A group of NBA Live '07 fanboys have had enough of the series' annual increase in broken gameplay and have written a letter to EA expressing their displeasure. Although the focus of the letter is on NBA Live '07, with YouTube links showing the latest issues with the series, it touches on the general unhappiness with other declining EA franchises like Madden and FIFA. "At one time, EA was producing the best titles money could buy and one had little reason to look elsewhere. Now gamers have a sense that if you want the best, it's not EA."And as an aside, more than a few eyebrows were raised when press copies and reviews of NBA Live '07 came trickling in a week after the game went on shelves, almost as if EA knew they produced a sub-par product. Hollywood employs this same tactic on bad movies so they can get as much money back before the word gets out how bad things really are.
Although the issues expressed by the fans of NBA Live '07 are positively valid, there is the alternative NBA 2K7 from 2K Games which was released the same day as NBA Live '07. This doesn't help Madden fans who experienced similar issues with Madden '07, but have no recourse because of EA's NFL exclusivity deal. In the case of Madden, EA also shows apparent ignorance toward reasonable proprosals by fans to fix the series.
It's certainly cause for concern that EA Sports is taking the "we'll patch it later" stance toward console games this early. This is the first generation capable of console patching and ideally should be used to fix subtle errors. Instead EA is following the PC model that console gamers have fled from: ship first, patch later. It's probably time for sports gamers to show consumer activism and take their money to other franchises. That'll get EA's attention faster than any letter.
(Page 1) Reader Comments
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:)
but seriously, they should have covered the feature striping from the last gen to the current gen. there would be no reason to buy any 07 games if the 06 games had all the features of the 05 games.
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Check the NBA scores on Gamerankings, to -- NBA Live averages in the mid to low 60's while NBA 2k7 averages in the mid to high 80's.
Everyone knew the NFL deal was bad for gamers the moment it was signed. Nothing good came out of it.
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Sure they have added a bunch of tweaks to the gameplay...but the whole engine seems dated and no longer intuitive.
Madden Sucks!!!
I will not spend another cent on that franchise.
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NFL
(snail-mail, coudn't find an email add.)
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
NFLPA
Email
Josh Goodstadt
Assistant Vice President, Multimedia
202-463-1276
Joshua.Goodstadt@nflplayers.com
Postal
PLAYERS INC
2021 L St., NW
Washington, DC 20036
Main number: 202-496-2860
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God bless that Nintendo Seal of Quality.
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This year, the sports games have been all about the Hockey.
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whats your Weight?
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Of course, if people stop buying Madden and such, their response will just be to be even more brutal to their employees, attempt to get more exclusives, and probably buy and cannibalize good development houses, running them into the ground and destroying the people that make games fun. But, it's the only way to even communicate with them.
Writing them a letter is like writing a letter to a Congressperson in the US. They don't care about you. They think you're an insignificant ant, and they know that Incumbents Win. Period.
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Eh, I wouldn't count on Madden Wii blowing anyone away... While it may turn out to be more fun (due to a new dev team working on it, and Wii's intuitive controls), it's still EA. And they have no reason to make massive improvements to Madden NFL, since only they can make NFL games (at least, third-party exclusivity... first-party games may be a different deal...).
And why should they improve, especially with '07 being the best-selling Madden yet (if memory serves me right)? Just goes to show people will buy the same thing over and over again, regardless if it's hardly better (current-gen Madden) or worse (360 Madden... and maybe PS3 & Wii Madden... but we've yet to see those).
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If it's all the same to you guys and unintentional as I'm sure you'll claim, mind switching that out for a PS3 NBA Live 07 box? Or better yet, Nintendo Wii? I understand, if somehow you cant track down those boxarts (I bet EB games has them though..I can look for you), a DS or PS2 boxart will work fine.
Thanks a bunch guys.
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Anyway, hopefully 2k6 has fixed the plethora of issues with 2k6.
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I really, really am fed up with EA Sports.
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lol
I'm over 6 foot tall, weigh about 130 pounds, and chances are very high that I could kick your ass.
This is because I take the bicycle every now and then to do my grocery shopping, which I greatly prefer to wasting my time on some goddamn retarded ballgame that's always the exact same boring as fuck shit.
I mean really, sports *must* be boring because why the hell else is the only argument anybody ever makes in favour of them "oh it's good for your health"?
Sports are for rednecks.
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WHo cares about sports? A lot of men do. Some boys as well... and actually alot of females do as well. I'm curious what category you fall under.
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EA was like THE 3rd party developer of the N64/PS1 days......with the N64 they fullfilled sporting fans fantasies. With the analog stick and their franchises.......Simulating Wonders.
Fifa '98: Road to the World Cup, Madden 2000, NHL '99...those games killed it. Sports fans were basically in gaming from that. But the apparent revenue from after that went to their heads and the crap they get away with is appauling. They have the hugest monopoly over the mainstream crowds with their latest titles.
And with their exclusive deals....I really don't see it going down anytime soon.
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is that the same nintendo seal of approval that graces the cover of charlies angles for the GC?...:P
back on topic...NBA live and Madden suck.that is all.
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@ #3 - you really think ea sports games are much better than 2k sports games? if you do fine, but look at the reviews and most people do not agree. ea sports sucks now big time, and nba live sucks big time this year. if you think joystiq is being biased then your a complete moron. like i said look at the reviews and what people are saying. i played both and nba live does nothing new over last year except better camera.
