@Crassmaster

You are right, other devs and publishers have done the same thing as EA, but at least they don't show such an indifferent attitutude as EA does to their customers.  Their attitude is that their customers are simpy cash cows to them and nothing more.  Yes..I admit, I can pirate EA games because i can, and so can anyone else for that matter, and no..it is not because i can't afford their games, but it is the simple fact that their security blanket they have used is not a blanket for them any longer.  But that is not the worse thing, when the fact that they have conintually use DRM while their customers have to beg and implore for them not to.  I don't think that is a very effective way to run your business.  And by the way, making money is not the sole reason for why one runs a business.

my point is that for ohter developers, i support and care about them because they deserve my business, but for EA, i don't, and so if my friend lends me a game that is EA, or if i have an EA game, i will lend out to a friend.  Other devs, i actually go and buy their games.  Whereas EA, they ahve a reputation of having more than just indifferent attitudes toward their customer base.   The people at Bethesda loves what they do and they show that they care and honest about copyright protection policy.  THey even made a public post on their forum stating that how the DRM is used, etc, etc.   Same with a lot of other developers.  But EA, don't.  Have i pirated EA games, no.  I am buying Dragon Age origins because it is coming from Bioware, because i know they make a quality product and they are passionate about what they do.  But would i care if someone comes along and give me a torrented copy of NHL 2010, the Sims to tried.  I would try it and i would not have care one way because i would not expect too much from EA given their track record. 

For what it is worth, as far as I'm concerned all the big dogs can simply vanish. They have manipulated the industry to the detriment of customers and fucked over gamers countless times. I don’t really see a need for giant publishers anymore to be frank. Especially those that compel developers to use bullshit on their products and severely limit the support and community interaction options and try to take away rights from gamers.

Small developers and publishers like SD and PI will do very well in my not so humble opinion with them out of the picture. The day of the "store box is king" is rapidly coming to an end. The multinational publishers in this industry are just like the ones in the music industry - dinosaurs in their last death flail.

And if it was Ubisoft, they'd release games with crap DRM, then try a game with no copy protection and not release the DLC to guarantee that fans of the game get pissed off, release the next games with worse copy protection than they'd been using before that, and wonder why nobody is buying their PC games.

I hate Ubisoft.  EA may have poor support, but their games work and get patched, their DRM is about average, and they make good games.  Certainly they've had problems, but they actually offer a good overall experience.  It's not my favorite company by any means, but lately they've gone up several tiers in my eyes.

Atari is hardly even worth mentioning.  I'm surprised they haven't just given up and liquidated the fricking company already.

I've only played GDI, except in Kanes Wrath of course.

I think the ex Westwood guys will make what games they want to make, just like any developers.  As long as they feel C&C is worth their time, they'll make more.