What's the problem with EA?

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

Sorry, but that's an excuse.

Actually its an opinion. I have no idea what it would take for them to overhaul the engine, thats why I said I think.

[Cardot]

Quote: Originally Posted by SteelerSpartan

There is just no justifiable reason(for us I don't give a crap about their bottem line and you shouldn't either), given how much coin EA has that these NG games should be this mediocre.

EA is a publically traded company. It is their responsiblity to put the "bottom line" as the first priority. Why would they possibly want to invest to make massive changes that wouldn't generate many more sales....and potentially alienate their current customer base.

Don't get me wrong, EA football frustrates me too. I haven't purchased a Madden since '03. Every year I am hoping to see just a few certain changes, but instead I see stuff like create your parents DNA.

Until that bottom line drives changes to the game engine, we won't see big changes...and frankly that is the way it should be.

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by SteelerSpartan

Dude you can dig up the disgruntled/former EA employee stories for yourself...and instead of getting them some help....what does EA do???............ Attempt a Hostile Takeover of Take-Two

2k employees have similar disgruntled stories. I've heard one personally.

So it works both ways. To be honest, if we're going to compare the two, it was much easier for 2k to fix their problems because they already had much of what we find wrong in Madden. And that's because the core interaction system within the game doesn't offer certain things.

And why bother making the changes if you still go out and buy it anyway?

Quote: Originally Posted by SteelerSpartan

Many would love to see the extreme renovation of Madden and just scrap the current engine and move to an actual NG tech in Euphoria... I wasn't saying they have to do that...but given what the competition did with their games every year and the bar they set...it would be nice with all the $$$$$ EA has, that they could at least match that.

And many wouldn't, to be honest with you. Both sides of the coin.

[jfsolo]

Quote: Originally Posted by K_GUN

not to ticky-tack but MVP 05 was a top notch baseball sim

In my opinion MVP's hitting and pitching engines were as deeply flawed as many of the poorer aspects of Madden, lessening its simulation level considerably, but for a lot of people it was a very fun game anyway, so its really about what unrealistic components of a game can you tolerate.

Quote: Originally Posted by spankdatazz22

My question would be does EA really aspire to be great.... ...Of course I'm not meaning to take something serious like spousal abuse and equate it to videogames. But the similarities are there. And until people start having higher expectations of EA instead of lowering their expectations to meet what EA does, this cycle will continue. Since EA has managed to eliminate competition, more than ever fans need to have higher expectations of them because there will be no other company pushing them.

Its been clear for a long time that greatness for EA's top brass is about sales numbers and metacritic scores. They don't care about the hearts and minds of their customers, just their dollars. Objectively, there isn't anything wrong with that philosophy.

Even taken within its appropriate context, I disagree with your analogy. The vast majority of Madden gamers are getting exactly what they want. A game that is fun and that they can have great success at.

For them there is no discernible difference between a DE pancaking a LT straight to the ground , and the two linemen engaging in a dual with great collision detection showing superbly animated footwork and handfighting.

That is our lament, we want more, so we want them to want more as well, but people don't complain about things that they're totally oblivious to.

Quote: Originally Posted by bears5122

Perhaps Ortiz played a role, but this isn't just one game. EA has a history in almost every sport of making pure crap. The only game that they make which is superior is FIFA, which they needed to after taking a beating by the competition for years. There is no competition in football. Ortiz doesn't make their other crappy games, this would seem to be a company wide issue. But I also don't think it's just one thing that's the problem, I think it's a mix. Here are the problems I see: 1) EA Personnel - This inculdes Ortiz and others. They just don't have their pulse on the gaming community and don't understand what football fans want. This is clear in their ridiculous additions of features like "Create a ring" and "Create a fan". They seem to put more time into the soundtrack then actual gameplay. 2) Competition - Whether you believe it or not, competition always brings out the best in companies. Basic economics at work here. This goes beyond video games. If EA had viable competition, they'd put more money and more pressure to build a better game. Look at Microsoft that just put out a pile of garbage OS. 3) Market - There are just more casual gamers and 13 year olds buying these games than older sim oriented guys. Building a game where you can't run around 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage and throw a 50 yard bullet with your back turned to the LOS doesn't cater toward kids. It also doesn't bode well for tournament guys who rely on glitches. The minute you give the advantage to football intelligent people, you lose a chunk of your base. I don't see how you can blame the downfall of a franchise on one guy. The other games suck too and aren't selling well. EA has a lot bigger problems than one guy.

