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[donny2112]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6206469.html

Yesterday, EA announced that NCAA Football 10 would make its annual collegiate gridiron trek on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PSP on July 16. One notable omission from the announcement was a Wii edition of the academic sports title, which last year eschewed the typical soon-to-be-pro cover athlete for Michigan State's mascot, Sparty.

As it turns out, there was a reason that EA didn't mention the title, as the publisher has confirmed for GameSpot that NCAA Football 10 will not see release on the Wii this year. "In the interest of providing our consumers with the best possible college football experience, we are currently evaluating our approach to the NCAA Football franchise on the Wii," the publisher told GameSpot. "As such, we will not be releasing an NCAA Football title in 2009 for the Wii."

EA's decision appears to be at odds with statements made by CEO John Riccitiello, who said as part of the publisher's third-quarter earnings report in February that his company must "increase focus on the Nintendo Wii platform." In June 2008, EA said that the Wii edition of NCAA Football--along with Madden NFL, Tiger Woods, NBA Live, and FIFA--had been rebranded under its All-Play label, which focuses on accessible, family-friendly gaming.

I'm all for them holding off on throwing the apparent crap that was NCAA Football 2009 on Wii at the system again but to skip the entire season? Do they not realize that "regular" people like college football and might want to play some version of it on the console they are most likely to own? Since Peter Moore has come on to EA Sports, we've had the attempt at skipping the Xbox version of Madden 09 despite strong sales of 08, the All-Play catastrophe for Wii, and now the removal of college pigskin from the biggest U.S. console userbase.

"What about sales?" By my records (can't be posted here), Wii version's launch month was larger than any of the NCAA Football games released on GameCube, and that was after having skipped out on having an NCAA Football presence on the Nintendo console for the previous three years. Then there's also the purported statement from EA (as mentioned in the article) that they would be moving more strongly toward Wii development (insert Link's "I told you so" here).

Other than "Ha, ha. It's the Wii" responses, is there any logical reason why they'd skip the entire season on Wii?

 

[truly101]

Thats really dumb as thats one of the more ideal games to target adults whose kids own a Wii or and number of college kids who have a wii for party games.

I haven't decided if I will get 09 this year. On the other hand, we managed to quadruple the win total with a new coach, new uniforms and a new mascot. It might be time to upgrade. This year we might win 5 games!

 

[comedy bomb]

good

09 was one big shit

 

[AstroLad]

 

[markatisu]

Thank god the past versions on Wii were shit, its funny how they progessed with Madden but went backwards with NCAA.

If this means we get more dedicated titles like Grand Slam Tennis and a M+ version of Tiger Woods then I am all for that

 

[botticus]

Only reason I could think of is they have absolutely no idea how to construct a good NCAA Football game on Wii, and want to avoid alienating the userbase there (choosing to starve them instead).

 

[VictimOfGrief]

Peter Moore hates the Wii confirmed.

 

[Chumly]

This is old by a month or two I think.

My roomate bought 09 for the Wii even though I told him not to. The games a fucking abortion. No wonder why nobody wants to fucking play it. Is it not possible to port everything over thats good about madden on wii to ncaa?

 

[markatisu]

Where is Link? I am surprised we got at least 3 posts without him using this as another example of how the Wii is going to die a painful death while the industry laughs

 

[donny2112]

Where is Link? I am surprised we got at least 3 posts without him using this as another example of how the Wii is going to die a painful death while the industry laughs

He's already covered in the OP.

 

[Jocchan]

I think I've finally got why they used a mascot for last year's boxart.

last year eschewed the typical soon-to-be-pro cover athlete for Michigan State's mascot, Sparty.

Michigan State's mascot, Sparty.

Sparty.

party.

Mind blown!

 

[markatisu]

My roomate bought 09 for the Wii even though I told him not to. The games a fucking abortion. No wonder why nobody wants to fucking play it.

Exactly, EA should pay all Wii owners who bought or rented NCAA 09 because it was an awful game. Similar to how EA fucked up Madden 08 royally after getting off on the right foot in 07 and then redeeming themselves in 09.

Is it not possible to port everything over thats good about madden on wii to ncaa?

Those are my thoughts 100%, could they not just make the players faster and less talented and include the stadiums. Its not really that fucking hard outside the fact they either don't want to do it or are just that inept.

 

[USC-fan]

They did the same thing with the psp version a couple years ago.

 

[pakkit]

Where is Link?

He's a bit tired but be nice, he's had a rough day.

 

[donny2112]

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Industry/E8V5R9D3?page=2

Electronic Arts Inc. is releasing some titles solely for Wii as part of a push to stem two years of losses, and showcased games for the Nintendo player at a company event last week.

"You can't ignore the guy who has half the market," said Peter Moore, head of sports games at Electronic Arts.

:lol

 

[Eteric Rice]

Sounds like they're rethinking how they handle football games on the Wii.

Wonder what a rts kind of football game be like?

 

[Gbeav]

Madden should still be there.

 

[Scrubking]

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Industry/E8V5R9D3?page=2



:lol

Are you laughing at the fact that someone says you can't ignore the Wii or that Peter Moore consistently trashes the Wii one day then says something like this the next?

