EA sets focus on Wii-exclusive versions of sports games

by David Hinkle { May 8th 2008 at 3:00PM }

If you're in the gaming industry on the development end, odds are you've had plenty of meetings talking about the success of the Wii platform and how your company needs to get its own slice of the pie (well, unless you're Epic). EA has decided that they want a fairly decent slice of that pie, and are doing so with special Wii versions of their sports games. EA expects that sales of its sports games will account for $1.3 billion in its fiscal year (which just ended in March), coming to a third of their total revenue.

The model for them (like others) has been Wii Sports. Peter Moore, head of EA Sports, commented that EA has "no intention whatsoever of dumbing down the experience that we all love and that drives this multibillion dollar business ... we need to make sports games more approachable." He then comments how Wii Sports became so popular "and we saw that and decided we needed to redefine what our sports games were about." These new accessible Wii versions of EA's popular sports games will have an "All-Play" label attached. Moore explains it as "like how swimming pools have a deep end and a shallow end. EA Sports has really only built a swimming pool with a deep end. It's intimidating for a lot of people to jump right in the deep end. With All-Play, we're building a shallow end."

Maybe with all this Wii support, Reggie will finally send Peter one.

Tags: all-play, ea, ea-sports, freeplay, moore, peter-moore, sports, wii-sports, wiisports

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Nigeria @ May 8th 2008 3:13PM

If it forces EA to simplify their control schemes without losing the "depth" some of their sports games have then this can only be a good thing.

My little bro got a 360 and I tried out the demo for NHL 08 - seeing as there's no Wii hockey game on the horizon - but, man, is that game complicated. Unless you're a veteran of the series you're going to find it a real struggle to keep up with all the buttons. There are just too many!

That's not to say I want a dumbing down, just simpler controls.

TWOO DEE @ May 8th 2008 3:28PM

wasn't this their claim with madden 08 and didn't that turn out shittier than 07?

guttertalk @ May 8th 2008 3:37PM

While there is probably some market for simplified, shallow (by EA's definition) game, that's not the entirety of Wii gamers. PES should be the model for deep Wii sports games because it uses the controls to add to the depth of the game, not to subtract and make it a more shallow game, which is what EA did with Madden 08.

Michael Beck @ May 8th 2008 3:45PM

Whatever it takes to bring NHL '09 to the Wii, just do it already!

TomSkib @ May 8th 2008 4:02PM

AMEN!!! Thank goodness of Blades of Steel.

Razor @ May 8th 2008 7:23PM

Ditto!

Justin @ May 8th 2008 5:04PM

OK, here is my beef with EA sports at the moment. They really screwed up Madden 08, also FIFA 08. They didn't make the controls dummy proof, they actually made it harder to play. I traded both in on Pro Evelution Soccer. The control scheme isn't dummied down for this game, but seems more complicated than it should be. But it takes about 20 minutes of gameplay and viola you are running all over the field. This control scheme would be perfect for an NHL Wii game. GO PENS!!!!!!