I hope EA games gets their ass handed to them in court, really I do.

Everyone knows I'm not a fan of big companies that think they can control lives, and when those lives belong to geeks like me, I have a tendency to get in touch with the hate filled tree-monkey deep inside me. Enter EA Games and a tell-all blog post by the family member of an EA GFX designer. Let the anrgy, vine swinging, poo-flinging begin.

The background: Guy works for EA. when he's hired, the EA people get real 'evasive' about working hours. guy starts working normal 8hr shifts, 5 days a week. then his project enters "The crunch" (apparently an accelerated schedule when a project is behind on production).

from the original post:

Within weeks production had accelerated into a 'mild' crunch: eight hours six days a week. Not bad. Months remained until any real crunch would start, and the team was told that this "pre-crunch" was to prevent a big crunch toward the end; at this point... ...the project was dead on schedule."

then:

...they gave a specific date for the end of the crunch, which was still months away from the title's shipping date... That date came and went. And went, and went. When the next news came it was not about a reprieve; it was another acceleration: twelve hours six days a week, 9am to 10pm.

Weeks passed, another ending date came and went, then:

Now, it seems, is the "real" crunch, the one that the producers of this title so wisely prepared their team for by running them into the ground ahead of time. The current mandatory hours are 9am to 10pm -- seven days a week -- with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behavior (at 6:30pm).

so, 85 hour, mandatory work weeks, suspended vacation time becuase of "crunch" status, and here's the best part: EA SAYS YOU ARE EXEMPT FROM OVERTIME PAY

so now, we have lawsuits!

Slavery is bad yo, I hope EA takes it like a splintered, nail studded 2x4 up the backside!