PS2, your not so hot. Software sales analyzed!

[Daman_He_Hate_Me]

I'm just surprised looking at the total software sales combined for each console, the PS2 is actually selling software on a significantly smaller ratio compared to its installed base. Here are the numbers, thanks Slade, from January for the top 10 for each console:
January 04 NPD

PS2
Title Publisher Projected $'s Projected Units
1 NFL STREET Electronic Arts $16,350,050 331,266
2 NEED SPEED: UNDERGRND Electronic Arts $8,860,736 177,917
3 MADDEN NFL 2004 Electronic Arts $4,945,228 99,798
4 TRUE CRIME:STREETS LA Activision $4,699,474 100,295
5 BALDURS GATE:ALLNC II Interplay $4,510,907 90,746
6 SOCOM II: NAVY SEALS Sony $4,065,841 82,056
7 FINAL FANTASY X-2 Square Enix $3,812,321 78,514
8 DRAGONBALL Z:BUDOKAI2 Atari $3,467,630 69,654
9 NBA LIVE 2004 Electronic Arts $2,865,857 59,048
10 PRINCE PERSIA: SANDS Ubi Soft $2,723,860 58,222

X-box
Title Publisher Projected $'s Projected Units
1 NFL STREET Electronic Arts $6,948,476 140,916
2 GRAND THEFT AUTO PACK Take-Two Interactive $4,605,049 106,819
3 NEED SPEED: UNDERGRND Electronic Arts $3,135,470 63,097
4 HALO Microsoft $3,015,488 104,123
5 T. CLANCY'S RAINBOW 3 Ubi Soft $2,950,871 58,213
6 BALDURS GATE:ALLNC II Interplay $2,740,262 55,213
7 TRUE CRIME:STREETS LA Activision $2,067,688 45,117
8 PRINCE PERSIA: SANDS Ubi Soft $2,017,745 42,833
9 PROJECT GOTHAM 2 Microsoft $1,765,111 36,809
10 CRIMSON SKIES: HIGH Microsoft $1,610,876 32,484

Gamecube
Title Publisher Projected $'s Projected Units
1 SONIC HEROES Sega $9,913,534 199,032
2 MARIO KART: DOUBLE Nintendo $5,289,218 106,424
3 NFL STREET Electronic Arts $2,916,132 59,281
4 MARIO PARTY 5 Nintendo $2,162,882 43,650
5 NEED SPEED: UNDERGRND Electronic Arts $1,531,957 30,754
6 LORD RING:RETURN KING Electronic Arts $1,324,044 26,622
7 SUPER SMASH BRO MELEE Nintendo $1,200,032 40,035
8 PRINCE PERSIA: SANDS Ubi Soft $1,199,492 24,403
9 ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER Nintendo $1,059,321 21,466
10 THE SIMS: BUSTIN' OUT Electronic Arts $1,004,239 20,183

This is interesting, the total for PS2 is 1,147,516 units. If you compare this to a 30 million installed base, the ratio of software to consoles is horrid! The total for XBOX is 685,624 compared and even GC's 571,850, both of these systems have 1/3 the US installed base of PS2, but XBOX is selling more than 1/3 the software of PS2, in fact over 1/2, and the GC is selling almost 1/2 the software of PS2. Also, 7 of the 10 on PS2 are multiplatform, including all in the top 5, on XBOX 6 out of 10 are multiplatform and only 3 in the top 5, GC matches XBOX. I guess this shows more than anything, there aren't any special games on PS2, as their fanbase always claims, or if there are, their own fanbase doesn't think they are so special cause they'd rather buy the mainstream games. This also goes to show something else, looks like publishers know more than we do, mainstream games are better(by way of sales) than exclusives.

It actually surprises me that the PS2 doesn't completely own the top 10 month after month. Especially in a month like January, when XBOX didn't even release a big title. I mean I can understand for March's data, when Ninja Gaiden and SC is released that XBOX will break the top 10. But barring that, the PS2 should own the top 10. I don't know, maybe i'm being too critical of PS2. But it just seems to me, that 30 million installed base is not really buying much product. I think this is one reason why MS is so adamant about decreasing the costs of the XBOX2, because per console, they are actually selling more software.

