EA raking in the cash... (1 Viewer)

[Kelley_B]

Anyone got a quarter I can borrow?????









I'd like to buy James a clue.

 

[Romier S]

Anyone got a quarter I can borrow?????

PS: Its a joke take it as such!

 

[Kelley_B]

Thanks Romier.


I wish I could talk a little more about what goes on behind the scenes, but its just not something that is proper to do as I'm sure BrianB will agree with me on that. But a lot of people would LOVE to dump the PS2 and develope for the Xbox, as it is a MUCH friendlier system to work with. Of coarse its more powerful and very familiar as its just programming for the PC. But what we(ie the developer, etc.) want to do is not always what is best. That is what is hurting SEGA, they need to do what EA did and follow the Green Road. Sure Orta's stunning, but it still would have played great on the PS2 and I bet SEGA could have made it look awesome on PS2 also, remember these are the guys who made the Saturn even look good at times. If you want to get mad at someone don't get made at us, Romier and I own all three....get mad at those who just own the PS2 and those who just own GameCube and those who just own Xbox. Speak with you wallet not with your fingers, becasue trust me EA, Sega, Sony, MS, etc...listen to your wallet a lot more then your post here.

 

[BrianB]

get mad at those who just own the PS2 and those who just own GameCube and those who just own Xbox.

It's all my fault!!

 

[Dan B]

Huh? What's wrong with speaking by not buying a system? That's the way cheapskates like Brian & myself make our statement.

 

[Rob_Pierce]

On the business side of things as it relates to EA, there is quite a trend developing in the industry that only the big games will get the sales. GTA, Madden, Harry Potter, Mario, Metroid, Halo, and the other top 20 games are getting roughly 50% of the sales, while smaller, niche games are not getting a very big piece of the pie. Expensive development and, more importantly, retail shelf space are forcing companies to trim their slate of specialty games and focus almost exclusively on just a few big titles.

EA is the master of this--very few of their games are poor quality and most appeal to the masses (5 of the top 16 sellers in December). Take Two has brought this approach to a new level with GTA, essentially their only big franchise (I know there are others), but making up almost all of their profits.

This might not seem like a big deal, but I think in the future we will only be seeing mass marketed games that don't take much risk or push the envelope, not innovative games that might not sell as much but introduce new ideas to gaming.

I'm curious, does anyone care? Is this a good Darwinian effect? I used to think not, but can't remember the last game I bought that wasn't at least close to main stream. Are fewer games with higher quality better than more games with only a few winners?

FYI, EA is the only publicly traded video game company whose stock is up in 2003 (almost 3%), most companies are down 10% or more in January alone. Take Two has the best 1-year return at almost 10%, EA is second with -10.5%, most were down 40% or more from Jan 2002-Jan 2003. The Interactive Software industry in general was down about 35% in 2003.

Anyone want to bring back the old NES game Wall Street Kid?

 

[Dave Falasco]

Perhaps this is too pat a summation, but would it be fair to say that EA's multiplatform strategy results in higher profits at the expense of top-notch games, and Sega's console-exclusive one results in better games at the expense of profits?

 

[Romier S]

Perhaps this is too pat a summation, but would it be fair to say that EA's multiplatform strategy results in higher profits at the expense of top-notch games, and Sega's console-exclusive one results in better games at the expense of profits?

To an extent Dave, but quality does not need to be sacrificed if you port a titles to another system or take on a more multi-platform strategy. There needs to be a good marriage of both.

 

[Dan B]

The problem is the consumers, not the developers. Look at the facts; people are buying a lot of crappy games and/or games with licenses that the mainstream audience has heard of. It's a result of the expanding demographic of videogame consumers.

 

[BrianB]

Huh? What's wrong with speaking by not buying a system? That's the way cheapskates like Brian & myself make our statement.

I may be a cheapskate, but I'm not making any kind of 'statement' with my choice of nextgen platform.

 

[BrianB]

would it be fair to say that EA's multiplatform strategy results in higher profits at the expense of top-notch games

I don't think it's anywhere near as simple as that. For as much as certain people here rally against EA's games, they've released some very good games in the past months - Medal of Honour, Battlefield 1942, NFS:HPS2 etc. Even FIFA, traditionally slagged off as being rubbish, has reputedly shown a huge leap in quality compared to last year's iteration.

 

[Rob_Pierce]

You want to be a third party? Then be one. There is a reason EA is #1 in the world.

Romier, you hit the nail on the head. If a company that was once a major player in the hardware market decides to quit and make only software products, why wouldn't it aggressively target all major platforms? I don't really understand why they wouldn't broaden their base as much as possible. Am I missing something? Is this a Japanese thing or what?

