BF2142: Are EA Games snooping around your hard-drive?
(YOUR BEDROOM) Geek-rage reaches almost apocalyptic levels with allegations that EA Games' new blockbuster 'Battlefield 2142' is designed to rummage through your hard drive and mine data which can then be sold to third-parties (presumbaly marketing agencies). This presumbaly so that you can be bombarded with adverts - as well as rocket-propelled grenades.
Now, I'm not a gamer. I don't dislike games and I even owned a Playstation a few years back, but I'm not a fan of hovering over a plasma-screen nipple, whiling my life away screaming at small pixelated characters. But a few months back a friend of mine (who is a whopping great game nerd) introduced me to Battlefield 2. It's stunning. And more addictive than crack-cocaine. The first truly extraordinary gaming experience that I ever had: real-time, on-line collaborative gaming with breathtaking, entirely immersive environments.
Braaaaaaaaaains
As someone involved (during the daylight hours) in attempting to build learning communities, I could see endless possibilities. But mostly I just enjoyed blowing teenagers brains out with a high-powered sniper rifle, running up to their prone corpse, riddling it with bullets (they can still see you doing this as the clock counts down to their re-entry into the game) and scuttling off to do it all over again when they re-appear.
For the last year, there's been a significant buzz growing about Battlefield 2142: the follow-up to BF2 and the original Battlefield 1942. We were promised jaw-dropping graphics. Bed-wetting gameplay. Pants-creaming big stompy mech machines. The most awesome gaming experience ever. The game was so good, the hype told us, that Jesus himself was going to descend out of a hover-chopper and grab a shotgun. So, it was with baited breath that last weekend I played the demo. And well, the Globaleyes one-word review says: 'meh'. A thoroughly under-whelming experience.
More Braaaaaaaaaains
But the part of this story that really grabbed my attention, was the cacophany of nerd-screams echoing around the web about the manner in which EA (the games maker) are alleged to be invading your privacy with Battlefield 2142.
The Kotaku blog reports:
'When you open the box, a big slip of paper falls out first, preceeding any discs or manuals. The slip of paper says, essentially, that 2142 includes monitoring software which runs while your computer is online, and records "anonymous" information like your IP address, surfing habits (probably via cookie scans), and other "computing habits" in order to report this information back to ad companies and ad servers, which generates in-game ads.
Now, I can live with certain in-game ads (though apparently there will be Dodge truck and Neon ads in the bleak, futuristic world of 2142), but including a lengthy description - outside of even the Eula - seems to indicate even EA knows that this is some shady borderline spyware shit. I don't support it and won't be buying 2142 (for a host of other reasons, too).'
Maaaaaarketing
Is there anyone out there who can confirm or deny this? Are EA Games snooping around in your hard-drive? Are they mining data to sell on to marketing agencies?
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Comments
Theres a great comment from the EA re the adware :
""The agreement with Massive is a first step in a detailed strategy for serving advertising in a seamless format that doesn't disrupt game play," EA vice president of online commerce Chip Lange said . "In places like a basketball court, football stadium or roadside in a racing game, advertising is not only nice to have, but it's an essential component to create the fiction of being there."....
..yes but not if the game's set 150 YEARS IN THE POXY FUTURE it doesnt!
Also "Jesus himself was going to descend out of a hover-chopper and grab a sniper rifle."
pishaw! ...sniper??..everyone knows that JC plays as a medic ;)
Posted by: dr_b | October 19, 2006 11:23 AM
quite right bob. in light of your comment i've changed the son of god's weapon to the more appropriate 'shotgun'.
Posted by: birdbath | October 19, 2006 11:26 AM