EASports

This NY Times article is the latest in a long line of both EA bashing and bemoaning of sequelitis that is rampant among major video game publishers. This passage is getting the most attention:

By year’s end, Electronic Arts plans to release 26 new games, all but one of them a sequel, including the 16th version of N.H.L. Hockey, the 11th of the racing game Need for Speed and the 13th of the P.G.A. Tour golf game. The company also relies heavily on creating games based on movies like the James Bond and Lord of the Rings series, rather than developing original brands.

The article focuses on the cash cows that are EA sports games. The father of a gamer planning to buy Madden 2006 had it right when he said, “If it wasn’t for free agency, Electronic Arts wouldn’t be doing so well.” Very astute. Sports games do lend themselves to sequels but it’s easy to complain about sequels to other games. But why are we picking on EA for doing exactly what Japanese developers do just as blatantly. We have like, what, 83 different Final Fantasy games? Aren’t there like 27 Dragon Warriors? No one seems to care when those games get a “roster update.” But that’s not my point.

The article got me thinking about sequels. What would happen if sequels weren’t so successful? What would we have missed out on? The first game that came to mind was Super Mario Brothers. The first one is undoubtedly the quintessential video game. A million Marios followed. Super Mario Brothers 2, on the otherhand, wasn’t as great as its predecessor. So what if Nintendo decided it didn’t want to continue with sequels of SMB? We’d never had the pleasure of playing my favorite Super Mario game, Super Mario Brothers 3. And let’s not forget Super Mario World, Mario 64 and a host of other excellent Mario games.

There have been plenty of other sequels that were heads and shoulders above the games to which they are sequels – Diablo 2, Warcraft 2 (did anyone even play the first WC? I did for about ten minutes), Age of Kings (Age of Empires 2), Halo 2 (which I’m sure some would disagree with), and many others. Sequels can be a good thing! A very good thing!

Of course, as gamers, we’d like to see developers augment their library with sequels, not depend on them. New franchises like Pikmin, Viewtiful Joe, and Katamari Damacy would never have seen the light of day if sequels really ruled the roost. While it is apparent that sequels are where the “sure” money is, games like Viewtiful Joe can be a pleasant (and profitable) surprise.

So let’s not be quick to dismiss a sequel. They are an integral part of the video game spectrum. Don’t forget, too, that sequals can tank. There’s probably just as many bad sequels as there are good ones. But that’s another topic for another day.

As an exercise for the reader, what other games would have made you sad if there never was a “2” or “II” after their name?

Update: There’s a rather lively discussion over at Slashdot about this exact topic. I didn’t read all the comments, but this one caught my eye:

“EA Games: Sequel Everything”

The ‘mystery’ of FIFA Street : Guardian Unlimited Gamesblog

This is a great read about how EA is slowly taking over the world, one poor(?) video game at a time.

This is why FIFA Street is number one. It hits all the right buttons. It is mainstream, but yet has an ‘edge’. It has good graphics. It is fast enough to convince players that they are having a good time. And that empty feeling when all the bluster is over? When the lack of depth becomes apparent? It. Never. Comes. Because the mainstream consumer has rushed onwards. To another flashy, intensely marketed, brand-focused product.

I, for one, was not too impressed with the next generation of EA’s Madden Football. I watched the 60-second commercial that ran on ESPN during the NFL draft (which I’m sure by now is available online) and it didn’t do it for me.

First, the models look hyper-realistic. They look like a cross between NFL Blitz and Lee Haney. Everything glistened and shimmered unnaturally. The models were too muscular. Granted, the NFL is full of Adonises (Adonii?) but not everyone is stacked and ripped (yet). The little tête-à-tête between McNabb and Strahan looked pretty sweet but the pass to Owens and the lame, over-the-top, dive into the endzone was too cliche.

Not everything was bad. The little x-ray showing the injury to the player’s shoulder was a nice touch, as was the snow. Nevertheless, EA has some big obstacles to overcome. None have really been deal-breakers for me, but if they can’t get rid of the horrible clipping and collision detection issues that have plagued Madden (and NCAA 200x) for years, it will be pretty eye candy and not much more. Proving, once again, that pretty graphics and big, bulging muscles a good game do not make.

So it looks like the EA juggernaut will move forward into the next generation with hyper-realistic, not photo-realistic graphics. I guess this can be seen as a good thing, since the current trend of super-human physique as a model will not take us to the Uncanny Valley, which is a good thing.

… Hail, Hail, to EA Sports, the owners of all Licenses!

I saw this first over at Evil Avatar (I’ll avoid referring to them as EA for a while) and then saw pretty much everywhere else, but EA has scooped up the NCAA football rights. Big surprise.

What does surprise me, though, is this “Collegiate Licensing Company” that EA has made this deal with. A quick look at the list of schools the CLC represents will make an Ohio State Univeristy Buckeye fan wonder… They’re not included in the list. Neither is the Big Ten. Or the PAC 10. Or USC. So 2 of the last 3 National Championship teams aren’t included in the list of schools that fall under the CLC’s umbrella of schools. Interesting.

So does that mean that EA shelled out millions for this “right” and then had to go to each individual school/conference not included under CLC’s holdings and pay even more? I sure hope so.

I had hoped that, with ESPN 2k Sports losing out on the NFL license, we would see an ESPN College Football offering. I thought they could do something special there but now we’ll never know. I’m not as indignant as most people are about this news but it doesn’t really surprise me. EA makes good business moves, what more needs to be said?