Madden NFL 11 News Post

Chris' Blog: Are Madden Sales Slipping?

03:05 PM - August 23, 2010 by RaychelSnr

You may recall the news story last week from CNBC which declaratively stated that Madden sales were weak this year. The evidence used was early price drops from retailers and weak pre-orders for the title. Not the most concrete evidence for sure, but far from the worst you could use.

But with that in mind, we can start to frame some real non-biased ideas on where Madden and NCAA's sales really are right now. So with that said, let's take a look at the best evidence we have and figure out where both Madden and NCAA are when it comes to sales.

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# 41 TreFacTor @ 10/13/10 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	In regards to your first paragraph, don't be surprised if other companies follow suit on the double dipping. There are two local stores that are being watched like a hawk by the police department. Merry Go Round Music Store and Half Price Books. The two stores in the area are getting pressure from the local police department to set up a database that identifies people selling stolen property for profit. The stores are trying to fight the ordinance because they have to front the fees for the database. If news like this continues to spread, who's to say that Nike won't want something from the seller or from the reseller in the very near future? As far as your second paragraph, none of us works at EA to say how the inner workings work. It's been said here when Ian came on board, he asked for a new engine and was denied. So, if that is true, how does that equate to freedom with the way they see fit?

This one point is the differnce between the two situations. Selling stolen property is illegal as is reselling said property... in the instance with used games, people are returning items they purchased in return for a store credit, it is actually a sound business practice that has been in existence since carpet baggers. It's a barter... I give you something of an agreed value and in return you give me something of agreed value. The fact that EA is paid once for the item, is sufficient enough, they can no longer effect any transaction made after that. It's like if your given a birthday gift, and you don't want or need it, and you give it to someone else, the original gift giver has no claims to the item once it is your hands regardless of the fact that they don't like that you gave it away.

EA may be a bully, but they and the recording and movie industry will learn that no laws will be made to assist them in double dipping.

AS for the other statement I made, I have no idea of the amount of freedom the devs actually have, I can only base an opinion from the blogs and interviews where no one from the team attributes any of the "advancements", "improvements", "additions" for the new game to anyone not on the dev team... It's always "We feel", "We wanted", "We believe". They may not have the ability to do what they want, but they give the impression that they do. (at least to the general public) So if the devs aren't responsible for the product that is put out annually...who is.

# 42 Gordy748 @ 10/13/10 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adfletch71


	Due too poor quality over the years, they have lost plenty of fans.

It's, like, 2 steps forward and 2 steps back. I'd assert that Mad11 is overall a better game than Mad10, but give what's gone in and what's gone out, the difference is marginal. And while Mad11 might deserve $60 over Mad10, the fractional change in incremental quality means that $60 for Mad11 after paying $60 for Mad10 is... questionable.

Result is an edition where many people don't see the need to switch up. I for one don't regret getting mad11, but i'd have preferred to stick with mad10 and spend my cash on NHL11 or something like that.

I see 2 big changes Madden got this year; locomotion and gameflow. Both are good ideas but Loc'n compromises defense, while gameflow doesn't account for relative scores later in the game which might make you switch to a more passing or running game. I wonder if they went with just one change, they might have come up with something that was a materially incremental improvement. Well, who knows.

I privately think the Madden playcall in mad10 was better than gameflow overall. You got a recommended play, but also had a choice of 5 others from the playbook. Even with gameflow modified strategies I don't get the right calls later in the game if the scores are more than 8 points apart.

# 43 roadman @ 10/13/10 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TreFacTor


	This one point is the differnce between the two situations. Selling stolen property is illegal as is reselling said property... in the instance with used games, people are returning items they purchased in return for a store credit, it is actually a sound business practice that has been in existence since carpet baggers. It's a barter... I give you something of an agreed value and in return you give me something of agreed value. The fact that EA is paid once for the item, is sufficient enough, they can no longer effect any transaction made after that. It's like if your given a birthday gift, and you don't want or need it, and you give it to someone else, the original gift giver has no claims to the item once it is your hands regardless of the fact that they don't like that you gave it away. EA may be a bully, but they and the recording and movie industry will learn that no laws will be made to assist them in double dipping. AS for the other statement I made, I have no idea of the amount of freedom the devs actually have, I can only base an opinion from the blogs and interviews where no one from the team attributes any of the "advancements", "improvements", "additions" for the new game to anyone not on the dev team... It's always "We feel", "We wanted", "We believe". They may not have the ability to do what they want, but they give the impression that they do. (at least to the general public) So if the devs aren't responsible for the product that is put out annually...who is.

