For the last few years, one of the great, largely unrecognized video game development teams was found in a little company located in the swamps of New Jersey at a company called Hypnotix. To those not familiar with Hypnotix and their games, they were the creators of the unheralded and very well done "Outlaw" series. If you played a golf video game in 2005 and didn't play Outlaw Golf 2, then you likely missed out on one of the best renditions of a golf game ever released. Yes, it had goofy characters, many of them very un-PC caricatures, but the core gameplay was fantastic
Before I ever became a member of these boards, I was a member at the forums for Hypnotix. The people there were an older group, very opinionated, but as colourful as they come, and always from a very twisted, unique and interesting point of view
Today I went to log in at Hypnotix, and I found a form letter, basically advising that one of the best kept secrets of the videogame world had been assimilated by the Borg that is EA (See for yourself....)
I think that there is nothing that makes me want to wretch more than the site of that logo anymore. They are everywhere and seemingly on a Borg-like mission to wipe creativity and innovation from the face of the videogaming map. If EA is now entrenched in the business of folding smaller developers into their company for the simple reason of brand extension, then I hate to tell you, we aren't going to see the kind of innovation that we have in the past
What made the football and basketball games from last year so good? It was competition. More developers equals more competition which equals more acceptance of risk and innovation to secure market. If you want great games, you want lots of developers in the market vying for your dollar. If you want "Yeah, well that was okay -- nice roster update" games, throw every cent you have at EA
Rather than looking at it from the licensed sports model, think of it in other genres. A lot of people like fighting games like Mortal Kombat, Dead or Alive, Street Fighter, Soul Caliber, etc. What if you licensed "fighting games" as a genre so that only one of those titles could exist on every platform? Hey I like Mortal Kombat, but if that's the only option how fast do I say "Man, this is lame"?
Variety is the spice of life my friends. Hypnotix made very well rendered and highly entertaining games. Now they are all being forced to churn out EA Maddenesque shyte in support of the Borg. Great for EA, bad for us
How much do you really want another Madden game in a different shirt?
You are already seeing the impact. Madden will be a rehash of the same game that we saw through the 2002-2005 editions. There has been little tangible innovation in that time. With competition, at least there was a reduction in pricing for the title. Without such, where do you see Madden 2006 starting as a price point? Hey look, right back to $50 USD and likely $70 CDN. I've argued for a long time that without competition these companies will not be motivated to raise the bar of their development. Why would they, there is no reason as we are now a captive audience without choice
A few years back I owned a Playstation. Back then it was just a Playstation, not a PS1. I played Madden on it, just like I did my Sega Genesis when I had it. I loved Madden, although there was a brief flirtation with SCEA NFL Gameday that I enjoyed, especially when they changed the face of football gaming by going polygonal. At the time EA carried on with sprite-based until the very absolute, bitter end and lost two years to a game that outdid them
A few years went by and the PS1 sort of lost its lustre for me. I had a modded system. I had oodles of games. Some were legit. Others, well I had a friend with various and sundry talents and, hey, they saved me money. Another friend offered me a sweet deal on a Dreamcast system about 4 or 5 weeks after it came out. The "package" included a couple of games NFL 2K and NBA 2K. There may have been heat coming off that system, but it may not have been the type that the on-board liquid cooling could have dealt with. Swallowing my civic pride, I said "sure" and began playing and being amazed by what I still say is one of the most under-rated systems ever. Just play Resident Evil Codename Veronica on that set-up and you'll understand
But I digress. I liked NFL 2K, it wasn't Madden, but it was pretty solid and I thought that it'd do until Madden made it's way to the Dreamcast. What I did play like crazy was NBA 2k and its follow-up NBA 2k1. I've never put in as much time on a game as I did on NBA 2K1. That game was crazy. The football tided me over and was pretty good, but not mind-numbing by any means
Roll forward a few years and a friend lent me his PS2 while I was out following a knee surgery. (Number 8 on the left side for those of you keeping score...). One of the games he lent me was Madden 2002. I went bonkers playing it, throwing down three seasons of franchise in four days. I loved it. It made me "itchy" to get back into video games. So a few months later, after careful consideration, I bought an Xbox just so that I could play Madden 2003, which for me is still the high point of the series. I loved that game. I also loved a little title that followed it called NCAA Football 2003. I even spent about 3 months entering every single player's name into the game just so it could be as "real" as possible. Man those were great days. I tried NFL 2K2 and 2k3. They didn't send me. I thought the series was dead to me
Then came NFL 2K4.
