End of an Era

re: End of an Era

AJ Dembroski — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:08:18 GMT

I'm not sure why here, but it seems like others are chiming in on Head Coach in this little thread, so I'm going to add too it.

It was really a depressing day when I realized we would not see a 2010, and I don't begrudge you the right not to lose money. I understand business and I realize your job does not exist to provide me with leisure, but to turn a profit, and I'm not one of those who sees profit as a naughty word.

But I implore you to give Head Coach one more shot with some marketing support and on the platform it is clearly most suited for: PC. Simply releasing the existing product, as a digital download alone, no hard copies, would make a lot of fans very happy. I don't have the qualifications to give you metacritic predictions or any sort of long term potential... maybe it has none... but, like Ico, it's a thoughtful, innovative, outstanding game that deserves it's chance to shine.

NFL Head Coach is the greatest console football game ever made. Please don't let it die.

Thank you,

A.J. Dembroski

re: End of an Era

To EF — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:23:34 GMT

Games like this?

You mean NFL Head Coach? Which EA makes? If anything 2k made the baseball game based off of EA's product offering.

re: End of an Era

To EF — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:16:41 GMT

Just wanted to ask if you saw how badly that '2k baseball strategy game that will sell' is being destroyed by the press as a horrible game that even sports strategy gamers should stay away from.

Here is the metacritic for it: www.metacritic.com/.../mlbfrontofficemanager which will probably see more updates in the next couple of weeks.

Not posted there yet as of the time of this post is GameInformer's review in which they gave it a 3.0/10.

re: End of an Era

EF — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:15:42 GMT

The only thing that I got out of the metacritic review is that they haven't given it a score yet and XBOX magazine gives it a 50 out of 100.

I am in full support of NFL Head Coach and I want to see it continued and improved in the future. I like strategy-based baseball games and I would like to see EA Sports pursue a game like this. I hope that this game is very little like Baseball Mogul because I don't like that product. Out of the Park Baseball for the PC is what a strategy baseball should look like.

I will probably read reviews before buying. I read a movie review that completly trashed a movie that I wanted to see. I still went to the movie and enjoyed it.

My opinion so far is that there is no reason not to buy it yet.

I believe that if you make a quality game in this genre that there is a market for it. It may not appeal to the masses but there is a devoted market for it. Look at Out of the Park Baseball once again. Why is still being made? They're making it because nobody wants to buy it? They didn't get to this point overnight. They listened to their customers and made a better game. This game might flop on the consoles simply because the consoles haven't seen a game like this in recent memory. They have seen Head Coach.

Drop money on this game and consider it an investment in the future. Be careful what reviews you believe. Don't base your purchase based upon a preview which usefully previews half-done games. Look at all the reviews you can and make an educated purchase based on all of the information. I tend to go against the grain of most reviewers out there since I like games that don't normally review well. I have enjoyed many games that the reviewers didn't give full support for.

I don't get into what 2K stole from EA so I will decline comment on that. I have enjoyed Head Coach/Head Coach 09 since it has been released but I haven't seen a good strategy baseball game in a while. I was enjoying Season Ticket Baseball long before Head Coach ever came out so who is really stealing from who here?

re: End of an Era

EF — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:23:41 GMT

I have read the reviews for the new strategy baseball game and I think that we need to keep of couple of things in mind. If you like this style of game then buy it. Encourage other companies to make this type of game. If we all boycott that game then this type of game stands very little chance of being made again.

The barometer for this type of game would be Out of the Park baseball although it was published in boxed format as Season Ticket Baseball.

Support this game and give EA Sports reasons to consider making a game like this. Make Peter Moore sorry that he passed on this opportunity.

re: End of an Era

Former EA Suporter — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:11:20 GMT

Thanks Charlievolano,

Sorry to hear about your non replys from the HB Studios. All we can do is keep asking questions and suggesting ideas. Right now they are taking baby steps to try and fix the "not listening to fans" issue. It's the fans who make or break a title, so let's see how the next step goes.

re: End of an Era

LieutenantDan67 — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:43:48 GMT

Peter and EA suits...

