Thoughts on the EA Online Pass Announcement

User Rating: / 2
PoorBest 

Written by Scott Hemphill | 20 May 2010

I recently received an XBOX live message from Bmac, a regular reader of my columns.  His comment was about how much he enjoyed my piece about how this years football games are shaping up, but he was surprised that I didn't mention anything about EA's very controversial "EA Online Pass" announcement.  It bears explaining that when I wrote that article, I had finished it several days before the announcement, and hadn't got around to posting it.  So the content of that article was written at a time before this major announcement, even though its posting came shortly after.

However, I will use this article to give my thoughts on the EA Online Pass.

Quite simply, I think it is a terrible decision for both EA and any other game publishers that might do the same thing.  However, before I get into the reasons why, lets review what the EA Online Pass really is for those who don't truly grasp what is going on.  Basically, anybody who buys a new EA game off the shelf will get the "Online Pass" for that specific game at no additional charge.  The pass opens up things like "Online Franchise" and all the other modes of play that we have already come to expect from our sports games.  That "code" that comes with the game will enable one XBOX 360 with a online pass registered profile to play with all of the features of the game.  To be honest, the "EA Online Pass" changes very little for the person who buys all their games new.  It will just require code input.

However, what it means for those who buy that same game used is that they will have to pay a set fee to enable those same modes of play on the used disc.  (The number being kicked around per game is $10) Why is this being done? Obviously, revenue is the big thing, but EA is particularly jealous of the used market profits being made off of chains like Gamestop who deal in used games.  EA wants a piece of that pie.

Gamestop will have to respond in kind by lowering it's pricing on the used EA games to compensate for that fact that features will be locked out and the user will have to pay $10 additional dollars if they want all those features "re-enabled".   I have to admit, I don't feel too bad for Gamestop.  Gamestop has been HEAVILY gouging customers in the used market for far too long.  Taking in relatively new used games for $20 and reselling for $54 has always been preposterous at best.  Gamestop is going to have to adjust for a $10 per game hit.  (My guess, Gamestop will be selling the games for $15 under the new game pricing instead of the usual $5.)  Again, I shed no tears for Gamestop's dip in profit margin.

But unfortunately the new EA Online Pass doesn't just hurt Gamestop.  Any gamer who wants to sell (or give) one of his used games to a friend will be effected.  The new user of the disc will have to buy his own $10 EA Pass to re-enable the features on the disc.  The whole idea is idiotic.

Some may disagree, but this is yet another self-induced PR nightmare from a company famous for self-induced PR nightmares.  Even the corporate spin on the announcement seemed like a bad joke even as written by EA's professional PR department.  The poor SOBs from EA (most notably the CEO) who were called on by the media to explain the EA Online Pass sounded like cats who just wrongly ate someone's pet canary and had no excuse for doing so.

The spin begins with the idea that EA is losing revenue due to people buying used games.  No, EA was never entitled to used game revenue.  Nor was any publisher.  The game was purchased by an end user who merely wanted to sell it.  If anything, EA is simply jealous of a given revenue stream, but completely not entitled to it.

The idea of locking out core game features on a second hand disc requires a bit of an anlogy for some to grasp where I'm coming from on this.  It is important to note that I am someone who does not share the "anti-corporate" feelign that so many claim during this recession.  Corporations hire.  People need hired.  The market is what it is.  I am a staunch capitalist, and some would say to a fault.  However, I feel the logistics of the EA online pass effect certain liberties of ownership of a legally purchased commodity. The precedent this sets is enormous...and bad.

Let me explain.

Lets say a buddy of mine offers me $5000 for my used 2005 Ford Focus.  I sell the car to him, yet because the keyholder changed hands, Ford is requiring him pay 1/6th of the original purchase price of the car directly to Ford, in order to re-enable the air conditioning, power locks, radio, and trunk latch, which were disabled (by Ford) when I handed him the keys.

