The US$9.95 EA Games Won’t Take // VOID-STAR.NET

The US$9.95 EA Games Won’t Take

See that? That right there? That’s the $10.55 — about US$9.95 — that EA Games won’t take.

Because, see, I was totally hyped up on account of the full version of the Spore Creature Creator becoming available for download today. So I grabbed my money (well, my credit card) and raced to their website to place my order.

Except, guess what? They apparently require a postal address from the US or Canada.

Um. What?

Am I mistaken? I thought this was 2008, not 1998. What the fuck kind of e-fucking-commerce website limits themselves to that kind of regional distribution? So I emailed their support and was told that EA.com do [sic] not possess the ability to ship orders outside of North America, Canada and Mexico due to trade restrictions.

Yeah. Right.

Of course, they have an Australian website… you just can’t buy anything from it. Because when it comes to video games Australia is apparently a fucking third world country.

And the thing is, the other day I told myself that — from now on — I would refuse to pay money for anything that didn’t have a simultaneous Australian release unless there was a damn good reason.

There is not a damn good reason why I can’t pay someone ten dollars to download a file.

So, sorry, Maxis. I love you beyond reason — almost as much as Blizzard, even — but you’re not getting my money for your game. In fact, I’m off to find a torrent of it right now.

If you ever want to join the rest of us in the 21st century, I’ve got $10 here with your name on it.

Edit

Wow, okay. I can’t even buy it off partner sites like Direct2Drive. So. Much. Fail.

Edit x2

Oh. My. God. Apparently the UK D2D site didn’t have region locking on the download at first. That got “fixed”. I totally don’t get it; why the hell are EA working so hard to lock out a segment of their market?

6 Comments

1. 

   806 days ago
   2 comments

   Nellie

   Apparently, a friend of my partner was able to download the paid version from EA.com without hassle and New Zealand is basically fourth world.

   But then again, his friend is a compulsive douchebag and he probably just told my partner that he paid the money for the download and just got it via a torrent.

   Save the $10 for the release of the actual game!

   • Reply
   • 

     806 days ago
     1,606 comments

     Dee

     You’d theoretically be able to do it if you had a foreign billing address; believe me, I tried (they wouldn’t even let me lie about my address then PayPal it). Unless they’ve changed it in the last hour or so. :

     Save the $10 for the release of the actual game!

     Fuck no. I’m obsessively vindictive; there’s no way I’m paying for the full game any more, nor anything else produced by EA. ONE STRIKE AND YOU’RE OUT, BITCHES!

     • Reply
2. 

   806 days ago
   11 comments

   Emalee

   I don’t understand the point of having an AU website, then. Just to look at? To taunt people? I mean, the fact they had an AU website was what made me think that maybe it was just the pre-order that wasn’t available to you.

   Unbelievable. I wouldn’t pay a cent in your position, either.

   • Reply
   • 

     806 days ago
     1,606 comments

     Dee

     Tell me about it. :

     That’s pretty typical in Australia, though; almost none of the major foreign retailers have online storefronts here for… some reason. Local retailers often do — right down to the local mom ‘n’ pop speciality store that takes orders via email and payments via money order — but the big ones, stuff like Borders for example, never do. I don’t get it.

     The games industry here is especially… “special”. In almost all instances it’s cheaper to order games from online Hong Kong stores than it is to buy them here in shops. Except for PSP games, for some reason…

     • Reply
3. 

   806 days ago
   102 comments

   Belinda

   That sucks. Maybe it’s got to with the trading situation with Australia and the US or something; we always get games late. We’re only getting Rockstar later this year but the game’s already been out for months and months. In fact, Rockstar 2 is coming out soon in the US. WTF.

   • Reply
   • 

     806 days ago
     1,606 comments

     Dee

     I can’t imagine that there’s a legitimate legislative reason for this; it’d have to have to do with EA’s internal release policies. It’s the same reason we get any game delay, the same reason movies used to be delayed (TV is a little different; the networks usually wait to see if shows are a success in the US before buying them, though even that’s changing). Artificial markets and legacy systems. :

     Not everyone does it any more; Blizzard and most MMO producers do worldwide releases, and IIRC the latest stuff from places like Bungie had them too. Nowdays it seems to be just a few straggling big name production houses that hold on to the tradition.

     • Reply