Obsessed

March 3, 2012 EA Games, Showtime, Sims 3 No comments

It is that time of year when obsessions of the absurd kind take over my brain. This month’s obsession is EA Games’ greed. EA’s marketing department is a monstrous snake that keeps looking for ways to squeeze every last penny from our wallets.

Which is why I am so angry about The Sims 3 Showtime. EA has brazenly revealed their ugly appetite for more money. They no longer think of us as individuals enjoying an afternoon as gods in our Sims’ lives. We have turned into 22,000,000 Facebook users who tested the Sims Social game. That huge number is buyer potential. If each one of us plunked down a dollar for that app, EA would gross $22,000,000. (The app is actually “free”.)

Not only are they banking on the numbers Facebook drew in, they seem to view Sims players as Facebook fanatics and turned our personal pages at The Sims 3 Official Website into Facebook clones. And we’re expected to love EA’s choice in its site’s new direction. Personally, I hate even going there now; I am so offended by their force-on-us Facebook  change. (You can see an example of this style here: cshaman89.)

What do I see as their next step to squeeze more money out of us? Showtime itself is based upon the biggest home entertainment business today: Live Musical Contest Shows. NBC’s “The Voice” topped the charts in February with 37,600,000 live viewers followed by Fox’s American Idol with 18,500,000 viewers for one night. Again, every single one of those individuals added up to double digit millions which tells EA this is what the next big expansion pack ought to be. And that’s exactly what they did.

EA did not stop there. They employed a wildly popular singer with the teeny-boppers, Katy Perry (which, I’m sorry folks, I had never heard of until EA created a Collector’s Edition—for an additional $10— using her name). Katy’s 2nd album titled Teenage Dream sold over 2,000,000 copies in the US and is “certified” twice as Platinum. More big numbers, more big dollar signs in EA’s glinting eyes.

If that marketing strategy fails, EA is banking on our addiction to their bread-and-butter games to cover any losses they may have. By addictions I mean this:

  • The Sims franchise has sold over 150 million copies in 12 years.
  • FIFA has sold over 100 million copies in 19 years.
  • The Madden series has sold 90 million in 24 years.

That’s a lot of years. The EA maw opens wide and chugs down the money we, the sheep, mindlessly dump into it. We’re so addicted, we shell out money without thinking. EA knows this. For example, on March 6th, they will release Mass Effect 3. You will go to your local game store (or receive it in the mail or download it from EA’s Origin) and buy the game for $60. But wait. To get the rest of the game, you will have to spend an additional $10 for the same-day release of ME3 download content. Aren’t you outraged by this ploy?

But we will do it and we will do so without thinking unless we, the masses, the tens of millions of sheep, vote against it; with our money. It is the only thing EA (and corporations like them) listen to. Profit and loss is their language. We have to get off our franchise drugs and start protesting EA’s corrupt philosophy. Don’t you want to stop being viewed as a banknote? Don’t you want respect as a customer?

Many of us who have supported the Sims, loyally, for 12 years, did not invite American Idol or Katy Perry or Facebook in our dollhouses. We simply requested an expansion pack like Sims 2 Seasons. EA created an open world Sims 3. I can walk from house to house, knock on doors, visit other Sims families, go to the park, go to a movie, go to a sports event. What is missing from this open world? Weather. Stormy days. Autumn days. Snowy days. Weather is a perfect fit for the Sims 3 open terrain. I know people who wrote to EA, asking for this expansion pack. I have read forums where many others complain that EA did not listen. Instead EA decided to cram social networking down our throats because they believe that’s what the sheep want and in turn, make EA the most money.

EA is greedy. EA is clever. EA is licking its chops, attempting to create a market based in areas of society where the huge number lay. Facebook, TV entertainment, Celebrity pull. EA does not show customer loyalty. EA does not listen to the millions who purchased their games faithfully for 12 years and gave them the bread and butter franchise in the first place. They use us for money, hoping our apathy and sheep mentality and addiction will keep feeding them.

Don’t be a sheep. Don’t believe you have to take what EA gives. Not matter which EA game tempts you, rein in your addiction and start voting with your pocketbook votes. The snake will be forced to listen.

