EA Supporting Nintendo Revolution

[midrael]

IGN reports (http://revolution.ign.com/articles/674/674617p1.html) that EA has announced it will be supporting the Nintendo Revolution.

EA has not yet announced any games for Revolution, but the company is in full possession of alpha development kits and is already underway with software for the console. First EA-developed Revolution titles are expected to be unveiled at the Electronics Entertainment Expo 2006, which kicks off next May in Los Angeles.

[Royal Fool]

Haha. I guess we'll have to see how much use they'll make of the actual controls and features the console has, but at least this is a good sign. The Revolution is definitely not going the way of the Dreamcast, I think.

[CapnBob]

Oh, thank goodness. I was worried that there wouldn't be any poorly-conceived hasty ports on the system.

[Anju]

Oh, thank goodness. I was worried that there wouldn't be any poorly-conceived hasty ports on the system.

Great, you've just cursed it with your sarcasm. :)

[Dark Hamlet]

Now we get to see how EA is going to screw this up. Every worthwhile game franchise they have has already been milked past its prime. EA is drying up, but then again, maybe the revolution's control scheme will force them to be creative... Maybe an old dog can be taught new tricks.

Then again, EA is a very old and stubborn dog. I'm afraid that all we can expect at this point is a crappy port of Madden and, if we're lucky, a crappy port of Burnout.

[Player 1]

So far, Evil Avatar's been unable to report an EA news topic in 2006 that doesn't instantly turn into a hate thread. Well done! The narrow minded views of your typical vocal gamers really do you credit. Didn't Evil Avatar decide not to post any further Jack Thompson news posts due to the hate-mongering that would inevitably ensue? Does it therefore approve of this particular brand of hate-mongering? It would appear so.

<cue excuses of how EA killed your puppy or some such justification for such retarded behaviour>

If people actually stop and think before going for the easy cheap-shot they'll realise that this is one of the best things that can possibly happen for Nintendo's new console.

EA wield so much influence in the industry (rightly or wrongly) that many other developers and publishers will follow their lead. If EA are publicly declaring support for the machine it is inevitable that a large degree of fence-sitters will now decided to do the same. By contrast, EA withdrawing support for a console can be the begninning of the end - it certainly didn't help the Dreamcast.

EA, like it or hate it, hold the biggest sporting licences around. Compared to other systems Nintendo machines haven't had a huge amount of support for these type of games. Sports games are massively important, apart from being strong, recognisable brands that speak to gamers and non gamers they are evergreen sellers. They are the titles that will continue to sell after their peak launch window has passed. This must surely benefit Nintendo too.

But it's worth bearing in mind that Nintendo need EA far more than EA need Nintendo. The last decade has shown this quite clearly. So saying "Here's EA's chance not to screw it up" - it really won't matter to EA - particularly if the Revolution's targetted demographic (the non-gamer) doesn't have an ignorant hate-campaign to base their NFL/FIFA/NHL/Harry Potter purchases on.

I'm from the UK, Ice Hockey isn't a big deal here. But I wonder what it might be like to use the Revolution controller as a hockey stick? Probably totally impractical in real game terms (in game designs at least 80% of great ideas turn out to be totally unplayable) but it could be fun for shoot-outs.

OK guys, prove me wrong. Show me how much thought and consideration you can put into this topic instead of acting like a bunch of pitchfork-wielding villagers..

[MajSheppard]

Wow its like not a surprise at all. They could not lose last time around, Nintendo paid their advertising. They did not have to spend much to port the games and they surely don't need to worry about paying their employees anymore for the extra work. Did anyone not see this comming??

[LilEvilFish]

I think this is cool, maybe they'll bring road rash back and you have to tilt the controller to turn, do you hear me EA?? HELLO!! ROAD. RASH.

[Borys]

Serious question:

Did any of you bought EA multiplatform games on the Cube?

I bought only NFS:MW, all the rest (around 6) were PC/PS2 versions.

[Kefkataran]

I bought only NFS:MW, all the rest (around 6) were PC/PS2 versions.

I tend to avoid buying EA titles when I can, but all my rentals of the Burnout titles were the Cube versions.

I gotta say, I'm not a big EA fan, but it's really a relief to hear that one of the industry's biggest publishers will be supporting the Revolution. Kudos to them on that.

[sTubbs]

I would not hold my breath for any control scheme, no matter how unique, to inspire Electronic Arts to do something innovative. I am expecting nothing more on the Revolution from EA than what they currently have on the DS - the shittiest versions of games that utilize the touchscreen in completely pointless ways. I would love to see a baseball game that utilizes the Revolution remote for both pitching and batting or golf game that allows the player to actually swing, but I expect any attempts at such innovation to be nothing more than poorly done cash-ins if they are coming out of EA. I really hope that this is the generation that EA actually uses its wealth and power to actually do something interesting, but I just do not see that happening. Their first round of games, save for maybe Fight Night, is proof positive of this.

[bjornbarspingvinen]

""By contrast, EA withdrawing support for a console can be the begninning of the end - it certainly didn't help the Dreamcast."

"But it's worth bearing in mind that Nintendo need EA far more than EA need Nintendo. "

Maybe that´s the reason people disslike EA moves?

I disslike EA for first messing up my favourite NFL series (2k), then trying to mess with my favourite sport genre , hockey (2k). If that´s not a valid reason to dislike a company I don´t know what is.

All that said, I think support from EA is great for Nintendo, not because they(EA) make awesome games, or beacuse they will invent something awesome. But simply, they make tons of games , and sell alot of games, and NFL is needed in USA.

[Achilles]

Really, EA supports everything. Since they can advertise for every system at once the cost to port a game is the cost of the team that ports it and no more. If the game doesn’t sell that well reduce the team till it’s profitable.

They could sell a controller attachment that’s perfectly suited to their games, which typically need a lot of buttons and an analog stick. The kind of games they make wouldn’t really be suited to just the remote.

They could also make original games for it, or versions just for the rev that have a rethought out control scheme that works with the remote. But I don’t see that happening unless they start selling very well on there. Otherwise the Rev will probably just get a port of the Xbox edition.

[Player 1]

"But it's worth bearing in mind that Nintendo need EA far more than EA need Nintendo. "

Maybe that´s the reason people disslike EA moves?

Should EA ignore the status and influence it has acheived in order to make Nintendo's life easier and pacify vocal gamers who think that international businesses spend their time running around trying to get people to like them instead of earning revenue?

I disslike EA for first messing up my favourite NFL series (2k), then trying to mess with my favourite sport genre , hockey (2k). If that´s not a valid reason to dislike a company I don´t know what is.