Similarly, is an artist entitled to a percentage of the sale of their work if the original buyer of their work opts to sell the same piece of art to another person at a later date?  Hell no.  The artist was paid during the initial sale for the value of the work.  He/she is not entitled to profits from further resale.  However this is the essential crux of what EA is trying to claim.

Sounds like crap.  Smells like crap.  And indeed it is crap.

The very fact that EA feels entitled to a used market revenue stream is quite telling as it pertains to the megalomaniacal history of EA's rather unpopular-with-gamers CEO John Riccitiello.  Riccitiello is countering by indicating that gamers can expect more from their core new game purchase with the Online Pass.  For his sake, he better make sure that extra downloadable content for a given game is free to those who have the Online Pass enabled for that game, or else there will be even more hell to pay from gamers.   Strangely, this was his response to why he felt EA needed to go this route when interviewed on May 11th.

"We think it's a great idea.  We think it will build our business, and we think it's a positive consumer experience.  Invariably, the consumer is getting a boat load more content to experience than they otherwise would."- John Riccitiello

(Note, he doesn't say HOW skimming $10 each off of used sales would somehow give "more content to experience"..)

"We used to literally pull our teams off of a game within four to six weeks pre-ship and they'd go work on something else because the game was done.  our teams are being held in place up through and beyond ship to continue to create content to entertain the consumer with the franchise the like best." - John Riccitiello

Okay, but what about this deal guarantees that EA still won't do the same thing?  What about this deal guarantees "more content" to the new game buyer?  What are the tangible, measurable deliverables that the customer gets with the advent of the EA Online Pass, other than second hand game owners being $10 poorer in order to enable then locked-out standard features on a game disc that has simply changed hands?

Absolutely nothing.

At the end of the day, this is a huge cash-grab for EA, who is now using the deliberate limiting of features on a software product to invade a revenue stream that it should feel no sense of entitlement to be involved with in the first place.  They've tried this move before with the past two NBA Live games where the updated "daily rosters" were part of the game with the initial registry of the product, but if the game changed hands, the person using the disc would have to pay $10 to re-enable the feature.  However, those same NBA Live games still had no online season/online franchise like their competition has had for the past 5 plus years.  (So much for the idea of this business model somehow equating to more content for the customer, Mr. Riccitiello!)

And, to make matters worse, that other major game publisher who has a PR disaster of a CEO with a PhD. in "Dumbassitude" (Activision CEO Bobby Kotick) allegedly thinks that Riccitiello and EA are onto something good with this horrid idea.

So it looks like both EA and Activision will continue their ugly "race to the bottom" in terms of consumer friendly/consumer concsious game publishing.

But at the end of the day, my used Ford Focus analogy holds, and my re-selling art analogy holds.  The manufacturer/artist is not entitled to profits from a second-hand sale of their work after already taking the revenue from the initial sale. One can only hope that 2K Sports, EA's competitor as it pertains to basketball titles and a few other sports, does not follow this idiotic path.

And when it is all said and done, this EA Online Pass can be thought of as nothing more than a steamy pile of corporate excrement for the consumer.  A bad idea at a bad time from a very bad CEO.   And who knows what this means for online game renter GameFly.

Lets hope we might see some legal challenges to this business practice going forward.

article by Scott Hemphill

 

Football, Casually Speaking

Written by Scott Hemphill | 10 February 2010

I recently had an article of mine published over at The Sports Journal.  This one is called "Football, Casually Speaking."  It talks about how many companies (EA included) have tried to reel in the mega-diverse audience that Tecmo Super Bowl once had with various "softer-core" products, such as Blitz, NFL Street, and Madden NFL Arcade.  They all seem to miss the mark though, because few of them seem to understand what it was that Tecmo Super Bowl (released in 1991) did so well.

Check it out HERE.

