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EA says no more crappy licensed games

chautemoc | August 04, 2008 | News | PC Playstation 3 
Not to overhype this or anything, but in what must be one of the greatest interviews of at least the past few years in the gaming industry, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello said the company is no longer "in the business of exploiting other people's licenses with bad quality games."

Wow. If EA turns around, the future could be a lot brighter for the industry, no?

More of the exchange can be found at the source.
John Riccitiello: I think what redeems our industry is quality, and I think we take a step back every time we take a license and exploit it with a crappy game. That’s not what we’re about.

Multiplayer: If you look at recent sales of the “Iron Man” game — it was a Sega game — it sold very well, was in the top 10 in NPD monthly sales in America despite very poor review scores. It showed that if you get a license, you don’t even need to worry too much about making a good game because people are going to buy it. You guys have, as you point out, both the talent to make top-quality games and the money to get top licenses. Do you feel like the EA has the ability or even the responsibility to redeem licensed games from the state a lot of them are in now?

Riccitiello: I don’t actually believe EA is in the business of exploiting other people’s licenses with bad quality games. We’ve been there. Most of our competitors are there or have been there. That’s not what we do. We’re not really after that market. Now Metacritic isn’t always the best quality measure for some licensed games, but I know a good game when I see it. My team and our developers know a good game when we see it. The products we’re putting out this year from Hasbro — I don’t know how they’re going to do with Metacritic, but they’re innovative, they’re different. We’ve got the first E-rated shooter with our Nerf game. What we’re doing with our “Family Game Night,” what we’re doing with “Littlest Pet Shop” — really cool stuff — what we’re doing with “Sims” — really cool stuff. It feels like it’s demographically similar but it’s very highly innovative. I think what redeems our industry is quality, and I think we take a step back every time we take a license and exploit it with a crappy game. That’s not what we’re about.
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  • 0 thumbs!
    HawkMan | August 04, 2008
    yeah, alot of dumbasses bought Iron-Man then complain how the game sucked and regret spending 60 bucks on it,depsite the game was poorly reviewed. licensed games should stop being produced completely.
  • 0 thumbs!
    iLLmatic | August 04, 2008
    I played the Iron Man demo and almost threw up my lunch. What a terrible game. The controls are some of the worst I can remember in recent years. The thing I will never understand is why these licensed games turn out so bad. They are made the same way that all other games are made, and what the hell, Sega is a vet in the industry. Shame that it visually looked good in previews. Anyway, I'm not gonna hold my breath for EA.
    • 0 thumbs!
      chautemoc | August 04, 2008
      Well, because they rely on the selling power of the license to drive profits, skimming on production costs. It's just a business decision..if it would make them more money in the end to have all these games turn out great in their own right, you can be sure they'd do it. I suppose EA thinks the time is right for this kind of shift, as many gamers do.
    • 0 thumbs!
      Slumpy monkey | August 05, 2008
      No there not, REAL games take years to create, licensed games just get a few months with an amateur team.
  • 0 thumbs!
    tidus04 | August 04, 2008
    Its about bloody time!
  • 0 thumbs!
    VeGiTAX2 | August 04, 2008
    Licensing has various benefits and shortcomings, the problem with most licensing is that it ends up based on a movie or recent book or whatever happens to be the flavor of the month (usually movie adaptation games though).

    It seems like people wouldn't mind playing a Bond title if it was just using the license and the properties and character history in a new way. They wouldn't mind a Batman game if it wasn't "BATMAN THE DARK NIGHT MOVIE GAME ADAPTATION" I mean people are hyped for Lego Batman and it's a game that celebrates a huge array of art and character development since the 1940's instead of just picking a single area and running it into the ground.

    There's a chance to do things with licenses but since creative freedom is often strangled in the deal or by the publisher things often end up leaving a bad taste in the mouths of gamers.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Duality_18 | August 05, 2008
    I think an appropiate title to this article should be "EA thinks it doesnt license crappy games" It seemed to me that the guy being interviewed said that EA doesnt really partake in crappy licensing. Which is opposite of the current (but true) stereotype with EA.
  • 0 thumbs!
    MusiKon | August 05, 2008
    Can I quote them on this? Because everytime I see crappy games from EA, I will rub this in their face.
    • 0 thumbs!
      tallteen86 | August 05, 2008
      Please do. Why don't you list a collection of games they've released in the last few years, and put the quote at the top in big bold letters. Perhaps put a review score (average review score) next to each title. I doubt the average would be better than maybe 6 (at most) out of 10....And that is if you included EVERY game they produced from a game license (including, if there are any, the few good ones)....Also bold every game with an average score of 5 or less. Probably make up more than 50% of the list.

      If you include just the many mediocre (or even worse, downright crap) games.....Well, if they read the e-mail at all, they'd be like "Shit man, we suck....".....Yeah right, as if they'd actually own up to that >_>
  • 0 thumbs!
    The New Era | August 05, 2008
    Thank god, just about every time a certain movie comes out, a game is announced within 1 week
  • 0 thumbs!
    Solid Snake 4Life | August 05, 2008
    They should just do what they did with games like The Godfather. Godfather was a really fun and enjoyable and the reason was because they had time as no movie forced them to rush. That's also why I'm looking forward to the Wanted game it didn't come out with the movie so the developers have time to make sure it's not crap.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Magimaster | August 05, 2008
    I actually have some faith in EA this time around. After taking a beating in profits this year, there might be a certain weight behind their words.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Zeta | August 10, 2008
    Yeah EA does not have the greatest games. Hopefully they will be better.

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