TOO MANY GAMES, NOT ENOUGH TIME

I have been wanting to write this blog post since the holidays a few months ago but I wasn’t sure if I was the only person who held this sort of view. I didn’t see or hear anyone else voicing the same complaint: I have too many games to play and not enough time to play them. Having so many “triple A” and “must have” games is actually killing the amount of time I play online. And of all entities (haha, I just said.. nevermind) the one that validated what I was thinking… was EA.

The games that were released this holiday season were awesome, eh? I couldn’t wait to stop playing Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3! Finally, more games being released, so now I can have more options to play with my friends.. right? Do you remember the lineup the last few months of 2008? We had Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Mirror’s Edge, Call of Duty: World at War, Dead Space, Need for Speed: Undercover, Midnight Club: Los Angeles Fable 2 and FIFA 09. What I called at the time, “Gamers Nirvana.” That’s just the 360 games I listed. That doesn’t include PS3 games like LitteBigPlanet and Killzone 2 or any of the downloadable games on either of the three consoles’ network. I’m not even going to get into the Nintendo games, but look, all I know is.. there are too many games coming out at or around the same time.

I can’t remember the last time I could get a group of my friends to play the same game, at the same time. We’re all playing different games now. Me personally, I would love for my friends to join me in a match of Left 4 Dead, because as most fans of that game know, it’s not much fun playing by yourself. But how can I play with the friends I am so used to playing with online when their attention is focused on a whole other batch of games like COD: World at War, Afro Samurai, Fallout 3, Fable 2 etc. There are just too many options now, when will I and others who share my opinion, be satisfied? Probably never.

There’s word from EA now that they are starting to re-think how they release games to the public, especially during the holidays. I’m not a fan of EA, like.. at all, but when you’re right, you’re right. And I think other developers/publishers should follow EA’s lead. Don’t get me wrong, I have been trained by EA artists at school and they have employed some amazingly talented artists, I met some truly awesome guys from EA, but as a company in general.. not a fan. I’m not trying to attack anyone or any company. The situation with EA and the game industry is what it is.

So why is it so important for games to come out right before the holiday season? Who is the genius that said gamers will only want to buy games if they come out at the end of the year? Obviously that is not the case. All we need to look at is GTA IV. When did that game come out? April 2008. And correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t that break all kinds of sales records? I’m pretty sure it did. So I think when EA and others look at this point, it makes all the sense in the world to release big AAA games to the public, not just in the Fall when it gets closer to the holidays, but throughout the entire year. Don’t release garbage games in the middle of the year to keep us busy until the “must have” titles come out. I don’t think it’s fair to gamers nor is it a smart business decision to release everything you’ve got, all around the same time. Yes, of course release dates also depend on where the development process is but y’know what? Publishers need to stop forcing developers to finish their game on time just so their numbers will look good for the fiscal year. Games should be finished, when they are finished! Don’t give us half assed games so you can make a dollar off us and increase your earnings while you prepare for the bigger money making titles. Not enough people are foolish enough to buy those games. (Although we will rent them if we get bored enough. I’m guilty of that.) Companies should be giving us decent, glitch-free quality titles and you bet your ass gamers will buy them, no matter what time of year. After seeing games like Prototype being delayed, given more time until the game is truly finished, it gives me hope that more people realize the need to release titles, not by the timeline given, but when the game is the best it can be. I don’t think companies can afford to keep releasing games that don’t match the quality standards of this “next generation” of games that gamers expect now. Especially with the economy the way it is today, companies can’t afford to release an unfinished game. It’s a waste of money.

In the past, I have heard many people claim that EA games are shit. “Straight up shitty ass games, nothing original, just rehashed Madden and Need for Speed over and over again each year. Nothing different or special in any way shape or form.” Oh wait, I forgot.. I said that. I know of some people though, I think I may have read it somewhere, who have complained that EA has finally released some original IP’s (Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge) but the sales numbers didn’t add up to the hype. They expected more sales. Well, why is that? I don’t claim to know the entire answer as I am sure there is more to the story than what I perceive in my mind as fact. But don’t you think it’s a really bad idea to release these new IP’s; to introduce a brand new game to the public at the same time as other “proven” titles? Why would you go against the heavy hitters like that? Why not wait until like, now or sometime in the summer when others games are still being developed?

From this article I am sharing with you from gamesindustry.biz, it seems that a light bulb has gone off above EA’s head, and they’re adjusting their strategy accordingly. It would be a great day in the game industry for EA to get back on track as a respected company and I wish them luck, as long as they don’t try to buy other companies again like that whole fiasco with Take Two. As for my view on having too many games and not enough time to play them? There ain’t a damn thing I can do about it now. I’ll get over it. It is what it is but I caution other publishers, who stick with the same strategy of releasing games at the end of the year to rake in the largest profit, to re-think and learn from the mistakes EA have made. Yes Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge are excellent original IP’s by EA and I applaud them for moving in the right direction, but what is that worth when there aren’t nearly enough people purchasing these games because they are busy with other, more familiar titles?

EA: We’ve learned our lesson on release dates…
Dead Space & Mirror’s Edge sales numbers as of Feb…