QC's Top Ten Games of 2009

User Rating: / 1
PoorBest 

Written by Scott Hemphill | 31 December 2009

I figured this being the last day of 2009, I'd compile a list of my top 10 favorite games I've been playing this year.  Of course, this is all opinion, and admittedly, I don't play EVERY game release (but close!).  I'm also not going to limit this list to just sports games. The reason for that is because that a top 10 of ONLY sports games is rather limiting, since there ae so few sports releases.  So making the top 10 is rather easy since there are only about 10 releases. (Heck, by default, MLB 2K9 would be on there towards the 10 spot, which isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of the game!)  So, this is gonna be a list of my top 10 games in general.  Now, I know there's some I haven't bought, such as the new "Uncharted 2" for PS3, or Assassin's Creed 2- since in both cases I've resolved to beat the first game before playing the second. So by all means don't go assuming this list is "comprehensive"...at all.

Also, feel free to debate the list in the forums, and let me know what titles I'm wrong on, and which ones I should have included.

Here it is....starting at #10

10.  Wolfenstein (XBOX 360/PS3/PC

Yeah, I know.  Another "Me too" World War II FPS, right? Wrong.   Many people dismissed Wolfenstein as another Nazi shoote-em-up retread.  In doing so, they missed out on a very fine action game that seemingly merged the demonic world of Doom with some Nazi experimentation set in the 1940s.  The story, while the usual id Software supernatural meets boxes of bullets, wasn't half bad either.  The game is a really fun romp and a showcase of next-gen graphics.  Yes, and you get to also shoot a lots of Nazis.   And demons...and other weird things from other dimensions.

----------------------------

9. Brutal Legend (XBOX 360/PS3)

Okay, how do I describe Brutal Legend to someone who hasn't played it?  Take a hardcore metal roadie (played/voiced by Jack Black), drop him into a world that looks like a Meat Loaf album cover, add in a war between the metal gods (one of whom is Ozzy Osbourne) throw in an all-star soundtrack of hairbands from the 80s and 90s, mix in open world driving, craziness, and a great sense of humor, and a lot of fun, and you have Brutal Legend.  It is one fine game that mixes third person action and a casual mix of real time strategy.  And the soundtrack is the best I've heard in a video game.

--------------------------

8. INFAMOUS (PS3)

Due to the fact that Infamous is a Sony developed game and is therefore a PS3 exclusive, half of the gaming world hasn't had the awesome experience of playing this completely novel super-hero/super-villain game.  (Yes, it is BOTH).  This is a pure action game focusing on a kid who is a bicycle courier who's mysterious package to be delivered explodes and changes/devastates the world.  He survives being at ground zero and has been given super powers from the explosion... most of which focus on manipulating electricity and matter. This is an open world super-hero game...or, an open world super villain game.  Yes, you can be either.  The choices you make help set your path to evil or good, and your powers change as you progress down either path, as does your character's look.  Being able to weild finger-launched lightning is also mega-fun, (think Emperor Palpatine..).  Great game if you have a PS3.

-----------------------

7. New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)

Now when I say "kickin' it old skool", this is what I mean.  Nintendo has had a rather paltry year in terms of good game releases on the Wii, but New Super Mario Bros. was a pure gaming gem.  Yes, it is a classic 2D side-scroller, but a highly refined and deep one.  It harkens back to Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, yet is incredibly long, fun, and super challenging.  Did I say super-challenging? Yes I did.  This is a HARD game for a hardcore audience.  The game is so hard at points that I'm sure some of the younger Mario faithful might be put off by the stiff challenges..which start to hit around WORLD TWO!  But, for us "seasoned" vets. (read: those of us used to the high level of difficulty of old NES games), we should be able to adjust...after dying.  Alot.   Great game, and its even better when you try to tackle it co-op. (Up to four players.)

----------------------------

6. Borderlands (XBOX 360/PS3/PC)

What do you get when you cross a Mad-Max style post-apocalyptic world, with GTA style open world gameplay, first person shooting, driving, and Diablo II style lootfesting? Well, you get Borderlands.  Borderlands was one of the most unexpected gems of the year, and many people dismissed it as being probably too similar to id Software's upcoming "RAGE" game.  However, this game made a name for itself right out of the gate with some of the ConsoleSports.net faithful, many of whom can be found playing it on any given day on XBOX Live.  In a rather dismal year for 2K games, Borderlands was a quality hit for them.  I've never seen a game combine so many genres so well.  This one isn't to be missed.