Respectfully, please give consideration to another Head Coach game for release in the next year or two?

Head Coach 09 was the finest football game I have ever played. It's ALL I played, daily, since August launch with the Madden CE (played Madden less than 10 times), and have loved Head Coach!

I realize it falls under 'niche' product, but there is a market for this, and with a little more promotion and the great word-of-mouth this game gets, I think it would be worth your while to get behind at least one more time.

I'm not alone in this....please bring back Head Coach for 2009 and/or 2010 release!

Thank you for your time.

re: End of an Era

Charlievolano — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:30:14 GMT

Good idea FormerEAsupporter,

I actually sent a couple of mails to the HB studios but never got any reply from them. I mean this "listen to the fans" isn't really working for some EA related department/developers.

re: End of an Era

Former EA Supporter — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:43:52 GMT

I think that the dev team pages for each titles is a good thing. I have a suggestion on an improvement:

Since we have to wait for a developer to post a blog to leave them a comment, or post on older blogs, how about setting up some some blogs to cover the different aspects of the title, such as gameplay, off/def, staduim/graphics, player ratings/appearence, wishlist, etc.

You could also have a seperate one for the pc version unless you will be have input on those titles as well. Will you be doing any work on the pc versions?

This would allow for posting ideas/questions in an organized area that the devs can see and they still can post thier own favorite topics as well. Does any developer think that this could be a good idea? Maybe this would allow more fans to interact with you?

I'm just makiing a suggestion so if you think it would not work that is okay. Just trying to help improve the quality of the games.

Thanks.

re: End of an Era

Ogo — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:22:34 GMT

this is on behalf of the pc users who continually buy your products and get shafted.

all i say to ea is this, on behalf of the pc users, i am going to let you know you have screwed us over for the last for years. its time for you to use the money you stole took from us and do something that benefits us. make a great game, so when i go on ign, its not rated a 2 out of 10 by consumers and 5.5 by ign. all i'm saying is let your efforts rise over your excuses. by the way, i would like to let ea know that they disgraced their country the united states. usa is known as a country with hard working people and people who make impossible happen. since you are a usa based company, you should be ashamed. by looking at your product over the last 3 years, you can clearly see no hard work had been put into the game. again i say, let your efforts rise over your excuses. this should probably be your new motto because guess what. the time is coming when a new game system will arrive. prob in the next couple of years and even though obama says hes going to try and get us out of this economic mess that greedy companies like yours created, thats not going to happen. the innovation will stop for the 360 and you there is going to be a need for new gaming systems. who wants to spend 400 dollars when they can't pay their *** bills? with credit card companies buckling and the insurance industry on its knees, what can we then innovate? the pc? 2k can produce a quality game in nba 2k9 for the pc for 20 bucks, then your fat *** company comes and charges me 40 bucks for a game i could have made if given the source code to last years cd. in fact, i wouldn't even need it because i could just use nhl view to edit the rosters to nhl 08 and paste a 9 on top of the 8. thats all you did. stop falsely advertizing your products if you are going to continually make crap so no one buys it.

re: End of an Era

EF — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:05:54 GMT

One last thought.

I mentioned the baseball game being made by 2K sports and my post was deleted.

A strategy/stats-based baseball game will sell. Is EA Sports truly listening to their fans or are they throwing a fit because someone mentions a competitors products? People are buying other companies product for a reason and EA Sports needs to learn from its mistakes.

The question remains.

Are you listening? Get back to us on the status of the games that we are asking about.

re: End of an Era

Swatter — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:01:48 GMT

Hey Peter,

I also want to chime in on Head Coach 09. The development team did such an outstanding job on the game, I would hope that they are allowed to continue to build upon their work. I think anyone affiliated with HC would agree it wasn't as polished and didn't do as well as we wished it would have. At the same time, you guys are sitting on a diamond in the rough. HC is only a few strides short of being the best and most realistic depiction of football ever made.

