A while back, we told you of how Peter Moore wanted to evolve EA Sports to adapt to the rapidly changing videogame market. Specifically, he referenced the Wii, and noted that most non-gamers are intimidated by all the buttons and complicated controls in most sports games. A couple of weeks ago, EA hosted an event in Vancouver, the first-ever EA SPORTS Season Opener, where they introduced a new program to help remedy the situation and bring more non-gamers into the fold. I’ll let Moore tell you more about it:
We also announced an initiative for the Wii called “All-Play”. We’re designing five of our most popular franchises exclusively for the Wii this year and they’ll feature unique controls, unique modes, unique presentation, and unique packaging. All-Play is a much more all-encompassing design philosophy that expands significantly on last year’s Family Play control scheme in Madden, FIFA and NBA LIVE.
This isn’t surprising at all, what with the news that EA Sports is working on eight Wii games and an as-yet-unannounced IP in addition to FaceBreaker. But in the story about change at EA Sports, I expressed some trepidations that in the rush to cater to “casual” gamers, the “hardcore” crowd was being left behind as an afterthought. Thankfully, Reg Hamlett, Senior Director of Brand Marketing at EA Sports, assures us that we need not fear that:
Hardcore fans are our base and our biggest fans ... Their opinions and seal of approval are of extreme importance to us. That said, the All-Play brand is aimed at those consumers who seek to leverage the unique attributes of the Wii and play a sports game that utilizes these unique features.
Glad to hear it, Uncle Reg. Many of you have noted that you might be more drawn in to sports games that feature simpler controls, while others have been worried, like me, about things being dumbed down. It looks like EA is doing their best to please everyone — sounds good, right?
[Via Peter Moore Blog and Wii Fanboy — thanks, Justin!]
Samit Sarkar is a founding Destructoid editor and go-to Sports guy. Samit was the son of the Duke of Knees, rescued from a burning village in the afghan desert by a golden condor. He is an ace Backgammon player and lost both legs in a whaling tour. He lives for free in a nursery in Scotland where he teaches monks how to capture butterflies without hurting them.
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Contest:
2:36 PM on 05.27.2008
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Unless this is made for an autistic family, I don't see how sports games can be complicated...
just like ho consoles FPS shooters like Halo and call of duty 4 have auto Aim AI since the device know as a mouse is missing, While the Pc does not.
Lets get rid of the advanced control devices and have the game play for us! we only have to get kinda close!
So yeah. At least where Madden's concerned, there's plenty of complicated control to be had. Allowing enthusiast to step into a full fledged, not watered down graphic or content wise product sounds like a very good way to bring in more players, or to at least provide a novice player to get into the game.
Whee Sports is what, then? RPG?
(I know that's not what you meant.)
However, as you touch on in your post, casual games have something to teach us all... usability. Because when you haven't played Madden 94, 95, 96, 97, 98... etc, etc, I imagine the demographic that could potentially love the games (newcomer gamer males aged 30-45) would have no idea on what to do.
It's fantastic to see that EA of all people are catering to the audience of specific consoles and not blanketing their entire audience with 'generic' features/controls/presentation.
It may pain me to say this but... perhaps EA is for once showing other publishers what the gamer really wants (in one particular area).
I look forward to getting hands-on with these new controls.
Great post dude.
-Tbiz
Nice try Mr. Moore....nice try.
"Most EA sports games haven't...."