Lock and load guys!
gamepolitics.com reports that gamers are forming protest groups in order to exert political pressure on developers. I decided to take a look down the list and subject each of them to harsh judgement. Why? Because I do that.
1. Boycotting Battlefield: Bad Company
Sarcastic Gamer are calling for a boycott of Battlefield: Bad Company on the basis that Electronic Arts plan to sell extra weapons over XBox Live. Selling extra content for games isn’t new (enough people raged when it was done with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), but it’ll be interesting to see how this one pans out. At the time of writing over 540 people have responded, almost all saying that they won’t shell out for it.
It’s worth noting that, when you have convinced someone who has bought every previous incarnation of a game not to buy your latest one, you have clearly gone very badly wrong somewhere along the line.
Not a happy day for EA – UK gamers are furious at the £180 price tag on the full kit of Rockband (in the US it’d cost about £85). This price hike seems difficult to justify, and no one from EA has yet attempted to.
3. Missing Replacement XBox 360
It’s difficult to encourage people to boycott a console that they’ve shelled out hundreds of pounds for and fortunately the consumerist aren’t trying to do that. But they are rightly drawing attention to a case of Microsoft being sloppy – in this instance they didn’t send a replacement XBox but did send an invalid tracking number for a package that never arrived. In the consumerist’s latest article they recommend that the complainant take the matter to the small complaints court.
It’s important that as consumers we look out for our own interests. Fanboy rage, no matter how impotent it may seem, is important and does get heard. If you have a complaint against a video game company do write to them, and if they ignore you do write to the consumerist, sarcastic gamer, gamesindustry.biz gamepolitics.com, or us! If you want to get heard by other gamers and members of the games industry just kick up a fuss on our forums.
John
john@inx-gaming.co.uk
Play nice. After all, it’s your money.
