The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

[sois]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

Wait.. I thought video games were negatively correlated with the market?

It makes sense. Video games give you more bang for the entertainment buck. Instead of going out and spending $70 bucks for dinner and a movie, you buy Rock Band and entertain yourself onehundredfold.

I would say it's bad news for EA.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24201083/

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1868630,00.html

[jbrew2411]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

This is a combo effect. The ones that think the game is flawed didn't buy. But the ones that would like the game but can't shell out the $60 + tax due to the economy have yet to buy.
EA will see it as the economy. The ones out there that have to choose between the game or food & gas for a week choose the latter. I would like to know the week two numbers and the numbers from the game stores like Gamestop on the resale numbers. This economy has taught us to not over pay and if you can get the game for $45 over $60 then its a no brainier.
I have no problem paying the $60 and I love the game so I bought it the day after release. I would say people have had to choose between NCAA & Madden verses buying both and they will wait on Madden.

[moTIGS]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

I haven't bought the game yet and don't plan to. I upgraded to PS3 last summer, bought 09 and was disappointed. The PS2 game had so many more little things, and that's what I loved about the game. I was at least going to wait until I could buy a used copy, or maybe rent it, but at this point I'm probably not even going to do that. I rented The Show earlier this summer and had a blast with it, and I'm not even a big baseball fan, so the next game I buy will probably be that one.

[fistofrage]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

Wait.. I thought video games were negatively correlated with the market?

It makes sense. Video games give you more bang for the entertainment buck. Instead of going out and spending $70 bucks for dinner and a movie, you buy Rock Band and entertain yourself onehundredfold.

I would say it's bad news for EA.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24201083/

http://www.time.com/time/business/ar...868630,00.html

Yep, the video game industry jumped 30% in 2008 over 2007. Video games should thrive in a down economy. So as the industry is growing, NCAA sales are shrinking.

As my old CEO used to say "If you ain't growin', you're dyin'"

Proof is in the pudding, NCAA has lost market share.

[cbc72]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

If I were a casual gamer to the NCAA series that does not adjust sliders, what would have turned me off of the game last year was getting sacked relentlessly while watching the CPU QB throw for 75% completion.

Also the fact that on default settings the running game came down to one factor... Is your back fast enough to get to the outside on a sweep or toss play.

As it is, I am constantly adjusting sliders over the course of my gameplay as my skill level changes in order to create as realistic playing games as possible.

And I can totally understand how hardcore gamers are turned off by a progression system that doesn't work properly, and seeing broken sliders for a second year in a row and broken sliders again, plus what appears to be a poorly implemented fatigue system this year (another multi-year issue) - what does it take to get a player tired to turn yellow and sit a couple plays, anyway?

[edaddy]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

When you release a game with:

Broken sliders, broken rosters, and broken dynasty progression, it does not suprise me that the sales have slipped some. It has something to do with the economy as well though.

Ya know these issues above are not typical post release patch problems, they are fundamental core game mistakes. I would have to think EA will make changes in Florida before next year.

I agree and good points...I have rented this first for years now and its sad that for two straight years NCAA has been released with broken feature sets and over the top,gamebreaker bugs..It's one thing after another with NCAA and in the end I guess people have just gotten tired of waiting for two patches to make the game playable..I can see a major shakeup much like the Madden Team..I don't understand how this team can't get it into their heads that gamers want immersion(to include presentation)..and realistic gameplay..not gimmicks.. The presentation in this years edition is terrible and shows no type of initiative or innovation...

[DaveDQ]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

And Im one that thinks the economy has nothing at all to do with it.

As NCAA has aged, so has its fans that grew up with the game. Ive been a day 1 supporter of this game since the Bill Walsh days up until recently.

$50 is nothing when it can come to months of entertainment. I spend almost that just to take my family to Applebees for dinner one time.

I have put my money where my mouth is. There are a ton of top rate quality titles out to choose from now, and Im not going to waste it on a football game that releases broken and outdated.

4 of us went to get the game at WalMart on release night...the only difference was, only 1 was going to buy it

Everyone came back to my place since I have a 160inch screen to play for the evening. After giving the game about 10 complete games, 3 of us were glad we didnt buy the game, and the other guy has sold it already.

Typically, we all 4 would have bought the game.

Economy has nothing to do with lackluster sales.

Good points. It's just an overall boring game. The one positive I have come away with is the player lock feature, but that has some issues (mainly diving through players when you should be able to tackle them).