And yet, when they don't change things enough from what people have seen before the criticism of 'lazy developers' gets used instead. Whatever they do, gamers will find a reason to throw the insults.

They're damned if they do and they're damned if they don't. See *any* EA topic at Evil Avatar for proof.

Really, EA supports everything. Since they can advertise for every system at once the cost to port a game is the cost of the team that ports it and no more. If the game doesn’t sell that well reduce the team till it’s profitable.

That's not a very accurate business model. Firstly, if they support a *new* platform their advertising and marketing costs go UP courtesy of needing to market in magazines/sites that cater exclusively for that platform. If EA don't support Revolution then they don't need to advertise in Revolution Gamer Monthly do they? Then there's packaging costs, print materials and development costs (there isn't a magic "export to Revolution" button in your typical development environment - regardless of what many like to think).

Secondly, development teams are not dictated by sales. This is an impossibility as sales can only be determined after a product has been published - at which point the development team's job is done.

Undertaking any development project means costing and planning it's development. The relationship between size of development team and sales figures is a tenuous one and I very much doubt it is as relevant as, say, team size, salary and project complexity.

But then, what would I know?

They could also make original games for it, or versions just for the rev that have a rethought out control scheme that works with the remote. But I don’t see that happening unless they start selling very well on there. Otherwise the Rev will probably just get a port of the Xbox edition.

I could name a half a dozen major publishers to which that comment applies - and so can you (once we remove any trace of bias).

[bapenguin]

Player 1 - the hardcore gaming population (ie Gamers with a clue) don't like Electronic Arts because of its mediocrity. They have over and over again BOUGHT up the competition and our beloved franchises only to bastardize them or simply have them disappear into nothing.

Examples of companies: Origin, Bullfrog, and Westwood
Franchise Examples: Magic Carpet, Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate, Command and Conquer, Populous, Wing Commander
Examples of Buying the Competition: NFL License - See Madden 06 for the XBox 360. This game is stripped down to nothing. Do you think if Visual Concepts had a football game coming out for the system we'd have the same amount of features still in Madden?

[TKO]

Okay Player 1, so you're not happy with the bitching this year. So you pop up in a thread about the most hated publisher, supporting the least popular console, where said console seems to be a shit-magnet for Nintendo haters on these forums. ..Riiiiiight. You're just *trying* to get into a fight aren't you?

My personal opinion on this news item? Is it news? I feel no rising hate, just maybe a rising "meh." To me it's a given that EA would publish for the Rev: It's cube-compatible, which they already support, so they don't actually have to do anything to be 'publishing' for the Rev. The API is the same, so their programmers just have to switch to a new Dev-Kit with sod-all training (compared to the PS3/XBox360), um, like EA would give them training anyway. ;) And they know that Nintendo's design it oriented towards cheap development costs...

Heck, for a pure cash-oriented sweat-shop outfit, I can't see how they could want to do anything *other* than publish for the Rev. Even if the console has a low adoption rate, from a financial standpoint, for porting games that they're going to be developing anyway, every financial analysis of this situation has to say 'safe', yeah?

[Player 1]

Player 1 - the hardcore gaming population (ie Gamers with a clue) don't like Electronic Arts because of its mediocrity. They have over and over again BOUGHT up the competition and our beloved franchises only to bastardize them or simply have them disappear into nothing.

The self-labelled and self-righteous hardcore gaming population can go fuck itself. They're utterly clueless when it comes to how this industry works.

I mean, it's great that they sill play Ikaruga on their Dreamcasts or can whip out a 15 hit combo on King of Fighters '98 - but their knowledge of the industry as a whole? Nah. Not even close.

Gamers, hardcore and otherwise make a series of mistakes very VERY consistently:

1) They assume they're the majority
2) They assume they know the machinations of the industry
3) They assume every act by a videogame company is relevent to their wants and desires
4) They cannot accept the possibilty that points 1-3 are utter bullshit.

Hardcore gamers are like those guys in bars watching a baseball match and yelling at the TV. They're not team managers, they don't know how to play the game - they're just opinionated ignoramuses.

If proof was needed of any of the 'knowledge' of gamers ranting on about EA and whether anyone truly gave a shit about their opinions outside of their own audience is to look at the performance of EA in the real world (not the hardcore gaming nirvana that gamers can't seem to break out of). You think boycotting or bitching about EA is doing ANYTHING at all to the performance of the company? Do I even have to ask that question?

Of course, in this corner of the internet where Evil Avatar is the be all of your sphere of influence you can convince yourself that you're making a difference and that your words actually mean something. Try heading to an industry community, try going to a developer conference with your arguments. See what happens.

And do me a favour, spend one year in the games industry and then try to believe half the shit that 'knowledgable' gamers talk.

When you understand how the game is played you'll appreciate those that play it well.

[Balthasar]

And yet, when they don't change things enough from what people have seen before the criticism of 'lazy developers' gets used instead. Whatever they do, gamers will find a reason to throw the insults.
I could be wrong, but when he said "2K," I assumed he was talking about the series made by VC, not EA, so "lazy developers" have nothing to do with it. If you were someone that prefered their football game, EA kinda fucked you over.

[Player 1]

I read that as "They try to change something, it went bad, I'll have a go at them for it". Which was where my point about what happens if EA didn't try to change anything (they get criticised) was coming from.

"2K" is somewhat ambiguous, clarity would be appreciated.

Although, I feel my point still stands with regard to people's attitude to EA changing/not changing things.

[drakkarim]

"already underway with software for the console" = busy porting their shitty sports titles as fast as possible.

[TKO]

Way to go spreading the love Player 1 .. I don't think we'll be seeing many hateful threads around with you to keep us safe. :D

[bapenguin]

You didn't even acknowledge my examples of why people dislike EA. While the companies and franchises I listed mostly apply to a smaller sample of the gaming population, namely older PC gamers the recent acquisition of the NFL exclusive license brought EA hating into "mainstream" gaming culture.

I don't know the exact numbers for Visual Concepts NFL2k5, but it sold REALLY well against Madden. So much so EA and the NFL decided an exclusive agreement was the best course of action. The NFL apparently didn't like having an NFL branded title selling at 19.99, and neither did EA. There were tons of fans of the 2k series. When EA pulled the rug out from under the NFL2k5 fans, it pissed them off. This time it was different than those previous cases I mentioned because there was a significant installed fan base.

Case in point, NFL2k5 Forever (http://nfl2k5forever.com/) which had around 50,000 Page views a day average (http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=&url=nfl2k5forever.com/) for 3 months. At the start of the NFL season it was reaching almost 10 million visitors (http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?&range=6m&size=large&compare_sites=&y=r&url=nfl2k5forever.com/). Not too shabby.

With those kind of number, people CAN make a difference. That's the beauty of capitalism.