 

[markatisu]

Are you laughing at the fact that someone says you can't ignore the Wii or that Peter Moore consistently trashes the Wii one day then says something like this the next?

I did not think he trashed the Wii much since he became head of EA, I know he has said some comments that relegated to the Wii being home to a casual audience but nothing omg bad....not like when he was with MS

 

[Alcibiades]

Sounds like they're rethinking how they handle football games on the Wii.

Thing is, there really isn't a lot to think about. PS2-style versions can be released with GCN-controller, Classic Controller, and Nunchuck + Wiimote support and will probably get good enough reception that way.

Then, on top of that if they want to add easy modes for kids they can.

Sounds to me like they are overthinking things when they had a fine enough product on GCN and could have just followed through with that legacy on Wii without necessarily ruling out these casual modes they love so much.

 

[Scrubking]

I did not think he trashed the Wii much since he became head of EA, I know he has said some comments that relegated to the Wii being home to a casual audience but nothing omg bad....not like when he was with MS

What?

We are starting to see, anecdotally, two copies of ‘Madden’ — one for the 360 or PS3 — and another copy for the younger kids or even for the wife or girlfriend on the Wii.

 

[Drkirby]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- Oh wait, I don't care. Carry on.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Peter Moore is going to run EASports into the ground.

 

[EDarkness]

I would easily buy a copy of Wii NCAA Football if it wasn't a dumbed down experience. Throw the same gameplay and options from the other games with online play and being able to move players into Madden, then I'd be in. But this "family" crap just turns me off.

 

[titiklabingapat]

This is still stupid either way.

Like he said, you can't ignore the one with half the market.

Shitty is better than nothing when it comes to yearly franchises. Completely ignoring that part of the market will burn your brand equity faster than if you simply created a shitty version. There will at least be some sort of brand awareness with your shitty version.

 

[jamesinclair]

Theyre making the PS2 version.

Whats so hard about porting it and adding some waggle?

Emphasize that its designed around the classic controller or GC controller. Sell it for 29.99.

 

[Balb]

Not that the previous game was any good to begin with, but skipping years isn't a good way of building a brand.

 

[Alcibiades]

Theyre making the PS2 version.

Whats so hard about porting it and adding some waggle?

Emphasize that its designed around the classic controller or GC controller. Sell it for 29.99.

makes too much sense...

for some reason or another 3rd parties are in a stupor when it comes to anything Wii... they don't seem to realize the audience on Wii is so broad (non-gamers, casuals, mainstreams, n-fans, "core", "hardcore", otaku, etc...) that sometimes you just gotta make a solid game in it's own right and let the chips fall where they may...

all this "research" into the casual they are doing hasn't really gotten them anywhere in 2 1/2 years... with the exception of Boom Blox (which probably owes success more to hardcore gamers than casuals anyway) there hasn't been much to be proud of on Wii on EA's part...

 

[legend166]

It's interesting what lack of foresight these people have. Now of course it's impossible to look into the future with certainty and say that Wii 2 or whatever is going to come out and sell gangbusters next generation and win. But the fact is they're in the box seat. You'd think building a brand amongst the fans of the Wii would be important when heading into the next generation. But no, everything is about now. Haven't sales of EA Sports games bee ndeclining or showing flat growth since Moore took over?

 

[USC-fan]

they are skipping it bc it sold horrible.... nothing more....

It will be back next year if madden sells better this year on the wii. Like i said samething they did for the psp. Then they can use last year madden engine....

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

This is still stupid either way.

Like he said, you can't ignore the one with half the market.

Shitty is better than nothing when it comes to yearly franchises. Completely ignoring that part of the market will burn your brand equity faster than if you simply created a shitty version. There will at least be some sort of brand awareness with your shitty version.

I disagree in this case. Here, the Wii version was visibly shitty and were it not for the fact that NCAA Football 2009 was written on the box, it would be unrecognisable as a game in the same franchise (Sparty on the box... WTF?).

This is what I don't understand: they're sacrificing an existing brand in a reliable market with established rules for success (sports fans) for an unreliable market they don't understand the rules for (party game fans). It's brand suicide. Why not just release a PS2 version port with WiFi and call it a day and release Sparty Party Wii alongside it?

The whole bait and switch will alienate your existing market and confuse the new market you're going after.

NOT releasing a follow-up to the disaster that was NCAA '09 makes sense in that it stems the flow of damage to the brand (though I do agree with the comment that if they did release one, it should have just been a quick and dirty PS2 port).

 

[AceBandage]

they are skipping it bc it sold horrible.... nothing more....

And it sold horribly because it was pure crap.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

And it sold horribly because it was pure crap.

Pure crap compared to every other version. Consumers don't like to get a dumbed-down version, especially sports fan.

It doesn't matter if a sports game is bad, since what fans want most is a roster update and new voice-overs etc. With NCAA 09 Wii, however, a sports fan would pick up the box, see that Sparty was on the cover instead of the new star quarterback, see that it was a football-themed party game and NOT the sports game they were after and put it back on the shelf.

