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Games Entertainment

Electronic Arts on the Future of Gaming 75

Posted by Zonk from the they'd-be-the-ones-to-know dept.
GameDaily.biz has up a discussion they had earlier in the week with Frank Gibeau, EA's Senior Vice President of Marketing, North America. Mr. Gibeau holds forth on where EA is going (and therefore, where the industry is going) as regards next-generation platforms, the prices of future game titles, and the cost of making games. He also comments on Nintendo's position in the market right now. From the article: "I think the Nintendo customer is so entrenched and loyal that the company knows that they have a base of customers that they are building off of. Is it the same size that it was on 8-bit? Certainly not. They definitely have seen their market position erode in the face of market introductions by Sony and Microsoft."
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Electronic Arts on the Future of Gaming More

Electronic Arts on the Future of Gaming

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  • EA Speaks (Score:5, Funny)

    by Safety Cap ( 253500 ) on Friday May 27, 2005 @10:29AM (#12654847) Homepage Journal
    "We will burn out wave after wave of our own programmers, until we ship the product!"

  • Sure... (Score:3, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Friday May 27, 2005 @10:33AM (#12654895) Homepage Journal

    EA peers into the crystal ball...
    "I see programmers tied to oars in a galley..."
    "Pestilence if you do not row 16 hours per day..."
    "A plague on thee who speaks ill of The Captain..."

  • Hopefully . . . (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    We won't need to rely on EA to determine the future of video games. If Nintendo really does plan to attract indy developers with its Revolution console, I look forward to new, innovative titles instead of EA's well-polished, but derivative, hollywood games.
    • unfortunately, they're one of the biggest companies (with software on multiple platforms) with more money to throw around than most (they have exclusive sports licences for crying out loud)...

      and they have some of the most popular games ever (the sims.. all those sports games that i know nothing about..)

      usually it's people like that who have a big say in the way things go.
    • This might come as a shock to you, but EA is a pretty fucking huge game production machine, and does dominate gaming in much the same way Microsoft dominates the home PC operating system market. Whether you like it or not, being the big boy on the block means that EA *could* conceivably direct the industry how they see fit. They already do, when you think about it.

      I'm not saying it's a GOOD thing considering their shitty practices. I'm as hopeful as you that other entities in the industry step up with
      • This might come as a shock to you, but EA is a pretty fucking huge game production machine, and does dominate gaming in much the same way Microsoft dominates the home PC operating system market.

        Actually, it comes as a pretty big surprise to me.

        I haven't bought an EA game since SimCity 3000, and before that it was the Genesis days. EA is big, but it's not *that* big, it's certainly not a Microsoft level behemoth, for the plain fact that there are substantial other studios that still substantial other pro
        • Don't worry, most athlete gracing the cover of EA sports games have been crippled for the season. Bad sign from god lol.

          In fact, eversince I stopped buying EA games, I got a raise at my job. I won a lottery ticket small prize. I have been living healthier than ever. Hmmm.....

          Anyways, here's a short list of players injured in the past....
          -------------
          Michael Vick
          Daunte Culpepper
          Eddie George
          Marshall Faulk
          Antoine Walker
          Vince Carter
          Dany Heatley
          Tiger Woods ...

  • Well... (Score:1, Insightful)

    by ABaumann ( 748617 )
    I can tell you things that weren't in the article...

    "We will continue to screw over our employees"

    "We will continue to try to monopolize the sports games market by getting exclusive rights to every sports video game on the planet."

    "We will continue to ship the same game that we made in 2000 with only minor improvements."

    "We will continue to buyout good companies like Origin, Maxis, and Bullfrog and convince them to make crappy games like we do now."

    Not sure if you got the point of this post, but I hate
    • That Shaq-Fu line was awesome.

    • Re:Well... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by bersl2 ( 689221 )
      The highly ironic thing is in EA, the epitomy of everything that is wrong in gaming, owning Maxis, who are creating something that appears to be the epitomy of everything that is right in gaming (see the story and especially the video on Spore).

      • Re:Well... (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        epitome

        You're welcome
      • The highly ironic thing is in EA, the epitomy of everything that is wrong in gaming, owning Maxis, who are creating something that appears to be the epitomy of everything that is right in gaming (see the story and especially the video on Spore).

        But they're also the guys who made Maxis produce *eight* expansions for The Sims, instead of spending that time working on making things like Spore.
    • "We will continue to buyout good companies like Origin, Maxis, and Bullfrog and convince them to make crappy games like we do now."

      They don't have to convince them to make crappy games, since they own them. All they have to do is "restructure" until the people in charge of making the good games are assimilated into the rest of EA and no longer have any will to live.
    • EA have become the gaming world's Microsoft. I still can't get over how they killed Westwood, and I really hope they do give Will Wright free hands on his games and not restrict what he do. (I hate EA as a company, but I love the Maxis games...)

