Whats going on with EA!

[xaer0knight]

12/14: Well, i've really never been a big fan of EA games, there were a couple for the SNES that i've enjoyed. A week before Christmas, some of you may know, that EA bought a NFL License to exclusively make Football games. That to me is bad, Sega even said it was bad for bussiness.
http://earthlink.com.com/EA+signs+exclusive+NFL+video+game+deal/2100-1043_3-5489965.html

12/20/04: Then EA buys nearly 20% stock of UbiSoft. I was like they are on a roll. EA now owns almost 20 percent stake in competitor, says it intends to be "very good shareholders." Ubisoft sends mixed messages. (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/20/news_6115370.html) Dont really know what to think of this one.

12/15/04: EA trying to sercure Digital Illusions. The company who made Battlefield 1942.
12/15:http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/15/news_6115146.html
11/16:http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/16/news_6113299.html

And because of the securement of the NFL brand for EA, were does that leave Sega Sammy Holdings and Take-Two Interactive Software? So with out
competition of Sega will there be less innovation in Madden games and from this year the Sega games were selling 5 to 1 vs. the madden series. I'm not a big fan of Sports games but this will hurt NFL games until 2009. and there is a lot of signatures on a petition to stop this: http://www.petitiononline.com/nfleacon/petition.html

Any Comments/Remarks?
I dont know it sounds like some one might want to be the Microsoft of console games IMO.

[Cantaloup]

Any Comments/Remarks?
I dont know it sounds like some one might want to be the Microsoft of console games IMO.

My comments/opinion:

What we're seeing is a large-scale shift in the video game industry from hardware manufacturers controlling things to software companies holding most of the power. This is not a new trend, but it seems to be picking up momentum recently; it started around the time Square abandoned Nintendo and brought Final Fantasy VII to the PlayStation. This trend also has some similarities to what happened in the personal computer industry in the early to mid 90's. It used to be that the video game hardware companies dictated a lot of what was done on their platforms, and it was mostly 1st party titles (for example, Mario and Sonic) that defined the systems. Now it's 3rd party support that determines a console's success. A company that makes video game hardware can't succeed with only their 1st party titles alone anymore. For good or bad people want games like Madden, Final Fantasy, GTA, Metal Gear Solid and so forth and will not buy a console that doesn't have that 3rd party support.

Because the video game market has gotten so big now, a best-selling game brings in huge amounts of money and sells large quantities. This gives software companies more money (and more power) than they've ever had before. I think we will continue to see game software companies "flex their muscles" by buying and selling exclusive rights and licenses. Some game franchises have become like a license to print money, and companies will want to guard the ones they have while acquiring new ones. As games continue to become more complex and expensive to make, fewer and fewer companies will be able to keep up and will likely be bought by larger companies.

I think EA makes some very good games. The concern that I have is that if they and other companies reduce or eliminate their competition, the quality of games will decline. If that happens, it is a distinct possibility that it could cause another industry-wide crash.

[Drexel923]

Here are some discussions already in progress:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48610&highlight=sega

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48534&highlight=nfl

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48094&highlight=nfl

[shai hulud]

"and from this year the Sega games were selling 5 to 1 vs. the madden series."



where did you get this info, do you have the numbers?

[retroman]

im pissed off...i hate Madden and hasnt been a fan sine madden 92... i love the sega 2k series..and am pissed off at EA...i will never by Madden so EA can kiss my ass..

[EnemyZero]

i just dont like EA period...i used to be able to tolerate there stuff on 8 and 16 bit machines..even early 32 bit...but i dont support them anymore...for a lot of reasons...i was kinda pissed when i read they bought 20% of ubisoft....if they were to buy them out...and can the next beyond good and evil games...or RUIN them...i will be so mad...

[Jorpho]

Is this new? EA chowed down on Origin, Maxis, Bullfrog, and Westwood a long time ago.

[calthaer]

The money in your pocketbook funds these activities should you decide to buy their games. The solution should be plain.

[kainemaxwell]

If you don't buy their games, they can't buy your favorite companies.

[evildead2099]

calthaer and Kaine23 have the answer.

Personally, I'm not directly affected by what happens to the NFL liscense; I would hate for EA to monopolize the NHL liscence. Ultimately, I'm altogether opposed to the reality of monopolization.

[Kepone]

EA will eventually go belly up anyway, taking down the entire gaming industry with it.

[xaer0knight]

"and from this year the Sega games were selling 5 to 1 vs. the madden series."



where did you get this info, do you have the numbers?

Well, sorry i meant 1.5 to 1.