I wrote that on September 09, 2003. I still get goofy when I think of how stunned I was by the quality of that game. I can't think of another moment as clearly when I said, "This is what gaming can be". That game put me under a helmet for the first time in almost 20 years. For a guy who doesn't take a step without pain, you don't know what that represents. I still own Madden and NCAA Football 2004, but once I played ESPN NFL Football 2K4, I was sold
IN 2004-05, ESPN NFL 2K5 only solidified its standing in my opinion and I understand that others have their thoughts on this and choose other options for their football jones, whether that is Madden or Gameday or whatever. At least they had the choice
People who play Madden and people who play ESPN always battle about which game is better. "ESPN has players that move robotically", "Madden has players that look like playdough", on and on they drone. I don't honestly care who likes what. For me, the best game is what's playing in my system of choice. If I'm happy, I'm happy
This year, I'm not happy. This year and I don't care if Madden shows up with sparks flying out its wazoo, if I don't like the core gameplay experience, my only option if I want NFL football, is to go backwards
I don't fault EA for being a money-grubbing corporation. I now work for a money-grubbing corporation and I understand what they do and why. They are doing what they are supposed to do in order to satisfy the needs of their core and invested concerns; their shareholders. That's great for them, that they've cornered the market and made their bosses happy. It doesn't mean much to me sitting here in Guelph with no choice. It doesn't do much for the future, because there is no urgent need to grow. As gamers, we have been neutered by this development
Any Madden fan can debate the relative merits of Madden vs ESPN NFL with me. We're going to value different things and I've generalized the difference in those core audiences in one way; Madden fans like something that is, generally, always the same in their virtual football gaming, ESPN NFL fans want something that is different. That is about as simple as I can put it. As a company VC pushed the limits over the past few years well beyond what EA was interested in doing with their Madden property and no matter what any Madden fan tells me, they can't dismiss the fact that last year ESPN NFL 2k5 made serious in-roads into Madden's market share. If you tell me that any other reality acted as the precursor to EA's steadfast pursuit of exclusivity, I will tell you that you are fooling yourself. There have always been competitors hanging around. VC became a threat, that's why they needed to be stomped out
I understand the rationale from a corporate perspective, but the toll on us as a consumer group is singularly devastating.
So now expand your thinking and project down the road. EA now controls licensed football as we know it. You now have titles for NFL, NCAA and Arena football. But we are yet again on the cusp of a new generation of hardware and the drive to deliver profitability for corporations is never-ending. How soon is it before someone says, "why don't we roll the Arena league game into our Madden franchise? I mean, after all, the technology will support it, even if we have to downgrade some of the graphics/gameplay or whatever. If we do that, we can market it as EA Pro Football World." How soon after that does someone say, "Better yet, why don't we roll the NCAA game into EA Pro Football World and call it EA Mondo Football Globo-Universe?"
At that point it won't be about having one developer to play anymore. It will be about having one game in town and that will be it. That's where we are headed, my friends
If that works for some people, God bless their hearts. Enjoy "EA Mondo Football Globo-Universe" and the follow up with the roster update and the cool "Create a Sweatband" feature. You will have earned it
That idea doesn't work for me though, sitting here in the tiny vista of Guelph, Ontario
We aren't going to get there via exclusivity
Have fun............
Before I ever became a member of these boards, I was a member at the forums for Hypnotix. The people there were an older group, very opinionated, but as colourful as they come, and always from a very twisted, unique and interesting point of view
Today I went to log in at Hypnotix, and I found a form letter, basically advising that one of the best kept secrets of the videogame world had been assimilated by the Borg that is EA (See for yourself....)
I think that there is nothing that makes me want to wretch more than the site of that logo anymore. They are everywhere and seemingly on a Borg-like mission to wipe creativity and innovation from the face of the videogaming map. If EA is now entrenched in the business of folding smaller developers into their company for the simple reason of brand extension, then I hate to tell you, we aren't going to see the kind of innovation that we have in the past
What made the football and basketball games from last year so good? It was competition. More developers equals more competition which equals more acceptance of risk and innovation to secure market. If you want great games, you want lots of developers in the market vying for your dollar. If you want "Yeah, well that was okay -- nice roster update" games, throw every cent you have at EA
Rather than looking at it from the licensed sports model, think of it in other genres. A lot of people like fighting games like Mortal Kombat, Dead or Alive, Street Fighter, Soul Caliber, etc. What if you licensed "fighting games" as a genre so that only one of those titles could exist on every platform? Hey I like Mortal Kombat, but if that's the only option how fast do I say "Man, this is lame"?
Variety is the spice of life my friends. Hypnotix made very well rendered and highly entertaining games. Now they are all being forced to churn out EA Maddenesque shyte in support of the Borg. Great for EA, bad for us
How much do you really want another Madden game in a different shirt?