My whole point was trying to state that EA won't be the only one double dipping in the video game market. Here's the way I look at it. It's just not the whole mighty EA is a conglomerate thing, here, all companies are like that.

Since I've been buying video games on NG, the prices of games has stayed the same, $60 bucks per new game. Now, let's say Madden is losing sales on NG every year. The price of the game doesn't go up, but now they start adding DLC, facebook applications, ipads, and charging $10 bucks extra for used games, etc.... Now, since the 360 and PS3 have come out, everything around me has gone up in price. The price of gas, milk, eggs, case of beer, basically, the COL has gone up. So, the next time you trade in your Nike's, there might be a price increase right around the corner for your next new pair. Companies need to do everything they can to defray the cost of manufacturing and try to make a profit.

As far as the last paragraph, every company I've worked for, any new ideas that I came up with, I had someone higher up that I had to sell those ideas to. Some ideas were passed on through, most ideas were shot down on the first try. I'm sure the producers or designers like, Ian, need to take their ideas up through the chain of command and possibly marketing. Again, I don't know without knowing how the work environment is at Tibouron.

I'm sure they just can't free form it and tell the suits this is what is going in Madden this year. They would probably need to sell the ideas higher on up. And, the higher ups might have ideas of their own as well.

# 44 Von Dozier @ 10/13/10 06:53 PM

Only reason I didn't buy it this year is because it's basically Madden 10.5 with a few gimmicks aimed at the casuals.

I'll buy Madden 12 though.

# 45 debauchlord @ 10/14/10 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adfletch71


	Madden may be selling, but its nowhere near the 4-5 million copies it use too get early on the next-gen console. Due too poor quality over the years, they have lost plenty of fans. Also being the only NFL game helps them. If there were competition, madden may be even in worse shape at this point, or it might be better, with competition on there butts.

This is a subjective post. Some of the best games ever made are also among the worst sellers, like Beyond Good and Evil. Again, that is subjective. The ****tiest games made also sell a ton, like Call of Duty, Modern Warfare. Again, subjective. Quality is independent of sales. Competition is also subjective. NFL2K11 at this point could be awesome, or the worst football game ever. Who knows? It is all fantasy. What is important is things like demographics...is your audience getting older, or younger? Skewing older is generally bad. Maybe they are making the "casual" changes in order to skew younger?

# 46 roadman @ 10/14/10 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adfletch71


	most of the gaming community now is getting older, especially those with the PS1, PS2 and XBOX days. So as we get older, I think the majority wants too see exactly what's on tv. No game will be exactly what's on tv, but u can make it close...MLB the SHOW and NBA2K11 has done this and its proof right there. So if u go that route, u will see a increase in sales and positive feedback. If madden wants to appease to the younger casual crowd, let them make a game like blitz or something to that nature for them. Let the gamers that want a chessmatch and strategy have theres....simulation gameplay and presentation.

I see your point, but I think it would be cost prohibitive for EA to make a game like Blitz and a game for the sim people.

Instead of on one game trying to appease everyone, you would need to manufacture two games for the different niches.

We all know how Head Coach and NFL Training Camp ended up.

# 47 TreFacTor @ 10/14/10 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	I see your point, but I think it would be cost prohibitive for EA to make a game like Blitz and a game for the sim people. Instead of on one game trying to appease everyone, you would need to manufacture two games for the different niches. We all know how Head Coach and NFL Training Camp ended up.

Actually they could have updated the rosters in Madden arcade, spent a little cash to advertise it, and there wouldn't have been an issue with the casual gamer angle they took this year with Madden.

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