EA to unveil Origin

PoD · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:02

What annoys me the most about this is that I will need to add everyone with an EA origins account as well as Steam.

I like the competition, but I don't relish having multiple clients slowing my computer down.

Also I own all the EA games that I want to buy already

daninthemix · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:11

Another vote from me - I won't buy Crysis 2 unless it's on Steam. In fact I'm a Steam-only gamer nowadays and that won't change just because EA decides to wave their **** about.

BombayMix · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:12

madindehead said:
This is more EA being idiots, that Valve getting a bit of their own medicine. EA still pick up the bulk of the sales profit via Steam, and they don't have to worry about managing any of it! This really is major stupidly on EA's part. I don't see why games can't be released on all digital platforms, and you know, let the CUSTOMER choose where we want to buy from.

Because EA want to keep ALL the profits to themselves and not give any to Value. It the same argument other companies for not liking Steam.

orderoftheflame · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:17

Very annoying, not really enough to stop buying a game I want to play yet though. Have to see what other decisions they make regarding about it before BF3 is out.

chuck990 said:
is it just me that hates steam then?

Your certainly in the minority. I don't get what there is to even dislike about Steam, let alone affect me enough to actually "hate" it...

Kazz · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:20

*Kazz attempts to predict the future*

EA announces BF3 as Origin only

£39.99

Poor sales

They blame piracy

We "LOL"

Marky · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:23

ic1male said:
And... here we go!

Crysis 2 is the first casualty. It has been removed from Steam.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-15-eas-origin-reclaims-crysis-2-from-steam

Stupid move from EA - Personally, I don't buy physical copies any more, and the only place online I buy from is Steam - So they've lost my potential purchase there.

There is no point in having two game distribution platforms - Steam has become too big to compete with... It's like when Microsoft (or I guess they still are) tried to compete with Google with their own search engine, Bing. Pointless.

The sad thing is - I am really going to want to play Battlefield 3 - But I suspect it will be sold on "Origin" and if you buy a physical copy, you won't be able to play unless you play through Origin first

madindehead · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:35

BombayMix said:
Because EA want to keep ALL the profits to themselves and not give any to Value. It the same argument other companies for not liking Steam.

As far as I know though, Valve don't take big percentages on sales via Steam. They reason they make a lot is because they get lots of small percentages.

Antar Bolaeisk · 15 Jun 2011 at 11:35

Just tried it out there now and I'm already sick of that circle thing spinning around. The client seems to take an age to do anything!

On the plus side I was able to add some of my boxed games to my account, namely Dead Space and Mass Effect 2 although I couldn't add Crysis or Mass Effect 1. For some stupid reason though you need to restart the client for the games to appear in your "My Games" section. I also need to have the cd in for Mass Effect 2 but this could be because it picked up on the game having been previously installed so a re-download might fix that.

You can add friends straight away from Facebook, PSN and xBox/GFWL which is a nice feature though it didn't add any for me.

For some odd reason the website has a tab for special offers but this doesn't seem to be available in the client even though the offers really only include DLC at the moment. They could have done with a killer offer to get people excited, even Microsoft got this right with the GFWL marketplace.

I can't have a space in my name and I can't choose my own avatar, these are basic things, get them right please.

The in-game overlay is very snappy and has the basics, friends and a web browesr, nothing new here either.

It's still in beta and while I may have been a little bit rash to proclaim the lost sale thing earlier I'm not very impressed at the moment. There's nothing here which would make me want to use it, Steam does all this for me already and better.

Muzy · 15 Jun 2011 at 12:26

Antar Bolaeisk said:
You'll probably still need to use Origin to activate it or something stupid.

what is this ? I don't like having two separate libraries for my games.

Any news on steam version ?

ic1male · 15 Jun 2011 at 12:38

Antar Bolaeisk said:
The in-game overlay is very snappy and has the basics, friends and a web browesr, nothing new here either.

Where's this come from? I thought Origin was just a rebranding of the EA download manager. Is this in-game overlay new? Do you have to install some kind of client?

James J · 15 Jun 2011 at 13:32

Installed this last night and completely forgot about the C&C 3 game I had on my EA download account thing which I noticed in "my games"

.

However, the prices for most of the games are pretty rubbish compared to not just steam but e-tailer physical copies which are VASTLY cheaper in some cases :S

Antar Bolaeisk · 15 Jun 2011 at 14:13

ic1male said:
Where's this come from? I thought Origin was just a rebranding of the EA download manager. Is this in-game overlay new? Do you have to install some kind of client?

Yeah, there's a client you can download which has an in-game overlay thingy.

welshdragon · 15 Jun 2011 at 14:50

daninthemix said:
Another vote from me - I won't buy Crysis 2 unless it's on Steam. In fact I'm a Steam-only gamer nowadays and that won't change just because EA decides to wave their **** about.

If I buy Crysis 2 retail, can I add via steam or do I need the new EA client?

dmcg · 15 Jun 2011 at 14:52

welshdragon said:
If I buy Crysis 2 retail, can I add via steam or do I need the new EA client?

You can add any retail EA game to origin

orderoftheflame · 15 Jun 2011 at 14:57

welshdragon said:
If I buy Crysis 2 retail, can I add via steam or do I need the new EA client?

You couldn't have added it on steam beforehand.

How far back can you go with adding retail EA games? Can I stick 1942 on there, or is it limited to recent games?

orderoftheflame · 15 Jun 2011 at 14:59

ic1male said:
Where's this come from? I thought Origin was just a rebranding of the EA download manager. Is this in-game overlay new? Do you have to install some kind of client?

Its been in EADM for a few updates beg they rebranded it. It's the same program still.

clippa · 15 Jun 2011 at 15:00

welshdragon said:
If I buy Crysis 2 retail, can I add via steam or do I need the new EA client?

Just install the game, you don't need either.

Gimpymoo · 15 Jun 2011 at 15:04

Evilsod said:
Steam became more than that over time and is basically the only service to offer the 'bloated' bits properly in conjunction with the digital delivery stuff. This is just EA trying to jump on a bandwagon that left without them years ago.

Agreed.

El_Commi · 15 Jun 2011 at 15:45

Antar Bolaeisk said:
For some stupid reason though you need to restart the client for the games to appear in your "My Games" section.

Right click on the "cogwheel" and select "refresh my games". No need to restart Origin.
Not sure how old games work on it. I Have BF 2142, Bf2, and Sim City 4 on it though. I'm fairly sure it may only apply to games which they already offer the DD for.

Klo · 15 Jun 2011 at 16:03

I understand EA and other companies not liking the 30% or whatever Steam takes from them, but why don't they remove their games from retail as well then? Retail takes considerably more than 30% away.