It's just a very dull game. The commentary crew is the same, with the same delayed remarks, animations are still very odd and many features don't work.

Most of all, the game simply doesn't merit an annual release.

[vanderbiltfan87]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

I'm anxiously waiting for the Madden sales numbers. I think most people are expecting Madden 10 to sell pretty well, probably better than last year even with the economy. If Madden 10 does out sell 09 then how can EA not take notice of how poor NCAA has become?

[cbc72]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

I've had the same experiences with friends who have been over to play my copy. Any of the programmers that I know that have played this game laugh out loud 3-4 times per game at the bugs that pop up. One fine example last night was when I buried a guy at the 2 or 3 with a punt out of bounds and they called it a touchback. 2nd time that happened in consecutive games.

Its stuff like this that make people buy something else with their 60 bucks. It reaches a tipping point.

I'm waiting to sell until after patch 2 is released, if offline dynasty isn't fixed.

Besides gameplay issues, I would guess they picked up on all the commentary errors this year, also.

As in... there is a 20 yard gain and Nessler says "stopped for a loss," followed by "that run got them the first down."

Or Herbsreit and Corso talking over each other for 30 seconds.

Just to name a couple off the top of my head that people see in only playing a couple games.

People notice this stuff, and even if it doesn't impact the gameplay, it leaves a negative impression on the people and makes them think/ask "if they screw that up, I wonder what else is screwed up in the game?"

[JAYMO76]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

At this point the auto-subs and fatigue issue as well as extreme progression are tiring me of this game already. I have only played three seasons (in an avg. ncaa I will play 8-12) but I am getting a little frustrated.

1. ZERO DEFENSIVE SUBS~ unless there is an injury there are no subs!!!

2. auto-subs on offense that don't work correctly

3. ridiculous fatigue~ they system would be fine if we had FORMATION SUBS!!!! (only missing for 4 years now)

4. progression brings cpu robo QB back by about season three. Last night versus Nevada (A.A. QB acc 40, receptions 40) I watched the QB go 22-31 for 286 and three tds. Come on, this is Nevada we're talking about!

[sois]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

At this point the auto-subs and fatigue issue as well as extreme progression are tiring me of this game already. I have only played three seasons (in an avg. ncaa I will play 8-12) but I am getting a little frustrated.

1. ZERO DEFENSIVE SUBS~ unless there is an injury there are no subs!!!

2. auto-subs on offense that don't work correctly

3. ridiculous fatigue~ they system would be fine if we had FORMATION SUBS!!!! (only missing for 4 years now)

4. progression brings cpu robo QB back by about season three. Last night versus Nevada (A.A. QB acc 40, receptions 40) I watched the QB go 22-31 for 286 and three tds. Come on, this is Nevada we're talking about!

Colin Kaepernick is pretty awesome. Keep an eye on him this season.

Back on topic. Yeah, sales are dropping, the suits must be ready to give up on this franchise.

[hcopenhagenh]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

Colin Kaepernick is pretty awesome. Keep an eye on him this season.

Back on topic. Yeah, sales are dropping, the suits must be ready to give up on this franchise.

They aren't going to give up on it because it is obviously making profit. I do think that they will look at the trend in sales and make a change to the person leading the NCAA franchise at least.

[Vikes1]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

My intention is not to bash the NCAA game or EA....

I'm one of the people who gave up on buying NCAA each and every year. I just simply grew tried of the yearly disappointments of the game. The wait for the return of old gen features became just too long. Along with the feeling that the gameplay grew worse with each new release. For me....the fun of past NCAA games had been replaced with frustration. Instead of continuing to bang my head against the wall, and spend more time bitching about the game, than playing it, I spoke with my wallet.

It's great to hear that NCAA '10' for the most part has been better received than games of the last few years. But for me...I've moved on to games I simply enjoy more.

[Hey_Rebby]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

I love it that sales are down. Maybe they'll get the hint and go back to their roots. Back when they tried to put the best NCAA football game out there. Step one should be, make sure everything they offered in the PS2 version is in the Next Gen version.

Maybe a slump in sales will inspire change. My fear is that change would be EA Sports dropping the title, which would be a shame. For many years they used to make a hell of a college football game. I would love to see them make a comeback.

[KANE699]

Re: The Week 1 Sales Numbers Are In.....

All we need now is for Madden to outsell itself from last years numbers and we will finally see some changes in the NCAA devolpment team, here's to hoping for the best.