1. They Had Nothing To Do With Duke Nukem Forever
This point isnt all about Duke Nukem Forever, as that would be a rather stupidly specific point to focus on. No, DNF is merely a symbol of all the worst parts of gaming, the lies, the sexism, the juvenility, and the terrible design choices. DNF is undebatably one of the worst games of all time and certainly one of the bottom three of this generation (the other two being Amy and Aliens: Colonial Marines), and EA had absolutely nothing to do with it. Sexism can be seen in many games, such as Dead or Alive 5, which contains many extremely oversexualised female characters, some of whom have the added creepiness of being designed with the face of a child, and while thats an issue that cannot be fully explored here it is worth noting that this level of extreme misogyny is not present in any EA title. Yes it would be nice to have female soldiers in battlefield, but EA have never been trendsetters and they wouldnt want to risk being the first to have female soldiers out of fear of alienating anyone (whereas in reality it would likely bring in more buyers), yet that isnt expressly sexism, just simple, good old fashion stupidity. While DNF laughs at the concept of rape and contains some of the most tedious gameplay EVER, EA have a history of publishing consistently enjoyable, non-chauvinistic titles that, on occasion, are actually quite socially progressive. Mass Effect 3 was the first AAA game to allow players to be in a homosexual relationship, while all the relationships themselves, even if you choose to have one with psychopathic telekinesist Jack, are more romantic than sexual. While EA tend to be a frightened publisher, sticking to old formulas that work rather than going out in the open and trying anything adventurous, nothing theyve done has actively damaged society or promoted ideologies of superiority of race, sexuality, or gender, with ME3 actively promoting equality among all three of those categories. So yes, EA makes mistakes. They shoe-horn DRM where it doesnt belong, they change games from being unique to drab and grey, and they have a habit of producing excessive, mostly unjustified DLC; yet, despite all that, EA are a good publisher that consistently produce high-quality games. This doesnt give them a get-out-of-jail-free card however, next time they screw over their audience I expect, nay, urge you all to jump on them, not because theyre an evil company, but because its only by pointing out their mistakes that we can hopefully prevent them from being repeated. EA are scapegoated far too often and while they may not be perfect, no games company is. Well, apart from Valve.... What are your opinions on EA? Has this article helped change your mind about the publishing giant? Share your thoughts in the comments.