That's corporatism. Not capitalism. We currently don't have a free market at all... It's controlled by a bunch of greedy assholes who have ties in the government who make laws that benefit them.
Well no. My marxist upbringing disagrees - no matter how little or much state control, it's still capitalism (ie the all-encompassing system of milking surplus value from a workforce).
- aaaand derailed, sorry. I hope the ~900 (!) former employees of EA hit the ground running!
Well no. My marxist upbringing disagrees - no matter how little or much state control, it's still capitalism (ie the all-encompassing system of milking surplus value from a workforce).
- aaaand derailed, sorry. I hope the ~900 (!) former employees of EA hit the ground running!
If you use that definition then any system (in practical application) falls into the category of milking surplus value from a workforce.
The only difference at the end of the day is who gets all that extra value/energy/resources. Could be a corporation or a government entity. There will always be someone who is greedy and exploits the system. It's human nature.
I'm not calling for de-regulation, I'm actually wishing that the government would enforce the laws that are in place and to stop playing fucking games where they are the ones walking away with all the cash.
For instance HSBC bank was caught literally funding terrorism and helping drug cartels hide their money. Instead of prosecuting them the current administration said that they are "too big to fail" and that it would cause too many problems if the CEO and others responsible went to jail. We're setting a precedent in this country for bad business. Mark my words we're going to see more of it unless the people wake up and demand a change.
Didn't they buy them for 1 BILLION???? I know the main office is in Seattle, and the Vancouver studio only did hidden object games, but still.
It's kinda Deja Vu...
As an EA employee at the time years ago, a TON of us workers were cocking our eyebrow when they bought Playfish for 300 million, then simultaneously layed off 1500 people.
I think EA has tries to buy into the current "innovation" (Facebook), but then it can backfire. I think Riccitiello did the right thing investing into Triple A games, but i think they need to hold true to what makes the origional so interesting (DA:O to DA2 and Dead Space to Dead Space 3).
I also think their expectations are a bit high. 5 Million needed to continue the deadspace francise? You need to cut your development time/cost waste, not employees. Much smaller studios making bigger games that need less to profit. (Witcher anyone?)
Didn't they buy them for 1 BILLION???? I know the main office is in Seattle, and the Vancouver studio only did hidden object games, but still.
It's kinda Deja Vu...
As an EA employee at the time years ago, a TON of us workers were cocking our eyebrow when they bought Playfish for 300 million, then simultaneously layed off 1500 people.
I think EA has tries to buy into the current "innovation" (Facebook), but then it can backfire. I think Riccitiello did the right thing investing into Triple A games, but i think they need to hold true to what makes the origional so interesting (DA:O to DA2 and Dead Space to Dead Space 3).
I also think their expectations are a bit high. 5 Million needed to continue the deadspace francise? You need to cut your development time/cost waste, not employees. Much smaller studios making bigger games that need less to profit. (Witcher anyone?)
Very true, management and production need to come together and figure out a viable production schedule and cut things wherever necessary. Sometimes in meetings you'll get looked at strange when you give a proper estimate for how long something will take to get done. But they still don't cut anything or try to figure out how to shorten the pipeline.
Replies
Well no. My marxist upbringing disagrees - no matter how little or much state control, it's still capitalism (ie the all-encompassing system of milking surplus value from a workforce).
- aaaand derailed, sorry. I hope the ~900 (!) former employees of EA hit the ground running!
If you use that definition then any system (in practical application) falls into the category of milking surplus value from a workforce.
The only difference at the end of the day is who gets all that extra value/energy/resources. Could be a corporation or a government entity. There will always be someone who is greedy and exploits the system. It's human nature.
I'm not calling for de-regulation, I'm actually wishing that the government would enforce the laws that are in place and to stop playing fucking games where they are the ones walking away with all the cash.
For instance HSBC bank was caught literally funding terrorism and helping drug cartels hide their money. Instead of prosecuting them the current administration said that they are "too big to fail" and that it would cause too many problems if the CEO and others responsible went to jail. We're setting a precedent in this country for bad business. Mark my words we're going to see more of it unless the people wake up and demand a change.
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/25/ea-closing-vancouver-studios-popcap-and-quicklime-in-latest-round-of-layoffs-report/
Didn't they buy them for 1 BILLION???? I know the main office is in Seattle, and the Vancouver studio only did hidden object games, but still.
It's kinda Deja Vu...
As an EA employee at the time years ago, a TON of us workers were cocking our eyebrow when they bought Playfish for 300 million, then simultaneously layed off 1500 people.
I think EA has tries to buy into the current "innovation" (Facebook), but then it can backfire. I think Riccitiello did the right thing investing into Triple A games, but i think they need to hold true to what makes the origional so interesting (DA:O to DA2 and Dead Space to Dead Space 3).
I also think their expectations are a bit high. 5 Million needed to continue the deadspace francise? You need to cut your development time/cost waste, not employees. Much smaller studios making bigger games that need less to profit. (Witcher anyone?)
Very true, management and production need to come together and figure out a viable production schedule and cut things wherever necessary. Sometimes in meetings you'll get looked at strange when you give a proper estimate for how long something will take to get done. But they still don't cut anything or try to figure out how to shorten the pipeline.