Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
the lead version timed to each fall's new season to special editions for the
World Cup and the European Championships.
FIFA Soccer
's marketing
campaigns include a who's who of soccer stars, frequently with dedicated
editions for dif erent regions to highlight the best and brightest star players
each area has to of er. Much like
Madden NFL
has become an arbiter of
cool for football in the United States,
FIFA Soccer
is seeking to do some-
thing similar for another kind of football on a global scale.
Understanding the role and scope of the EA Sports games sets the back-
ground with which to apply wordplay to delve into how these games show
particularly interesting aspects of words, design, and play. EA Sports games
are notable for three key reasons. First, although video games are increas-
ingly moving toward the production of franchises because of the perceived
security in producing sequels to established hit games, the planned obsoles-
cence built into sports games is striking. The successful debut of a new piece
of intellectual property is likely to lead to the development of a franchise,
but the original still retains some sort of value in the scope of the franchise
as a whole. EA Sports games are dif erent in that, on the day they debut,
the clock begins ticking as to when they will be obsolete, as they will be
replaced by a newer, better version next year. Second, the large-scale knowl-
edge of the impending obsolescence of sports games means that extensive
marketing campaigns are built to ensure that players see a 'need' to get the
newest version of the game. Development of brand loyalty is important, but
what is even more crucial is articulating one or two key ways in which the
new game will be the best in the history of the series. Finally, the movement
to online play dramatically impacts how sports video games are played. By
shifting the primary interaction of of an individual player's console and
onto servers hosted or maintained by EA, EA Sports gains great power in
dictating how their games are played. These three crucial elements form the
core of wordplay's application to sports gamers.
PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE
The business model of sports games has a substantial impact on the way
in which they are made and distributed and, thus, on their rhetorical con-
struction. Several key factors shape the terrain for the economics of games
in the sports genre, most notably licensing, competition, an annual release
schedule, and the 'upgrades' that come along with that schedule. Examining
each of these elements enables analysis of how the impending irrelevance of
sports games shapes how they are designed, marketed, and played.
Perhaps the most important piece of the economics of sports games is
the acquisition of the relevant licensees to produce an accurate simulation.
To use the team names and graphics, payment must be made to the sports
leagues governing the activity. For
Madden NFL
that means payment is
made to the National Football League and for
FIFA Soccer
payment is