  • Paraphrased Interview (Score:3, Funny)

    by CrazyJim1 ( 809850 ) on Friday May 27, 2005 @10:37AM (#12654929) Journal
    Interviewer: Where do you think the future of gaming is going?

    EA: We feel that we'll dominate the market and the competition will fall to the way side. So all in all, we're happy.
    • Interviewer : is that so ? are you planning anything else

      EA : same thing we do every week pinkie, plan to take over the world

      Interviewer : oh dear thats not good

      EA : Crush the rebel scum

      Interviewer : um...

      EA : Target Alderan
  • "Hey EA, Don't forget to use the same music that we always use for the next EA Trax. I hear everyone likes that 'fshizzle ma nizzle' crap"

    Thankfully there's the option of using your own soundtracks in most of the games, otherwise I'd be less inclined to spend my money on EA games.
  • I don't want to hear about the future of games from the bloody Senior Vice President of Marketing. I'd much rather hear from the developers, engineers and content creators directly, not some corporate mouthpiece.

  • "I think the Nintendo customer is so entrenched and loyal that the company knows that they have a base of customers that they are building off of. Is it the same size that it was on 8-bit? Certainly not. They definitely have seen their market position erode in the face of market introductions by Sony and Microsoft."

    I'm aware that Nintendo's market share is nothing like waht it was in the 8-bit era. However the market is so much larger nowadays. Are the number of Nintendo users really that much smaller

  • The future of gaming? That should be pretty easy for EA to predict. In 2006 they will rerelease all of this year's games by changing the title from (title) 2005 to (title) 2006. In 2007 they will rerelease all of the 2006 games by changing the title from (title) 2006 to (title) 2007...

  • The Vice Prez (Score:3, Funny)

    by Master Asia ( 887029 ) on Friday May 27, 2005 @12:16PM (#12656035) Homepage
    Has anyone ever seen this guy in person? http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/ori g/9263_orig.jpg [theonering.net]
  • MS 360 releases for X-Mas. Has a decent but not a huge launch. This X-Mas is ruled by SquareEnix, between Dragon Quest VIII and Kingdom Hearts II. Copies of both titles are in Tickle-Me Elmo territory. (KHII in particular)

    The PS3 is delayed until X-Mas 2006. The Revolution launches in Spring of 2006, and actually has a massive launch. The main selling point is actually the classic game service that Nintendo is putting out. Lot's of people go for it for that reason alone.

    X-Mas 2006, the PS3 is finally rele
    • almost but not exactly, you are missing something though. The Xbox is not going to pull away from Ps3 they will be about equal with the xbox less due to Japan/overseas and PS2 backward compatibility. Also Developers are jumping ship on the Xbox so quick these days that the only thing they will have are the first-party titles and those made by dev houses they buy. The PS3 and Xbox are going to have very few titles over the life-span of these consoles due to the huge costs, barriers to entry, and time needed
      • Re:Japan, I have one word for that.

        Mistwalker.

        When I talk about the 360 "killer apps" I am talking Halo 3, but I'm also talking Lost Oddessy and Blue Dragon, which are due X-Mas 2006. That actually is going to give the 360 a lot of clout in the Japan market, as well as in North America.

        And that's my feeling as well. The lower development costs on the Revolution combined with the large installed base will result in an ideal platform for MOST smaller projects. And to me, that's what most of the games I pla
      • Developers are jumping ship on the xbox? Factor 5 was paid for an exclusivity arrangement. That's not "jumping ship". Other than that, there have been no such announcements. You're dreaming.

        Also, I fail to see how requiring HD and 4xAA on hardware that is designed to do it with little impact is "not going to help the state of gaming". Or how "no slowdown" is such a horrible restriction. Or any similar restrictions that Sony might try to enforce. Setting the bar for certain features higher is a good thing,
        • umm aparently your not keeping up well, Midway also announced that they are not even going to try for Xbox 360 launch and called it "a niche player" they also have not stated they will definitely develop any games for it. I have many contacts and there are many developers who are not going to be developing for the Xbox due to the constraints and costs of licencing and required toolsets.

          So many of you are just not in tune with reality and what goes into game design/development. Strict deadlines and budgets
          • Umm, apparently you're not keeping up well (and not very good at spelling, either):

            http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/26/news_6126 5 07.html [gamespot.com]

            The Midway announcement you are referring to is just that they will not have titles ready for X360 launch. That's a far cry from dropping support for the box. With MS already owning a sizeable portion of a growing market, with a good chance of picking up more with an early launch, no major publisher is foolish enough to drop support for 360. Just to clarify, Midwa
            • You sure have room to talk linking to a gamespot article that came from summarizing a news.com article. The original announcement was covered by News.com and clearly states exactly what I said. I have been an editor for a number of publications and online gaming sites, as well as a reviewer. (so yeah my spelling must be horrid, I'm at work, typing fast, and on /. not publishing my work... I'm replying to assclowns like you)

              Fact of the matter is I do have a number of friends who are developers, and contacts
              • So wait a minute: declaring 7 new titles for a platform is somehow now perceived as dropping support for them? I don't care who you know or what platforms you've programmed for, or what your editing skills are, your original statement that developers are leaving x360 in droves is still patently false, because:
                1. Midway is a publisher, not a developer
                2. Midway is not withdrawing any support for x360, has in fact announced 7 new titles for the platform, and is only "faulty" in not having any launch titles for
                • Once again you show your ignorance while trying to find holes that aren't there in my argument. Ya know, sometimes people do actually know what they are talking about, and yes sometimes it is counter to your beliefs. I know I took the low road first with the assclown comment but I truly want you to understand where you are wrong here.

