Dumbing Down EA Sports?
Destructoid posted an interview Next Generation did with EA Sports’ Peter Moore. In it, Moore says there are two things that need to be done to revive what many are calling a dying brand (due to a lack of innovation with some of its most prominent sports games, including the Madden and NBA Live franchises): using promotional and merchandising deals to get the brand out there to the hardcore sports gamer and most importantly, make the games more appealing to non gamers.
In the interview, Moore says, “We’ve got to bring more people in. We’ve got to grow the sports business…you know, the interface on our games is just too complicated for those folks and we have to change that, and we’re doing a lot of work to do that without dumbing down the games.” He then goes on to say, “There are too many buttons and triggers and d-pads. We’ve got to break a lot of that down.”
Isn’t “breaking a lot of that (controls) down” basically dumbing it down? I’ve been a fan of Madden and the NBA Live series since the Sega Genesis days, but like other sports gamers, got sick of buying the same old game every year. The problem with EA Sports is not complicated controls, it’s the lack of innovation in their games. Every time a new Madden or Live comes out, they add one or two new gimmicks, whether it’s Madden’s Hit Stick or Live’s Signature Shots, but in essence, it’s the same old game.
EA Sports does not need to dumb down the controls for Madden or any of its other main sports titles (Live, FIFA, NHL, etc). Doing that will not only piss off hardcore players, but it will also take away what these games supposed to be, which is a hardcore, simulation experience. What EA Sports NEEDS to do is take advantage of the ESPN License, create a brand new graphics engine for all their games and stop releasing the same games every year with the only change being a roster update. Add a few casual arcade sports games to the mix and EA Sports may be back “In the Game.”
Wow did he really use the phrase “DUMBING DOWN THE GAMES?” Rio I think you should give this guy a call, actually you should just go straight to EA and tell them to buy out the ESPN License. I think that is a great idea. They need to step it up with the graphics or something, because it basically looks all the same every year. I mean not eactly, HDMI and 1080p can only go soo far, but what I’m saying is that everything else is the same ol same ol graphic wise and 1 extra move here and there. Unlike 2k, they are bringing it nice every single year. Graphics and gameplay. RIO PLEASE SAVE US FROM GOING DUMB! Peace!!