I am also well aware of the economics of the game industry. Without healthy sales, even the best game in the world won't survive. In this respect I think a big opporntunity was missed. 2k is releasing a game called MLB Front Office Manager. It is a game marketed towards a more mature audience, the people who join fantasy leagues. It is also being released for all major platforms including the PC. I think releasing such a game for the PC plays a critical role. I have my 360 hooked up through my PC monitor and to my PC for sound, but I still pre-ordered this game for the PC because of the ability to use the mouse. Time will tell how good 2k's game is going to be, but I bet it does pretty well.

With a more long term vision of HC including an online franchise with the ability to call plays against your opponent in the normal game engine, HC could be something that is could pull in a pretty large audience.

One last non-HC item. PLEASE incorporate more camera views in NCAA and Madden. I love NCAA, but I simply hate the lack of camera options.

re: End of an Era

MrNFL — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:26:19 GMT

Hi Peter. I've played many EA games over the years, but I must say that the most recent installment of NFL Head Coach has me addicted like crack. I've heard rumors that the series might be discontinued, and I hope that's not true. I think you'd be surprised that you can find a very good market for this game if done correctly.

re: End of an Era

EF — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 10:06:04 GMT

Mr. Moore,

Let me be the third person to support the continutation of the NFL Head Coach franchise. This should be no surprise to you if you read my posts.

I believe that Head Coach should be released in the springtime to coincide with the NFL Draft. The game puts more of a premium on draft play so this makes more sense. Not going up against Madden and NCAA makes sense from a sales standpoint. Not many of your consumers are going to choose Head Coach over Madden/NCAA. I am different from most of your gamers and purchased Head Coach over Madden. NCAA 09 was still first choice and that won't change this summer.

Your college basketball games still need work. I have opted not to buy your basketball games since I don't see anything worth buying. College Hoops 2K8 was a far superior product and I can boot it up when I want to play college basketball. Your team needs to look at this product to see where your franchise needs to go. Or you can continue to on the sidelines and wonder why NCAA Basketball sales aren't very good.

Is EA Sports doing a baseball game this year? I have heard nothing about it. It seems like that the baseball titles have a different name every year. I would like to see a college baseball game return to the EA Sports lineup but I won't hold my breath on that one. I have a baseball game on my radar but EA Sports isn't making it.

People are mentioning economic challenges here. During this economic climate, EA Sports needs to give their consumers reasons to buy their products. Maybe that involves strengthing the core products or maybe that involves expanding new or deserted genres. Maybe this involves dropping the prices of your games by 10 dollars to sell more. NCAA 09 was selling at 29.99 at last look so you still must be making some type of profits.

Peter Moore - Here is your challenge for the year. Make a game for 19.99 that will be on par with your regular titles. Make it a can't miss title for the 360/PS3 platforms. A 20 dollar game will sell. Make it 20 dollar quality and you will hate the sales. Give your consumers reasons to buy your games. Don't give them execuses to not buy your games. People are cutting back so make sure they don't cut your products.

I know that a number of us were disappointed in NCAA and Madden this past year. Have you been listening? I have been on the developers blogs and it seems like you are addressing some concerns.

re: End of an Era

EF — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:32:46 GMT

Thank you for the information.

I will keep an eye for these products. I thought that some of the problem would be the limitation of the console itself. I have wireless USB adapters for my PC's so I would use one of those. Windows has plug and play built-in but I don't think that 360 has that capability to accept new parts that aren't designed especially for it.

I have a wireless router already for my house and PC's but I need some way for the 360 to send its wireless signal.

My main point was that Microsoft's product is overpriced. Maybe a cheap wireless part for the 360 could be a market for EA/EA Sports here. Have some with it. Madden colored-wireless access points?

It seems suspicious to me that a PC can use 20 dollar parts but 360's have to use 70 or 100 dollar parts.