Daily News - 25th and 26th August 2011 - Forza 4, Gamestop and EA Origin

No Porsches in Forza 4 Thanks To EA

EA owns the rights to use Porsches in games, but that doesn't mean Porsches don't pop up in non-EA racers, with companies constantly sub-licensing them for their own games. Not Forza 4 though, EA aren't letting Turn 10 use them for the latest iteration of the racing franchise. Turn 10 had this to say:

"For Forza 4, we were looking forward to adding even more Porsche cars, and we were especially looking forward to featuring multiple Porsche experiences in our new Autovista mode. In the end, however, EA couldn’t see their way towards collaborating again. We’ve asked our contacts at EA to reconsider their position frequently and regularly over the last 18 months. We also reached out to various influential people in gaming to lobby on our behalf, and on your behalf, but that was to no avail."

It's a shame, especially because Forza 3 contained over 30 Porsches, but honestly these hardcore racing games have always seemed like a foreign language to me, so I don't know exactly how big a deal this actually is. I doubt the game will suffer, the past Forzas have all been met with great reviews, and I doubt this will be any different.

The game looks beautiful, this is an actual screenshot. No Porsches though!

Gamestop Apologise for Screwing Over Their Own Customers

In what can only be described as damage limitation, Gamestop today sent out an email to anyone who bought Deus Ex for PC in the period of time where they had removed the On Live Coupons (If you don't know what I'm talking about, the story is in the last news post). In fairness the compensation they're offering is actually great, with store credit and a special offer to everyone who bought the game:

Dear GameStop customer,
Earlier this week, GameStop removed a competitor's coupon from standard edition PC versions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a recent release by Square Enix. We were not aware that the product box would contain this competitor's offer. We regret the events surrounding this title release and that our customers were put in the middle of this issue between GameStop and Square Enix, the publisher of this game. And for this, we are truly sorry.

For your inconvenience, we would like to offer you a free $50 GameStop gift card and a Buy 2 Get 1 Free pre-owned purchase. We want to earn back your trust and confidence in the GameStop experience. Please bring in this email and your store receipt or order confirmation from GameStop.com and present it to a Game Advisor.

Sincerely,
Paul Raines
CEO, GameStop

With any luck, they won't make a mistake like this again... but I won't be holding my breath.

Ironically this is exactly what Gamestop did to PC copies of the game...

EA Quietly Change Origin's EULA To Be Less Virus-y

Origin's Terms and Conditions (or End User Lincesing Agreement - EULA) was worded in such a way that a few days ago the internet found that it had more in common with a virus than anything else, collecting personal information and allowing EA to sell it to anybody and everybody they see fit. The worst part was that there's no way not to opt out of this data sharing like on other download services. There is still no way to opt out of the data share, but EA have changed the EULA to be more user-friendly. It's a lengthy one, so maybe grab a cuppa before you start, you'll need the caffeine in your bloodstream:

EA knows that you care how information about you is collected, used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. Information about our customers is an important part of our business, and EA would never sell your personally identifiable information to anyone, nor would it ever use spyware or install spyware on users’ machines. We and agents acting 37683v1 on our behalf do not share information that personally identifies you without your consent, except in rare instances where disclosure is required by law or to enforce EA’s legal rights.

In addition to information that you give EA directly, EA collects nonpersonally identifiable (or anonymous) information for purposes of improving our products and services, providing services to you, facilitating the provision of software updates, dynamically served content and product support as well as communicating with you. The non-personally identifiable information that EA collects includes technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address) and operating system, as well as information about your Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware.

As noted above, this information is gathered periodically for purposes such as improving our products and services, troubleshooting bugs, and otherwise enhancing your user experience. This and all other data provided to EA and/or collected by EA in connection with your installation and use of this Application is collected, used, stored and transmitted in accordance with EA’s Privacy Policy located at www.ea.com. To the extent that anything in this section conflicts or is inconsistent with the terms of EA’s Privacy Policy, the terms of the Privacy Policy shall control.

Phew! Hate boring legal mumbo jumbo, but to sum it up basically, they worded some things badly, making them sound worse than they actually are. Hopefully this will mean Battlefield 3 on PCs is a bit more of a paletable prospect now and also, mentioning Battlefield 3 lets me post another screenshot of it!).

GORGEOUS!!! Oh, what? Uh yeah, EA suck, or something...