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Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Media convergence coming to a gaming console near you Stuck
08:46 PM - February 10, 2010. Written by MMChrisS
Welcome to 2010.

This is the year where media convergence will come full force and will finally rear it's head in an (as of yet) untouched and pristine frontier: video games. While it should hardly be a surprise -- in fact it may be more surprising we haven't talked about this sooner -- but 2010 will be the year convergence fully comes into full focus in our industry.

Media convergence, for those not in the know, is basically the moving together of media control into fewer companies companies across multiple platforms of media. It is a movement of media company diversification away from the old news, weather, and sports into movies, music, and other forms of media. 2010 will almost certainly see video games move into the new big media family.

Let's take a look at the two biggest publishing names in sports gaming: Take Two and Electronic Arts and their prospects for moving into the hands of big media.

Take Two is a relatively cheap company stock wise (hovering around $10), it's balance sheet is still pretty healthy, and it is rated as a 'buy' by most stock analysts. Carl Icahn, known to buy into companies in order to sell them, is now the single biggest individual stock holder in the company and just placed three of his choices onto the board of directors. The signs all point towards either Viacom or Time Warner (which Icahn owns significant stock in) buying the publisher in the not so distant future.

Electronic Arts is a company which simply promised too much and delivered too little and now the company is a relative bargain price wise with repeated disappointments in revenue and earnings. There have been persistent rumors of Disney being interested in EA, and while neither side has confirmed any talks they certainly haven't denied them either. The bad news continues to pile up for EA, including what is sure to be a lackluster release of Dante's Inferno with lukewarm reviews at best. Many analysts are predicting EA will be bought out in the near future simply because it's a bargain compared to where it was just a couple of years ago and the company can't seem to do anything right at this point.

So what would the move towards convergence have on sports gamers?

Media companies would not sink a lot of money into game companies to not use their existing properties extensively. So if say, EA was bought out by Disney, expect ESPN to be all over EA Sports games (and EA Sports games to be all over ESPN). As far as how the buyouts would practically effect game quality and game lineups, that's a good question. I would expect the current mantras to persist, of fewer but bigger titles. Also, some belt tightening and some shifts in focus could occur, such as a possible move away from exclusive licensing in order to maximize profitability.

So what do you think? Would our favorite sports gaming companies ending up in big media's hands be a good or bad thing for us? Sound off now!
Blog: MMChrisS
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
I may be wrong, but if you are planning on killing off a game, you probably shouldn't be looking to round out it's music soundtrack. The posting was posted on January 6 and expired on January 20. All of this was after the speculation that NHL 2K11 was dead surfaced in December. Hopefully we see the game in September, because the 2K lineup of games was getting rather thin to say the least.

Quote:
2K Sports is looking for a band who can provide a song to help round out the NHL 2K11 soundtrack. NHL 2K11 is the latest in a series of critically acclaimed hockey games, due out in September 2010.

2K Games is not accepting more than 300 artist submissions. Submissions may close before the posted deadline.

Besides the amazing exposure opportunity, selected bands will be paid a $3,000 fee.

Previous acts in 2K Sports hockey games include Phoenix, MGMT, The Ramones, Bad Religion, Korn and Quiet Riot.

If chosen, band will be required to sign 2K’s standard licensing form before they receive the $3,000.
I received this link via PM but also noticed Owen Good over at Kotaku snagged it first, so head there if you want to read his take on the listing.
Blog: MMChrisS
You may have heard about the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit against the NCAA. Or, like me, you might not have really heard much about it until several sports writers tweeted about it yesterday.

But it's a big one for sports gamers -- much less anyone remotely involved in college athletics.

You probably have heard about the Sam Keller vs. NCAA lawsuit on how the NCAA handles licensing athlete's likenesses in video games. Well O'Bannon vs. NCAA is along the same thread, and it has to do with the NCAA licensing former player likenesses to organizations for use.

And now the lawsuit of O'Bannon vs. NCAA is moving forward.

