Relying on Video Game Sequels

by Vladimir Cole { Aug 8th 2005 at 8:00AM }

Madden NFL '06 will be released tomorrow, and the New York Times asks a great question about it. Why should anybody be excited about the 18th iteration of this console mainstay? More broadly, the Times asks whether the industry behemoths like EA have developed a creativity-killing dependency on sequels.

"There's a feeling of franchise fatigue," the Times quotes Denver-based equity analyst Mike Hickey as saying. He's got a sell rating on EA's stock. Though the article never specifies why this analyst is bearish on EA's prospects, it implies that Electronic Arts may lack the creativity that will allow them to grow in the future as they have grown in the past. EA, of course, disputes that vision of the future.

Somehow, we think Madden '06 is going to do just fine. The hype for this game is huge, and sports fans are probably just a little sick of baseball's doping scandals at this point.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Oh yeah, Madden '06 (and probably several Maddens afterwards) will be just fine. But the analyst may have a point. Share holders don't like it when a company is just treading water and if EA doesn't come out with something good outside their franchises they'll have a hard time gaining new customers in the long run, hindering their growth.

Only time will tell though. They've got Black and Spore coming out next year and if they do well, then this analyst will look silly.

Eskimo Bob @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

And Spore looks absolutely amazing if you've seen the video of the GDC conference, but even if Black and Spore are both flops, EA has The Sims, which makes them a ton of money. There will always be sports fans to keep sports video games alive, even if there are a million sequals that are pretty much the same as the first game. If you haven't seen the Spore demo, go to http://www.pqhp.com/cmp/gdctv/ and watch "Will Wright discusses his new game creation called 'Spore'." You have to register to watch it, but registration is free.

OtakuCODE @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

THIS JUST IN!

EA GAMES PURCHASES NY TIMES!

Bryan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

One of the biggest reasons I'm a Nintendo fan and NOT a Sony or Microsoft fan is because they're games are just too boring for me. Don't get me wrong, I love several games that are only available for PS2 and Xbox, but it's the EA-related games that I don't like. Or at least the sports ones; my neighbor gets the new sports game every year, he plays it for like a day, and then it sits there for another year because besides some very minor updated graphics and some VERY minor gameplay updates, the games are exactly the same. They need a football game where you can actually 'throw' and 'catch' the football, which is something the Revolution will DEFINITELY be able to do if it has gyroscopic functions.

Which again, is why I LOVE Nintendo much more than the others. Can't wait till the Revolution comes out -- in the mean time, keep up the posts. I enjoy reading them.

PS) I hate how you have to go to your email to confirm your post. Call me a moron but I often forget to go to my email and then my comment never gets posted!

sam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

meh. EA has a good maintainable strategy, they'll always be able to sell their sports titles, Sims games, and movie tie-in games to casual and young gamers, but I think that as time goes on, they're actually going to be less and less successful with "hard core" gamers. When you play their games, even like Battlefield 2, you can feel that there was just no love put into the game. It doesnt have the same feel of "the designer really put his heart into it".

Ryuukuro @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

The Sim games are done by Maxis, and EA doesn't have much involvement other than publishing, taking in fat cash, and probably some minor meddling we don't know about. While the expansion packs go up and down the root games always get people excited. Will Wright knows how to keep a gamer busy and he does it well. Spore is almost destined to be a blockbuster with all the heat it's getting. It isn't coming out for over a year but the mainstream non-gamer press is still making mentions to it because they think it's so cool. It IS cool.

Bob @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Bryan.. anyone who plays game a decent amount hates EA... They just seem to take all the innovation, and as someone said love into their games...

Not to mention they shovelware onto first users... SAY NO TO SHOVELWARE! PLEASE! WE ARE NOT ****ING BETA TESTERS!

Most recent ofcourse was Bf2, I have it, it is a good game... but it feels unfinished and like a beta... not much for single player options and I've had it crash to windows multiple times... friggin EA..

b @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

Why play sports games when you can actually play it outside? It's ridiculous. I use my consoles to disconnect myself from reality, not to simulate it. I agree with the guy that said that the updates are always minor, and mostly in graphics. I mean, why don't they make one or two games for each sport and that's it? With 10 sports games per sport per console, they're only diluting their company's image (more than it already is).

Yellow Texan @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

8.)

Ummm... let see if you can find 21 people playing a game of an American football. How about a dreaming of owning a professional sports team franchise? One of the many reasons why people love to play video games to imagine that they're in they're in that game's world.

If you play Madden or the NFK 2k series, you pretend to be a NFL superstar or a hot shot owner franchise. I doubt you can run as fast and break moves as Michael Vick (Atlanta Falcons star Quarterback) if you're playing real life American football with friends. Heck, a video game player can be Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys owner) and hiring/firing a coaching staff and signing/releases/trading players.

Steve @ Dec 18th 2005 9:07PM

The hype will always be there because each year the teams are different.New players on new teams (Randy Moss for example) Like this year with all the changes to the Patriots.No one gets tired of the real NFL and we won't get tired of Madden. Madden is here to stay!