 

[Phthisis]

Pure crap compared to every other version. Consumers don't like to get a dumbed-down version, especially sports fan.

...which is why sports gamers pick up sports games on the 360 and PS3 in the millions every year.

 

[JJConrad]

Hopefully, this is an admittance of defeat from EA and they're re-evaluating their plans. They scrapped the already started new All-Play game and plan to begin again fresh next year.

Sadly, I have a feeling that they still are going to release another NCAA All-Play, but are just waiting until closer to bowl-season when casual fans start paying attention. This way the game isn't directly compared to the real versions.

 

[vanguardian1]

Hopefully, this is an admittance of defeat from EA and they're re-evaluating their plans. They scrapped already started new All-Play and want to begin again fresh next year.

Sadly, I have a feeling that they still going to release another NCAA All-Play, but wait until closer to bowl-season when casual fans start paying attention. This way the game isn't directly compared to the real versions.

Too true.

...which is why sports gamers pick up sports games on the 360 and PS3 in the millions every year.

Comparing to the Wii version, the PS360 versions are AAA games.

Edit : I almost bought Madden '07 Wii (would have been my first madden, I had only enjoyed the NES Tecmo Bowl games prior), I had quite a bit of fun with it when I rented, then I heard that '08 was going to improve a few things I thought '07 lacked, so I decided to wait. And then you know how '08 turned out, and I couldn't find '07 anywhere (for a decent price).

 

[legend166]

...which is why sports gamers pick up sports games on the 360 and PS3 in the millions every year.

And why the most popular sports game of this generation, wait, all-time, is on the Wii.



wait what

 

[Link]

I tol....

(insert Link's "I told you so" here)

Damn, I've become predictable!

 

[Phthisis]

And why the most popular sports game of this generation, wait, all-time, is on the Wii.



wait what

I hope you would agree that the person who buys Madden every year and the person who bought a Wii to play Wii Sports are on the whole completely different consumer audiences.

 

[Pachael]

Still, it's money left on the table!

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

At this point, they should just completely scrap the All Play brand. It's simply toxic and is eroding whatever brand equity their licensed sports games may have.

 

[legend166]

I hope you would agree that the person who buys Madden every year and the person who bought a Wii to play Wii Sports are on the whole completely different consumer audiences.

No doubt. But you didn't specify that You said sports fan.

 

[JJConrad]

At this point, they should just completely scrap the All Play brand. It's simply toxic and is eroding whatever brand equity their licensed sports games may have.

I would hope so. There is no way they can be pleased with it (unless they're blaming its failure on the Wii userbase). Have they commented either way on its continuation?

 

[donny2112]

Are you laughing at the fact that someone says you can't ignore the Wii or that Peter Moore consistently trashes the Wii one day then says something like this the next?

He says they can't ignore the Wii while he leads the EA division ignoring the Wii for NCAA Football games this year. Irony.

they are skipping it bc it sold horrible.... nothing more....

Somewhat addressed in the original post.

 

[USC-fan]

Somewhat addressed in the original post.

Yeah the sales were horrible. Plus added to the fact that they have to make a different version for the wii unlike the gamecube with different controls than any other version. so the gamecube, ps2 and xbox all used about the same version with the same controls. So it cost little to make a gamecube version.

 

[pvpness]

Thanks for saving me some money EA! :lol

 

[Mamesj]

EA just shot themselves in the foot something something

 

[Vinci]

I love these guys. It's like every week they give me something to ponder over.

 

[Kilrogg]

I can understand the bitterness of everyone here, especially regarding the All-Play brand, but aren't some of you a bit too harsh when talking doom and gloom about EA Sports on the Wii?

This is only the near future, but EA basically added a fitness game and a tennis game to the EA Sports line, and is making both Tiger Woods and GSM MotionPlus-enabled from the get-go... And created a new peripheral for Active. While 3 games isn't an outstanding, all of those games look quite polished, which is nothing short of impressive considering 1) this is EA Sports we're talking about, on the Wii to boot, 2) MotionPlus isn't even out yet. In terms of quality and potential impact, what EA's about to do for the Wii seems quite significant to me.

[EDIT] Also, the fact that 2 of these games are exclusives for now. Pretty much goes against EA Sports's usual strategy, even in the likely case that at least one of those exclusives will go multiplatform at one point.

 

[Vinci]

I can understand the bitterness of everyone here, especially regarding the All-Play brand, but aren't some of you a bit too harsh when talking doom and gloom about EA Sports on the Wii?

This is only the near future, but EA basically added a fitness game and a tennis game to the EA Sports line, and is making both Tiger Woods and GSM MotionPlus-enabled from the get-go... And created a new peripheral for Active. While 3 games isn't an outstanding, all of those games look quite polished, which is nothing short of impressive considering 1) this is EA Sports we're talking about, on the Wii to boot, 2) MotionPlus isn't even out yet. In terms of quality and potential impact, what EA's about to do for the Wii seems quite significant to me.

Those are excellent steps. This just seems like a case of two steps forward, one step back, and it's hard to understand their line of thinking when it's important to create mindshare with the market leader's audience for everything you can.