"Ze Share Buy Out! Eet Eez Ostile!"

Come on UBI show us stoopid americans the french can fight back!!

We always seem to forget over here that the french have a pretty good history of being fighters.

It'll be nice to see someone turn EA down, i just worry that it might get angry and force itself on the poor girl. That would be just like EA, typical!
______

I'm surprised the French let EA in the door.

In matters related to shares and such that are publicly traded, the company really doesn't have a choice. The problem occurs when a company can't afford to buy back shares to fend off unwelcome advances (such was the case with Sega and Sammy).

Go to Google and type:

French military victories

Then press the 'I'm feeling lucky' button.

EA is just a big bully in the Video Game Industry(VGI). All they do is make endless sequals, spin-offs and buy out companies. There latest move with the NFL is horrible. If EA does buy out Ubisoft, I'm sure a legal dispute involving the US Supreme Court and the European Union wiill break out.

Ha. My work's webpage blocker, erm, blocked google.com result. Uk version a load of conservative jokes, some of which are actually quite funny.

Have to say if thigns keep going like this we'll have another Microsoft on our hands. I like a lot of Ubisofts products because I truly believe they put good games before big bucks. EA seem to be a company that does the opposite.

When it comes to games I reckon the french have their own unique angle just like the japanese and other smaller euro outfits. With EA in the picture this could disappear as big money pushes Ubisoft to churn out dross instead of good games like POP:TWW, Splinter Cell etc. Ubisoft also produced the brilliant sleeper hit Beyond Good and Evil, this type of game was a chance to do something different that EA would be very reluctant to try. With EA pulling strings good original games and taking chances could disappear.

Just look at what has happened to small softcos in the past once they get eaten by the big fish. Things get tricky and restricted and in some cases staff leave because they can see where things are going (yes I know there are advantages too). I'll say a prayer that Ubisoft can get out of EA's clutches.

Actually EA is Canadian

I was under the impresion that EA is an american based company with a development studio in Canada (among other places). EA canada is home to EA big which makes all of there extreme sports games and mostly all of the good EA games come from EA canada. But that isnt their only office.

If anyone can verify one way or the other please do. link perhaps?

ok so i looked it up... EA headquarters is located in Redwood City, California.

sounds like an american company to me, but then i suppose i could be wrong. it doesnt happen offten but it happens :P

______________

I think you'll find it's a US 'Silicon Valley' company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts

You could also try searching SPOnG's company database (on the right, change "games" to "companies") and you'll find this entry

Ubi do produce some excellent games.

I think that EA are the 3rd party Microsoft. However Microsoft want to get into every high-tech industry and kill it - for example games - where as EA are quite happy with software.

I had a look at the Games Database last time you mentioned it. Very impressive. Even managed to find information on some quite obscure games. Nice little tool!

while i understand the knee jerk fear of microsoft entering games (afterall they do suck at almost everythign they do) i cant understand why people are so quick to critize them and at the same time give sony a free pass. I dont know if anyone here remembers or not but there used to be a time when sega and nintendo where actually the best console makers in the world! crazy but true i swear! and you know who brought that to a crashing hault? thats right people... SONY! not microsoft. So whenever you are sitting around longing for the good old days when games where "all about design" and "clever and original", take a good long look at that stupid poor excuse for a video game machine sitting there proped on on its end wedged between your tv and the wall fo your enteratinment center and think about what you have done!

Sega and nintendo are great cause they always tried to be inovative in some way, not just upping graphics but making new kinds of controlers and werid a$$ games about plumbers and hedge hogs before that was the acepted norm. I will never understand how people can be sooo happy that a tv/stereo manufacturer killed the dream cast and almost destroyed the N64 but then chastize a computer software maker for being the only worth while competition.

M$ and sonyt are good arch rivals casue they both have s**t tons of money and they both get that money from very different sources so they can compete with each other on the video game from for a loooong time. We shoudl all be glad M$ joined the fray to keep sony from monopolizing cause if there was no xbox chances are most of the xbox owners woul dhave bought PS2's and given them and even more painfull lead over nintendo.

ironic as it is M$ is helping to prevent a monopoly! strange but true. the sooner you learn to accpet it and get over your delusions the happier you will be.
____________-

No way. M$ want to be in a monopoly position and eventually they will be in videogames. Then everyone will moan that they can only buy Microsoft consoles and games. M$ ultimate aim is to monopolise and make money, nothing else.

For a decade they've been accused of anti-competitive practices. Evil leopards from Hell never change their spots, or their twisted ways.

I am under no delusions to the effect of microsoft fighting sony in some sort of humanitarian effort. How ever sony's market share is currently very frightening indeed. I like to root for the under dog. Do my part to keep things level.
If some day in the future M$ has a strangle hold, like sony does now, then i will throw more support behind sony (or whatever other company migth be takign a stab at it by then, google/friendster seem like a likely choice for massive online comunity type games!). but as of right now M$ is the only thing keeping sony from putting out utter crap! if the xbox didnt exist i am pretty positive the PS3 would not be anywhere near as awsome of a machine as it seems like it is going to be.

I mean think about it, how impressive is the psp? its pretty freakin incredible if you ask me! and the PS1 was an awsome peice of hard ware. comapred to the other 2 the ps2 is kind of a sad showing on sonys part. I believe thats because they knew they didnt have to really wow people to sell systems.

if you want to keep Games fresh and exciting and prevent further EA style homoginization i recomend we all stop supporting people who dont support our best interests as gamers and consumers in general. Is it really so hard to not by EA games and Sony Merch? I personaly have never paid for a copy of windows :P

Has anyone here bought any new EA games since the spouse and ubi soft and NFL news came out?

Sony's market share is strong thanks to its competitors, and former rulers of the games hardware industry having so royally fscked up.

SEGA proved it had little a clue where to go following the Megadrive/Genesis, and delivered itself a double whammy in the form of the Saturn and Dreamcast. Both excellent machines, both pathetically marketed.
Nintendo followed suit with the N64 and the Gamecube. The N64 came too late and offered too little in both the hardware and software departments. Gamecube is a beautiful machine that has, just like a SEGA product, been marketed by retards. Right from the console design through to the range of AAA titles, the GC smacks of the Nintendo "kiddie" status. Ick.

Today, Sony finds itself winning by default. There really has been no competition.

Microsoft, on the otherhand, intends to win by any means necessary. Subterfuge, sharp business practices and all manner of unspeakable goings on are part of the company's repertoire, as demonstrated by recent high profile court cases.



I fail to see how anyone could deem Microsoft an "under dog" - it's neither disadvantaged or expected to lose. Today, MS may not have the market share, but it sure as hell will do. If you want to "keep things level" you must look at the bigger picture, because when MS does rule the roost it will be a sad day for gaming.

little? ... *shudder*

We've spent the last eight years capturing game screens, packs, credits, press releases, along with writing thousands of summaries/overviews and news articles. There are entries for nearly 60,000 different releases in our little database. :)

<sob>

Of course, any help you can offer in filling in the gaps would be much appreciated ;)