Category: Big Corps Are Evil (Page 9 of 14)

I previously pointed out this Escapist magazine article about EA and Origin. Seems that Greg Costikyan is even more critical of it than I was, saying that no matter what the problems were between EA and Origin, Trip was long gone before the dark days heralding Origin’s decline. Here’s his outsider viewpoint, on of all places, a Heroes of Might and Magic fan site.

Remember what EA stands for? It stands for “Electronic Arts,” and in its early days (e.g., when Trip was its co-founder and still running the joint), it ran ads asking “Can a game make you cry?” and actively promoting artists like Chris Crawford and Dan Bunten as the leading lights and innovators of a new form of digital entertainment. That EA stands for nothing like this today is an indictment of its current management – but not of Trip.

Greg is, once again, more correct and eloquent than I. There is, needless to say, serious history between Trip and the Garriott boys, but truth be told, that history has little to do with the winding decline of Origin Studios. In retrospect, it’s surprising that history was overcome when Origin was ACQUIRED.

There is a surprisingly blunt in-depth analysis in the Escapist about the history and eventual winding death of Origin. Long, too. It starts off with memories of a historical bitchslap.

Richard “Lord British” Garriott even worked an EA reference into Ultima VII (1992). Two high-profile nonplayer characters, Elizabeth and Abraham, perform seemingly helpful tasks for the player – but E. and A. turn out to be murderers in league with the player’s nemesis, the Guardian. The three items that power the Guardian’s evil generators are a cube, a sphere and a tetrahedron – the former EA logo.

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