[Gadfly2317]

I'm just surprised looking at the total software sales combined for each console, the PS2 is actually selling software on a significantly smaller ratio compared to its installed base. Here are the numbers, thanks Slade, from January for the top 10 for each console:
January 04 NPD

PS2
Title Publisher Projected $'s Projected Units
1 NFL STREET Electronic Arts $16,350,050 331,266
2 NEED SPEED: UNDERGRND Electronic Arts $8,860,736 177,917
3 MADDEN NFL 2004 Electronic Arts $4,945,228 99,798
4 TRUE CRIME:STREETS LA Activision $4,699,474 100,295
5 BALDURS GATE:ALLNC II Interplay $4,510,907 90,746
6 SOCOM II: NAVY SEALS Sony $4,065,841 82,056
7 FINAL FANTASY X-2 Square Enix $3,812,321 78,514
8 DRAGONBALL Z:BUDOKAI2 Atari $3,467,630 69,654
9 NBA LIVE 2004 Electronic Arts $2,865,857 59,048
10 PRINCE PERSIA: SANDS Ubi Soft $2,723,860 58,222

X-box
Title Publisher Projected $'s Projected Units
1 NFL STREET Electronic Arts $6,948,476 140,916
2 GRAND THEFT AUTO PACK Take-Two Interactive $4,605,049 106,819
3 NEED SPEED: UNDERGRND Electronic Arts $3,135,470 63,097
4 HALO Microsoft $3,015,488 104,123
5 T. CLANCY'S RAINBOW 3 Ubi Soft $2,950,871 58,213
6 BALDURS GATE:ALLNC II Interplay $2,740,262 55,213
7 TRUE CRIME:STREETS LA Activision $2,067,688 45,117
8 PRINCE PERSIA: SANDS Ubi Soft $2,017,745 42,833
9 PROJECT GOTHAM 2 Microsoft $1,765,111 36,809
10 CRIMSON SKIES: HIGH Microsoft $1,610,876 32,484

Gamecube
Title Publisher Projected $'s Projected Units
1 SONIC HEROES Sega $9,913,534 199,032
2 MARIO KART: DOUBLE Nintendo $5,289,218 106,424
3 NFL STREET Electronic Arts $2,916,132 59,281
4 MARIO PARTY 5 Nintendo $2,162,882 43,650
5 NEED SPEED: UNDERGRND Electronic Arts $1,531,957 30,754
6 LORD RING:RETURN KING Electronic Arts $1,324,044 26,622
7 SUPER SMASH BRO MELEE Nintendo $1,200,032 40,035
8 PRINCE PERSIA: SANDS Ubi Soft $1,199,492 24,403
9 ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER Nintendo $1,059,321 21,466
10 THE SIMS: BUSTIN' OUT Electronic Arts $1,004,239 20,183

This is interesting, the total for PS2 is 1,147,516 units. If you compare this to a 30 million installed base, the ratio of software to consoles is horrid! The total for XBOX is 685,624 compared and even GC's 571,850, both of these systems have 1/3 the US installed base of PS2, but XBOX is selling more than 1/3 the software of PS2, in fact over 1/2, and the GC is selling almost 1/2 the software of PS2. Also, 7 of the 10 on PS2 are multiplatform, including all in the top 5, on XBOX 6 out of 10 are multiplatform and only 3 in the top 5, GC matches XBOX. I guess this shows more than anything, there aren't any special games on PS2, as their fanbase always claims, or if there are, their own fanbase doesn't think they are so special cause they'd rather buy the mainstream games. This also goes to show something else, looks like publishers know more than we do, mainstream games are better(by way of sales) than exclusives.

It actually surprises me that the PS2 doesn't completely own the top 10 month after month. Especially in a month like January, when XBOX didn't even release a big title. I mean I can understand for March's data, when Ninja Gaiden and SC is released that XBOX will break the top 10. But barring that, the PS2 should own the top 10. I don't know, maybe i'm being too critical of PS2. But it just seems to me, that 30 million installed base is not really buying much product. I think this is one reason why MS is so adamant about decreasing the costs of the XBOX2, because per console, they are actually selling more software.


PS2-only gamers are renters by and large. And regardless of the "kiddie" image of Nintendo, PS2 is the console of choice for kids.