--------------------------------

5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (XBOX 360/PS3/PC)

Lets face it, the whole COD series, be it the "modern warfare" games or the ones centering around WWII, is expected to be good.  Infinity Ward has set the bar exceedingly high with each COD game release.  And, as usual, they did it again.  This game is a graphical and storytelling marvel.  Mix in a storyline right out of a Tom Clancy novel and throw in some of the best FPS action around and you have COD MW2.  I must say that the Siberian level with the ice-climbing and snowmobile escape rank right up there with among my favorite moments in my 30+ years of gaming.  Well done Infinity Ward, another must buy.

--------------------------------

4. NHL 10 (XBOX 360/PS3)

Since 2007, no sports video game franchise has "righted their sinking ship" better than EA Canada has done with the NHL series.  In short, the series used to be an arcade, score-a-thon joke.  However, once EA' Vancouver team got ahold of the product and added some Canadian-style hockey authenticity, the series has won back fans and utterly crushed the competition.  NHL 10 continues this trend with more depth, and some much needed board-play mechanics.  I only hope that goalies get some much needed "humanity" in NHL 11 though, because they are still somewhat superhuman ... except for your own.

----------------------

3. World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King (PC/MAC)

Yeah, yeah.. I know.  Wrath of the Lich king came out in November of 2008.  However, much free content has been pushed out to the game in 2009 (such as Ulduar, Trial of the Crusader, and IceCrown Citadel).  The best MMORPG just keeps getting better.  It is a real credit to Blizzard that they can keep a game on top for five years with all they have done to improve it, refine it, and make it better.  It will be interesting to see how BioWare counters with their new Star Wars MMO, or how the new Star Trek MMO will fare against the reigning king of MMOs.

-------------------------------------

2. Madden 2010 (XBOX 360/PS3)

2009 was the year that saw the Madden series make some significant strides in the right direction, and us gamers sure are thankful.  Previous next-gen releases seem like "baby steps" compared to the jump from Madden 09 to Madden 2010.  We finally are starting to get the presentation and cumulative depth in the series that we've been hankering for.  Also, though rather bare-bones, Madden online franchise is alot of fun this year, even though way more depth will be demanded of that play mode in 2011.   Kudos to EA for also pushing out semi-regular roster updates with greater fequency than previous years.  Madden 2010 is a lot of fun, and I can't wait to see where Ian Cummings and co. take the game this coming year.  (Still plenty to fix, however.)

------------------------

And my number one game of the year for 2009....

#1  Batman: Arkham Asylum  (XBOX 360/PS3/PC)

Arkham Asylum is one of those rare "Holy hell this is awesome" games that makes you remember where you were when you first played it, not unlike BioShock.  More than that, we are used to licensed property games involving superheroes usually being absolutely suckworthy.  Well, Arkaham Asylum changed the rules, and set such a high bar in terms of a game that takes the comic hero and builds in such incredible depth and atomosphere.  The game does so many things right.  First of all, the story is top notch, as well as the acting and voice acting.  (Mark Hamill deserves an award for best acting/voice acting in the history of all gaming with his portrayal of the Joker...play the game and you'll understand).  The action is incredible.  This game has extremely awesome combat controls for Batman.  Other games falter in this regard when they try to mix combat with stealth (like...the first Assassin's Creed game).  Arkham has a great "sneaking" dynamic, great combat, great story, great setting, great controls, great acting, and an epic story.  Then you throw in the depth that developer RockSteady delivers on a bat-shaped platter, and you have what I think is probably the greatest game I've played on next gen consoles.   Quite simply, this is the must-have game of the past five years.  It is that good.

Scott Hemphill

Consolesports.net

Winds of Change at EA Sports?

User Rating: / 3
PoorBest 

Written by Scott Hemphill | 16 June 2009

Sometimes game companies, even the biggest ones, start listening to gamers.  Sometimes it takes a rough economic slowdown and some poor sales before that happens, but sometimes it does happen. 

