw?"

deva - "will add it in later as DLC, **** it lets make $60 downloadable content, add a few more maps/modes, call it a day?"

Well I got hundreds of hours of playtime out of L4D 1 & 2

But I can see, by the $60 pricetag, that you are talking about the console version which might be why you're upset.

Tough luck.It happens when you game on consoles.