Tuesday, February 24, 2004
More like Electronic Farts
Let me get this straight: you are a big fan of Sony and are now defending EA? Just making sure...
If EA isn't the most evil video game company around, who would you say is? Who else has done less to move the industry forward while still reaping in a ton of money and creating popular opinion?
I'll make this quick since this is such a non-argument I don't need to waste my time defending my opinion.
First of all, since I only own two of Sega's 7 or so systems, I hardly think I am biased towards Sega in any way. Also, I am hardly anti Sony. Remember, I own both a PlayStation and PlayStation 2 and will fight to the death that the best and most important game released this generation is Grand Theft Auto 3, which was a PS2 exclusive until last Christmas.
In regards to the DC and its lack of developers, EA is the only major multi system developer that refused to make even one game for the system. I have my problems with Square but they were exclusive to Sony at that point. All the other major publishers, including Konami, Capcom and Namco, all made games for the DC.
You mention Sega doesn't have any great franchises, but somehow define great as games that are blockbuster sellers. Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Virtua Fighter, Shenmu etc are all great franchises made by Sega available exclusively on the DC that sold well. Not Madden well, mind you, but really well. And, they are all really good and innovated. Are there any other games like the ones I mentioned? Are there any other games like Madden or Medal of Honor?
The DC had three major system sellers at launch: Soul Calibur, NFL2K and Sonic Adventures. This is in addition to great games that may not sell systems like Powerstone and House of the Dead. All exclusive to the DC. It had the games and people bought it, for the most part. It was never a mainstream success, however, because it lacked Mario, Final Fantasy and Madden. Two of those franchises are system exclusive. One isn't. Do you see my point yet?
Even though NFL2K was better than any Madden game, it did not sell as well because of name recognition. I already established in my post that, with the advent of the PSX, video games have become mainstream. Because of that, quality no longer sells games (see Prince of Persia sales vs Matrix). It is marketing and licenses that sell now. Without name recognition games don't sell no matter how great they are. Ever wonder why Goldeneye sold way more copies than Perfect Dark?
I will not argue the online point since I haven't regularly gone online since NFL2K1 on the Dreamcast. However, why would EA need to partner with anyone? Why can't they make Madden online on Xbox as well as PS2? Could it be because they are in Sony's back pocket?
Rereading your post now, it shocks me how you continually miss my point about name recognition. No matter how good NFL2K is EA will always outsell it. The casual gamer does not care that NFL2K is better. They'll never even know it. They don't buy them in the first place to see if they are better.
Remember Madden 97 for the PSX? Neither do I. EA never released it because they saw 989 Studios make a 3D football game and decided to not even release their 2D game. It didn't hurt their sales at all the following year, however, because they still had almost a decade of name recognition behind them. So, while other companies do actually make better games than EA they don’t' have the, say it with me now, name recognition or marketing budget to even hope to compete.
If EA made great games this wouldn't be an issue. But they continue to churn out what is expected. They don't take risks. They don't strive for greatness. They are holding the industry back.
If EA isn't the most evil video game company around, who would you say is? Who else has done less to move the industry forward while still reaping in a ton of money and creating popular opinion?
I'll make this quick since this is such a non-argument I don't need to waste my time defending my opinion.
First of all, since I only own two of Sega's 7 or so systems, I hardly think I am biased towards Sega in any way. Also, I am hardly anti Sony. Remember, I own both a PlayStation and PlayStation 2 and will fight to the death that the best and most important game released this generation is Grand Theft Auto 3, which was a PS2 exclusive until last Christmas.
In regards to the DC and its lack of developers, EA is the only major multi system developer that refused to make even one game for the system. I have my problems with Square but they were exclusive to Sony at that point. All the other major publishers, including Konami, Capcom and Namco, all made games for the DC.
You mention Sega doesn't have any great franchises, but somehow define great as games that are blockbuster sellers. Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Virtua Fighter, Shenmu etc are all great franchises made by Sega available exclusively on the DC that sold well. Not Madden well, mind you, but really well. And, they are all really good and innovated. Are there any other games like the ones I mentioned? Are there any other games like Madden or Medal of Honor?
The DC had three major system sellers at launch: Soul Calibur, NFL2K and Sonic Adventures. This is in addition to great games that may not sell systems like Powerstone and House of the Dead. All exclusive to the DC. It had the games and people bought it, for the most part. It was never a mainstream success, however, because it lacked Mario, Final Fantasy and Madden. Two of those franchises are system exclusive. One isn't. Do you see my point yet?
Even though NFL2K was better than any Madden game, it did not sell as well because of name recognition. I already established in my post that, with the advent of the PSX, video games have become mainstream. Because of that, quality no longer sells games (see Prince of Persia sales vs Matrix). It is marketing and licenses that sell now. Without name recognition games don't sell no matter how great they are. Ever wonder why Goldeneye sold way more copies than Perfect Dark?
I will not argue the online point since I haven't regularly gone online since NFL2K1 on the Dreamcast. However, why would EA need to partner with anyone? Why can't they make Madden online on Xbox as well as PS2? Could it be because they are in Sony's back pocket?
Rereading your post now, it shocks me how you continually miss my point about name recognition. No matter how good NFL2K is EA will always outsell it. The casual gamer does not care that NFL2K is better. They'll never even know it. They don't buy them in the first place to see if they are better.
Remember Madden 97 for the PSX? Neither do I. EA never released it because they saw 989 Studios make a 3D football game and decided to not even release their 2D game. It didn't hurt their sales at all the following year, however, because they still had almost a decade of name recognition behind them. So, while other companies do actually make better games than EA they don’t' have the, say it with me now, name recognition or marketing budget to even hope to compete.
If EA made great games this wouldn't be an issue. But they continue to churn out what is expected. They don't take risks. They don't strive for greatness. They are holding the industry back.
// posted by Tom @ 6:42 PM 
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