DICE: EA Gets "Too Much Crap for Not Being Innovative"

[The Wooster]

Yeah... There's a point there, and as other people have said there is more to be annoyed at EA other than innovation.

But also there is the world wide industry misconception about the increasingly meaningless word "Innovation":
"Innovation is something that actually changes something for the better, renews something -- and I think we do that all the time,"

By definition, innovating is not making something better, it's making something new. NEW is not necessarily better. However BETTER, is always necessarily new. What he is describing is improvement -NOT- innovation, and that is very worthy by itself.
Again SAFE doesn't define the quality of a game.

The problem comes when it becomes clear that there has been a decision to favor quick buck over quality, or when a perfectly strong and interesting game has been bent into a "more mainstream" shape, as to attract a bigger audience (I'm looking at you dead space).

By contrast with something like Nintendo, Would a mario FPS sell a million copies?.. yeah probably. Does it fit the world, I doubt it, Will it get done? Probably not, because nintendo has a lot of respect for its tradition, which doesn't stop them from making a lot of improvements to its tired and true formula.

And that is the real problem with many of today's publishers, the loss of focus, not the lack of innovation.

 

[ASnogarD]

Oh , they change things all the time... like in BF3

Nice server browser in game .. changed to a web based browser with lots and lots of stats.
Community servers ... changed to using EA partner server providers only with limited control and access.
Balanced weapon and sidegrades ... changed to a CoD style leveling system, complete with all the patting on the back for each bloody shot you take.
Changed thier tune (BadCo 2 PC - we wont split the community by selling maps) ... to several DLCs which not only include maps for MP but different modes... now the community is fractured by maps and more modes.

or Syndicate ?

A inovative for its time title , into a generic FPS.

Ahh , the Sims.

Make a bare bones base game, then add a crap tonne of expansions, then make a updated bare bones base game without the content of the old game + expansions... then re-introduce old content from expansions back...as more expansions...

... then make a bare bones base game, add a micro transaction shop to buy more content for that base game, and still make a lot of expansions.

Mass Effect 3

Day 1 DLC, only offering you a character that was mythic in the first 2 ME's as a sidekick to boot about.
Tacked on MP, because hey MP is the new word.
Sold off utilities to help you in game , to get to the best ending.

Dragon Age 2

Tossed out the rich and vast story line for a single repeated set of locations, changed the battle system to something more twitchy and button mashing (oh sorry, interactive), and gutted much of the RPG from the RPG.

...and, I have no readers by this time

 

[Johnson McGee]

14 sequels/continuations to 1 new ip, I can feel the innovation oozing out of there.

 

[PureIrony]

Of course every game they release is innovative. Just about every game that gets released these days has something that could be seen as new. People take offense because of EA's perspective; they don't care about innovation, or even putting out a good product. If they had the ability to repackage literally the same game every year and charge full retail price for it, they would.

My goodness, it almost seems like they are some sort of... business. Next you will be telling me that they actually plan to try to make money in the most efficient way possible, especially if that means as little cost for the most profit available. EA makes what sells, if you have a problem with that take it up with humanity, not with some guys trying to get paychecks.

Yeah, yeah, I know, they're a business, and businesses exist to make money. I don't think EA are supervillains or anything, and I understand that most companies would love to be in the position I described as well; what I was trying to express is that isn't a good thing, and we shouldn't give companies brownie points for being what they are, and given what EA seems to be, they'd probably have the sheer tenacity to try.

We shouldn't like or accept what EA is. EA is a company run by people that don't care about games, don't really understand the fanbase, and will never attempt to push any kind of bar or give the customer any concession without a pricetag, not unless they're dragged into it first. Again, they're not unique in that aspect, but they seem to embody it better then any other game company. I don't hate EA, and I definitely don't think they're the worst company in America, but what they are is something to be fought, and I'm sure as hell not going to give them a pat on the back for not giving a shit about me or my favorite hobby.

 

[Baresark]

I came on here prepared to hate on this from the title. But he certainly makes a good point. I mean, EA does rely too much on sequels I think. And when they raise the bar, I don't think they raise it right (aka, getting rid of the solo play on Dead Space 3). And I also feel their "indie" selection is really weak. Well... I think I talked myself down from almost believing this guy. Wow, bullet dodged.

I'll say this, being innovative a little bit doesn't balance out the 99% of the time they are just releasing sequels. But, that is why EA is declining like it is. They are doing the opposite of THQ did. THQ put all it's cards on innovation and new products and it bit them in the ass ( I love THQ, btw). EA puts very little effort into innovation (not no effort, very littel) and it is giving them a bad image. Seems like the smart money is less on the extremes of the two and more on a balance, 50:50-ish. But I am not a CEO, you can keep that job.

 

[Krantos]

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I don't have a problem with EA's sequels. I don't play the sports, so it really doesn't affect me at all.

Now their other practices....

I can't really disagree here. EVERY developer/publisher is overdoing the sequels these days. EA is hardly the worst in regards to that.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

Lack of innovation is something basically everyone is guilty of nowadays. It's like Jim Sterling pointed out. EA isn't the only one doing bad business practices, it the fact that they just do it so blatantly and gleefully.