[bjornbarspingvinen]

Well, to me 2ksports had a better football game with 2k5 and have had better NHL games for the last 4 years. And exclusives suck , unless you are a shareholder in EA. My attitude towards EA changed when they tried to force me as a consumer to play only one series to enjoy the nfl as a game format. And by game choice, I hardly qualify as hardcore, my last games are NHL2k6, BF2, Forza motorsport.

Good sales doesn´t mean the best games, it just means the consumers are currently content(unless he returns it). I believe in choice, and anyone stating that competetion doesn´t accelerate innovation and improve the consumers standpoint is just lost.

To clarify: By content I mean , they maybe never tried an alternative. (which 2ksports actually mananged to get people to do with 2k5) ... then again there will be those who prefer either, but choice is key anyhow. Brandname goes a long way even to casual consumers in the videogame category.

[Achilles]

That's not a very accurate business model. Firstly, if they support a *new* platform their advertising and marketing costs go UP courtesy of needing to market in magazines/sites that cater exclusively for that platform. If EA don't support Revolution then they don't need to advertise in Revolution Gamer Monthly do they? Then there's packaging costs, print materials and development costs (there isn't a magic "export to Revolution" button in your typical development environment - regardless of what many like to think).Contrary to what you might think EA has exceptionally capable teams that build tools that make what they do very cost efficient. They're well accustomed to building games on multiple platforms at once since that is primarily how they operate. They can do it at very little cost and with teams much smaller than what you would find at other companies. There may not be a magic button, but you better believe they put some serious time into making their code compatable and quick to port. It's a focus of theirs.

About manufacturing cost, there is that additional cost to the cost of porting the game.

Regarding marketing; how much do you think it costs them to put that ad in Nintendo Power (if they'd even bother to advertise in such a narrow venue). It's next to nothing, especially compared to the cost of running a commercial on prime time TV, where they can simply slap up the logos for all the systems they made the game for and it costs them nothing beyond what the commercial would have cost them anyway. Same goes for any other ad. Say an Xbox/PS2 owner gets PSM and it's got an ad for Madden with the logos for the PS2, Xbox, 360, GBA, DS, PSP, and GC version. Well maybe the guy who gets PSM prefers Madden on Xbox, so the ad sells the Xbox version even though it's in PSM.

By advertising the product only once, they can give versions that are expected lower sales a huge maketing push that they normally couldn't afford.Secondly, development teams are not dictated by sales. This is an impossibility as sales can only be determined after a product has been published - at which point the development team's job is done.EA is extremely accurate at predicting sales and limiting the budget of their games to around what they expect to make off those games. It's one of the big reason's they're successful. If the last 2 versions of Madden sold 40k copies on the Cube, do you actually think they'll not have a good idea of how much money they should spend porting the next version?
I could name a half a dozen major publishers to which that comment applies - and so can you (once we remove any trace of bias).What, bias against EA? I'm just stating it like it is. They won't give the Rev a lot of special treatment unless they manage to sell some games on it. What's so odd about that? At least they'll still make games for it, even if they're ports, most other publishers don't have the ability to do that. Heck they even still support the Game Cube despite sales consistently being terrible even for their best franchises on that system. Not only do they support it, but they support it with GC specific stuff in an attempt to get people to buy their games. It doesn't work, but what do you want? At least they're trying to build some fans on that platform instead of just giving up. How many other publishers do that?

I'd go on about how their almost unique ability to port things for very low cost allows them to bring big budget games to a system that would normally not have the sales to support such a game, but it's late.

[Bydo_Empire]

Examples of Buying the Competition: NFL License - See Madden 06 for the XBox 360. This game is stripped down to nothing. Do you think if Visual Concepts had a football game coming out for the system we'd have the same amount of features still in Madden?
Well, NBA 2k6 on the 360 was a straight-up xbox 1 port with cooler clothing. Is that really better? Better graphics, and that's it? Madden for the 360 did lose a lot of features and it's a little buggy (although so is nfl 2k5), but they rewrote much of the game from the ground up. New animation system, completely new interface, completely new audio. Again, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Madden 360 isn't the best game in the world, but at least it *attempted* to take the genre to the next generation, instead of porting an xbox game (which pretty much every other Take Two and EA Sports game did).

Wait, what does this have to do with the Revolution? Oh yeah, nothing. Sorry for the pointless rant. More Revolution support is a "good thing" in my mind. I'll see what they come up with before passing judgement, though I hope they support it in the xbox 360 sense rather than the DS sense. :/

[midrael]

Well, even though it got turned mostly into an EA hate thread, woo to actually having my news submission accepted! :)

While it IS EA who I pretty much expected to eventually support the Revolution, I thought I'd point out that article mostly for the benefit of those that wondered if any third party developers were actually going to be making any Rev games. And love em or hate em, EA is pretty much the power house of third party support. Somehow I anticipate the "innovative" new MLB game where you swing the controller like a bat. :P Hopefully, we'll see a little more than just that.

[Kefkataran]

the hardcore gaming population (ie Gamers with a clue) don't like Electronic Arts because of its mediocrity. They have over and over again BOUGHT up the competition and our beloved franchises only to bastardize them or simply have them disappear into nothing.

Although, and trust me, I have as strong a distaste for EA as anyone here (like I said earlier, I go out of my way to not purchase their games), it's worth arguing this a little... I mean despite EA's ability to church out large amounts of mediocre crap, they do still tend to turn out a lot of top-notch games as well -- the SSX series, the Burnout series, a lot of the Need for Speed games, and most the stuff by Will Wright. I mean, yes, EA is doing some of the blandest, most mediocre games in existence, but they're also publishing Spore. You show me someone who doesn't have a hard-on for Spore, and I'll show you a rabid heathen (Kelegacy).

[bone_matrix]

Long winded speech...

Easy cheap-shots, free money-shots, and sometimes funny one-liners are what the internet is for.

You always seem to come here looking for long, intelligent conversations and posts. They aren't here. If you want those, go to a coffee house to bitch about Bush. Go to a college campus and discuss the world today. Don't come to Evil Avatar to discuss the developmental impact EA will have on the Revolution by saying it will create games for it. Or, if you really really want to, just ask the question, don't post saying we are retarded and should think more before we type. Many people like to bitch. This is their outlet. Let them be.

Now, pick this post apart and tell me how dumb I am.


edit: I meant no disrespect to EA. I always enjoy coming here and reading posts. But, this is a video game site. I don't believe one can have the same deep converstations about Bush and the world today as one can about video games. That is all I mean.

