@nickpeck36 @awhite33 How about the industry not spending $100M on a game budget with more than half of those resources going to "marketing"?

The gaming industry was very profitable when this was in fact the way games were released (before the top few publishers bought out and closed everybody up) and turned the game making business into a monopoly.

@blackace @TrueGB @awhite33 you don't know what you are talking about. Link me to one reputable source/news release of somebody being put behind bars for downloading a game?

@LukeWesty I don't care who it is. The practice needs to stop. EA has wizened up, it's time Sony and whoever else is using this shady business practice does as well.

I'm tired of buying games with product crippling/unecessary restrictions. What other industry has adopted so many anti consumer businesses practices so quickly with NOBODY in the industry (IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku, etc.) stepping up and saying something about it in our defense?

@LukeWesty I'm talking about all of sony's first party games coming packaged with stupid "online pass" which only allows 1 person to use the code to play the game online.

Also, are you talking about the "free" online multiplayer that comes packaged with a ton of microtransactions/and charges for access after you reach a dozen levels or so?

There's countless "freemium" games like this all over the place. It's nothing but a business strategy to increase the player population under the disguise of being free, with a nickeling/diming business model. There's very little free about it.

@blackace @dragonkantus @awhite33 How are they losing a potential sale if somebody wouldn't have purchased the game in the first place and are only trying it because they have access to it for free?

What if that same person falls in love with the franchise and then becomes a passionate advocate of that game/franchise, and buys the next iteration day 1 along with his friends for the multiplayer experience?

There's actually studies done that prove this very point.

The bottom line is, the industry uses "piracy" as a crutch/excuse to continue to gouge customers whenever they try new nickeling/diming strategies, and naive people like yourself eat it right up.

IS SONY GOING TO END THEIR FORCED "ONLINE PASS" SYSTEM NOW THAT EA HAS AS WELL?

This makes all of the difference for me as a customer. This is what needs to be talked about amongst writers/people covering the industry.

Now that EA dropped their "online pass" crap, is Sony still going to continue forcing an "online pass" on their customers as well?

All of Sony's first party game software followed EA with this stupid Online Pass, and they receive no heat whatsoever for it.

Games like MLB The Show, Uncharted, etc. etc. etc. all contain this BS. I hope SONY follows suit.

I hate EA with a passion, but this is a good first step to reconciling with an old avid customer of theirs.

Now please, just drop the stupid exclusivities (NFL, PGA, FIFA, etc.) and you might have a customer again.

@hXcShock Who praises the gaming industry? 13 year olds, and companies like IGN/Gamespot that are paid to. That's it.

@kiramasaki Pirates have better taste than most of the people covering the industry.