And that as they say is that.

I would just add that around the time of Madden 93, when EA realized that they could get the majority of their customers to buy a new version of their sports games every year, the genre of sports games became fundamentally different than other genre. It was not a positive development.

[SteelerSpartan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

2k employees have similar disgruntled stories. I've heard one personally. So it works both ways. To be honest, if we're going to compare the two, it was much easier for 2k to fix their problems because they already had much of what we find wrong in Madden. And that's because the core interaction system within the game doesn't offer certain things. And why bother making the changes if you still go out and buy it anyway?

Dude I refuse to believe that they can't at least meet the strides of last gen games from year to year,......given theres enough money thrown at in the terms of extra talent hired.

But like you said, they don't want to increase the team in order to maximize their profits, thus making them "prioritize" to unacceptable levels. And they get stuck on worrying about ******** features like "Turning back Time". Hell they are still struggling to get some of the things that made the last gen games good in there......

In other words...We're F*****

And there in lies the problem I and many others have with EA. We all know they could take the appropriate steps to make nice advancements in the game, yet they choose not to because they approach things in such a corporate manner.

[countryboy]

EA does do things in a corporate manner, just like any other business out there. Bottom line for any business is to turn a profit. And that is what EA is doing.

And maybe the fact that EA does things in a coporate manner has led to "letting go" David Ortiz who was the Lead Producer of Madden the last 3 or 4 years and the only Producer Madden has seen on the next-gen consoles. In my opinion, EA let him go due to the fact that Madden had become stale and the sales numbers were going south. Thus, they bring back Phil Frazier who, during his tenure as the Lead Producer, not only produced a game that sold outstanding, but put together one hell of a football game.

I hear people say that at one time, Madden was a very realistic football game. And in those times when Madden was at its "best", Frazier was the man behind the curtain.

So yes, EA may do what every other company in the world does and do things in a corporate manner, but just like any other company, when things aren't going well, and the profits are on the downfall, they make changes. And that is what has happened and that is why I for one, am excited about this year's Madden. Madden at one time was an ace, well guess what, the dealer who dealt us that ace is back at the table.

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by SteelerSpartan

Dude I refuse to believe that they can't at least meet the strides of last gen games from year to year,......given theres enough money thrown at in the terms of extra talent hired.

Brinkman said the same thing with Triple Play. They could not change the core of the engine without scrapping it entirely.

We're seeing something similar with MLB 2k8.

Why is that so hard to believe? There is no way they are scrapping the engine completely and possibly alienating their consumer base.

If they were losing money, yes... but they're not. People buy it on name and hype. It has been proven... us "sim" guys are either few and far between... or guys don't care and spend their money anyway. Maybe they have no self-control?

[SteelerSpartan]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

EA does do things in a corporate manner, just like any other business out there. Bottom line for any business is to turn a profit. And that is what EA is doing. And maybe the fact that EA does things in a coporate manner has led to "letting go" David Ortiz who was the Lead Producer of Madden the last 3 or 4 years and the only Producer Madden has seen on the next-gen consoles. In my opinion, EA let him go due to the fact that Madden had become stale and the sales numbers were going south. Thus, they bring back Phil Frazier who, during his tenure as the Lead Producer, not only produced a game that sold outstanding, but put together one hell of a football game. I hear people say that at one time, Madden was a very realistic football game. And in those times when Madden was at its "best", Frazier was the man behind the curtain. So yes, EA may do what every other company in the world does and do things in a corporate manner, but just like any other company, when things aren't going well, and the profits are on the downfall, they make changes. And that is what has happened and that is why I for one, am excited about this year's Madden. Madden at one time was an ace, well guess what, the dealer who dealt us that ace is back at the table.

EA pushes it though....lets not forget what they have tried to do with DLC...cough..charging for alts..cough..cough

and on a broader scope with Take-Two, many have told them to go to hell for what they are trying to do. As well as what they did to Westwood, and who knows how Bioware will fair

But back to Madden, I still try to hold out optimism for this year too, but when you see them adding features like time powers....you have to wonder