Topic: Six Wii Titles From Electronic Arts

[Karl Castaneda #2]

I've never understood the hate for EA as a developer. Hate them for the at-times shady business dealings, but why hate on the developers? They make bad games, sure, but the vast majority of EA games are average to good. Some of them turn out great. Though, I guess Nintendophiles have impossibly high standards, so something that should be seen as "good" is never good enough.

Still, come on guys, EA still puts out a great title every now and then; maybe one incredible game every couple of years. To me, that's good enough to make them an at least "alright" developer.

[Urkel]

Everybody is missing the real importance of having Godfather on Wii.

GTA clone + Wiimote = Being able to physically beat NPCs with virtual baseball bat = $$$$$$$

Casual gamers will love the whole new level of interaction the Wiimote brings to violent games.

[Michael8983]

I could see EA's Wii titles actually selling surprisingly well no matter how mediocre they may be. Thanks mostly to the Wii's affordability.
When gamers hand over their life-savings for a PS3 they're not going to have much to spare on games. If they do they're not going to blow it on something like Tiger Woods.
While gamers who spend a measly couple hundered on a Wii will be more apt to pick up a cart-load of titles to go along with it. They would have to buy seven or eight games to make up the price difference.
The Wii-mote will add a new degree of intrigue to EA's tires old games too.
It will be cool to have Tiger mimic your real life swing of the Wii-more and to have real control over Harry's wand.
The scary thing is that Sony's new "innovative" controller will allow for the same kind of controls in games like Need For Speed and SSX on the PS3. Let's hope EA doesn't figure that out.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Quote
Originally posted by: Pryopizm
Am I the only one looking forward to Tiger Woods?

No you are not. I borrowed a friends PS2 just to catch up to him stats wise on TW'05 and I can't wait to get him to play 'o7 on Wii with me.

Quote
Originally posted by: Professional 666

BRING BACK BEETLE ADVENTURE RACING

I second this, as this was a great game that never saw a sequel, and honestly up until now, that has probably been a good thing. They got it right the first time and I didn't need to see a horrible sequel that would possibly ruin the franchise.

[Jensen]

Some great Half-life 2 news!

oops.... wrong forum.

Well, I still think the Wii controller is interesting because it has the roll axis that a mouse is lacking.  It would be cool with the gravity gun or
portal gun.  I'd like to see a Wii game with some interesting uses of physics.

[TJ Spyke]

While I don't personally care about any of those EA franchises(or most EA games in general), I do welcome all the support the Wii can get and will at least take a look at reviews of their games.

[Kairon]

Quote
Originally posted by: ViewtifulGamer
I've never understood the hate for EA as a developer. Hate them for the at-times shady business dealings, but why hate on the developers? They make bad games, sure, but the vast majority of EA games are average to good. Some of them turn out great. Though, I guess Nintendophiles have impossibly high standards, so something that should be seen as "good" is never good enough.

Still, come on guys, EA still puts out a great title every now and then; maybe one incredible game every couple of years. To me, that's good enough to make them an at least "alright" developer.

The reason for the dislike of EA is because they can be an insidious force of mediocrity. The thing is that the EA developers are hard working and well meaning and really want to make good games. But my opinion is that the corporate overlords at EA seem to be perfectly content with putting just enough "newness" in games to pull the wool over the general consumer's eyes when instead they could be doing so much more.

Now, I will say lately that EA is starting to take "innovation" more to heart and actually demonstrating it (see my lovepost for the cinematic art direction for Need For Speed Most Wanted), but it's still hard for me to not see them as a company that is still holding back and only doing the minimum to turn a buck and slowly change games from an artform into a money-centric consumeristic product line.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Renny]

Quote
Originally posted by: The Omen

Quote
Can I give into the "EA sucks" mentality?

As long as you realize your mentality is less important than the "Oh cool, I might give the Wii a try because it has some of the games I like" mentality.

I sure do. I'm excited to see EA giving some support to the console, including a "Mature" game, if only for the increased potential for other 3rd party support. I still don't give a damn about any of those games, unless Tiger Woods can at least reach the quality of 2004. Or if they bring Fight Night along with its emphasis on reading the boxers, rather than a guage.

[IceCold]

I am interested in some EA-developed games, including SSX, NHL and NBA Street. Not many, though..

[nitsu niflheim]

Great... Six games that I could care less about.

[Ian Sane]

"They make bad games, sure, but the vast majority of EA games are average to good. Some of them turn out great."

My lack of interest in EA's games, even the good ones, is that they have too much hip marketing junk.  I rented Def Jam Vendetta and it is a good game.  If I reviewed it I would give it a good score.  But the atmostphere in the game just made me want to vomit.  I could never own such a game because all the hip-hop stuff and lame attempts to be cool would drive me nuts.  Plus the thing is the game could have been SO much better if it was just a wrestling game.  The Def Jam licence affected the gameplay as well in terms of what sort of options could be made available.

My other problem with EA is that their games are designed to be disposable.  A really good game is played forever.  Yeah Nintendo has made new Mario games but Super Mario Bros is still popular.  It wasn't replaced by sequels.  The original game and the sequels coexist and are all essential.  With EA each game is designed to be replaced by a sequel next year.  So no game has an identity.  It's just a franchise.  No one gives a sh!t about any Madden or SSX or Burnout except the last one.  I don't like that.  There's no personal touch with a game like that.  It just feels like product and although all retail games are product the best ones don't feel like that.  I like games that feel like something the developers really wanted to make.  I don't like games that feel like something that was handed down from a boardroom.  EA games are really no different than Awesome Possum except they often play better.

[Spak-Spang]

I don't understand it either.  EA is one of the most important game developers for attracting the modern American gamer.  

1)They create the best sports games (sometimes the only) on any system.  Sport gaming is a huge market and franchise...what other market can still make money by creating a very similar game every year and selling it?  However, this time we are finally getting real innovation with our yearly sports games.  This is a very good thing.

2)Franchise games:  I don't know why they sell, but franchise games sell very well.  To the casual gamer it is their opportunity to live the movies.  These games are also usually the games that appeal to younger markets.  

3)EA BIG SPORTS Series:  This series brought fun back into sports games, and was definately needed.  EA for years has been pushing their regular game lines to true sports sims.  This delighted many, but I stopped playing, because I don't know anything about football, nor do I want to learn...I just want to play.  Besides those games, SSX is one of the most successful new franchises ever created.  Sure it appears like it is becoming stagnite...but, there is definately life still in the series, and with some really creative ideas, I am positive they will create something great.  Besides that, with the new controller, SSX will feel completely fresh and new again.  

Finally, these six games mean that EA is giving Nintendo another shot at attracting an older audience.  After these six games sell well (hopefully) do you think the support will end?  NO.

We will get basketball, baseball, boxing, burnout, and much, much more.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well I hate EA for their business decisions but I do like some of their games SSX and Burnout are the top 2. Some of the LOTR games are pretty good. And pro666 you say that burnout sold out when they did the cinematic crash cutscenes, I personally think those crashes just add to the experiance and add something that was needed to the series and makes it more frantic this also made me happy since they show the crashes as an art even though its mostly there for the cool factor. Im still going to pick up burnout revenge on the 360 when I have some cash on hand. And I think some people just like those sports games even if they have the awful philosophy of a disposable shelf life.