Browse by Tags
All Tags »
NBA LIVE (
RSS)
Posted
Oct 03 2009, 12:10 PM
As FIFA launched throughout Europe this week and hundreds of thousands of gamers began competing from London to Madrid, Barcelona to Frankfurt, I want to send my congratulations to our FIFA development and marketing teams in Vancouver and Geneva. In fact, I had a friendly little wager with FIFA producer Dave Rutter (the terms of which will remain between he and I) about rewarding the team if the game was above 90 for its average review scores on launch day...and here we are on October 2 with the highest rated sports game of this console generation at a 92...well done team.
It's always a challenge to improve on an already universally-acclaimed game, as was the case with FIFA 09, but the team at EAC continued to innovate and add polish to the jewel. I had the pleasure of meeting with them in Vancouver this past week, and passed on my thanks and admiration on behalf of all footie gamers from around the world.
We asked "How Big Can Football Get?" when we recently launched a brilliant new TV campaign in the UK, and we're all anxious to see the answer to that question over the coming weeks. I'd love to hear what you think of the game - please let me know. And for those of you in North America, you just have to wait a few more weeks to join in.
Should be an exciting sports weekend - today I'll be in Berkeley to see if the Cal Bears can rebound from an abysmal performance in Eugene when they host USC. If Kevin Riley can regain his confidence and complete some passes early, maybe we will be able to get Jahvid Best going and put the Trojans on the back foot. If not, we'll be hearing that annoying USC fight song all evening long... And on Sunday, Liverpool plays Chelsea. Up early to watch that one, and looking for my Mighty Reds to rebound from the poor showing in Florence in midweek. I'll actually be at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's home stadium in London on Wednesday delivering a keynote address to executives from across the world of football, so let's hope they welcome me still if Liverpool takes the win. The speech focuses on how sports marketing is rapidly evolving, using FIFA 10 as a best practice case study.
I couldn't be more excited by how well NHL 10 has been received, the overwhelming interest in FIFA's big launch this week in Europe, and the quality of NBA LIVE, which hits stores next week here in North America ready to put up a fight against what is always stiff competition.
Posted
Jun 12 2008, 01:32 AM
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been captivated by the NBA Finals this year in a way that I haven’t been in years. There’s no Cinderella teams this year, no surprises. The Celtics and Lakers are the two best teams in the league, period, and both playing at their peaks. Even the best players are going to have their ups and downs in a seven game series (Kobe in Game 1, Pierce in Game 3), but what you see in basketball in perhaps more than any other sport is how hard it can be being number 1. I marvel at how Kobe and Pierce can consistently handle the double and triple teams, the constant pressure defense and the scrutiny. Yet, when all eyes are on them and expectations are at a climax they continue to deliver. It also underscores the importance of home court advantage. Whether it is the proximity of the fans to the action or the controlled indoor environment, it always seems to me that playing at home is a greater advantage in basketball than just about any other sport…particularly in the playoffs.
As any business does, we’ve been completing our annual performance reviews the past few weeks as well as setting objectives and strategic priorities for the year ahead. I find sports always serve as a great metaphor, and so as I was watching the game last night and reviewing our upcoming plans, I thought about what it takes to be on top, to stay on top and to constantly be in the crosshairs of the rest of your industry.
Some people don’t like the heat. I actually love it, and it’s been inspiring for me to see that our teams here do as well. Our teams are talented, passionate and motivated. It’s a changing marketplace and they’re responding to the demands of our consumers by developing some incredible products for the season ahead. You’d expect nothing less from EA SPORTS, especially when you look at the successes of 2007. To set the record VERY straight (despite what you might have read to the contrary in the last day or so…), we had:
• Four EA SPORTS titles get Sports Game of the Year nods by various outlets, including FIFA, NCAA Football, Madden and NHL. Of course NHL was consensus best in class, as I mentioned a few days ago. Named sports game of the year by seven publications. No one comes close to that.
• Three EA SPORTS titles in the overall industry top 20. It was a great year for videogames, and Madden was No. 1 in sports and No. 4 overall.
• Seven platinum titles (more than one million units sold).
I read the forums, I read your posts on my blog, and we do extensive research and testing to deliver the best sports games on the market each year. We care what you say, we respond as much as we possibly can, and so I’m not surprised that early NASCAR reviews are very positive and that our Madden and NCAA FB community event recently had folks applauding the efforts coming out of Tiburon (more on that to come, BP). I’m not surprised that NBA LIVE, which jumped 15 points in review scores a year ago, has the most ground-breaking feature from our lineup this year and we’ll unveil it next month at E3. And I’ll say with supreme confidence that the future couldn’t be brighter for two of our most critically acclaimed products from a year ago – FIFA and NHL.
We’re never satisfied. There’s always more we can do. It’s what we love about our business. I hate to sound like a cheerleader, but the facts are the facts. And I don’t expect them to change any time soon. We’re hitting this season in terms of quality and innovation stronger than we ever have at EA SPORTS. If I’m wrong, you’ll see me sporting a new tattoo - maybe a competitor’s logo?