[fushi]

http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-rant.gif
Oh Player 1 :o

[Kefkataran]

You always seem to come here looking for long, intelligent conversations and posts. They aren't here. If you want those, go to a coffee house to bitch about Bush. Go to a college campus and discuss the world today. Don't come to Evil Avatar to discuss the developmental impact EA will have on the Revolution by saying it will create games for it.

Way to rob Evil Avatar of any good qualities that could possibly convince people to come here or stick around. Thankfully your post is not representative of what the community actually has to offer as, despite attitudes like this, there actually are a large number of really intelligent people around here who are interested in the level of discussion you so easily discard.

[fushi]

Now-now. EvAv is all about attitude. It's not a place for cuddly cats. Be manly!

But, something I wanted to get back to...
But it's worth bearing in mind that Nintendo need EA far more than EA need Nintendo.
There is an obvious truth to this: if a mainstream console doesn't get support from one of the largest publishers around, then their road to success will most likely be filled with sticks and stones to no end. Publishers are what make and break a console, no doubt about it, yet one cannot ignore certain trends and standards that only the console manufacturers set. If Sony didn't start aiming for an older demographic then there most likely wouldn't be an abundance of faux-gangsta games and whatnot, etc. Nintendo can have the same influence, should their knowledge of consumer demand supersede ours (he!).

Let us presume that the Revolution will be quite successful. At first it's only the loyalists and a fraction of the current "hardcore" (for lack of a better term) who will venture into the new unknown and buy it. Comparatively, the more mainstream population of gamers who enjoy the visual splendor of the 360 and PS3 will pass it up at first. But then a certain shift occurs, the Rev's version of Otona no DS Training (The DS Brain Training game that has been in the top 20 of the Japanese sales charts for ages now and helping shift shitloads of DS's) will be released, and slowly but surely the Rev's sales take off, reaching an adoption rate of 30-40 million -- maybe even more.

Now, here's where things get interesting (in my mind at least): what will EA do? The sales of multi-console ports (which, habitually, play better with the standard controller shell rather than the Revmote itself) are about as poor as they were on the 'cube and the growing market of gaming "non-gamers" :) remains blissfully untapped. Will they start giving their ports more attention to make the play-experience using the revmote more fulfilling or will they instead opt to start producing titles which the so-called non-gamer market will like? Maybe even form new sub-studios/buy successful devhouses which specifically cater to the DS and Rev?

And yes, this whole case scenario is full of rabid fanboy speculation, but I remain optimistic in regards to EA starting to develop different games that cater to a... different lowest common denominator. One that we don't associate with that lousy baggy-pants wearing moron from school, but with our grandparents and that guy in the pub who doesn't want anything else from life aside from a small boat that he'll name "Jenny".

Or maybe the Rev will bomb and the "need for change" will be nothing more than a Nintendo myth, like many before and many that will follow.

[CapnBob]

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good thing that the largest 3rd party publisher is going to release games on the Revolution, I just wish EA wasn't the largest 3rd party publisher.

[Player 1]

With those kind of number, people CAN make a difference. That's the beauty of capitalism.

Sure, people DO make a difference. But there's a fuckload more people that see "Ooh. Official NFL logo" and buy it than read EA Spouse's blog.

And you're trying to compare web-page hits against sales figures as some sort of indication that David is going to slay goliath? Perhaps that has significance in your head, but it sure as heck means diddly squat in the real world.

Contrary to what you might think EA has exceptionally capable teams that build tools that make what they do very cost efficient. They're well accustomed to building games on multiple platforms at once since that is primarily how they operate. They can do it at very little cost and with teams much smaller than what you would find at other companies. There may not be a magic button, but you better believe they put some serious time into making their code compatable and quick to port. It's a focus of theirs.

No shit. The fact that pretty much every single 3rd party game is developed in a modular, transferable manner since.. ..er.. at least 15 years ago hasn't escaped my attention.

However, it's still no straightforward process. There are TRC standards to comply with that a unique to each and every platform for example. That's a shitload of work for a producer and a few coders just there. Then you've got your kiddies that'll bitch if it's not running in some way that exploits it's new hardware to take into account. How about using a hard disk (if one exists on such a platform). What about adapting the controls to the different types of joypad available. What about differences in the bus speed of between the onboard ram to the GPU? Does that mean you can still go with those hi-res textures you had on one machine or do you have to get all your art assets reformatted? What about online functions? How does Sony's handshaking and packet transfer work against Microsoft's or Nintendo's? Is there a lobby system to consider on one but not the other? Is there going to be connectivity between handhelds?

Have *you* ever managed a game conversion from one platform to the other? I've done plenty, all modular. None of them are straightforward.

Regarding marketing; how much do you think it costs them to put that ad in Nintendo Power (if they'd even bother to advertise in such a narrow venue). It's next to nothing, especially compared to the cost of running a commercial on prime time TV...

"Next to nothing" is not the same as "nothing" though is it?

where they can simply slap up the logos for all the systems they made the game for and it costs them nothing beyond what the commercial would have cost them anyway. Same goes for any other ad. Say an Xbox/PS2 owner gets PSM and it's got an ad for Madden with the logos for the PS2, Xbox, 360, GBA, DS, PSP, and GC version. Well maybe the guy who gets PSM prefers Madden on Xbox, so the ad sells the Xbox version even though it's in PSM.

Sure, the advert graphic artists won't have a lot more work to do. Everyone else will have plenty, particularly the brand and product managers, PR, sales, point-of-sales teams, printers, distributors and those guys that haggle for retail floor space. And the development team, of course.

By advertising the product only once, they can give versions that are expected lower sales a huge maketing push that they normally couldn't afford.EA is extremely accurate at predicting sales and limiting the budget of their games to around what they expect to make off those games. It's one of the big reason's they're successful.

I agree wholeheartedly.

If the last 2 versions of Madden sold 40k copies on the Cube, do you actually think they'll not have a good idea of how much money they should spend porting the next version?
What, bias against EA? I'm just stating it like it is. They won't give the Rev a lot of special treatment unless they manage to sell some games on it.

However, making/porting a game for a new platform certainly doesn't just mean more money in EA's pocket without considerable expense on their part. It's not a freebie of any sorts - certainly not how you suggested it was in your original post.

What's so odd about that? At least they'll still make games for it, even if they're ports, most other publishers don't have the ability to do that.

You're shitting me! HEAPS of publishers have the ability and resources to do that. Have a look at your Gamecube 3rd party line up to see what I mean.

Heck they even still support the Game Cube despite sales consistently being terrible even for their best franchises on that system. Not only do they support it, but they support it with GC specific stuff in an attempt to get people to buy their games. It doesn't work, but what do you want? At least they're trying to build some fans on that platform instead of just giving up. How many other publishers do that?

Plenty. Please consult the Gamecube 3rd party release list for numerous examples.

