Misplaced Priorities

H/t JR at the Stellar Parthenon BBS.

I understand that they have problems getting their games out on time, and getting them out finished, they buy up companies and destroy their ideas, and they routinely treat their employers like galley slaves, but considering the excesses of they banksters, or the the slapdash contracting at KBR (which literally electrocuted soldiers in the shower), it is a bit much for a poll to vote computer gaming company Electronic Arts the “Worst Company in America”:

Video game publisher Electronic Arts has a new feather in its cap: It has won The Consumerist’s Worst Company in America award.

The tournament rookie beat out America’s other most-hated companies by a landslide 64 percent vote. Rival honorees included Walmart, PayPal, Bank of America, and even fellow game industry villain, Gamestop.

A statement from The Consumerist, part of the nonprofit group that publishes Consumer Reports, noted that “while both Bank of America and EA drew consumer ire for their poorly-received practices of swallowing up smaller competitors and nickel-and-diming customers with up-charges and fees, EA’s success in this year’s tournament shines a spotlight on an industry that is often considered ignored by regulators, courts, and the mainstream media.”

“Some may look down their noses at the idea of voters picking a video game publisher as the Worst Company In America, but that is the exact kind of attitude that has allowed EA and its ilk to nickel and dime devoted customers for a decade,” said Chris Morran, Deputy Editor of Consumerist.com. “This is not just a few people complaining about bad games; this vote represents a large group of consumers who have grown sick and tired of being ignored and taken advantage of.”

There are plenty of companies that abuse and nickel and dime their customers, but the banksters blew up the world, and companies like Blackwater XE Academi murder brown people with impunity.

From all reports, and I know people in the game publishing business, EA is one of those companies that seems to fly in the face of the conventional wisdom that successful companies deliver good products that satisfy their customer needs.

But the worst company in America?

Puh-leeze!