GC and Xbox are not mainstream, and MUST have a high percentage of enthusiastic gamers who own them, who love games, read about games, and buy games. Your numbers seem to bear this out. I can't think of any other reason why the per capita game sales are higher on GC and Xbox. Maybe someone else has a better theory.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

Man, if it weren't for EA, PS2 would be performing miserably.

EA has got to be the most overrated developer anymore.

["The Game"Evolution]

Man, if it weren't for EA, PS2 would be performing miserably.

EA has got to be the most overrated developer anymore.

I'm starting to think the same way Tappy.Overrated big time.

[The Buzz]

Man, if it weren't for EA, PS2 would be performing miserably.

EA has got to be the most overrated developer anymore.

I don't really know where some of you people get off saying EA is "overrated." Some of my favorite games and obviousely many others are EA games. Madden...the MoH series...SSX...damn...there's SO many great EA games.

Come on gamers...EA has produced some all time classics for ALL the systems. I don't understand the logic...

[Daman_He_Hate_Me]

Well Buzz,

I guess you are right and are in the majority, and we are in the minority. I mean, obviously, consumers love EA games, EA seems to have the pulse of the majority of gamers. I think most EA products are average at best. I remember the MOH game, for months I kept hearing how great the game was on PS2, then when it finally released for XBOX I rented it and was sorely disappointed. They just released the next Bond game, and just like the last one, people are saying how great it is. I rented the last Bond game and completed it also, just like I completed MOH, and again, it was average. I bought Knockout Kings for XBOX, average played it for a few weeks and since then it just collects dust. When SSX finally came to XBOX, rented it and absolutely hated it. I want to rent NFS:Undergound, but I may never get around to it. Its not better than PGR2, it is not online for XBOX and if it was like on PS2, you can only race against one other person(wow way to go EA is this your idea of the publisher controlling the online experience). I really can't think of ANY EA AAA games, outside of Madden that I actually think are really AAA. I guess the only reason why I think Madden is AAA, is because everyone says so, but I haven't played Madden in years myself, so even with that i'm just going by hearsay. None of their games are ever seriously considered for GOTY either. I can't think of one product, again aside from Madden, that is up there with the Halos, Splinter Cells, GTAs of the world in terms of critical success.

But, they are number #1 where it counts most, sales. They have absolutely the best and loudest advertising campaigns ever. They had the catchiest sports motto, "if its in the game, its in the game!" They blew Sega and everyone else out the water for sports games. You can't escape their commercials. After awhile, I think the message just sinks in. But I ask you Buzz, outside of Madden, give me a great game. I'll give you SSX, simply because snowboarding is not my thing, but i've played MOH and there is no way anyone can convince me that is a great FPS. I just think their stuff is like one grade below AAA. Their racers are a notch below PGR and GT3, their FPS are a notch below Halo, Doom, Halflife, their 3rd person shooters notch below Splinter Cell, rpgs have they put anything out? Platformers, someone help me out are they good in this? Military shooters, well behind Rainbow, GhostRecon. And online, their whole philosophy that they need to control the environments is absolute malarky, to put it nicely. In my opinion, all they are is Madden.

[PapaSmurf]

I think the thing is though that EA games don't suck. I've never bought an EA game that was dissappointing. They've all been fun. They might not be the greatest games ever made, but they are generally fun. MOH:RS was really fun because of the Co-op mode they added, and co-oping in an FPS is a ton a fun. SSX (i'm a snowboarder so...) is the greates snowboarding game ever hands down, and it seems alot of people are taking up the sport so thats gotta mean something.

Your right though I don't think MOH is better than Half-life, Doom R6 and someother, I didn't even bother with NFS, just bought Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3 for 20$. EA is consistent and thats all they need to be.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

You know something is wrong when the PS2 fanboys bring up the MoH series as a good FPS. Over in Xbox land, we spit on and make fun of that series. We're used to caviar, you're used to bologna. You can't even play RTCW co-op on PS2. RTCW is probably the best FPS on PS2.

I think that Madden is ok for what it is but it does not ever deserve GOTY status by any means. I prefer the NFL 2k Sega for football.

[PapaSmurf]

You know something is wrong when the PS2 fanboys bring up the MoH series as a good FPS. Over in Xbox land, we spit on and make fun of that series. We're used to caviar, you're used to bologna. You can't even play RTCW co-op on PS2. RTCW is probably the best FPS on PS2.

