EA Sports Titles Returning to PC Next Year
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This year much angst was caused within the PC community when EA Sports announced Madden, NBA Live, and Tiger Woods would not be released. At the time Peter Moore made assurances that the PC was not being abandoned as they needed to take the time and reevaluate their offerings. Piracy, sluggish sales, and lagging quality were at the core of the concerns. During an investor conference call earlier today Moore confirmed that these titles would be returning to the PC next year.
“We are retooling these titles [on the PC] to take advantage of the online connectivity in a bigger and more meaningful way”
Back when the cancelation news was announced I proposed the likelihood of a shift in the focus of the games, possibly to the free model supported by downloadable content and advertising. You could also potentially see a movement toward MMO style representations of the games. The PC releases need be unique instead of just copies of the console versions. So the mention towards importance of online connectivity is something to take note of.
July 29, 2008 at 4:51 pm
You say that they need to be something more than just carbon copies of their console counterparts, but I have a feeling that we’re going to see the PC versions more resemble the new current gen systems next year.
July 29, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I wouldn’t be surprised if Pasta is right actually. One of the biggest reasons outside of lack of PC sales for them to worry about is pirating. If they can come up with a model that involves more connectivity and an MMO style that would require key or GUID recognition to play on a daily basis they could factor out the pirating.
July 29, 2008 at 6:44 pm
These games just need to not be carbon copies of like the 2004 PC titles, because they practically haven’t update the engines since then.
July 29, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Only reason I got my free copies of Madden on PC, is because after I bought it 3x, i realized I was spending $40+ on the same game, and yes compare it over the years, the console killed it.
NHL was great on PC so I didn’t mind the purchase.
July 29, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Current gen graphics on PC titles?
July 29, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Yeah it’s amazing how the PC titles stayed last gen. FIFA 08 was essentially FIFA 08 on PS2 (only game I tried from the EA PC lot last year).
It’s not a wholly bad idea to be essentially “carbon copies” gameplay and graphics wise. But maybe features more compelling for PC owners, such as open and easy customization (a feature that 2K really tried to bring to consoles especially with the College Hoops series) would be a big deal.
July 30, 2008 at 8:38 am
MODS,MODS,MODS!!!!! Open up that baby !
July 30, 2008 at 9:44 am
I played Madden on the PC more than any other game last year…
Mainly because you can use created playbooks from scratch and use them in your franchise…and the gameplay is amazing
July 30, 2008 at 9:49 am
I do agree, it is blowing up my mind since 2006, that if You have an ati 4850 in your pc, costs the same as an entire xbox 360 arcade system, 3times more powerfull, and You have to play with nba live 09 on pc, ps2 converson…FOR THE SAME 70 DOLLARS!!!
And EA is wondering, why people did not buy nba live 08 for the pc…
July 30, 2008 at 12:08 pm
It’s great news that EA will be bringing back sports on PCs.
Madden 2007 was fantastic on the PC, much better than the next console version. I haven’t played much of Madden 2008 but it seems pretty good.
July 30, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I have only bought one title for the pc and don’t ever plan to again. It would seem though that if other games like crysis and far cry 2 can have solid graphics on pc then ea sports titles could to if they really wanted to do it. Though I don’t think there is a big enough target audience for them to put a whole lot of work into it.
Also, as a side note our commish got locked out of our online dynasty. His GT is Yendor14. If you could help it would be much appreciated.
July 30, 2008 at 1:54 pm
This is good news. The last Madden game I bought was Madden 07 for PC. If they get their act together and start actually making games instead of just porting the old-gen console versions (which have pretty much been the exact same for the last 3 years, minus the roster updates), I might become a supporter of Madden again. Until then, I have been and will be sticking to ESPN NFL 2k5 and NCAA 2008 for 360. The ability to download rosters for free for both PC Madden 07 and ESPN NFL 2k5 makes paying $60 for a new game with better graphics, features that have been around for years, a fair share of bugs and glitches, plus an updated roster, seem silly.
July 30, 2008 at 10:39 pm
If the graphics are up to snuff Madden on pc can be huge I’ll be keeping a eye on this one
June 18, 2009 at 4:56 am
if you wanna play Arcade style – NBA Live
Realism style – 2K9