If people are confused or perplexed by my apparent non-evangelising of EA in this part of the debate please let it serve as an indicator that I am not blindly in favour of one company over another. In the same way the long, unpaid overtime is abundant in the industry and not just EA the sort of business/development model under discussion is also not just EA.

[51|RandoM]

If you want those, go to a coffee house to bitch about Bush. Go to a college campus and discuss the world today.

Your average college student doesn't know shit about the world today. They'll be able to spout what they've been fed about whatever the latest cause is, but their grip on the reality of a given world situation is virtually nil.

Always entertaining to send them a wake up call once they get on the job in the real world. :-)

As far as electronic arts supporting revolution? Don't care. The only publisher I need on a Nintendo console is: Nintendo. Please note that I don't think Nintendo has to "win" the console war to be a success.

[Player 1]

And yes, this whole case scenario is full of rabid fanboy speculation..

Speculation yes. Fanboy - not a trace. (Unless people wish to take issue with the term "revmote"). Congratulations on one of the most well reasoned, considered and constructive posts I've ever read on this site.

You are Player 1's POSTER OF THE MONTH! http://forum.rscnet.org/images/smilies/trophy.gif

Your average college student doesn't know shit about the world today. They'll be able to spout what they've been fed about whatever the latest cause is, but their grip on the reality of a given world situation is virtually nil.

Always entertaining to send them a wake up call once they get on the job in the real world. :-)p.

This is absolutely priceless.

I'm sure you have utter faith in your statement and, frankly, I don't have issue with it. However, if you apply it to gamers and videogames I can assure you that it's just as true - but, perhaps, a little more difficult to accept.

[Kefkataran]

Your average college student doesn't know shit about the world today. They'll be able to spout what they've been fed about whatever the latest cause is, but their grip on the reality of a given world situation is virtually nil.

Always entertaining to send them a wake up call once they get on the job in the real world. :-)

Actually, that's more just what your average non-college student thinks of your average college student. There's just a huge variance in the levels of knowledge among college students as there is among everyone, but I'd even go so far as to say the percentage of college students who keep up-to-date and aware of news and such is even slightly higher than in the normal population. This could just be at my college, though, which is a pretty small campus and highly politically active.

[bapenguin]

Player 1...I'm curious. What would you say....you do here?

[AniAko]

A quote from you yesterday
Additionally, my efforts are not to deliberately rile people or get under their skin, it is to play devil's advocate and show the equally valid flipside of the argument.

Another quote from you yesterday.
If you check, you'll see I *never* enter a thread and start badmouthing another poster with my opening post.
Your first post in this thread.
So far, Evil Avatar's been unable to report an EA news topic in 2006 that doesn't instantly turn into a hate thread. Well done! The narrow minded views of your typical vocal gamers really do you credit. Didn't Evil Avatar decide not to post any further Jack Thompson news posts due to the hate-mongering that would inevitably ensue? Does it therefore approve of this particular brand of hate-mongering? It would appear so.

<cue excuses of how EA killed your puppy or some such justification for such retarded behaviour>

If people actually stop and think before going for the easy cheap-shot they'll realise that this is one of the best things that can possibly happen for Nintendo's new console.

EA wield so much influence in the industry (rightly or wrongly) that many other developers and publishers will follow their lead. If EA are publicly declaring support for the machine it is inevitable that a large degree of fence-sitters will now decided to do the same. By contrast, EA withdrawing support for a console can be the begninning of the end - it certainly didn't help the Dreamcast.

EA, like it or hate it, hold the biggest sporting licences around. Compared to other systems Nintendo machines haven't had a huge amount of support for these type of games. Sports games are massively important, apart from being strong, recognisable brands that speak to gamers and non gamers they are evergreen sellers. They are the titles that will continue to sell after their peak launch window has passed. This must surely benefit Nintendo too.

But it's worth bearing in mind that Nintendo need EA far more than EA need Nintendo. The last decade has shown this quite clearly. So saying "Here's EA's chance not to screw it up" - it really won't matter to EA - particularly if the Revolution's targetted demographic (the non-gamer) doesn't have an ignorant hate-campaign to base their NFL/FIFA/NHL/Harry Potter purchases on.

I'm from the UK, Ice Hockey isn't a big deal here. But I wonder what it might be like to use the Revolution controller as a hockey stick? Probably totally impractical in real game terms (in game designs at least 80% of great ideas turn out to be totally unplayable) but it could be fun for shoot-outs.

OK guys, prove me wrong. Show me how much thought and consideration you can put into this topic instead of acting like a bunch of pitchfork-wielding villagers..
You sir, are a liar. How does your foot taste?

[AniAko]

I'm happy to hear EA got the alpha kits in house early. I wouldn't like to see any of the titles rushed onto the system. I remember picking up Madden 05 for the DS, and it was incredibly buggy.

[Player 1]

You sir, are a liar. How does your foot taste?

And who, in that first post, did I directly address and insult? Please name the names.

Are you now going to put words into my mouth, words that I never said, to attempt to prove your point??

Are you going to suggest I'm directing my comments at Evil Avatar, the user (who didn't write the news story)? If so then you're making quite an effort to miss the obvious in some poor attempt to score some moral victory.

Are you suggesting that my post *didn't* show the alternative side to the news that hadn't already been covered (comments referring to lazy ports for example) by others in the topic so far? I'd say that the majority of my post showed a broader perspective to the news than just to expect EA games on the Revolution. This backs up the statement of mine that you so kindly quoted when I claimed that I sought to provide the flipside to the typical gamer response to such news.

If you actually look CAREFULLY at what I said and then what I did, you'll find that I kept to my word.

Still - it's SO GOOD to see some real, genuine trolling on the forum. A long post doing nothing but seeking to put down another user whilst adding absolutely no contribution to the topic at hand.

So, in future, I suggest you stop stalking me and get your shit together before you start pissing into my pool.

Player 1...I'm curious. What would you say....you do here?
Why, I post in accordance to the rules of this forum just like everybody else. I just have a lower tolerance for bullshit.

[CapnBob]

Why, I post in accordance to the rules of this forum just like everybody else. I just have a lower tolerance for bullshit.

Yes! Like I always say, fight bullshit with bullshit.

[Player 1]

List the rules I've broken then, hotshot.

At the very least, rather than fling some thinly veiled ambiguous insult, try to make a specific point. You know, actually point out a specific instance or issue.

Why, what you're doing is tantamount to trolling..

..and, with Inevitable_Winter's help, turning another topic into a Player 1 witch hunt.

Well done.

[bapenguin]

List the rules I've broken then, hotshot.

At the very least, rather than fling some thinly veiled ambiguous insult, try to make a specific point. You know, actually point out a specific instance or issue.