I think that Madden is ok for what it is but it does not ever deserve GOTY status by any means. I prefer the NFL 2k Sega for football.
Ooh.....Don't even go there my man. I'm a PC gamer before a PS2 gamer. Over here in the PC world we spit on your hand me downs.

And for the record, MOH as a series is a good FPS, not necessarily great. Ever played the PC versions? Guess not. Thats ok though, we know you don't do much outside of the box...

[AOE Enforcer]

PS2-only gamers are renters by and large. And regardless of the "kiddie" image of Nintendo, PS2 is the console of choice for kids.

GC and Xbox are not mainstream, and MUST have a high percentage of enthusiastic gamers who own them, who love games, read about games, and buy games. Your numbers seem to bear this out. I can't think of any other reason why the per capita game sales are higher on GC and Xbox. Maybe someone else has a better theory.


It's actually quite simple Gadfly. It's the same as back in the N64's day.

The PS2 releases 3 or more titles to every one title that gets released on Xbox and Gamecube. Sales for PS2 software is divided up between more titles. Xbox and Gamecube generally have an average of one big-name title per month that garners the bulk of their sales. The PS2 on the other hand has 3 or more big games per month that gamers divide their purchases among.

No big deal really. Obviously, developers make the most money on the PS2 since it gets so many games compared to the competing hardware.

[AOE Enforcer]

You know something is wrong when the PS2 fanboys bring up the MoH series as a good FPS. Over in Xbox land, we spit on and make fun of that series. We're used to caviar, you're used to bologna. You can't even play RTCW co-op on PS2. RTCW is probably the best FPS on PS2.

I think that Madden is ok for what it is but it does not ever deserve GOTY status by any means. I prefer the NFL 2k Sega for football.

If you consider FPS games to be caviar, more power to you. :confused:

And actually, PS2 has the best Deus Ex game. You know-the original one that kicks the crap out of the lame sequel Xbox owners got? PS2 is also the only console with Half-Life on it. Xbox is getting...oh wait, I forgot....Half-Life 2 for Xbox got canned! GWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

You see, in PS2 land, we don't need a bazillion brainless FPS and racers. We have all kinds of games in all kinds of genres to play. And I gladly got rid of RTCW for Xbox....my PC version with all the mods and add-ons is far, far superior. :cool:

[AOE Enforcer]

Ooh.....Don't even go there my man. I'm a PC gamer before a PS2 gamer. Over here in the PC world we spit on your hand me downs.

And for the record, MOH as a series is a good FPS, not necessarily great. Ever played the PC versions? Guess not. Thats ok though, we know you don't do much outside of the box...

Now c'mon Papa Smurf. You know as well as I do that Tappy was waiting for the stripped-down port of Allied Assault that never materialized for Xbox. LMAO! GWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

["The Game"Evolution]

Ooh.....Don't even go there my man. I'm a PC gamer before a PS2 gamer. Over here in the PC world we spit on your hand me downs.

And for the record, MOH as a series is a good FPS, not necessarily great. Ever played the PC versions? Guess not. Thats ok though, we know you don't do much outside of the box...

Good job with the swerve from Tappy's post.(sarcasm)

[Daman_He_Hate_Me]

It's actually quite simple Gadfly. It's the same as back in the N64's day.

The PS2 releases 3 or more titles to every one title that gets released on Xbox and Gamecube. Sales for PS2 software is divided up between more titles. Xbox and Gamecube generally have an average of one big-name title per month that garners the bulk of their sales. The PS2 on the other hand has 3 or more big games per month that gamers divide their purchases among.

No big deal really. Obviously, developers make the most money on the PS2 since it gets so many games compared to the competing hardware.

You are not making sense here McFly! So you say the PS2 has 3 or more big games per month that divide the sales evenly? Hmmmm, seems like that's opposite of what actually happened in January, where NFL Street garnered 331,000 units out of 1.1 million, almost one third. The second PS2 game was down in the 100,000's. Meanwhile on the XBOX the top games were evenly split.

Also, you act as if the #8, #9, and #10 games were pushing 100,000s of units, which would signify that games in positions 11-20 were selling significantly. While, this SHOULD be the case on a system with 30 million users, it is not! The PS2s lower ranked top 10 titles actually fall off much further compared to the uppper 3, than GC or XBOX. Indicating the opposite of what you are saying.

