EA thinks Dead Space was too scary to be single-player

[Update: Despite what Penny Arcade suggests, I still stand by the prevailing assessment of EA’s words. The “scariness” was clearly presented as a negative. You don’t say, “they love the thriller game, but …” without the “but” referring to something less-than-positive. Co-op was clearly introduced to make these scared audiences more “comfortable” when playing.

The point is, EA’s got a really bad habit lately of suggesting all its games need the same features, and the same feel, in order to succeed. Which is silly.]

Electronic Arts has explained the appearance of co-op in Dead Space 3 by claiming audiences found the last two games too scary to play alone. Yes, you read that right — the game designed to be scary has to not be scary anymore. Keep reaching for the lowest common denominator, chaps!

“We were hearing feedback that they love the thriller game, but it was pretty scary, and the obvious next step was that they wanted to play with someone. So we introduced co-op into the game,” marketing boss Laura Miele told MCV. “The horror of Dead Space is still all there. It’s still true to its roots and no less scary, but people felt far more comfortable playing it with someone else than they did doing it on their own.

“Personally, I would rather go to a scary movie with my husband rather than sit at home with the lights out watching one on my own. We’re looking for that to reach out to consumers that perhaps were not open to Dead Space 1 and 2.”

Dear Electronic Arts, there are too many cars in Burnout, and could you make Mass Effect a little less heavy on the sci-fi? I prefer fantasy, so please put some orcs in it. THANKS GUYS!