Why, what you're doing is tantamount to trolling..

..and, with Inevitable_Winter's help, turning another topic into a Player 1 witch hunt.

Well done.

No one is claiming you break the rules. I'm just curious as to why you post. And what you think you post.

[Balthasar]

Actually, that's more just what your average non-college student thinks of your average college student. There's just a huge variance in the levels of knowledge among college students as there is among everyone, but I'd even go so far as to say the percentage of college students who keep up-to-date and aware of news and such is even slightly higher than in the normal population. This could just be at my college, though, which is a pretty small campus and highly politically active.
I tend to feel that's true with most college populations. Maybe you want to say college kids are idealistic? Fine, though I don't know when having high standards became a bad thing. But if anyone kids themself into thinking going to college makes you somehow less informed of the world, that person is lost.

[Player 1]

No one is claiming you break the rules. I'm just curious as to why you post. And what you think you post.

To save me repeating myself, why not refer to the lengthy quote that Inevitable_Winter posted in his trolling post of me a few posts back?

And, if I haven't broken any rules and am therefore not under arrest how about you cease the character analysis and questioning? It's certainly not helping this thread get back on topic.

Oh, I just noticed Inevitable_Winter's user title under his sig (http://img429.imageshack.us/img429/2339/inevitablewinter2wl.jpg). How cute. Personal shit like that is *really* going to do wonders for the stature of this community.

[AniAko]

A quote from you yesterday
Player 1][/b]
Additionally, my efforts are not to deliberately rile people or get under their skin, it is to play devil's advocate and show the equally valid flipside of the argument.

A quote from today

So far, Evil Avatar's been unable to report an EA news topic in 2006 that doesn't instantly turn into a hate thread. Well done! The narrow minded views of your typical vocal gamers really do you credit. Didn't Evil Avatar decide not to post any further Jack Thompson news posts due to the hate-mongering that would inevitably ensue? Does it therefore approve of this particular brand of hate-mongering? It would appear so.

<cue excuses of how EA killed your puppy or some such justification for such retarded behaviour>

If people actually stop and think before going for the easy cheap-shot they'll realise that this is one of the best things that can possibly happen for Nintendo's new console.

...
...
OK guys, prove me wrong. Show me how much thought and consideration you can put into this topic instead of acting like a bunch of pitchfork-wielding villagers..

What was the purpose of this quote, if not to get under the skins of the community as a whole who oppose your views? You make it impossible for anyone to dislike EA, or the nature of their business for any reason without feeling like they've been attacked for what they believe in without cause. I'm sure if you were to hold back your feelings about the people you dislike, and rather concentrate on the message in your post, your posts will be better accepted by the community. I am not trolling, your comments just brought a very recent conversation to mind.

I thought my user title was cute and witty ^_^. At your displeasure with it, I have changed it.


Back on topic, I agree that landing third party support from EA is crucial in the survival of any console. I personally feel that this is no surprise because I feel that EA wouldn't turn down any gaming system. They're releasing SSX3 on the Gizmondo, not to mention the titles EA produced for cell phones. Not to downplay the Gizmondo, but if they're willing to produce games for that system, why not a next-gen Nintendo system, seeing Nintendo's stature and popurlarity in the industry?

[Player 1]

Winter, that issue isn't with PEOPLE it's with the MENTALITY.

Now, if you're one of those people that exhibit such a infantile and thoughtless mentality then you may feel aggrieved. Of course, if you don't display that mentality then I'm sure my comments be like water off a duck's back to you.

It's only those with a guilty conscience that are the ones who get most upset.

Think about it.


And, in a way, I'm honoured that you've chosen to focus your subscriber privileges on me. It's nice to be noticed.

[AniAko]

...

No offense (seriously) but it's not your job to correct and/or attack the mentality people exhibit. Degrading how someone thinks is just as bad as degrading them as a person. You shouldn't be getting anyone upset if all you're doing is providing a different view, unfortunately you do get people upset. I honestly believe it's the delivery, not the message, people dislike the most.

[Kefkataran]

I tend to feel that's true with most college populations. Maybe you want to say college kids are idealistic? Fine, though I don't know when having high standards became a bad thing. But if anyone kids themself into thinking going to college makes you somehow less informed of the world, that person is lost.

I'd agree on the idealism thing. It's unpopular of course, since we live in such a cynical age, so they tend to be written off as "naive". Still, I think slowly but surely the cynicicm will start to fade (god, I hope so) and we'll move into a neoidealist phase. That would be nice.

Player 1: Listen, I understand where you're coming from on your message. It's the same type of stuff I'm constantly pointing out. But you do it in such a way as you're sure to make people angry. If you really want to engage people and make them think and consider what you're saying and possibly even change there mind, you need to quit insulting them and start really talking to them. Just trying to help out, man.

[CapnBob]

Winter, that issue isn't with PEOPLE it's with the MENTALITY.

Now, if you're one of those people that exhibit such a infantile and thoughtless mentality then you may feel aggrieved. Of course, if you don't display that mentality then I'm sure my comments be like water off a duck's back to you.

The mentality is that Electronic Arts is cripplingly bad for creativity, quality, and artistic vision. They have a nice long history of being exceedingly anti-competitive even for this cutthroat industry as well as a history of buying up developers for their beloved franchises, then strangling and gutting the developer while shifting the franchise off to another team to add flash while letting the substance stagnate. EA is creatively a drain on the industry as a whole and largely irrelevant to hardcore gamers, which is the target audience of this site.

At any rate, given their track record with the DS thus far, it's not exactly unfair to predict that they will not really capitalize on the strengths of the Revolution system. Large numbers of ported games that either ignore the freehand controller entirely or use it to poor effect could hurt the image of the system to casual gamers more than it helps, because each of those games will end up looking and controlling better on the 360 or the PS3. It dilutes the library and is counterproductive to the entire point of the system.

I would love to be proven wrong, but that won't happen until we can see solid examples of what EA is planning. In the meantime, I see no reason not to make a few little jokes at their expense. If someone at EA reads it, what happens? They get their feelings hurt? Awww, poor little giant corporation got their feelings hurt. They're not going to withdraw support if hardcore gamers don't like them because, well, they don't really cater to hardcore gamers. They're not likely to reform their practices and start encouraging innovation within the company due to sarcasm either, but it's worth a shot.

Anyway, is that the mentality you're referring to? What in the world is wrong with that?

[Achilles]

"Next to nothing" is not the same as "nothing" though is it?Hey guy who’s always talking about how other people don’t read carefully enough: Show me where I said it costs them NOTHING. I said it costs them nothing more than the team it takes to port the game. Is that the same thing as “nothing”? Is that huge paragraph of questions in your post trying to convince me somehow that there’s more than a team of people involved with making the port? Because all that stuff would seem to be accomplished by a team of people.

