[ForUntoOblivionSoar∞]

Quote: Originally Posted by Madden08PCgmr

That's like saying GM doesn't have the ability to build Corvettes anymore...

Modern games are much more complicated than in the past and take far more resources to match consumer expectations. The consumer expectation relative to the most recent version of a product has not changed, but the amount of total effort that is required to meet that same expectation has increased geometrically in the last ten years or so.

This is just one more expression of the law of diminishing returns. Look at graphics. It takes far more polygons/pixels/etc to make small graphical improvements than it did ten years ago. That's just the nature of the evolution of games.

So, yes, if they had more resources, they could do two completely separate franchise modes. But they can't, because making a game today takes much more than making a game ten years ago took. In order to meet consumer expectations WITHOUT being granted a vast improvement in resources to match the reality of the diminishing returns on the effort they put into making the game relative to the advancements in gaming today, they HAVE to find a way to consolidate their resources and to maximize them and to maximize general efficiency.