                  You again are basing your 7 titles and points 1 and 2 on a *summary* of the real article that leaves out huge chunks of what Midway Actually said. Here is the real article: Mi [gamesindustry.biz]
  • Here's a thought...everyone is probably more tired of reading the same EA flame postings than you think players are of buying sports games each year. At least the players game 1 new feature.

    Remember, at the core of every game company are developers, artists, qa, production members, etc... who love making games. It's very competitive within the industry and some people are willing to devote their lives to their work. When they set the working standard, there are bound to be people who can't or don't want t

    • Here's a thought...everyone is probably more tired of reading the same EA flame postings than you think players are of buying sports games each year. At least the players game 1 new feature.

      But you pay 50 bucks, soon probably 60, for that one new feature, while anti-EA postings are gratis, with our compliments.

      At the core of the company are the workers, true, but at the core of a human being are intestines. The core matters less than the thing that directs it, the head, and EA's head is what's rotten, a
      • True, games probably will go up to $60. New things are apparently a great way to justify raising prices for just about any product.

        imo, the core (meaning mission critical) of a game company would be its heart (dev and artists). Without them, the head would have nothing. No point in being a CEO if you don't have employees who make your products.

        Pinpointing a single game company is a bit narrow minded when it comes to business. Not that this justifies the process, but most products go through small or

        • True, games probably will go up to $60. New things are apparently a great way to justify raising prices for just about any product.

          Now that's just laughable in this case. Paying $50 for the same game with updated rosters and minor new features each year isn't enough now, now the typical yearly upgrade will cost $60.

          imo, the core (meaning mission critical) of a game company would be its heart (dev and artists). Without them, the head would have nothing. No point in being a CEO if you don't have employe
          • Paying $50 for the same game with updated rosters and minor new features each year isn't enough now, now the typical yearly upgrade will cost $60.

            So the question would be, who is it that decides what is enough for a new release? Certainly not consumers. Some changes may also not be blatantly apparent to the user. When working with 500k to 1 million lines of code, seemingly simple changes can take a while to perfect.

            ...CEO has control of the direction of the company.

            Agreed that the CEO determines th

            • So the question would be, who is it that decides what is enough for a new release? Certainly not consumers. Some changes may also not be blatantly apparent to the user. When working with 500k to 1 million lines of code, seemingly simple changes can take a while to perfect.

              My point here is that consumers won't be fooled by this forever. (Though some of the people I know who buy sports games, well, let's just say they are not the most discriminating customers.)

              Agreed that the CEO determines the direction
  • 1st Guy: "You know that game, umm Red something, where you like are in an alternate realility a bit like the cold war with the soviets vs the allied."

    2nd Guy: "Oh, Red Alert?"

    1st Guy: "Yeah thats the one, about time we made a sequel for that. Oh and while your at it, make a new Tiberian Sun and Sim City 5. Oh don't forget we need it done in 6 months, so crack out those whips we got off ebay, 10,000 lines of code a day or a lash for every 100 lines short."
  • Whether or not people realize what they really want. Hardware or Software.

    I feel sorry for Sony fans. They have nothing to really be fans of except bad laser assemblies and a bad controller that's been around so long we're so used to it that it doesn't matter how bad it is anymore. Certainly not games, because outside of a few titles(notably Gran Turismo), Sony doesn't make games, they make platforms. The games have only been coming because most people buy the platform to get the games that haven't com
    • All Nintendo has to do to get my money is make another Super Smash Bro's game, that is all, if the revolution ships with Smash in the drive and the drive glued shut i would still buy it.
    • This seems like a tangent to me, albiet a damn interesting one.

      That said...I think you're underestimating name recognition.

      People loved the PS1 and PS2, and they're going to have fond memories of the hours spent with those systems and their libraries of games. On top of that, Sony has a reputation for quality products (they do here for their audio equipment, if nothing else; I'm not sure how many people know about the problems that the PS2 has had over the years).

      And it's not like the library of So

  • So long as the games industry remains what it is (aside from hardware and technological improvements, or even the money going into the industry) EA will not be the top of the gaming industry, now or in the future. They can swallow up as many companies as they want, and they can aquire as many liscenses as they feel like. At the end of the day though, a company of a couple hundred dedicated people with an original idea will always, ALWAYS, beat out a giant corporation. Especially one like EA. EA is like the

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