Recap of conference call with EA Sports President Peter Moore
October 10, 2007 by pastapadre
Earlier today I was able to take part in an hour long conference call with Peter Moore of EA Sports. This was a unique opportunity to have direct communication and responses to questions with the president of the company on a wide variety of topics.
The overall theme of the call could be summed up with the importance that EA places on the community. Just having this take place is a sign of that, but it was reiterated throughout. Moore discussed how he takes it very seriously and likes being involved with the community. It is important to them to help guide where the brand goes as they listen to the feedback and work towards satisfying the consumers.
The number one challenge for EA is evolving the sports gaming experience. With a new version released every year they have to find ways to make each game a fresh and enjoyable experience.
They look at determining the success of games through a few different areas. Prior to release it is done by evaluating pre-order levels. Following release there are the reviews, the response and feedback from the community, and comparison to any competitor’s products.
Online play is an extremely important area to him and a focus for the future. There will probably be games digitally distributed down the line. Building social communities around the games through online is a goal of theirs. One way to do so is through online team play (co-op) which will become a standard feature of the games.
Despite the rough start for EA Sports World this is an element that will continue to improve, grow, and evolve. He looks at it as a 3-5 year investment so it is just barely off the ground and will only get better. User created content is another aspect that is going to contribute to the community. Having the one central site for a social community to grow is the goal here. It will just take time to get it to where they want it to be.
Moore doesn’t want the perception to be that EA just “launches and leaves”. There should be post-release support and communication. That includes working on fixing major game issues through patching, with the hope that they can improve on how long it takes those patches to materialize. No games will ever be perfect as there will always be some glitches and programming flaws. However he recognizes there is a lot of room for improvement in both limiting them and fixing them following release.
They are always evaluating creating new titles using the licenses they have (for example NFL Head Coach, NFL Tour, Street) and there will surely be more new IPs in the future, including unlicensed ones. There is nothing to announce in the area of baseball (which EA does not have the license) but they are always discussing potential options.
Moore mentioned that this conference call was something he hopes to make a regular occurrence. Having the chance to communicate directly with the president of EA Sports is a huge step for the community and goes to show the extent at which it is perceived within EA.
Heard everything I expected to hear from EA. Now if they could only figure out how to make quality titles. Its easy to always talk about the future when the present is so mediocre. Don’t get it twisted. Peter moore is simple a politician for hire. Glad EA has its ear to the ground, but it doesn’t really matter if they never listen. Stop the bull and JUST MAKE GOOD GAMES EA.
how do you create such a community with any real success when you show your customers what you are locking in the games. I’d lick an honest answer as to why EA feels it smart to lock it’s features. Shouldn’t we being paying less for a game that we see x amount of feature with pad locks by them. Thats the questions I think we ALL deserve an answer to, Padre.
GOOD LUCK ON THAT ONE
all in all i think madden 08 is one of the best versions.i bought a 360 mostly for madden online.i used to play online on the pc version all the time but i got tired of the syncronization booting which to those of you who arent familiar with the pc version that means an opponent could boot u off and it goes against your dnf.other than that the pc version cant be beat and heres why…if you keep using hurry up you have a great chance of getting a false start penalty unless its a crucial situation.u cant touch anything until your players are set at the line which gives you enough time to adjust your defense.also…for every formation u have 7 automatic audibles as well as the 5 you preset in your profile.my favorite feature is fairplay which the 360 doesnt offer.the pc version also lets u adjust your camera to 5 different views with the best beeing the overhead view so u can see the play develope as well as beeing able to see the flats when the ball is snapped.the pc version does a great job at eliminating cheesers…if a person keeps running the same play the ai adjusts after the 2nd or 3rd time and youll usualy get a pick,fumble or an incomplete.also..you get much more time on defense to pick a play.i hope this rant comes across the right eyes and they give the same options in next years game.i apologize for this long rant but for those of you who never played the pc version u should check it out.
Intersting article.
The reality is this is damage control. He holds a presser and tells the masses that he understands and wants to improve.
Prove it by telling about upcoming fixes to current games.
NCAA 08 fix the depth charts and the interceptions. Tell us when alt uniforms are coming.
TW 08 fix the 4 player online the daily tourneys and the joystick hook and slice issues.
Gamerface- make it work cr dont include it as a new feature.
user created features sounds like their fix for jerseys in the future.
We know that they update the games TW has more ads since the release which equals more revenue for EA.
HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I SAW IN THE ARTICLE.
They say that they determine success before release by preorders.This is where gamers can be heard. Make the statement to EA and DO NOT PREORDER GAMES FROM EA if you are unhappy with their previous years product.
I still haven’t heard anything about march madness 08 did he give you a release date for the game. Thank you and have a great day.
juice1982 - ‘End of the calendar year’ were his exact words, I believe.
Nice recap, pasta.
like above this is what i expect to hear from EA. But over these years being a customer. EA is the prime example of a company that simply does not live up to their potential and probably never will. They knew what they released this year and they did it still because they knew that no one could do anything about. It’s now has become evident that they only take up licenses just to take competition away to make crappy games. Like I say, talk is cheap and to tell you the truth, it’s been cheap for quite some time.
Now that I have madden 08, And I waited to see how they act on this? They will not get one more single dime from me ever again. There past history of hyped up bad games (superman returns). And the only reason why I brought this trash was because it’s the last one. I wouldnt even dare be stupid enough to go back next year and buy this game again.
And also it’s the same game every single year with the same glitches. Madden 09 will be the same. It only takes one time for me to be burnt and say ouch. They won’t get a second time.
The smart thing is to simply not buy their games. But if you do and it’s glitched up the only person you have to blame is the person you see in the mirror every day…
This company is trash. And until they learn that they are where they are because of the customer? Their discrace of products will always be the same. See ya for nfl 2k11.
Although I don’t trust the looks of that dude (lol), he has only been in the job for 5 weeks.
That’s insufficient time for him to notice and correct or halt the release of a game because of the noticeable errors.
First two weeks: Getting to know the personnel and co-workers (not necessarily top to bottom), considering that EA is a big company, that will take time.
Second two weeks: Getting to know the job. He is the president of the bug-ridden EA Sports.
Final week: Preparing things to do. The conference call might be one of those.
For the record, I hate EA for what they have done with their games, especially with NBA Live and the neglect of the PC version, which is ported from the consoles, unlike Madden.
So, um…I guess there’s not going to be a turnover patch for Madden 08. Does that mean EA launched and left? Or maybe they just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
As I’ve posted on before, there is a patch in the works. They don’t give time tables on those things however.
lol at pastapadre.
Don’t you get tired of comments by people who never bother to read what you posted?
LOL? There was talk of a patch before. Then one came out, and only then did people realize it didn’t address the turnover issue.
If EA released official statements, it would help. Who knows what’s in each patch?
And, as Pasta said, EA doesn’t give time tables on those things. Maybe this month, maybe next year.
Details wrote:
I had the details of that last one.
http://www.pastapadre.com/1655.....te-details
But there is still a patch in the works which will address multiple things, including fumbles.
I’m aware of that, Pasta. I did say, “Then one came out, and only then did people realize…”
Hey, I just want the only NFL video game to be good. That’s all. Right now, a lot of people consider it unplayable.
I would like to know why next gen gets all the updated roster and current gen doesnt get the same love. There are more people with current gen. IF you cant get things right in current gen why would someone want to spend the money for next gen.
I am like the other guy…you want something to change dont support it until it does.