You are already seeing the impact. Madden will be a rehash of the same game that we saw through the 2002-2005 editions. There has been little tangible innovation in that time. With competition, at least there was a reduction in pricing for the title. Without such, where do you see Madden 2006 starting as a price point? Hey look, right back to $50 USD and likely $70 CDN. I've argued for a long time that without competition these companies will not be motivated to raise the bar of their development. Why would they, there is no reason as we are now a captive audience without choice
A few years back I owned a Playstation. Back then it was just a Playstation, not a PS1. I played Madden on it, just like I did my Sega Genesis when I had it. I loved Madden, although there was a brief flirtation with SCEA NFL Gameday that I enjoyed, especially when they changed the face of football gaming by going polygonal. At the time EA carried on with sprite-based until the very absolute, bitter end and lost two years to a game that outdid them
A few years went by and the PS1 sort of lost its lustre for me. I had a modded system. I had oodles of games. Some were legit. Others, well I had a friend with various and sundry talents and, hey, they saved me money. Another friend offered me a sweet deal on a Dreamcast system about 4 or 5 weeks after it came out. The "package" included a couple of games NFL 2K and NBA 2K. There may have been heat coming off that system, but it may not have been the type that the on-board liquid cooling could have dealt with. Swallowing my civic pride, I said "sure" and began playing and being amazed by what I still say is one of the most under-rated systems ever. Just play Resident Evil Codename Veronica on that set-up and you'll understand
But I digress. I liked NFL 2K, it wasn't Madden, but it was pretty solid and I thought that it'd do until Madden made it's way to the Dreamcast. What I did play like crazy was NBA 2k and its follow-up NBA 2k1. I've never put in as much time on a game as I did on NBA 2K1. That game was crazy. The football tided me over and was pretty good, but not mind-numbing by any means
Roll forward a few years and a friend lent me his PS2 while I was out following a knee surgery. (Number 8 on the left side for those of you keeping score...). One of the games he lent me was Madden 2002. I went bonkers playing it, throwing down three seasons of franchise in four days. I loved it. It made me "itchy" to get back into video games. So a few months later, after careful consideration, I bought an Xbox just so that I could play Madden 2003, which for me is still the high point of the series. I loved that game. I also loved a little title that followed it called NCAA Football 2003. I even spent about 3 months entering every single player's name into the game just so it could be as "real" as possible. Man those were great days. I tried NFL 2K2 and 2k3. They didn't send me. I thought the series was dead to me
Then came NFL 2K4.
Originally posted by K Bomber at videogamereview.com
IN 2004-05, ESPN NFL 2K5 only solidified its standing in my opinion and I understand that others have their thoughts on this and choose other options for their football jones, whether that is Madden or Gameday or whatever. At least they had the choice
People who play Madden and people who play ESPN always battle about which game is better. "ESPN has players that move robotically", "Madden has players that look like playdough", on and on they drone. I don't honestly care who likes what. For me, the best game is what's playing in my system of choice. If I'm happy, I'm happy
This year, I'm not happy. This year and I don't care if Madden shows up with sparks flying out its wazoo, if I don't like the core gameplay experience, my only option if I want NFL football, is to go backwards
I don't fault EA for being a money-grubbing corporation. I now work for a money-grubbing corporation and I understand what they do and why. They are doing what they are supposed to do in order to satisfy the needs of their core and invested concerns; their shareholders. That's great for them, that they've cornered the market and made their bosses happy. It doesn't mean much to me sitting here in Guelph with no choice. It doesn't do much for the future, because there is no urgent need to grow. As gamers, we have been neutered by this development
Any Madden fan can debate the relative merits of Madden vs ESPN NFL with me. We're going to value different things and I've generalized the difference in those core audiences in one way; Madden fans like something that is, generally, always the same in their virtual football gaming, ESPN NFL fans want something that is different. That is about as simple as I can put it. As a company VC pushed the limits over the past few years well beyond what EA was interested in doing with their Madden property and no matter what any Madden fan tells me, they can't dismiss the fact that last year ESPN NFL 2k5 made serious in-roads into Madden's market share. If you tell me that any other reality acted as the precursor to EA's steadfast pursuit of exclusivity, I will tell you that you are fooling yourself. There have always been competitors hanging around. VC became a threat, that's why they needed to be stomped out
I understand the rationale from a corporate perspective, but the toll on us as a consumer group is singularly devastating.
So now expand your thinking and project down the road. EA now controls licensed football as we know it. You now have titles for NFL, NCAA and Arena football. But we are yet again on the cusp of a new generation of hardware and the drive to deliver profitability for corporations is never-ending. How soon is it before someone says, "why don't we roll the Arena league game into our Madden franchise? I mean, after all, the technology will support it, even if we have to downgrade some of the graphics/gameplay or whatever. If we do that, we can market it as EA Pro Football World." How soon after that does someone say, "Better yet, why don't we roll the NCAA game into EA Pro Football World and call it EA Mondo Football Globo-Universe?"
At that point it won't be about having one developer to play anymore. It will be about having one game in town and that will be it. That's where we are headed, my friends
If that works for some people, God bless their hearts. Enjoy "EA Mondo Football Globo-Universe" and the follow up with the roster update and the cool "Create a Sweatband" feature. You will have earned it
That idea doesn't work for me though, sitting here in the tiny vista of Guelph, Ontario
Originally posted by K Bomber at videogamereview.com
Have fun............
And did you see how xbox 360 madden looks alot like NFL2k series?
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