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According to a recent poll, tech (and tech-related) companies are considered some of the worst in America. Candidates for criticism include Electronic Arts, Comcast, Best Buy, Gamestop, Sony, and AT&T. The poll, conducted by consumer affairs ... blog The Consumerist, asked which company should be considered the worst in America. An incredible 250,000 people responded, leading to some shocking results. Sony, Google Escape Humiliation Some of the firms that 'qualified' for the 'tournament' (which The Consumerist organized into an NCAA basketball March Madness-style bracket), included Netflix, ... (view more)

Last week I reported that Electronic Arts, the largest and most powerful video game publisher in the world, had cancelled plans to open a new studio in lovely downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. Well, it seems EA's problems run much deeper -- in ... fact, the game company recently announced it will lay off a large portion of its workforce. According to reports, EA will eliminate one-tenth of its entire workforce as part of a broad restructuring plan meant to maximize profits and stop the bleeding caused by a dragging economy and slow holiday sales. Although this is not the first word of EA's ... (view more)

Despite its line of popular holiday sports titles and a few new favorites (including the critically-acclaimed Dead Space), even video game giant Electronic Arts has hit a patchy skid due to the slowing U.S. economy. The company recently revealed ... that it has cancelled plans to open a new studio in Vancouver, British Columbia. For those of you unfamiliar with Electronic Arts, or EA, the company is by far the largest games publisher in the world. Franchises like Need for Speed, Burnout, Madden NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB routinely top sales, and in the case of NHL, ratings charts. Despite the ... (view more)

Electronics Arts is facing an angry backlash from gamers for putting DRM restrictions on its popular game 'Spore'. The game, based on evolution, has been generally well-reviewed and early sales were strong. It doesn't allow online game-play as such, ... but there are many official online features, including the ability to upload clips of your character in action directly to YouTube. Hoping to crack down on piracy, EA set up a system where the game has to be authorised over the Internet, both the first time it is used and the first time a player uses the online features. The firm allowed players ... (view more)

Scrabble is finally coming to Facebook. If that surprises you because you thought it was already there, Electronic Arts (EA) lawyers would probably like to call you as a witness. As we reported back in January , the popular Scrabulous feature on ... Facebook is entirely unofficial. Like most Facebook add-ons, it's run independently -- in this case, by two Indian brothers. They are estimated to make around $25,000 a month selling adverts which appear beside the game. Given the obvious legal difficulties involved in profiting from another firm's game in this way, the pair specifically avoid the ... (view more)

Massive, video game advertising supplier and subsidiary of Microsoft, announced last week that it has solidified its advertising agreement with video game publisher Electronic Arts. The deal lasts until 2010 and assures prominent advertising in some ... of the most popular video games on the market including the "NHL, "Nascar" and "Need For Speed" franchises. While in-game advertising is still a fairly new and somewhat untested medium it promises to be extremely popular with marketers because it targets the oft-pursued demographic of 18-34 year old men. (Source: next-gen.biz ) In a statement ... (view more)

When a company as powerful and influential as Electronic Arts (EA) gives its seal of approval, people stand back and take notice. As previously reported on Infopackets, Apple recently added video games to the growing list of media that can be ... downloaded for the iPod from the iTunes web store. Now EA is putting its full weight behind Apple's portable unit. "Consumers have an appetite for a diversionary-type game experience -- a snack where they can play for five minutes," stated Mitch Lasky, the leader of EA's mobile gaming division. The iPod is not in competition with standalone portable ... (view more)

It seems I'm not the only tech writer interested in the phenomenal (and annual) success of Electronic Arts' (EA) Madden series. The National Football League-based franchise of games, released every August to armchair quarterbacks around the world ... (but predominantly North America) routinely dominates the yearly video game sales charts, and is now being compared by some to Hollywood's biggest blockbusters. When I wrote about Madden 07 a few weeks ago , I was particularly interested in the game because it so quietly seems to go about shaping the video game industry. Make no mistake, Madden is ... (view more)

Although yours truly reported a few days ago that the recently released specfications for the upcoming Nintendo Wii were a little modest -- and in some insiders' opinions, barely an improvement on the Gamecube -- the gaming industry's biggest ... developer is coming out in support of the system. Electronic Arts (EA), makers of everything from strategy to sports (including the massively popular Madden series) have gone public with not only their support for the Wii, but also candid statements about where it might finish in the next-gen showdown. Despite its reported sluggish specs, Nintendo's Wii ... (view more)

Electronic Arts (EA) is the dominant game publisher in today's console market. There has, however, been one genre that EA has yet to manhandle -- the immensely popular line of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or "MMORPGs." With that ... said, yesterday's announcement that EA has purchased Mythic games -- the developer behind the Dark Age of Camelot series and the upcoming Warhammer Online -- is proof that EA is interested in bringing MMORPGs to console gamers on a grand scale. (Source: gameSpot.com ) Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games: A bit of History MMORPGs ... (view more)