I think it is happening with EA Sports. 

There seems to be some new winds of change in Electronic Arts’ sports division, and I for one am pretty elated about it.  2009 seems to be the year of the “seasoned sports gamer”.  (Note: I’m reluctant to use the term “hardcore” anymore as it pertains to sports gamers, simply because “hardcore” and its varying degrees of interpretation are so darn subjective…so I’ll use the term “seasoned”)

..And by “seasoned”, I mean sports gamers that expect a year to year evolution towards greater realism in regards to yearly sports video game releases.  These are the people who feel that as the technology gets better, so should the features/realism of the sports game.  These are the sports-knowledgeable folks that expect a decent degree of product advancement in terms of year to year releases.  “Seasoned” sports gamers differ from casual sports gamers in that casuals generally just want a fun, easy to pick up game that doesn’t throw much at them or require them to look anything up in the game manual. 

It is these “seasoned sports gamer” folks that EA seems to be giving a firm nod to with some of the upcoming releases.  Why is this important? Well,  EA has been transfixed on the “casuals” ever since the advent of the Wii and its mind-boggling worldwide success.  For two years, we listed to Peter Moore and others talk about how they’d love a piece of the Wii casual sports pie.  This is fine, except for the fact that some of the “casual” development focus trickled into EA’s non-Wii sports games over the past several years.  An example I will cite is NCAA Football 2009.  EA’s entire design focus on that game was “wide open gameplay”.  To a degree, I can understand that.  College football, by comparison to the NFL is definitely more “wide open”.  However, in what seemed to be an effort to make the product more “accessible to everyone”…the reality of “wide-open gameplay” meant practically non-existent defensive AI, virtually no defensive pass rush, and logical pursuit angles.  Throw in the ongoing “run around backwards and chuck the ball anywhere” mechanics of the QB position, and you had a product that many seasoned sports gamers such as myself and Bangpow (Craig Gonzalez) quickly put down and traded in for something better.  It was especially troubling to view the game down at EA Tiburon in June of last year as one of the Community Leaders.  We all saw the same problems with NCAA 09, and when we brought them up to EA developer Ian Cummings, his response was merely “Wide-open gameplay, working as intended.” 

However, since that time, several things have happened.  The backlash of the seasoned sports gamers to these kind of problems with EA’s sports games seems to have done something.  I think we may even be able to view last years’ NCAA 09 and Madden 09 Wii as a turning point.  The casual focused Madden 09 Wii didn’t sell well (or at least- by comparison to Madden on the other consoles, and NCAA 09 Wii sold even worse.)   NCAA 09 for next gen consoles sold well, but there were many complaints about the casual-focused gameplay where realism, or anything resembling realism, was shunned in favor of making the gamer feel like they could score on damn near every possession.

Apparently, EA was listening.

This year we are seeing tons of feature release news about the upcoming sports games.  Just one year after the mess that was NCAA 09, we see that NCAA 10 is getting revamped AI, pursuit angles, etc.. .but also online team-builder, game-planning features, strategic playcalling AI where you can “set up” plays from various formations by suckering the AI into thinking you are doing something else based on previously used formations, new formations such as the FlexBone, player lock features (and a roving camera that makes it useable),  enhanced pocket protection AI, and much more. 

In Madden 10’s case, there’s plenty to be excited about before the game has even released.  First of all, I can’t praise EA enough for putting Josh Looman in charge of resurrecting Madden franchise mode.  I had the opportunity to meet Josh last year at Madden Community Day down at EA Tiburon, and the guy is a walking football encyclopedia and NFL strategy junkie.  We are getting re-vamped injury realism (such as “re-injuries”), new pass blocking that is more true to life,  Pro-Tak gang tackling technology,  the “Wildcat” offense made popular by the Dolphins, Adaptive AI (we hope it means something bigger than it has in the past), new momentum modeling, new presentation including a weekly recap franchise show (which hasn’t been done since NFL 2K5), enhanced drafting and scouting, full game customization abilities, and…last but not least, refs on the field.