I think it would be a very small team because they would scale it based on sales expectations, and if you thought about it, there are extremely efficient ways to handle all of your questions if you had EA’s resources and look at their games. I’d post the answers, but the list is really freaking long.(regarding advertisements)Everyone else will have plenty, particularly the brand and product managers, PR, sales, point-of-sales teams, printers, distributors and those guys that haggle for retail floor space. And the development team, of course.Why would everyone have plenty of work to do if all they’re doing is putting the Game Cube’s logo at the end of the commercial. The dev team has no input in marketing, and isn’t impacted by it. They won’t make a demo for a system that won’t sell well enough to support that team making the demo, so there’s not necessarily even a cost there. You can scale this stuff down you know, same with the changes between versions and all other costs involved in making a port. The PM and other managment might even be the same across multiple versions in order to save budget.

[divinechaos]

Cmon now, everyone, either way u love or hate EA, u have to admit that this isnt bad news. Even though i myself dont buy EA products unless their used- and therefore no money goes to them- must admit that EA holds a lot of place in the mainstream's minds. Kids that have never played the 2K series will always pick up Madden because of the name. Dont bitch, either way this is just good news and personally i cant wait to see how SSX will play with the rev's controller.

[Player 1]

The mentality is that Electronic Arts is cripplingly bad for creativity, quality, and artistic vision.

Yes, because titles like Spore, The Sims, SSX and the original Medal of Honour games are truly poor examples of derivative, unthinking, unimaginative titles that nobody likes.

Except, whoops!, you'd rather gloss over those and focus exclusively on the portion of their output that you don't like and suggest you're representing the whole picture.

They have a nice long history of being exceedingly anti-competitive even for this cutthroat industry as well as a history of buying up developers for their beloved franchises, then strangling and gutting the developer while shifting the franchise off to another team to add flash while letting the substance stagnate.

You're demonstrating a fantastic degree of ignorance there. I very much doubt you have any true understand of how a company like EA operates.

May I ask you how many business dealings* you've had with them and how you compare those dealings to other major third party publishers such as Activision, Eidos or Inforgrames / Atari please?

*when I refer to business dealings I am, of course, refering to the videogame business, not your experience as a consumer.

EA is creatively a drain on the industry as a whole and largely irrelevant to hardcore gamers, which is the target audience of this site.

EA most certainly isn't a creative drain on the industry. By your own remarks they are anti-competitive so, as such an entity, how can they be such a creative drain? Additionally, it would help if you understood the creative process of videogames (ie: make some) before you judge who is and who isn't a creative drain. In fact, just what have *you* created recently?

As for the audience of this site, I find your opinion as to who this site's audience to be as far from definitive. Declaring your opinion may give some gravitas to your comments but, in truth, they count for nothing.

And, believe me, the hardcore gamers are in no way relevant to a good 95% of what drives or affects the industry. Your voice is the minority, do not make the mistake of thinking otherwise after all, if your views meant something then it would have affected EA's fortune's by now.

In the meantime, I see no reason not to make a few little jokes at their expense.

Well aren't you the big man! What a marvelous way to substantiate all that you've said by approving the idea of taking cheaps shots as something to be admired. Give yourself a banana and go and sit with the rest of the giggling chimps.

Your fabrications, assumptions and infantile mentality are perfect examples of why gamers' opinions aren't worth two cents in the real world and everything that undermines the credibility of the entire culture.

Your behaviour isn't anything to be crowing about. You do realise that, right?

If someone at EA reads it, what happens? They get their feelings hurt? Awww, poor little giant corporation got their feelings hurt. They're not going to withdraw support if hardcore gamers don't like them because, well, they don't really cater to hardcore gamers. They're not likely to reform their practices and start encouraging innovation within the company due to sarcasm either, but it's worth a shot.

You think sarcasm and poking fun at a company (although not having the balls or common sense to take your argument directly to them in person) is an attempt at being constructive?

Why not make some attempt to DEAL with the issues you bemoan? You sit there, behind your anonymity, on an internet message board getting pious about how a company you don't understand behaves in an industry that you have no involvement in. You're not actually doing anything to make things better, you're only helping to make them worse.

If you were truly bothered, you would act and do something CONSTRUCTIVE (not DEstructive such as declaring some silly boycott). But that requires action. It requires effort. It requires a shred of integrity.

No, it's far easier to sit at your screen and tap at your keyboard than to actually get off your ass and do something to make a difference.

Anyway, is that the mentality you're referring to? What in the world is wrong with that?

What's wrong with YOUR mentality is that you and people like you have caused irrevocable damage to the credibility of the culture that I and many others love. You shit on all that it COULD be because your cheap joke is more valuable to you than any attempt at doing something constructive and you're proud of yourself for doing it. Clowns like you are the reason why this culture's morals and ethics are in question. You're the reason why governments seek to control our culture and industry - because when they look to see what sort of people are playing games, they see people like you and realise that you don't have it in you to be trusted to deal with things relating to videogames in a mature and thoughtful manner.

I can only hope that, when you have a leaky pipe or your power cuts out or you lose your job or when you need medical attention - I really hope that someone does nothing but cracks a joke at your expense. We'll see how funny you think that mentality is then.

I'm not often lost for words, but, quite frankly, your attitude makes me speechless. I loved games since the very first time I touched a computer. I carved out my career, I made my choices, I spoke my mind and I feel justified that the efforts I made address the issues I had with videogames. I continue to do it today, despite having had contracts with EA, and many large third party publishers, the development studio I enjoyed my best years at had to close down. I still strove for what I love and put my money, time and energies into making a constructive difference to this culture and indsutry. Then I see people like you who think it's a giggle to moan at EA for overworking their staff (just like 95% of the industry does) and then, in another breath, insult those staff, their work and the work of others that you don't even have the consideration to think of. Your mentality, far more than your words or lack of understanding, is the greatest insult of all - to a far wider range of people than your imagined EA fat cat.

People like you are a stain on this culture.

Well done, you've finally made me that pissed off with this community that I'll leave you to wallow in your own filth. I can only hope you never play a product or read an article that I've produced or that any of the talented, hardworking people that I've worked with ever produced.

So long.

[Kelegacy]

I mean, yes, EA is doing some of the blandest, most mediocre games in existence, but they're also publishing Spore. You show me someone who doesn't have a hard-on for Spore, and I'll show you a rabid heathen (Kelegacy).
I'll fuckin' kill you. *frothfrothfroth*

Killgunshootmonkeyaaaarrrrghhhfuckshootstabburnpee lgutflayarrrrrrrghhhhouchhurtsburnspainstearaholei nmyheadandletoutthedemons!!!!