["The Game"Evolution]

If you consider FPS games to be caviar, more power to you. :confused:

And actually, PS2 has the best Deus Ex game. You know-the original one that kicks the crap out of the lame sequel Xbox owners got? PS2 is also the only console with Half-Life on it. Xbox is getting...oh wait, I forgot....Half-Life 2 for Xbox got canned! GWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

You see, in PS2 land, we don't need a bazillion brainless FPS and racers. We have all kinds of games in all kinds of genres to play. And I gladly got rid of RTCW for Xbox....my PC version with all the mods and add-ons is far, far superior. :cool:

Really? Lets see Deus EX:The Conspiracy for the PS2 got an overall rating of 81.5%
The Xbox's version of Deus Ex:Invisible War revceived an overall rating of 85.5%

You call that kicking the crap out of the lame Xbox version? Looks like the Xbox's version is favored over the PS2's version.According to gamerankings.

So Half Life indeed was on the PS2.An 82.6% overall rating isnt bad.But how many FPS on the Xbox has dwarfed that Enforcer?

Halo-95.6%
Return To Castle Wolfenstein-85.0%

I have yet to see any FPS's on the PS2 score over 90%.

So if you care so much about the PC version of games being superior over the Xbox's versions how come you rather overlook paying less for the PC version of Final Fantasy XI over paying more for the PS2's version with the HDD for $100 bucks? I beg of you please reply Enforcer.I just love to hear an answer on that.Plus if PS2 land is so grand how many GOTY awards came its way last year? (crickets churping)

Too bad when it came to alot of games winning GOTY awards for 2003 Sonyland didnt win much compared to the land of GC & Xbox.(OUCH!) Cant deny that Enforcer.Outside of Rachet and Clank and Jak II there wasnt much noise coming from Sonyland on that note.

Feel free to jump in anytime Enforcer.

[PapaSmurf]

Good job with the swerve from Tappy's post.(sarcasm)Eh he said the MOH series, he didn't say anything about it being PS2 specific...then again all is fair in love and war anyways right and this is the "system" wars

[Bob-the-Fish]

So if you care so much about the PC version of games being superior over the Xbox's versions how come you rather overlook paying less for the PC version of Final Fantasy XI over paying more for the PS2's version with the HDD for $100 bucks? I beg of you please reply Enforcer.I just love to hear an answer on that.Plus if PS2 land is so grand how many GOTY awards came its way last year? (crickets churping)

Too bad when it came to alot of games winning GOTY awards for 2003 Sonyland didnt win much compared to the land of GC & Xbox.(OUCH!) Cant deny that Enforcer.Outside of Rachet and Clank and Jak II there wasnt much noise coming from Sonyland on that note.

So since KOTOR won a couple of GOTY awards that means it was the only good game last year? Last time I checked that was pretty much the only Xbox game that won anything. Not much of leg up on Sony if you ask me. Even SLOWCOM beat out the Box's online offerings, as discussed in some other thread.

Nintendo faired better and actually managed to pull in a couple of awards in other catagories. But this year it was all multi-plat games really and EA pulled in a couple of them like Madden, NFSU (not much mention of PGR2 though, strange...)

The Game of the Year is one award. It's like the best picture Oscar. Miramax winning one doesn't make all the other studios' films suck all of a sudden.

[Darwin]

GC and Xbox are not mainstream, and MUST have a high percentage of enthusiastic gamers who own them, who love games, read about games, and buy games. Your numbers seem to bear this out. I can't think of any other reason why the per capita game sales are higher on GC and Xbox. Maybe someone else has a better theory.

I have seen this "trend" as well. Not scientific, but rather emperical evidence based on people I've talked to at work about gaming. It's almost trendy for someone to own a Playstation 2. I know lots of people at work who own PS2, and most of them play it only on occasions and only have a few games (mostly sports games).

It's funny isn't it. Sony released PS2 with such a horrific shortage that it couldn't even fullfill the pre-sales. It's release lineup was equally horrendous with SSX being the only game that anyone even remembers or played long-term. Shoot, PS2 didn't have any really good games till about 3 months into it's life. On the other hand, MS releases it's console with no shortages and a release game that still sells thousands of copies even today. Hell, I played Halo this weekend myself. Logic would dictate which console should have the larger userbase, but it seems as if the market is not based much on logic.