What it means is that the NCAA's amateurism ideas are going to be put to an extreme test at least once and probably twice over the coming months. The NCAA's claims to protect amateurism and to protect student athletes from exploitation will almost certainly be unfounded when their account books face some scrutiny.

The implications for NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball (if it's still going to be a game), and NCAA Baseball (if we ever see one again) could be huge.

If O'Bannon wins his lawsuit, Keller would have a great chance, after a lot of legal wrangling, to win his as well since the fundamental claims are pretty similar with the exception one deals with former athletes and the other deals with current. And the NCAA's claim of protecting amateurism would pretty much be put to sleep as well, so college athletics themselves would be forever changed.. The next question for everyone would be, what happens in a post lawsuit world if the judges side with the athletes?

In the O'Bannon case, classic teams with accurate rosters would be a huge no-no in sports gaming. In the Keller case, athletes that even remotely resemble their real life counterparts would be considered taboo in college games, and part of Keller's claim is against customization as well. So custom rosters just might go the way of the dodo. However, that's assuming the NCAA survives the legal onslaught and somehow still is able to maintain it's claim of 'protecting' amateur athletes. There is a small chance the NCAA might be required to compensate athletes in licensing deals (or they might not be around to police licensing deals anymore) which might open the door up to real names and likenesses being used instead of the old number system.

For a lack of a better term, the future is clearly fuzzy for the NCAA. When you step into the world of the legalese, you can never be too cautious when predicting outcomes, and these cases are no exception. Since these things typically take forever to decide, we'll stay on top of these stories at OS. However, don't expect any firm resolution for quite some time.
Blog: MMChrisS
Monday, February 8, 2010
I just checked out of the conference call, and while they were still taking questions, I unfortunately have to move on to other things. Here are a few notes from the investors conference call. Some interesting tidbits were mentioned in regards to sports:
  • EA's focus of fewer and bigger titles was heavily drummed during the call.
  • EA officially confirmed what was suspected and all but confirmed for quite awhile: EA Sports Active is coming to the PS3 and 360.
  • FIFA sold over 7 million copies in the quarter and Madden sold 2.3. FIFA is easily EA's biggest cash cow at this point.
  • Digital content is growing rapidly, EA is expecting 30% revenues growth in the year.
  • It was mentioned the R&D budget is less for sports franchises than other franchises due to their annual nature.
  • EA is expecting DLC to grow 100% in the next fiscal year.
  • While EA's packaged goods business is profitable, digital content is even more so profitable. It was hinted that EA was going to be more aggressive in the digital gaming market, which is no surprise.
  • Jon Riccitiello mentioned he wanted more innovation in the sports titles, especially NBA Live where they continue to trail the competition.
  • EA Sports titles earnings were up significantly from FY 09 to FY 10
  • There was absolutely no mention of an NCAA Basketball title for next year either in the investor report or in the conference call up to the point I checked out. This is not a good sign for what is easily EA's least profitable yearly sports title. To say the game is cancelled at this point might be a bit much, since EA does own exclusive college basketball rights which would likely require a yearly release of the franchise. However, the signs are there and at the very least, NCAA Basketball 11 (if there is one) will be nothing more than a small roster update and a minor upgrade gameplay wise given the lack of a mention by EA today.

Meanwhile, investors completely disowned EA, as EA's stock dropped by as much as 10% in after hours trading before settling around 8.5% down. EA's forecast for the rest of this year was, as they said, 'admittedly conservative'. Don't look for any major changes or major new titles anytime soon folks, as EA's survival of the fittest mantra for it's gaming titles continues to take hold through the next couple of years.
Blog: MMChrisS

In their Q3 FY 2010 earnings press release, EA lists their upcoming planned major sports titles and in Q4 FY 2011, EA lists a "Fighting Game TBA" as their only major title. Also, for PC gamers, EA only lists FIFA games (Online and FIFA 11) as their only games on the platform once more, once again a firm signal that the PC Sports Gaming platform is all but dead outside of text-sims.

