It seems like all those people that Electronic Arts fired along with the newly shut-down game developer, Pandemic Studios, were sacrificed for a greater good. Or not necessary something good, but obviously for something that EA thinks will be more profitable. Apparently, in its opinion, a game store dedicated to a single game will bring it more money than 1,500 employees and an entire game studio. No matter how you think of this, it's a huge insult to the people it laid off.

Still, EA went ahead and did it anyway, and the EA stores for EA Sports Active and the new EA Sports Active: More Workouts were opened on November 15. The two stores sell only demo units for the two games and also provide "active trainers," present to showcase the titles for potential customers.

The stores won't be around long enough to be effective, no matter how you think about it, considering that they will be closed down on December 14. Making a store and giving it a life of only one month seems really bad for business, and even a worse move as far as the potential profits go.

This could only be a sign that EA is either into pain and suffering, considering that it enjoys losing money, or that it just likes shutting things down. The stores are, obviously, a publicity gimmick, but you have to wonder just how effective they are. With all the cutbacks the company has been forced to make, you'd think that it'd be a lot more careful with the money it spends. But this doesn't seem to be the case at all with these stores.

You can find the two addresses for the two stores below, just in case you might want to check out just what EA Sports Active is all about. Both stores will work from Monday through Friday, starting at 12 pm and closing doors at 7 pm. On Saturday and Sunday, they open up at 10 am and close at 6 pm. (photo provided by Carrots 'n' Cake)

San Francisco
39 Stockton Street San Francisco, CA 94108

Boston
156 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02116