Americans, bust out the boxing gloves; Europeans, bust out the champagne. A representative from EA has stated that European game developers are inherently more creative than American developers. This is either a tad insulting, or a very nice compliment (you know, depending on where you're from).
Nick Button-Brown, director of business development at EA Partners, spoke with GamesIndustry.biz recently, and admitted that U.S.-based game studios are less willing to take chances than their European counterparts, and are therefore less likely to innovate in the industry.
To be fair, he also argues that multiculturalism plays a big role in the creative output of Europe. Still, Button-Brown states that a paradigm-shifting game like Grand Theft Auto would have never come out of America. Stand up for yourselves, America! There are obvious exceptions to Button-Brown's argument. What games are the pride of the United States?
Reader Comments (92)
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:38PM mr nimblewick said
I spent five minutes trying to figure out which country "EA" was short for.
Reply
Posted: Dec 12th 2007 12:39AM (Unverified) said
Canada has way better developers than the US i rekon. Bioware and the Ubisoft montreal div are amongst the group.
Reply
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 7:47PM (Unverified) said
It's creative to buy out talented developers then dissolve them, effectively eliminating competition.
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Posted: Dec 11th 2007 10:20PM (Unverified) said
Uhh... yeah. Like EA has a clue what creativity is. Hypocrites!
Reply
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:40PM (Unverified) said
Creativeness is subjective because you can look at many different things that come with but BIOSHOCK CAME OUT OF AMERICA so this argument is irrlavent
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Posted: Dec 12th 2007 12:02AM (Unverified) said
@Mats
If you want to get nit-picky, nearly every game is derivative in some sense. Even the "ground-breaking" games are really only variations on a theme.
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If you want to get nit-picky, nearly every game is derivative in some sense. Even the "ground-breaking" games are really only variations on a theme.
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:42PM Johnny Socko said
At least I can rest easy in the knowledge that EA is a publisher that is doing everything within its power to reduce the homogenization of output from U.S. game studios.
Hey, WAIT a minute...
Reply
Hey, WAIT a minute...
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:47PM Shagittarius said
Hear that American developers? You don't make enough footie games.
How about a footie game set in WWII?
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How about a footie game set in WWII?
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 8:27PM PoisonedAl said
God, what what was the name of that fuck-awful Stallone film where WII POWs escape during a footy match against the Nazis?
Anyway, my point is, no matter how shit an idea, Hollywood has been that low before you.
Reply
Anyway, my point is, no matter how shit an idea, Hollywood has been that low before you.
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 8:29PM (Unverified) said
Wait, is the terminal FIMS from Sony Execs contagious?
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Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:49PM (Unverified) said
Ok........can you give us an example? Lets take maybe uhhh the crappy Timeshift devs Saber Interactive VS Infinity ward or Epic Games? More creative I think not good sir!!
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Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:49PM SpartacusMagnus said
Valve
Blizzard
Bioware
Suck it Europe. No really, you guys are cool ;-)
Reply
Blizzard
Bioware
Suck it Europe. No really, you guys are cool ;-)
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:57PM (Unverified) said
Screw that I want Diablo 3.
Is it true that the people that created Diablo aren't working for Blizzard anymore?
Reply
Is it true that the people that created Diablo aren't working for Blizzard anymore?
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 7:09PM (Unverified) said
i think they went on to make hellgate
and I have the feeling that wow is really diablo 3 in disguise
Reply
and I have the feeling that wow is really diablo 3 in disguise
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 7:31PM Colossalhat said
"Bioware is Canadian"
Last I checked, Canada was on this continent called North America.
Reply
Last I checked, Canada was on this continent called North America.
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 7:33PM SpartacusMagnus said
Lord Malvern,
I know, but I figured EA meant North America when they said "America". Besides, everyone knows Canada is the 51st state ;-)
Reply
I know, but I figured EA meant North America when they said "America". Besides, everyone knows Canada is the 51st state ;-)
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 9:50PM (Unverified) said
really, this is ironic because EA is the the main creativity lacking publisher in america.
such a blanket statement is silly - the US has more independent developers than any other country.
finally, i'll list some very creative US game developers.
Retro Studios
Bethestda
Cyan Worlds
2K Boston/Austrlia (okay that's half and half)
LucasArts
Maxis (!!!)
Monolith Productions (F.E.A.R., Tron 2.0)
Naughty Dog
Neversoft
...The list goes on
Reply
such a blanket statement is silly - the US has more independent developers than any other country.
finally, i'll list some very creative US game developers.
Retro Studios
Bethestda
Cyan Worlds
2K Boston/Austrlia (okay that's half and half)
LucasArts
Maxis (!!!)
Monolith Productions (F.E.A.R., Tron 2.0)
Naughty Dog
Neversoft
...The list goes on
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 10:42PM mastjaso said
@ Alex K
2k isn't really half / half, it's more like half, since australia isn't part of Europe.
And as for us Canadians:
http://www.bustedtees.com/shirt/canadaamericashat/male
Reply
2k isn't really half / half, it's more like half, since australia isn't part of Europe.