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The community has sent EA a patch petition today listing all the major bugs. We also do not intend the letter as the end of our efforts but instead the beginning. In the past, we've also had some discussion with NBA Live development team members on some of the major design problems in the series. I fully expect efforts to extend in this regard.
We're aware that sales will mean more than our words, we've taken a concentrated effort in our community, and have attempted to draw attention in the rest of the media (we sent this to every major gaming media outlet) to the major failure by EA. If the words get out there, people won't buy it, be it this year or next. And eventually EA will get the message, or
2K Sports will get a new wing to their offices.
A big thank you to Joystiq for posting a news item on this, even if the commentators are as cynical as I am. :)
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BM, you MUST be a beanpole. There is no way that you have any muscle mass on you at all. Sorry to say. I consider myself to be pretty big (I played Hockey in high school as a defender) and I come in at 6'3" and 230Lbs. I am by no means "out of shape" and I outweigh you by 100 Lbs. If you were basing a fight off of pure size and muscle mass, I would own you. This of course is putting all fighting skills aside.
Sports are for rednecks? Where did you come up with this term? I live in suburban Columbus, OH. I have no "twang" to my voice at all and am the furthest thing from "Larry the Cable guy" I live a civilized life, and I love to watch sports. Mostly Football and Hockey. I also spend a huge amount of time playing video games.
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stops inovation. You can't have new equipment because that new
plexiglass bat is banned. You can't change the gameplay because them
it wouldn't be football or baseball or whatever. As a result the best
any sport game can do in the innovation department is adding small sim
games around the core sport game. Some may ask if sport games were so
bad why are they the most populer genre? The answer is that there are
a lot more shallow jocks than their are meaningful geeks so they're
all jumping into this pit. What is the next bi series in gaming, nerd
beater? If the lawmakers don't ban gaming it will probley become
meaningless to us true gamers as the jocks flood in anyway.
Sports suck!
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all their franchise got killed
MOH< COD
NFS
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People like playing sports games because they love competition with something they like doing in real life.
Now do you see me making statements like, "RPGs suck and are for overweight or underweight losers that were ignored in high school", now do you?
So go back to World of Warcraft. I'm going to sit back and watch "SportsCenter".
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But, I remember seeing and playing NBA Live 04 and loving it.. but the last two have sucked ass. EA chicago did an incredible job with Fight Night, and hopefully they will be on for NBA Street. But EA is lazy, espically with their 360 or next gen support.
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My suggestion to them is to release titles every two years, with roster/gameplay updates in-between releases distributed through online or with demo CDs. The current crap, er CROP of this year's EA Sports 360 titles is really disappointing especially since they have had a full-year to work with the system.
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I think the problem with EA is that they rely on innovation a little too much (which is not a good thing). The Superstar system in NBA Live and the Lead Blocking in Madden is innovative, but feel like a departure from the game itself. The core gameplay ends up being sacrificed, which should be the first thing to be cleaned up and perfecte.
2K has been guilty of this too lately, as certain bugs keeping coming back year to year. I hope that petition doesn't go to their heads.
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If Madden suddenly hit a noticable sales slump, EA would probably start working harder.
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custom soundtracks on 360
better presentation
real half time show and hilights
realistic blocking on the O-line and D-line
better animation overall especially transitional animations
Madden 07 on 360 still isn't better than ESPN 2k5. Live 07 is a joke this year and it's embarrassing that EA thinks nothing of their fanbase to release that trash to the masses. I guess they feel the same as Sony does..."our fans will buy it anyway."
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That little thing right there pulls a HUGE chunk of the immersion right out of football games. I've not seen it in the 2K series or in Madden. Everything feels so computerized. The ball either crosses the line or not, and if not, it seems the refs know that without having to measure. I'd like to see the close calls get the chains pulled out again. The tension as they run out on the field, the 3rd down still listed up on the scoreboard still there, and the suspense as they pull it, finally, the joy or disappointment as the ball just made it or is an inch short of the 1st down.
Why did that go away?
That and I'd like to see better end zone celebrations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPt0n9--wNE
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6'5" 265 checking in...
And chances are very low...you could kick my ass...
Long live sports!!!
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That is pretty obvious. Anyone that is 6 feet tall and only weighs 130 is seriously malnourished. Plus, your 5" height advantage translates into superior leverage and reach. Average for that height, assuming someone that isn't either exceptionally fit or terribly unhealthy, is around 200. The guy is 70 lbs underwight, and when you're that underweight, the bulk of the missing mass comes from muscle. BM probably should consult a doctor at this point, because something is seriously wrong and major health issues could occurr. People can get strokes and heart disease just as easily by being too light as they can by being too heavy.
In comparison, I'm 5'9" @ 160 and I feel I am about 10 lbs underwight. I don't have the muscle mass I quite want to, but that is my own damned fault. I've been neglecting the gym lately and have lost quite a bit of upper-body strength.
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Soccer-- FIFA has be dethroned, and Winning Eleven has taken it's place
Basketball-- I haven't liked an NBA Live game since like '98. It's been all about the Sega/2K NBA games since they've come about.
Tiger Woods is kinda boring to me. I'll stick with Mario Golf, haha. But I'm not a golfer, so whatever.
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