[Darwin]

Their racers are a notch below PGR and GT3,


EA's racing games are done quite well on the PC, from what I've played. Superbike and F1 for the PC are quite hardcore, simulation based games and are of the same calipur as MotoGP 2 (IMO). Unfortunately, I can't get them to run on my newer PC, which is why I've given up on PC gaming ... but we've gone through that topic before and I'm not gonna bring that **** back up.

But, EA "mainstreams" their racing games (what you and I would call, "dumbing down") whenever they are brought to the console. The physics of the PS2 version of F1 2002 are simplified and less simulation than the PC counterpart. Same thing with their Nascar Thunder games for PS2 and Xbox. Also, the fune tuning of car settings found in the PC version was removed when the game was ported to the consoles. AND, the EA driving games games have significant framerate problems when they are ported for the console, especially the Formula 1 games. Horrendous, nauseating framerates. I'm actually glad that EA doesn't make racing games with Xbox Live play.

[Gadfly2317]

It's actually quite simple Gadfly. It's the same as back in the N64's day.

The PS2 releases 3 or more titles to every one title that gets released on Xbox and Gamecube. Sales for PS2 software is divided up between more titles. Xbox and Gamecube generally have an average of one big-name title per month that garners the bulk of their sales. The PS2 on the other hand has 3 or more big games per month that gamers divide their purchases among.

No big deal really. Obviously, developers make the most money on the PS2 since it gets so many games compared to the competing hardware.

That makes sense, but its probably just one factor. A couple other people have responded to you already, including Glock who called you McFly for some reason, which is what he usually calls me. But anyway, I think the numbers still bear out that more avid gamers tend to own multi-systems, and own the minority systems GC and Xbox, and buy more games.

Because also consider the shelves of any rental store. . . .look how many more copies of PS2 games there are, and those are accounting for part of PS2 sales numbers. I believe that a large number of the people who game exclusively on the PS2 are gamers who are more likely to rent games and less likely to buy. But I could be wrong. . . I"m just basing that on my reading of the sales #'s, and on the fact that the few Ps2 gamers I know all rent, don't know squat about games compared to the xbox fans I know.

["The Game"Evolution]

So since KOTOR won a couple of GOTY awards that means it was the only good game last year? Last time I checked that was pretty much the only Xbox game that won anything. Not much of leg up on Sony if you ask me. Even SLOWCOM beat out the Box's online offerings, as discussed in some other thread.

Nintendo faired better and actually managed to pull in a couple of awards in other catagories. But this year it was all multi-plat games really and EA pulled in a couple of them like Madden, NFSU (not much mention of PGR2 though, strange...)

The Game of the Year is one award. It's like the best picture Oscar. Miramax winning one doesn't make all the other studios' films suck all of a sudden.

Whenever you ask anyone which console has the best RPG's of the three consoles nine times out of ten you'll hear gamers say the PS2 has the deepest and most variety of RPG's.Bar none.

But yet this one mere RPG from Bioware on the Xbox/PC came from nowhere and beat every RPG that the PS2 had to offer for the best RPG of 2003.That indeed IMO is a leg up on Sony where it counts.

Yes SOCOM II did beat out any other online game as best online game with a few exceptions.That doesnt mean that Xbox live doesnt have a kick ass line up by any means.That just mean that SOCOM II is the most played game online for the PS2.

The rest of the awards was really multiplatform titles spreaded out between all three consoles.The GC also did very well where it counts.I'm actually surprised the GBA didnt get more awards.It sure should've.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

Ooh.....Don't even go there my man. I'm a PC gamer before a PS2 gamer. Over here in the PC world we spit on your hand me downs.

And for the record, MOH as a series is a good FPS, not necessarily great. Ever played the PC versions? Guess not. Thats ok though, we know you don't do much outside of the box...

Ya I have played the PC versions, they are a LOT better than what trash ends up on consoles. The PS2 fanboys only means of escape is mentioning PC. EGM is the same way...they don't have a PC reviews section(and only a half a page dedicated to PCs) but yet they will say with the speed of light whether a Xbox game is on PC...wonder why they don't with PS2? NFS: UG is on PC but yet they never mention it...just an example.