 

Where Have I Been?

February 24, 2012 Cancer, God, Life Force, Prayer No comments

A month long intermission of recovery time from my surgery: that’s where I have been. Knowing I might be facing a life threatening disease such as the “c” word, is enough of a reason to inhibit some good macrothinking. All my focus swung onto my possible demise and away from those meaningless ponderments of the game universe. The good news is, I am in good health. A little spooked. A little shaken. Definitely more appreciative of my mortality and the people I love. Thank you all for sharing your good will and prayers, not that I am a believer in prayer, but I’m optimistic enough to think it sure can’t hurt.

During a crisis, prayer is the one thing I do when I can no longer think up what else to do. My inner child rises up and zips me back to Catholic days of kneeling with folded hands, whispering Hail Marys over and over as fast as I can, wondering if there really is somebody out there listening, who can make a difference.

I’m not so sure I believe in an omnipotent God but I do believe in the Power of Life. I call it The Life Force and picture it as a golden glow bonding all living things together. It is what makes us fight for breath when drowning and vote against the death penalty. It is having babies and having organ transplants. It is the frenzy of an emergency room and the struggle of the antelope in the jaws of the lion. I am pretty confident The Life Force exists and it is the closest understanding I have for God.

Maybe praying to The Life Force can make a difference. Praying for those winning Lotto numbers. Praying that tree doesn’t fall on your house during a wind storm. Praying terrorists don’t set off a nuclear bomb in your nearby city. (Actually, I’m not so sure The Life Force really cares about your circumstances. I think it is more interested in preserving itself.)

The fact of the matter is, I dug deep into myself while facing the “c” word and felt raw fear. Mentally, I am not afraid to die, but physically? My body is. I could not stop the cold sweats that would come over me when I imagined my cells malignantly dividing and killing me. I told myself the odds were low of having cancer, that modern medicine would cure me if I did. My surgeon told me to take it a step at a time. My loved ones told me their intuition reassured them, I was okay. Suddenly I found myself on church prayer group lists. I hung on the words of cancer survivors and their experiences. I added up the genetic odds of what cancers runs in my family. I had taken for granted that I would live to be an octogenarian.

But it is true. I have hardy genes. I know of relatives who have survived their bouts with cancer. I have an aunt who is alive over 90. The results of the biopsy came back negative. I am off the hook for now. I can get back to living.

I thank the world for praying to God or just tugging on the sleeve of The Life Force. I repay by sending out my good wishes, my prayer, my tugging back.

YouTube And Big Business Copyrights

January 28, 2012 Copyrights, YouTube No comments

It’s happening already. Commercial music may become scarce on YouTube. Now how is new music going to get exposure without musicians using it with their videos? Will big entertainment companies take hits in sales by pulling copyrighted material from YouTube? 30 seconds at the iTunes store is not enough time to convince me to buy a new release, unless it is something I know. Where will we—who want new music—go to hear it? Are radio stations still being listened to? Facebook family and friends? Good old-fashion word of mouth? I am NOT a proponent of ripping off musicians and entertainment artists (and it is easy to strip videos of their MP3s); I am simply curious where this is going. Where are we going to hear the music? Like any good Macrothinker: wait and see.

BoingBoing: More Cracks In YouTube Takedowns.

Original Article via Hollywood Reporter

Simulated Social Networking

January 24, 2012 Games No comments

This picture was done by the artist AlexGarner at DeviantArt for Bioshock Infinite. Click on it for more detail and information. I really liked it and am looking forward to playing this new game from Irrational Games. According to Amazon, its release date is December 31, 2012. I figure, as quality as the game promises to be, it will come later than its due date. I don’t think it will come earlier and I imagine at E3 this year, it will be one of the top contending games of the show.

Did not find much happening at Twitter today. On the other hand, I did not spend much time at Twitter today, either. Instead I put my four CD collection of Skyrim OST on my iPod. Then I had to work on adjusting my sound system to pick up the rich tones of the music. For some strange reason, the bass on my system was turned down to zero. I have no idea why when it is bass that I love. I also boosted the treble a touch. Now the living room is rich in sound.