While EA's "Madden NFL" used to outsell Sega's NFL football game as much as 10-to-1 on a units basis, this year the ratio has been closer to 1.5-to-1. - http://earthlink.com.com/EA+signs+exclusive+NFL+video+game+deal/2100-1043_3-5489965.html

and most people disagree but IMO just give it time, in our life time, i see a videogame crash BIGGER than the one in the 80's. Even tho videogames is compared to Hollywood, does not make it invincible.

[calthaer]

Video games will not crash. In the 80s they were still an unproven medium, and the crash was likely due to the infantile market. The continued lack of innovation may, however, throw the market into a steady decline similar to the ones that newspapers and / or magazines are now experiencing. Right now it is growing simply due to the aging demographic; that is, people in their 30s play games because they grew up with them. Once our knuckles get too knobby with arthritis to be able to play thumb-twitchers, you will most likely see the market begin to shrink.

Too many people play games regularly for there to be a crash. Every person in America would have to stop playing games for a whole year or even two or three to make that happen. It's not going to.

[Cantaloup]

Too many people play games regularly for there to be a crash. Every person in America would have to stop playing games for a whole year or even two or three to make that happen. It's not going to.

As I understand it, a "market crash" is usually defined to be a 20% drop in stock prices over a 1 day period. I'm no economist, but I don't know where you're coming up with your figures. Surely a crash could occur over a shorter time period with a less drastic cause? I would agree that the industry won't vaporize like it did back in the early 80's, but I still think a crash (as in a rapid 20+% drop) is possible.

[calthaer]

If you will read the post to which I was replying, you will notice that he stated "a crash BIGGER than the one that happened in the 80s." Neither one of us was talking about a mere 20% drop.

[SoulBlazer]

What's wrong with just looking at the game and not the company? I buy a game if it's good, regardless of the company.

[Captain Wrong]

If you don't buy their games, they can't buy your favorite companies.

What if you like their games?





(BTW, SoulBlazer has the answer. I know, it's not as much fun, but personally I just play what I like and don't worry about the name on the spine.)

[mr_nihilism]

http://www.gamestm.co.uk/pma/250

Seems they made an attempt to acquire Sweedish developer Digital Illusiions CE, but the offer was rejected.

[brykasch]

Quote:Is this new? EA chowed down on Origin, Maxis, Bullfrog, and Westwood a long time ago.


EA killed alot of the pc game industry with these acquisitions. THink of all the good games we were left without as they have closed each and all of these companies, and brought the parts they liked into the fold, but the rest (mainly the games) were left to die. Look at the Command and Conquer series since EA has acquired it. Wehere are my ultima's, wing commander's? Where is innovation from EA. Wait there is none, they just buy innovative companies, and absorb them into the borg that is EA. the only thing they have saved is the sims, and sim city imho that has been worth my money. N ow with this NFL affair, and they fact they tried to do the same with the nba... (feels sick)

[soniko_karuto]

Origin: Wing commander
Maxis: The cool sim games
Bullfrog: Syndicate
Westwood: Command and conquer, i'm right, right?

Also, i don't like it that the ultima's dissapeared, but really, when i played ultima 7, i kinda got a little worried, the game imo, was kinda sluggish and looked done on a hurry.

[calthaer]

Are you sure you're talking about VII? That was the best one of the series. VIII and IX, yes, but not VII. But then again, 8 and 9 came after EA had already emasculated the company.

[Jorpho]

EA killed alot of the pc game industry with these acquisitions. THink of all the good games we were left without as they have closed each and all of these companies, and brought the parts they liked into the fold, but the rest (mainly the games) were left to die. Look at the Command and Conquer series since EA has acquired it. Wehere are my ultima's, wing commander's? Where is innovation from EA. Wait there is none, they just buy innovative companies, and absorb them into the borg that is EA. the only thing they have saved is the sims, and sim city imho that has been worth my money. N ow with this NFL affair, and they fact they tried to do the same with the nba... (feels sick)

Richard Garriot once said he set out to do nine Ultima games, and did not want to do any less (and presumably any more) than that. If EA really wanted to kill off Ultima, they wouldn't still be releasing expansions for Ultima Online.

Could it not be said that Bullfrog's greatest asset was Peter Molyneux? Populous: The Beginning, Black & White, and Fable have all been released long after Bullfrog was bought out.

[calthaer]

Richard Garriot once said he set out to do nine Ultima games, and did not want to do any less (and presumably any more) than that. If EA really wanted to kill off Ultima, they wouldn't still be releasing expansions for Ultima Online.

The problem with Ultima is not necessarily that they're not releasing any more, but that the last two were total crap due to EA's incompetant oversight. We'll never know if there could or would have been more than IX (or if there could have been more spin-offs like the underworld series), because the games released after they swallowed Origin were a pale shadow of the series' former glory - and sales reflected that.