EA offers “Work Around” for Madden PSP crash

[wraggster]

Source - Joystiq

Last week we received word that Madden NFL 06’s Franchise mode was causing a number of PSPs to crash. Late last night, an EA forum moderator posted a “Work Around” for this glaring flaw. Unfortunately, since no mention was made of a re-release, downloadable patch, or refund opportunity, we’re left to believe that this is EA’s permanent solution. In addition, EA claims that after a thorough investigation, they have determined that the shutdown-issue “isn’t a widespread problem.” What they’re sayin’ is, if you’re unfortunate enough to be one of the few gamers affected by this issue then just “work” with it.

[Takean]

While I'm not a super fan of most sports titles on consoles, this news is pretty disturbing. Its sad when corporations feel that if they make a mistake...consumers should be left holding the bag...no matter what. You pay money to enjoy a game to the fullest...not hope to get a game to its fullest. I think it woul be big of them to either:

A. Take it in the shorts...and recall any games that customers report having problems..and offer an updated version to them, free of charge.

or

B. Recall all the games from the shelves and ship out a corrected version.

Seeing how either of these options are not only morally right...as well as honorable to the custumer...but also expencive to do...I see why they have decided to make up a lie and say "its not that big of a problem".

Honestly...if what they claim is true..and there are just a few unlucky people out there..then that in itself shouldn't be a problem correcting..and not that expencive.

Way to go corporate america!!! Way to go! Truly your concern is your customers ;p

I look forward to the day that all this bites them in the butt.

[urchin]

Dodgy coding! It's quite easy to write code on the PSP that causes it to shutdown

[Psychondrius]

Takean is right. It shouldnt be that hard to recall even the copies in the store. I wonder what they are gonna do with the UMD discs (not the UMD case surrounding the media). They could SAVE money by recalling them and just opening the case and replacing the discs... that is if they do recall them.

[urchin]

Very expensive to perform a recall though. Probably cheaper to let the current stock sell out, meanwhile releasing an updated version and upgrading people who moan directly to EA.

[slayer2psp]

ive played the game a lot no trouble at all

[nonzero]

ive played the game a lot no trouble at all

Congratulations, you are part of the reason software companies can fob us off with rickety code.

[xuphorz]

i rented it, and it crashed every time i tried, so i returned it after 2 days and wasted my money on that crap code game

[geise69]

I do 3D animation for a living and at work I notice how easy it is to have some code crash your program or system. It's not that hard, and with EA always cranking out these games like McDonald's building a new location it's fairly easy to have this happen. A buddy of mine works at EA LA and he says that he hates it at Electronic Arts. The teams don't work that well together. Everyone is kind of out for themselves. They work crazy hours. So with work environments like that it's understandable for this to happen. That doesn't mean they have the right to just forget about the problem and not fix it. That's just bad businees. Then again that's EA. Not to surprising my buddy is looking for a transfer or another company.

[Takean]

I'm sure its easy for things like this to happen...nothing is perfect. But I do feel that if your making a product for people to buy...and you messed it up somewhere...then the problem really is on your shoulders and not the customer's. While a recall is totally out of the question..because there are some people whom the games runs fine..they should at LEAST, allow people to call in if their game is acting up..to replace it with an updated copy free of charge. To simple clame its not that big of a problem, then blow off those people that do have it...is not a good business practice.

But you know..life will go on, and they will continue to make millions, all the while screwing people over when its needed.

I just hope someday that it all comes back to haunt them.