Also of note is that FIFA 10 sold 9.7 million copies, which makes it easily EA's top selling sports game from last year's lineup of games. And one final note, NCAA Football 11 is listed as a handheld title, which probably means it might be coming to mobile platforms such as the iPhone. You can check the full report here.

Is this another Fight Night? Or is it something else? Let the speculation commence, as it always does!
Blog: MMChrisS
EA Earnings: Investors highly disappointed Stuck
03:10 PM - February 8, 2010. Written by MMChrisS
Just a quick note before the EA investors conference call set to begin shortly. EA's Earnings barely beat their much lower outlook issued earlier last month. Investors aren't pleased as the stock plummeted in after hours trading. I'm going to get some details in the conference call and post more in the next couple of hours, but this is just more bad news for the company. I'm going to be very interested in what (if anything) is said about buyout rumors from both Disney and Microsoft as well as what is said about the EA Sports lineup of games. Stay tuned....
Blog: MMChrisS
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Curse of Being Madden Stuck
12:56 PM - February 4, 2010. Written by MMChrisS
A lot of people have talked about the 'Madden Cover Curse', where the Madden coverman typically ends up with an absolutely atrocious season due to any number of factors. I think there is a bigger and even more important curse surrounding Madden, it's the curse of Madden being Madden.

It's the curse of being held in a much higher regard by people, many of which will never be pleased with the game. The curse of Madden being Madden stems from the moment EA bought the exclusive NFL license and left about 20% of NFL video gamers sad, hurt, and bitter. The flames were fanned when EA released what might be the worst combination of hype and quality in an NFL Football game ever in Madden NFL 06 on the 360.

But now that the game is actually a quality title?

There is still a strong contingent of hold outs who will not be happy with nothing less than perfection, and while asking more as a consumer of a business is fine...sometimes the needs of a consumer become unrealistic. Compared to other top sports games, Madden NFL 10 not only held it's own, it also beat out several of the other top games on the market for many consumers and critics alike.

The thing is, it's not just Madden which has just struggled with meeting expectations this generation. Slowly, game by game, many of our favorite titles are starting to meet some of the expectations set forth by gamers when we saw awesome trailers for games in other genres. I'd like to propose that perhaps the small contingent of gamers who feel the need to bash Madden without pause should look at other games and see them suffering from similar problems.

Sure the true Madden curse won't end, it's an excellent scapegoat for those who might want to proclaim all that's wrong with sports gaming. But while many continue being bitter, several gamers are finding a good game underneath all of the hoopla.

The upwards trend in quality will continue in 2010, but don't expect the curse to ease.
Blog: MMChrisS
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
First off, a stern apology to Mike Wang for my blog title of choice. But it's just such an easy target in this case. Secondly, let's all take a collective deep breath before assuming all sorts of things about this story.

While many will undoubtedly want to blow this story out of proportion and even make it out to be something along the lines of a death blow to the NBA Live series, let's just think this whole thing through. While reading between the lines in Wang's interview here on OS, I definitely had the feeling he just didn't like how he fit in at EA. As many of you know, sometimes you just don't mesh with a certain workplace because of the environment which is in place.

Secondly, I don't think this spells doom for NBA Live 11. I think the fact Live is struggling sales wise this year spells more doom than anyone coming or going ever could. I highly doubt EA will ever cut it's NBA franchise, but they certainly cannot be happy about getting their tails kicked by 2K in the sales department. We don't know the full story, but perhaps EA is looking to try to take NBA Live in a bit of a different direction to try to appeal to more NBA fans?

When you start to realize you are getting beat rather soundly by halftime, you don't just keep the same strategy going. You tend to make adjustments and perhaps that's what is ultimately going on here. I'm not saying EA is looking to take NBA LIve into the direction of NBA Jam, but I could see EA not wanting to copy 2K's success verbatim going forward. The truth of the matter is we won't know what went on behind the scenes (and in many ways, it's a good thing), but we will know if both titles are heading in opposite directions by this upcoming fall.

Until then, it's all just speculation. Let it commence.
Blog: MMChrisS