Also today . . . I broke down and bought all Stuff Packs for the Sims 3. Once again I was at  SimCookie drooling over the new world he is creating. It is called Parisian Life. The world uses all the Stuff Packs and I am pumped to play it. I might regret buying all those Stuff Pack. It means uninstalling my expansion packs to install everything in order. But I do love getting new things for my Sims.

Even though I wrote yesterday that I wouldn’t buy Showtime, truth is, this morning as I took out my night guard, I imagined my best friend and me sharing Sims with one another on the Showtime stage. She’d get to see the little Sim I created and nurtured to stardom. I can be a hypocrite? But not really. I believe in giving new things a try.

Speaking of trying new things, I decided to give Sims Social App on Facebook a go. There are 22,200,000 registered socialites at Sims Social. That is a HUGE number of accounts! I am always intrigued fascinated by big numbers of people and what they find interesting and exciting. On the other hand, I skeptical of that number. Does it represent spam accounts, dummy (test) accounts? How many of those accounts were created and are now inactive. Still, I’m sure EA has no complaints. Here’s the link: Sims Social on Facebook.  If you have a Facebook account, you may be asked to install a plugin. I chanced it and was taken to a setup page. I haven’t done it yet but I will give it a test drive, just to keep the macrothinking active. I think of it as an exercise to avoid growing old. Don’t want to be set in my ways so much so that I don’t want to try new things. The social network is like a new gadget; something exciting to mess around with.

Up & Running

January 23, 2012 EA Games, Showtime, Sims 3 One comment

Today I spent on this site, Macrothinker, doing up the WordPress theme, getting it just how I want it. For those of your who remember my old site, you will recall I created the website design using iWeb. I have given up on iWeb. I cannot figure an easy way to make for comments from the reader using that program. I decided to switch to WordPress. It has taken me about a day to get the files uploaded to the server, transfer the static pages of the original site to here, and get feeling comfortable with the change.

I won’t write much today. It is 4:00pm and my brain is normally dulled by the afternoon. I will leave you with a few thoughts about EA Games and the Sims 3.

I actually thought about purchasing the Sims 3 new expansion pack, Showtime, but it plays into a direction I have no desire to explore: social networking and stage entertainment shows. As I watched this YouTube video, I got the real feel of what this expansion pack is all about:

EA (Electronic Arts), the publisher of the Sims franchise, is no longer building or pleasing an adult fan base. They are aiming at underage kids. I am of the over 30 crowd. I am not into X-Factor/American Idol/Karaoke kinds of socializing and entertainment. I enjoy these shows in limited quantities on TV, but in a Sims game? Come on EA. This direction is juvenile. It is unappealing to a fan base that took over a decade to build.

The Sims franchise is extremely popular with kids. I know of a six and eight year-old who fight for turns at playing it. If this younger age group make up the majority of Sims fans and they buy into this Katy Perry, bubblegum Showtime, I predict EA will have a huge hit on their hands. If the majority of buying fans are from the old school Sims, EA stands to lose a ton of money because I think these fans will protest and not buy Showtime. Is EA banking on the younger generation to keep their franchise profitable while the older aged fan base gets disgusted and walks away?

I am disappointed. I am saddened. I am angry. A game I have loved for more than a decade is moving away from what I always adored about the Sims, what kept me coming back for more. The Sims’ simple formula of meeting up, dating, falling in love, marrying, making a family and seeing these tiny dollhouse people grow old has been lost in a sea of careers, glitz, disco balls, and bad singing.

I am positive this new expansion pack will be a hit with kids under 13. It may even be a hit with the 20-something crowd. These groups do not have a working memory of what the Sims once were. By creating an expansion pack that alienates the older generation of Sims fans, EA has effectively cut away a huge number of buyers. I think this marketing decision from EA business analysts is not only a big gamble but also a big mistake. I do not see the social network fad propelling EA’s profits. EA will miss the mark. The sales returns in March will prove it.

I am going to protest EA’s new “Cherry Chapstick” direction. No matter how tempted by my addition to collect more Sims 3 crap, my dollar vote stops at this expansion pack. Showtime will not grace my shelf.