I'll fuckin' kill you. *slaverslaverslaver*

[fushi]

The inevitable meltdown.

The only thing he really wanted of you all was to look at the flipside of the coin, I think. But, alas...

[Kefkataran]

The only thing he really wanted of you all was to look at the flipside of the coin, I think. But, alas...

It's possible to want that without being as long-winded, intense, and mean as Player 1 has been time and again. True, how people have treated him hasn't been any better, but he's really done far too little to do anything about that.

Also: Kelegacy fuckin' killed me. :(

[netcraazzy]

(looks at Gamecube library...Metriod, Starfox, Zelda, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Paper Mario, Animal Crossing, Mario Sunshine....) EA+Revolution <= 0 to me.
Ever since the N64 I've pretty much been buying Nintendo’s consoles for Nintendo’s games. I honestly don't care if the uninformed masses don't share the same gaming interests as me. As long as Nintendo makes good first party games I'll be willing to give them my money. If Nintendo needs EA to come and crap all over their new console in order to keep it financially viable in the eyes of all those previsouly mentioned uninformed masses then so be it.

[SMES]

After reading most of the thread, I agree with Player 1 on most points.

EA is good for the revolution. More games for any platform is good.

However, I also, like bapenguin, worry about competition in the industry. Rising production costs and the apparant success of larger publishing houses seem to be the way things are going though.

Player 1, I agree with others who say you would be a lot more effective if you simply edited yourself and kept the attacks on people (and/or their mentalities) to a minimum. The inclusion of all forms of ad hominem is what riles people up usually, not the points you make on the subject matter. Post #17 in this thread was a good example of staying focused on what you had to say and not diverging into needless negativity- the "pretentious hardcore gamers go fuck yourselves" comment notwithstanding, of course. ;) At least you didn't tell the EvAv community/mentality/individual to go fuck themselves, that's an improvement.

[bapenguin]

The inevitable meltdown.

The only thing he really wanted of you all was to look at the flipside of the coin, I think. But, alas...

Alot of us did...but he failed to see the flipside though. He was completely blinded by his own ignorance and hypocricy.

We should have a wall of retirees...put him up there with Bizaro_Avatar. Anybody remember that guy? :)

[SMES]

The inevitable meltdown.

The only thing he really wanted of you all was to look at the flipside of the coin, I think. But, alas...
Dude, you think EvAv was doing this to him? He was a meltdown waiting to happen. Go read his personal website, Koffdrop.com, and you will see posts that contain the same over the top level of energy as his posts on EvAv.

He says that by casually talking about things with each other here on EvAv, we're doing "irrevocable damage" to the videogame culture he so self-importantly loves. This is based on two assumptions: 1. That none of us are active in the videogame industry; and 2. That even if none of us are involved in the industry, what he said could actually be true. Irrevocable damage? Please.

You're the reason why governments seek to control our culture and industry - because when they look to see what sort of people are playing games, they see people like you and realise that you don't have it in you to be trusted to deal with things relating to videogames in a mature and thoughtful manner.
Personally, I wish P1 would spend this kind of energy on humanitarian relief efforts. But I'm not going to get pissed off if he doesn't want to. Therein lies the problem with his anger. He demands of everyone the same level of intense idealistic passion for videogames.

But of course, everyone has different priorities in life. When people reject his attitude as being unrealistic, he goes nuts and accuses us of being unworthy of his contributions. The fact that some of us may prefer to devote our lives to anything besides games seems to insult him.

I love playing games, as evidenced by my posting here. But there are only so many hours in the day, ya know?

I can only hope that, when you have a leaky pipe or your power cuts out or you lose your job or when you need medical attention - I really hope that someone does nothing but cracks a joke at your expense.
This guy was a walking nervous breakdown long before he registered on EvAv.

[Achilles]

We should have a wall of retirees...put him up there with Bizaro_Avatar. Anybody remember that guy? :)Of course! I think I still have a list of all his nutso industry claims and projections. All of which had links with them to prove him wrong in order to make it more efficient to refute him. Then he just disappeared one day in a puff of trolldom.

Player 1 wasn't a Bizaro. But gosh I was trying to agree with him and he still rolls out all hostile on me. If he wants to argue about how efficient EA is at porting things, that's cool, but don't treat me like I'm an idiot, I know what the hell I'm talking about.

[Kefkataran]

Personally, I wish P1 would spend this kind of energy on humanitarian relief efforts. But I'm not going to get pissed off if he doesn't want to. Therein lies the problem with his anger. He demands of everyone the same level of intense idealistic passion for videogames.

Well-stated. There's just no reason to get this worked up about stuff on a videogame website. Save that energy for things that are truly important and potentially worthwhile.

[AniAko]

I honestly hate the fact that he left. He was excellent at debating, if you can over look the degrading remarks inbetween most sentences. He could add a great voice to the community if only he would take it down a notch. May he learn to accept those things he cannot change.

[mister_slim]

I guess I missed my chance to get in a last cheapshot. I doubt he's really gone for good, to be honest. Anyway, hopefully he's happily hanging out in his forum filled with enlightened game journalists and witty conversation. I just don't get how some one who claims to love games so much could hate the people who play them so much. It's a good thing no one pointed out how anti-Sony TeamXbox.com is.
I honestly hate the fact that he left. He was excellent at debating, if you can over look the degrading remarks inbetween most sentences. He could add a great voice to the community if only he would take it down a notch. May he learn to accept those things he cannot change.
I don't know. After having a few arguments over his use of The Sims as an example of EA's creativity (when it's actually an example of Will Wright's creativity and stubborness triumphing over EA's lack of vision), I notice he cited it again up there. And I mention good examples he could use instead (Fight Night, Tiger Woods, the kind of interface stuff EA does well) he just continues on with the poor examples.

[mister_slim]

Will they start giving their ports more attention to make the play-experience using the revmote more fulfilling or will they instead opt to start producing titles which the so-called non-gamer market will like? Maybe even form new sub-studios/buy successful devhouses which specifically cater to the DS and Rev?

And yes, this whole case scenario is full of rabid fanboy speculation, but I remain optimistic in regards to EA starting to develop different games that cater to a... different lowest common denominator.
It would be nice to see. Based on their use of the DS (and, to be fair, most other western developers have done no better) I'm not expecting much to come from EA on Rev. I imagine a few of their sports games will build very nice interfaces around the Rev controller, possibly becoming the flagship version, but their business model doesn't really support the kind of single-platform development the Rev would need. I'm really starting to agree with Hideo Kojima about the importance of building for one platform and one platform only.