While PC gamers are getting understandably excited about one of the year's biggest releases, which is guaranteed to have standards-setting graphics at least, there's a kick in the teeth waiting just around the corner. EA and Virgin Gaming have teamed up to launch a massive BF3 contest with $1.6m in cash and prizes - for consoles only. Yes, you read that right. And the reason? Consoles are the "gold standard". That's the aging console platforms reported on TechPowerUp a few days ago. GameStop's president Tony Bartel said in an interview with IndustryGamers:

We continue to believe that the console is a strong platform and will continue to be the gold standard.

The competition website excitingly states:

The biggest, most realistic, room-shaking FPS ever demands a tournament that will always be remembered," the contest's sign-up page brags. "That's why Virgin Gaming, and EA DICE have come together to bring you an online competition you'll be telling your grandkids about. So strap on your boots and check your magazine-when the spoils of war are this rich, you can bet things are gonna get messy.

That page then goes on to include links for PS3 & XBOX360 to register, but not the lowly PC. On top of that, it won't even be available on Steam, but gamers will instead have to sign up for the competing EA Origin platform.This strategy appears to make no sense. Why spend all that money on developing the game only to alienate a massive market segment, even if it's perceived to not be as big as the console one? It will very likely sell massively well to PC gamers regardless, but wouldn't it have made even more dollars by not artificially restricting the competition like this? This goes to show the arrogance and contempt that some big companies show towards their customers and EA is no stranger to controversy, restrictive DRM issues being a major source.