I agree with EVERYTHING you said but here's the rub: Higher ups at EA are NEVER going to see this post and even if by chance they did they are going to turn to their fat as fuick accountant dude who has no idea wtf goes on in the real world gaming scene but knows what the chart says.
I put this in for comical effect but also to make a point. :P
These companies rely on pure chart numbers so much that if you were to take this away, the company would fall apart because they would have no idea how to run this company without them. In their eyes, it takes too much time and money to properly research these things and is far cheaper and easier to look at chart numbers for an often blind and poorly accurate representation of the current gamer population.
Why do you think the indie scene is booming so well in recent years? It's because they bring something NEW and ORIGINAL without the typical con-artist transaction schemes.