(and much more I don’t have time to throw into this article).

But its just not limited to football.  Take the new Fight Night for example (due out in a week and a half).  This series was originally less about serious boxing and more about hip-hop flavor back when EA Chicago was making it.  Now, it looks to be a full boxing sim that is promising some big-time reality and strategy (as well as Iron Mike himself).

Then, my favorite example of EA now catering to the “seasoned sports gamer”..is the news about board-play being a big part of NHL 10.  Why is this big news?  Well, EA has always been high on re-capturing the NHL 94 feeling, and I can understand that, because it was such a fun, fluid game.  However, the series was desperately missing board-play and defense.  Every possession cannot be an end to end rush without obstacles, at least if you want to play something resembling real hockey.  Now we will have board play, tie-ups, etc.  That’s a big step for EA, because more than any other feature, that’s one that might ruffle the feathers of some casuals who want the NHL 94 “end to end rush” experience on every possession. 

I guess maybe EA is starting to “get it”.  The sports company who’s motto was once “Its in the game”…seems to actually be going back to that mantra in 2009.  

That makes me happy, and I think seasoned sports gamers might be happy too.   

Nascar 09 (XBOX 360) Hands On Impressions

User Rating: / 1
PoorBest 

Written by Scott Hemphill | 06 August 2008

Nascar video games, probably more so than any other sports game, has always had the biggest “split” in terms of casual versus hardcore fans.  On one hand, you want the casual Nascar observers who are looking for the “Sega Daytona USA experience with licensed drivers and real world tracks”, and on the other hand you have the hardcores that want to build/tweak their engines, exhaust, suspension, and micromanage their pit crew, as well as have cars take very realistic damage from wall-rubbing and/or even the slightest collision.  These are the folks that point to the old Papyrus-developed Nascar game series on PC that leaned heavily hardcore.

To start this off, let me preface this hands-on by saying I fall somewhere down the middle on this one.  I’m by no means a Nascar hardcore guy, but I’m also far from being someone who wants (or expects) a licensed Nascar game to be the second coming of Sega’s old “Daytona” arcade racer.  I personally don’t mind a more realistic damage model, but then again I don’t want each “rub” or “wall scrape” to be catastrophic either.  I would also be completely LOST as it pertains to pit-crew management, as well as playing auto-mechanic with each internal part/system inside of my car.

One thing I’ve found from playing Nascar 09 is that EA seems to be targeting the desires of the “somewhere down the middle” Nascar gamer.  So for me personally, I’ve found the game to be targeted directly at me.  The game offers two game difficulty models.  These “models” are really the realism setting for your car.  “Normal” is for the casual racer, while “Pro” is for the hardcores who want the most realistic car handling, damage model, tire degradation, etc.  It’s important to note, however, that you can dive into the car setup in either mode and adjust things like “camber” and “differential ratio”.

I have to commend EA for its clever use of Jeff Gordon to help direct you through the experience from the moment you fire up the game.  Jeff is frequently on-screen to offer you voice-over advice about how to drive the menu, what to do first, what options are available to you, and he gives some surprisingly detailed and helpful guidance about each mode of play.  I have to admit, he’s actually quite helpful, and this usage of a cover athlete as your “virtual guide” is actually quite innovative.

The first thing Jeff G. asks you to do is go customize your car.  There’s a very detailed paint/decal interface that lets you customize the look of your personalized vehicle in every way.  There’s also a vast array of sponsor decals- both real-world and fictional- that you can use as sponsors for your car.  (Note: there is deeper “sponsorship” in the game as you get “rep”, and that “higher rep sponsorship” helps later in the game as you climb the ladder of game achievements, challenge modes, and racing success.)  However- getting back to the car customization- getting to personalize your very own Nascar ride is actually a lot of fun.  I found myself tinkering with the car “look” options for about half an hour and not realizing it.  In the end, my virtual driver “Scooter Hemphill”, was quite happy with the look of his black and green 154 car.