And as for us Canadians:
http://www.bustedtees.com/shirt/canadaamericashat/male
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:56PM PoisonedAl said
GTA is a Scottish creation. Stuffing the Seven bridge in one of the games is a SLIGHT hint to that. There are a lot of other jokes in GTA only the British will only get too.
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Posted: Dec 11th 2007 7:00PM Joanna D said
Grand Theft Auto was originally developed by a company called DMA Design, based in Dundee, Scotland. That company was bought by Rockstar Games in the late 1990s and rebranded "Rockstar North". That same company has moved about sixty miles south to Edinburgh, Scotland where the games are still made today. Sure, some of the development goes on in New York (voice acting etc) but the real game development happens in their offices in Edinburgh.
To the person with the football comment: both of the top selling football franchises, PES and FIFA are not developed in Europe IIRC. PES is Japanese and FIFA is made by EA Canada I think.
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To the person with the football comment: both of the top selling football franchises, PES and FIFA are not developed in Europe IIRC. PES is Japanese and FIFA is made by EA Canada I think.
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:54PM PoisonedAl said
I live in the UK, and I think this is rubbish. There ARE creative games coming out of the US. It's just that they are all downed in a sea of uninspired crap the publishers know will sell.
Reply
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:56PM opnickc said
Ever play a PC game? John Carmak, Will Wright, Gabe Newell, any of those names ring a bell? Heard of Sim City? Or Doom? Or Civilization? Or, more recently, Portal?
I don't know why, but American developers shine on the PC platform. Probably due to its more open nature (little to no bureaucracy - if you make it, you can sell it, even if you can't get a publisher).
For some reason, we don't do as well on the consoles. I'd think it's because, as a (at least formerly) non-socialist country, we're not used to having to go through a bunch of bureaucratic BS just to get something published (hence why PC would be so appealing to US devs), but this is just a guess on my part.
Reply
I don't know why, but American developers shine on the PC platform. Probably due to its more open nature (little to no bureaucracy - if you make it, you can sell it, even if you can't get a publisher).
For some reason, we don't do as well on the consoles. I'd think it's because, as a (at least formerly) non-socialist country, we're not used to having to go through a bunch of bureaucratic BS just to get something published (hence why PC would be so appealing to US devs), but this is just a guess on my part.
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 6:58PM (Unverified) said
Considering they just published Crysis, by German developers Crytek, I can see why they'd say that. Although I'm sure everyone will attack me and argue that the first game to actually add something to the FPS genre in a while isn't creative at all because it has aliens in it. =P
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Posted: Dec 11th 2007 7:04PM (Unverified) said
Half-Life series is from America, I think its creative.
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Posted: Dec 11th 2007 11:36PM ThornedVenom said
Just because the original GTAs were in 2D doesn't mean that it wasn't sandbox gaming.
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Posted: Dec 11th 2007 7:07PM Otimus said
US Strong points:
Action and graphics
US weak points:
Character design, story, presentation, musical score
(In general, now, there's exceptions.)
Canada, the UK, France, Japan, and Ireland all do things better than us. ESPECIALLY story. Seriously.. it's very rare that we can pump out a story that's worth a crap.. and even more rare when we can design characters that aren't a total piece of crap. Or enemies that aren't total pieces of crap.. or really anything that requires artistic merit that isn't a total piece of crap.
We're not very artsy people. We want to set things on fire. A lot.
Reply
Action and graphics
US weak points:
Character design, story, presentation, musical score
(In general, now, there's exceptions.)
Canada, the UK, France, Japan, and Ireland all do things better than us. ESPECIALLY story. Seriously.. it's very rare that we can pump out a story that's worth a crap.. and even more rare when we can design characters that aren't a total piece of crap. Or enemies that aren't total pieces of crap.. or really anything that requires artistic merit that isn't a total piece of crap.
We're not very artsy people. We want to set things on fire. A lot.
Posted: Dec 12th 2007 9:16AM baby sea tuna said
You left out AI and usability/control, another two points where NA games rule.
And story?! When was the last time where you played a Japanese game where the story made ANY sense at all (aside from maybe RE4, where the story was like 80% less convoluted than the rest of the series)? Even the games that are known for their stories, like MGS and FF, tend to devolve into incomprehensible messes about halfway through.
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And story?! When was the last time where you played a Japanese game where the story made ANY sense at all (aside from maybe RE4, where the story was like 80% less convoluted than the rest of the series)? Even the games that are known for their stories, like MGS and FF, tend to devolve into incomprehensible messes about halfway through.
Posted: Dec 11th 2007 8:23PM (Unverified) said
Halo
God of War
Rock Band
Orange Box
Bioshock
Puzzle Quest
Sim City
Civilization
Maniac Mansion
Oblivion
World of Warcraft
Gears of War
Reply
God of War
Rock Band
Orange Box
Bioshock
Puzzle Quest
Sim City
Civilization
Maniac Mansion
Oblivion
World of Warcraft
Gears of War
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