MizzouRah wrote:This really blows my mind.. especially with a console game.
I agree. Very rare for this to happen with a console sports game and shocking considering some of the turds that have been dumped on the market in the past. FPS 99 was recalled literally because it was unplayable -- it wouldn't run properly. This is the only time I can recall where a game might get canned because it sucks.
It's a shame considering Live had made a lot of progress the last couple of years. Another blow to having choice in the hobby.
It really is kind of unprecedented. I think back even to a game like World Series Baseball 2K for the Dreamcast. That game suffered delay after delay, had horrible word of mouth, and they still put out what was basically a near-unplayable product. Even though the internet and game forums were around back them, I guess it goes to show that we live in a differnet time now.
Brando's right -- even though the game was a turd, it's really not to our benefit to have this happen.
AJColossal wrote:
Brando's right -- even though the game was a turd, it's really not to our benefit to have this happen.
I like competition as much as the next guy, but I think it's too soon to make this statement. If games like NHL2k and Live/Elite take a whole year off and come back with a drastically improved product next year, we could benefit greatly.
Brando70 wrote:This really blows my mind.. especially with a console game.
I agree. Very rare for this to happen with a console sports game and shocking considering some of the turds that have been dumped on the market in the past. FPS 99 was recalled literally because it was unplayable -- it wouldn't run properly. This is the only time I can recall where a game might get canned because it sucks[/quote]
it may be.
A baseball title (Dreamcast) may have been another one. I can't remember if it eventually released or not... Every baseball title was awful on the system
I should say that titles have certainly been cancelled, but that usually happens after long delays or quite some time before release. To have something yanked literally days before it's realeased is really unprecedented.
Maybe it will just be a month or two, but I suspect this game doesn't see the light of day, and if that happens, EA gets out of the NBA videogame market for similar reasons that they abandonned college hoops. Financially, it probably makes sense for them to cede ground to NBA 2k rather than pouring money into what's a relatively small market.
AJColossal wrote:
Brando's right -- even though the game was a turd, it's really not to our benefit to have this happen.
I like competition as much as the next guy, but I think it's too soon to make this statement. If games like NHL2k and Live/Elite take a whole year off and come back with a drastically improved product next year, we could benefit greatly.
I'm talking bigger picture. EA conceding the NBA market to 2K.
That might sound like a reach, but if I would have suggested recent developments a week ago, that sounds ridiculous, too.
Throw the continuing economic struggles in, and we're in unknown territory right now.
Brando70 wrote:Financially, it probably makes sense for EA to cede ground to NBA 2k rather than pouring money into what's a relatively small market.
Brando: haven't checked the actual sales numbers, but yes what you stated makes sense to me.
on a non-important note, haven't played a NBA title in years. However NBA Live 99 will remain fondly revered by me. Back then major sports games weren't very good on the lower powered consoles. IMO, Basketball was one exception. Excellent graphics, presentation, and representation of the sport, for its time. Loved my man Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, etc in the title
I'm sure the interview was initially supposed to be to hype the release of the game, but since
the release is now unknown, this interview makes little sense from a business standpint.
You should stipulate they were FORCED to cancel their appearance by EA PR Dept:
Absolutely correct; an important distintion to be made.
I can't imagine the development team wanted to go through with that interview. "Please ask us lots of questions about why our game was such a bug-riddled mess we had to delay it indefinitely."
I'm sure the interview was initially supposed to be to hype the release of the game, but since
the release is now unknown, this interview makes little sense from a business standpint.
Actually that is dead wrong.
The interview was suppose to be an open interview with one of the devs who frequents OS so he could explain what happened etc, except EA PR canceled it without even telling him first. Lets say he was a little surprised, later after Pr got to him he came back with a more PR friendly answer on why the interview was canceled (can't blame the guy who wants to get fired) and said he was taking some time off so wouldn't be posting for a while (guessing that came from PR as well)
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Pretty interesting that the EA developer who had been posting on the OS boards (before announcing that he'd be gone for awhile) openly stated that he learned about both the game's postponement (cancellation?) and the axing of the OS interview from reading the OS boards, as opposed to hearing about them internally. As one of the makers of the game, that's gotta be kind've embarrassing I'd think.
GTHobbes wrote:Pretty interesting that the EA developer who had been posting on the OS boards (before announcing that he'd be gone for awhile) openly stated that he learned about both the game's postponement (cancellation?) and the axing of the OS interview from reading the OS boards, as opposed to hearing about them internally. As one of the makers of the game, that's gotta be kind've embarrassing I'd think.
I think this is a clear example that the devs are not in control of these products, the suits and PR determine a lot more then I think even I understood. It will be interesting to see what is in Madden next year, if I see some exact features that I was told were pulled from this version then I know this whole thing is a shell game.
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GTHobbes wrote:Pretty interesting that the EA developer who had been posting on the OS boards (before announcing that he'd be gone for awhile) openly stated that he learned about both the game's postponement (cancellation?) and the axing of the OS interview from reading the OS boards, as opposed to hearing about them internally. As one of the makers of the game, that's gotta be kind've embarrassing I'd think.
I think this is a clear example that the devs are not in control of these products, the suits and PR determine a lot more then I think even I understood. It will be interesting to see what is in Madden next year, if I see some exact features that I was told were pulled from this version then I know this whole thing is a shell game.
.
Interesting that you mentioned Madden, as the news came out this week that there are big layoffs coming at EA and that, in connection with those, the development of NBA Elite is being switched from EA Canada (maker of NHL, FIFA, Fight Night) to Tiburon. How someone at EA HQ thinks that move makes sense is beyond me. I'd get rid of the whole lot of the Tiburon studio before I laid off 1 guy from EA Canada.
GTHobbes wrote:the development of NBA Elite is being switched from EA Canada (maker of NHL, FIFA, Fight Night) to Tiburon. How someone at EA HQ thinks that move makes sense is beyond me.
Tiburon are yes men that's why.
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GTHobbes wrote:the development of NBA Elite is being switched from EA Canada (maker of NHL, FIFA, Fight Night) to Tiburon. How someone at EA HQ thinks that move makes sense is beyond me.
First Madden on the PS1 was canceled because GameDay surprised. They had shown some rendered sequences of the game which probably they never came close to matching. Then remember they said polygons weren't possible at that time and GD went to polygons.
I don't think they will give up on NBA long term. It's still a much more popular sport than NHL, especially worldwide, so they're not going to give up.
As far as marketing running things, marketing is a key part of every tech firm. Or at least in successful ones. Sure there are little startups coming up with specs that excite geeks but they never deliver those products or they deliver them overpriced, late and they rarely sell.
What good is building the greatest thing if nobody buys it?
No tech company or startup will spend a penny on R&D until a market is defined. Marketing is a big part of defining and ultimately shaping the design of the product. They're not just engaged in hyping the product or coming up with commercials. It's ultimately their job to understand what customers want and they have a better chance to do that than most engineers, a lot of whom are looking for directions on coming up with features, rather than dictating what's possible or desirable based on their better understanding of technology.