 

[Rob_Pierce]

Side article:

http://insider.ign.com/teasers/384/384019.html

I'm not an IGN Insider member, but the first few paragraphs are an excellent idea for Sega. Talk about multi-consoles: Sonic v. Master Chief? Tails in Vice City? Come on people, this is a gold mine.:p)

 

[Kelley_B]

I may be a cheapskate, but I'm not making any kind of 'statement' with my choice of nextgen platform.

I though you were speaking out about how young and hip you are?

 

[Mark Evans]

Interesting article up at PlanetGamecube about the possibility of EA scaling back their sports line for the Cube and thereby injuring Nintendo's stock.

Can't say it surprises me though. I imagine that EA Sports titles sell the most copies down in the States and ergo more people are buying them for other systems. Sucks for those of us with just our Cubes, but then again I don't have any regular EA Sports titles so I suppose I'm part of the problem .

 

[Dave Falasco]

For as much as certain people here rally against EA's games, they've released some very good games in the past months - Medal of Honour, Battlefield 1942, NFS:HPS2 etc.

Yes, you are right of course. I didn't express myself very well...what I was going for was the fact that Sega takes the time to customize each of their games for the platform it's on, whether it's Super Monkey Ball or Gunvalkyrie or whatever, while EA develops for one platform and pretty much cut-and-pastes the game to the others. That's what I meant by top-flight games versus inferior, but far more profitable, clones. I wasn't trying to debate the relative merits of The Two Towers versus Panzer Dragoon or anything. Hell, you don't sell a billion freaking dollars worth of games by putting out schlock!

 

[Graeme Clark]

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...909866,00.html

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...909855,00.html

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories...909794,00.html

Another thing with EA is that since they ARE raking in so much money, and with so many franchises that are practically guaranteed to make money (IE Madden, Bond, Sims), it makes it much easier for them to release games on nearly all platforms, even if one of them might not be quite as profitable as another. This in turn can help drive out the competition's similar games to a degree.

An example of this is the PC Sports market. This genre is practically dead on the PC, with some series selling only in the 10s of thousands. But EA continues to support it since they can afford to take the loss, and if a profit is made, then it's practically a bonus. This in turn has made it very very difficult for any other publisher to break into the market (and many have tried).

Imagine how much better Sega's sports games games would have sold if EA hadn't created their series for the XBox? Although it probably didn't help the Dreamcast as a whole, EA not supporting Sega's last machine was probably the best way for Sega to get it's foot back into the sports market. And while their games have done fairly well, it unfortunatly hasn't been enough to hold off the EA juggernaught.

Sega definatly needs to rethink it's strategy. The exclusive games just isn't working, and the games just aren't being met with any type of enthusiasm by the average gamer (the amount of apathy I see towards Shinobi, Panzer, and Shenmue on a regular basis is pretty sad) and the sports games are probably not going to compete with EA's numbers for years. They're in a pretty bad fix.

Nothing that a super, all out, balls to the wall online Daytona game for every platform couldn't fix

 

[Dean DeMass]

For as much as certain people here rally against EA's games, they've released some very good games in the past months - Medal of Honour, Battlefield 1942, NFS:HPS2 etc. Even FIFA, traditionally slagged off as being rubbish, has reputedly shown a huge leap in quality compared to last year's iteration.

Now lets not forget two of EA's best games of last year, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and The Two Towers. Buffy is an exclusive for the X-box and is a great game with an incredible fighting engine (thanks to The Collective). However, it sold so poorly that it can already be had for $19.99. Now The Two Towers is another great game that is fun as hell and makes you feel like a part of the film (Just like Buffy makes you feel like a part of the show). However, it sold incredibly well on all systems.

I think Buffy will be one of the last exclusive titles we will see on the X-box from EA. I bet EA would have sold a whole bunch of copies of Buffy if they ported it over to the PS2 and the Cube.

-Dean-

 

[Andy Sheets]

I think Buffy will be one of the last exclusive titles we will see on the X-box from EA. I bet EA would have sold a whole bunch of copies of Buffy if they ported it over to the PS2 and the Cube.

Would have sold a bit better but nah, gamers are just too kewl to play some game about a chick named Buffy

 

[JoshF]

Would have sold a bit better but nah, gamers are just too kewl to play some game about a chick named Buffy

Yes, they're also too cool to play some game about:

1) A fat italian plumber named Mario
2) A goofy limbless creature named Rayman
3) A bunch of monkeys in balls
4) A bunch of scantily-clad man-toys who are supposedly professional volleyball players despite their fickle attitudes and whorish mannerisms

Yes, we're too cool.