| Kantor said: Many things:
And yet, I would be fine with all of this, if EA weren't forcing me to use their crappy service to play Mass Effect 3. They can make as terrible a service as they like, but giving themselves exclusive games is spiteful and stupid (they will lose a great many sales by not putting it on Steam, many of them to piracy). |
I particularly didn't like the game launching through browser either. The first time I launched BF3 my first thought was "wait, are you f***ing kidding me?"
I should add though that it only launches through Internet Explorer when you're connected online. Origin does have an offline mode that goes straight to your game instead. Of course I'm guessing like 90+% of anyone playing BF3 is doing so for the online.
As far as I know, Steam also has region-locked sales. My only experience was when I tried to buy a game on my account while I was in Canada, and the order wouldn't process. That was back in 2008 so maybe now you can buy games through Steam when you're out of the account's country of origin, I don't know.
Pricing depends. As a new service, it's somewhat expected. Plus they don't have any old games, which are typically the ones practically being given away on Steam when they have their sales. In the futue, I'd expect Origin to match the prices of any game being offered on Steam if they don't want to lose sales. Over the holidays I picked up Arkham City for $25 and BF3 for either $30 or $40; I forget, but they do have sales. Alice was $10 I think.