[The Buzz]

Well Buzz,

I guess you are right and are in the majority, and we are in the minority. I mean, obviously, consumers love EA games, EA seems to have the pulse of the majority of gamers. I think most EA products are average at best. I remember the MOH game, for months I kept hearing how great the game was on PS2, then when it finally released for XBOX I rented it and was sorely disappointed. They just released the next Bond game, and just like the last one, people are saying how great it is. I rented the last Bond game and completed it also, just like I completed MOH, and again, it was average. I bought Knockout Kings for XBOX, average played it for a few weeks and since then it just collects dust. When SSX finally came to XBOX, rented it and absolutely hated it. I want to rent NFS:Undergound, but I may never get around to it. Its not better than PGR2, it is not online for XBOX and if it was like on PS2, you can only race against one other person(wow way to go EA is this your idea of the publisher controlling the online experience). I really can't think of ANY EA AAA games, outside of Madden that I actually think are really AAA. I guess the only reason why I think Madden is AAA, is because everyone says so, but I haven't played Madden in years myself, so even with that i'm just going by hearsay. None of their games are ever seriously considered for GOTY either. I can't think of one product, again aside from Madden, that is up there with the Halos, Splinter Cells, GTAs of the world in terms of critical success.

But, they are number #1 where it counts most, sales. They have absolutely the best and loudest advertising campaigns ever. They had the catchiest sports motto, "if its in the game, its in the game!" They blew Sega and everyone else out the water for sports games. You can't escape their commercials. After awhile, I think the message just sinks in. But I ask you Buzz, outside of Madden, give me a great game. I'll give you SSX, simply because snowboarding is not my thing, but i've played MOH and there is no way anyone can convince me that is a great FPS. I just think their stuff is like one grade below AAA. Their racers are a notch below PGR and GT3, their FPS are a notch below Halo, Doom, Halflife, their 3rd person shooters notch below Splinter Cell, rpgs have they put anything out? Platformers, someone help me out are they good in this? Military shooters, well behind Rainbow, GhostRecon. And online, their whole philosophy that they need to control the environments is absolute malarky, to put it nicely. In my opinion, all they are is Madden.

I've logged in countless hours with my Xbox version of SSX3...I've had a blast and still do with that game. Before that I logged in countless hours with the PS2 version of SSX Tricky...which was superior gameplay wise to either the Xbox or GC version as far as I'm concerned.
I've been a huge fan of the MoH series since it first hit the PSX way back when. I like the series for the atmosphere as well as the gameplay. It's hard for me to relate to the younger gamers around here my pleasure in blowing away Nazi's and now WWII era Jap's (gotta be politically correct here) with vintage WWII weapons. My father was a WWII Vet and I grew up with TV shows like Combat, 12 O'Clock High, The Galant Men, and Rat Patrol. I just finished Rising Sun and although technically it had some issues the amount of fun I had playing it made it all worth while.
Madden is a great football series...period. (I also like the NFL 2K series too.)

What I'm saying is EA has produced some great gaming experiences for many video gamers and while I certainly agree they've had their share of "duds" they've also had more than their fair share of winners. Remember, what I enjoy might not be "great" in your eyes but that's ok. I play to have fun and with many EA games I've had just that. I'm not saying EA= a great game every time. They've delivered the goods for me more often than not and to I'd have to say the majority of "gamers" around the globe would say the same.

[Tappy_Tibbons]

Wonder why EA killed the Road Rash series?

[Glockstar]

Wonder why EA killed the Road Rash series?

DON'T get me started! :mad:

[trebor]

I have seen this "trend" as well. Not scientific, but rather emperical evidence based on people I've talked to at work about gaming. It's almost trendy for someone to own a Playstation 2. I know lots of people at work who own PS2, and most of them play it only on occasions and only have a few games (mostly sports games).


I think I would agree with you on this one.

I have a lot of friends who own gaming systems and most of those systems are Xbox's and then Gamecubes. I only know one person who owns a PS2, but they play vids by far the least out of everyone else - in fact I've NEVER seen them play on their PS2.

Also, by the way, they decided to buy an Gamecube after playing Mario Kart at my place for half an hour. MK sells another system!

[PapaSmurf]

Roadrash......good times