EA Sports Jumping On "Project Ten Dollar" Bandwagon

[Beatrix]

"it allows me to be able to take further advantage of that consumer over a longer period of time"

He's very upfront about it for an EA representative, isn't he?
Guess he knows most of his fan-base can't spell 'advantage'.

 

[mattttherman3]

The real Madden would talk about Brett Favre till he was red in the face and then make every player on every team Brett Favre, then the refs, the fans, and eventually himself would become Brett Favre, thus making the next installment, Favre 11.

 

[samsonguy920]

Actually I think that's the idea being tossed here. You buy the latest Madden if you don't already have, and then each year you just have to pony up $10+/- to update your rosters and maybe touch up the game with other flash. EA still makes money by saving on disc production, and long time fans of the game save money as well. I call it a win-win.
This is a good form of DLC.
I give Mr. Moore a big cookie. But only if this idea is what gets implemented.

That would be nice, but I don't see that being the plan. There is too much money to be had, even with declining sales, to just get $10 per year, per customer. If they aren't going to get you with a $60 disc, they might just swap that out for a yearly/monthly fee to play online.

"I think we need to move much quicker, in particular with Madden, through a digital world ... you're going to see more announcements there how we digitize our Madden consumer," Moore said.

That sounds a lot like a subscription to me.

So you'd rather continue paying $50-$60 for each new Madden game?

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

Sports games like the EA Sports titles are one of the genres where Project Ten Dollar would be most beneficial I think. There's no reason players should buy a whole new game if all they're really interested in are updated team rosters and player stats.

It's a very sensible use of DLC, if you ask me.

 

[In Limbo]

"...it allows me to be able to take further advantage of that consumer over a longer period of time," said Moore.

(emphasis mine)

Does anyone else find the above blurb disturbing? I'm not too keen on developers pondering on how to best take advantage of me, let alone the language of "consumer" (read: resource to give us $$) versus "customer" (who is valued for choosing to do business with them).

I was about to quote that. It's not even corporate speak, it's just plain predatory. It would be refreshingly honest were Moore not so seemingly enthused.

 

[JEBWrench]

How is that different from buying Madden normally? All that franchise does is update rosters anyway, so every time they put out a game it's like they're releasing DLC for their old game, except you pay full price for it.

This is a typical argument from someone who doesn't play Madden at all. I hope you're not one of those people.

Yep. The "update rosters" debate fails quite miserably if you actually compare the newer games to older ones.

 

[ItsAPaul]

Sounds good, especially if they do something silly like update stats every week. I'm tired of used game stores acting like I have to trade in games to afford them.

 

[Virgil]

That does make a lot of sense. One of the big things that sports games have to fight against is their previous versions being traded in or being purchased used - probably more than any other type of game. Once Madden 2010 is released Madden 2009 will be useless, so you might as well trade it in as soon as you're done playing it.

This is what I'd predict:

First, new games in the series would release every other year. People that buy the game new get a free DLC 'membership' like the Cerberus Network in ME2. Historic teams and classic game matchups, plus an update for the playoffs and the Superbowl, seem like a great candidate. If they really want to push it, they might even offer a game mode that updates the player/team stats on a weekly basis during the season - that would definitely hook people, and might not even be that much work.

On "off" years, the DLC package would be a paid DLC purchase, probably $15-20, but it would include an updated team/stats/roster set in addition to the other DLC that gets released. A 'platinum' retail package (that includes the roster and DLC) might get released to get a new version on the shelves, at a reduced price, but it wouldn't actually be a new game.

In the end, something like that benefits everyone except the people that frequently buy/sell used games. And GameStop.

 

[JEBWrench]

Sounds good, especially if they do something silly like update stats every week. I'm tired of used game stores acting like I have to trade in games to afford them.

As opposed to every month?

First, new games in the series would release every other year. People that buy the game new get a free DLC 'membership' like the Cerberus Network in ME2. Historic teams and classic game matchups, plus an update for the playoffs and the Superbowl, seem like a great candidate. If they really want to push it, they might even offer a game mode that updates the player/team stats on a weekly basis during the season - that would definitely hook people, and might not even be that much work.

On "off" years, the DLC package would be a paid DLC purchase, probably $15-20, but it would include an updated team/stats/roster set in addition to the other DLC that gets released. A 'platinum' retail package (that includes the roster and DLC) might get released to get a new version on the shelves, at a reduced price, but it wouldn't actually be a new game.

In the end, something like that benefits everyone except the people that frequently buy/sell used games. And GameStop.

And anything that doesn't benefit GameStop is fine by me!

 

[SavingPrincess]

"...it allows me to be able to take further advantage of that consumer over a longer period of time,"

B-But... I don't want to be taken advantage of. *sadface*

Waaaaait a second... you want to take further advantage of me MORE than making me pay $60 for a near identical game every single year?

Oh wow. You REALLY REALLY want to take advantage of me. I'm... flattered? Is that the right word?

Somehow this sounds like getting people to pay MORE money over a longer period of time for the same amount of content (or less). No good... I can't wait for that NFL contract to expire.

 

[m_jim]

Actually I think that's the idea being tossed here. You buy the latest Madden if you don't already have, and then each year you just have to pony up $10+/- to update your rosters and maybe touch up the game with other flash. EA still makes money by saving on disc production, and long time fans of the game save money as well. I call it a win-win.
This is a good form of DLC.
I give Mr. Moore a big cookie. But only if this idea is what gets implemented.

That would be nice, but I don't see that being the plan. There is too much money to be had, even with declining sales, to just get $10 per year, per customer. If they aren't going to get you with a $60 disc, they might just swap that out for a yearly/monthly fee to play online.

"I think we need to move much quicker, in particular with Madden, through a digital world ... you're going to see more announcements there how we digitize our Madden consumer," Moore said.

That sounds a lot like a subscription to me.

So you'd rather continue paying $50-$60 for each new Madden game?

I don't buy Madden games ;-)
EA might not be the evil Goliath of the game industry that they were, but if they can sell a game for $60, they sure aren't going to give it us for $20.