 

[Immsys]

Yeah, yeah, I know, they're a business, and businesses exist to make money. I don't think EA are supervillains or anything, and I understand that most companies would love to be in the position I described as well; what I was trying to express is that isn't a good thing, and we shouldn't give companies brownie points for being what they are, and given what EA seems to be, they'd probably have the sheer tenacity to try.

We shouldn't like or accept what EA is. EA is a company run by people that don't care about games, don't really understand the fanbase, and will never attempt to push any kind of bar or give the customer any concession without a pricetag, not unless they're dragged into it first. Again, they're not unique in that aspect, but they seem to embody it better then any other game company. I don't hate EA, and I definitely don't think they're the worst company in America, but what they are is something to be fought, and I'm sure as hell not going to give them a pat on the back for not giving a shit about me or my favorite hobby.

That is all true. Reading my post back, it sounds horribly bitter and unnecessarily confrontational, sorry about that. You have a point, bugbears are tolerable but nothing to celebrate, I suppose the grey area is how much you can change the situation by disagreeing with it. Still worthy of debate though

 

[tmande2nd]

Well I smell bullshit.

EA sport games are the same year after year after year, with only better graphics separating them.
Every time they buy a new IP they destroy it and turn it into a bland piece of crap no one likes.

EA keeps thinking if they can get the overlap in a Venn Diagram, then they can get both circles. IT DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT.

What is worse is that they never accept blame for what happens, and destroy the company.
I knew Bioware was dead the moment EA got its meat hooks in.

Dragon Age and Mass Effect went from great RPGs to bland action games that meant nothing.
If I ever ran a game company I would tell EA to go sodomize themselves with a flag pole if they tried asking to buy out my company.

Damn. I am down to Bethesda for my WRPG fix now.

 

[electric method]

Lol. This is unreal. Defending a publisher that is notorious for "broadening the appeal" of almost all it's games and saying they are innovative. Also that they allow studios to try "new and different" things. Oh the irony.

Perhaps someone should tell this DICE exec that "innovation" isn't remaking/spinning off/sequeling Battlefield 12 times. And, perhaps that, "trying new things" isn't making Battlefield 3 almost a carbon copy clone of the CoD franchise, then point him in the direction of EA Sports. Right after that, send him over to BioWare Austin. Yanno, the folks that made the most expensive WoW clone?

What is it with people that work for EA? Do they forget that there is a ton of information out there that is in direct conflict with their "defense" of EA?

 

[thethird0611]

So their whole argument is side stepping the accusation?

Look, I have no problem with yearly sports games or bi-yearly battlefield games. I love me some battlefield and ive got a friend who buys each Madden day 1. If people like it, people like it. Its a good thing.

But no, he is stating innovation to essentially mean upgrading games. Yes, it is innovation, but its no the innovation we are calling you out on. Armored Kill for battlefield, freaking innovation for the battlefield team, not for the industry.

So yes, in essence, he is right. In the real argument, he is dead wrong.

 

[Kurenaino]

Wait, that's what EA's getting crap about? Because I could have sworn that it was being an evil umbrella organization that uses draconian methods to punish and control paying customers and for adding tacked on, extraneous multiplayers in order to suck more money out of people.

Phew, good thing it's not THAT!

 

[Mortuorum]

Then where's Mirror's Edge 2? DICE were working on it, but instead we're seeing countless add-ons to Battlefield 3 and announcements for Battlefield 4 already.

They haven't figured out a way to tack a crappy, unnecessary multiplayer mode [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119449-EA-Turns-Its-Back-on-Single-Player-Games] onto it yet.

 

[Frostbite3789]

lull
'It's not really new, but it's innovative for people who play this series!'
That's... not really the definition of innovative guys

As someone who buys the yearly NHL games...yes it is. I hear "LOL SPORTS GAMES JUST ROSTER UPDATES!!! PEOPLE WHO BUY THEM DUM IDITS WHO HATE GAMS!" I'm sure someone who never played an NHL game before could pick up this years game and scream in my face about how it's a roster update, but from playing the demo, they completely overhauled the skating mechanics, and made that completely physics based. It feels like a completely different game from 12.

They redid goaltending. they added an entirely new 30 man online GM mode. They changed up EA Ultimate Team. But yeah, it's just a roster update. No innovation.

Also this is how it's gone ever year since 07 with the NHL series.

 

[grigjd3]

I don't care so much about innovation as I care about a game being fun to play. That's the problem I really see with EA. They buy up all these franchises that I enjoy and destroy them.

 

[Allthingsspectacular]

EA IS very innovative: they keep thinking up new and exciting ways to rip us off.

I wish I could agree with that much, but even the methods that they rip us off always seem to be copied from other companies.

 

[Broken Blade]

The lack of proper innovation is pretty low on the list of gripes I have with EA. My biggest thing might be how they chew up other good companies and slowly turn them into crap.

 

[Kargathia]

Granted, it's a valid point, but with how everyone talks and criticizes EA, "not being innovative" is usually the last thing I hear.

They tend to run out of breath long before they get to that, but it certainly is on the list.

 

[CortexReaver]

Come on, stop talking and give us Mirror's Edge 2 already.