EA concerned with low review scores of its games (sort of)

[actionhank]

http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/view.php?id=3711

"There is nothing acceptable about that," said EA CEO John Riccitiello to a group of investors on Thursday. "Our core game titles are accurately measured and summarized by these assessments, and that is a very big deal."

The concern highlights just how powerful Metacritic has become in recent years in the video game industry.

"For a movie it's going to cost you $10 to $12 bucks, and it's a two-hour investment of your time -- whether critics like it is not a huge deal," says Marc Doyle, who launched the site in 2001 to compile movie reviews. Video games now account for the most traffic.

"But a game costs $60 and 20 to 30 hours of your life, so you want to know ahead of time whether a game is good," Doyle adds.

According to Reuters, Metacritic awards added weight to reputable publications when averaging combined scores, something many game makers take issue with, says Doyle. The aggregate site also translates a letter rating of C to 50 in number, this despite recent score inflation where 70 is normally considered average.

But even though Riccitiello is concerned with his company's lowish Metacritic scores, he says he won't chase numbers.

"The process often gets in the way more than it helps," he said. "That sort of circus has unfortunately sort of defined our company for too long. You don't cash Metacritic, you cash checks."

Well... not my check. I boycotted Orange Box, and will only buy it used.

[martinstraka8282]

Yah I bought NFL Tour, and I am convinced that it is the worst football game Ive ever played. I would rather play my PS1 copy of NFL gameday 98 than that hunk of shite.

[crazy25000]

Im still boycotting them! Until they get their act together, I wont be buying their games. Im still debating whether or not I will buy Burnout Paradise.

[Luis_A51]

Burnout is fantastic, it was made by Criterion and only published by EA (ie not made by EA's crappy inhouse team)

Orange Box I own as well...at first I was massively pleased, but the load times, and problems with level geometry are starting to get me down.

[Entertainment72]

There is A LOT riding on madden 09!

[iamsparticus9]

maybe thats what happens when your more concerned w/ buying up every little studio in existance rather then maintaining focus on the game studios you already own...i think ea is becoming the roman empire of video games expanding beyond their control and crumbling from the inside out.

[Maaz]

i dont buy EA games, rockband was an exception because of harmonix

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by iamsparticus9

maybe thats what happens when your more concerned w/ buying up every little studio in existance rather then maintaining focus on the game studios you already own...i think ea is becoming the roman empire of video games expanding beyond their control and crumbling from the inside out.

News Flash: they did this in the 80's and 90's, too. They just keep repeating the same process with new management. Then there's the inevitable purging and restructuring. The only big difference now is they're a public company and have more to answer for. I still like them, but miss the old days when their games had more depth.

[BR7]

Originally Posted by Entertainment72

There is A LOT riding on madden 09!

I do not have much hope for that one either.I think the NFL was fools for making EA exclusive.EA will never change IMHO and they will not get my money until they improve

[Awesome McCool]

EA games tend to always be bad. I've saved so much money over the past decade thanks to them.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by BR7

I do not have much hope for that one either.I think the NFL was fools for making EA exclusive.EA will never change IMHO and they will not get my money until they improve

Since EA is all about aquisitions, why don't they just shitcan Tiburon and aquire the programmers from Visual Conepts that made NFL 2K5?

[HiDefSushi]

Originally Posted by crazy25000

Im still boycotting them! Until they get their act together, I wont be buying their games. Im still debating whether or not I will buy Burnout Paradise.

Burnout is amazing for PS3.

Don't compare Burnout with Madden of late. Madden sucks! Burnout Rules.

And that's coming from a huge Madden fan.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by HiDefSushi

Burnout is amazing for PS3.

Don't compare Burnout with Madden of late. Madden sucks! Burnout Rules.

And that's coming from a huge Madden fan.

Yup, I can't throw any stones at Burnout. I'm very happy with how that turned out and I think the short lived phenomenon of "bad Xbox ports to the PS3" has started coming to an end.

[superdynamite]

Here's the Madden football Poll

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=36902