Gaming Press, I'm writing this letter because I'm tired about all the head shaking you do over EA's Madden 'XX every year. I get the feeling you don't realize the role you play in the industry. Please listen to me and try to think about how you can change things for the better.
There are a large group of gamers out there in gaming land who are either social gamers or casual gamers. I like to lump them with the term "Madden/Halo/GTA" gamers. They enjoy playing games, but gaming is not as major a part of their lives as it is for some people. I am a hardcore gamer. If I feel my games aren't doing it for me, I'll go to the store and buy a new RPG or something. Now before I go, I'll probably check out some reviews because I have a number of options, and I want to pick the game that will suit my mood the best.
I keep up to date on what's out and what's in the pipeline. The Madden/Halo/GTA
gamers don't really do that. They only know about games one of three ways:
1. A hardcore gamer friend tells them about s good one.
2. They see an ad on TV.
3. They happen to pop into a game store while at the mall anyway.
See, when these people tire of the game they are playing, they don't plan on buying a new one. They just spend more time with non-gaming activities. They don't try to find a good GTA clone (which is why I suspect none of them do well), they watch more TV, or play basketball with some friends. They do buy other types of games, but those purchases vary wildly from person to person so they can't be looked at as a realiable market.
Since they're only buying a few games a year, re-buying Madden every year is not really eating into their ability to buy other games. They are happy with roster updates, minor graphical improvements, and minor tweaks to gameplay. Would they be happier with more serious improvements? Yeah, but it's not the top thing on their mind when they pony up for this year's edition.
So what does this mean for the gaming press? Quit with your articles on the top ten reasons why Madden sucks, or how EA buying the exclusive rights is bad for Football games. You're completely right, but no one cares. The people reading what you publish are the hardcore gamers. The ones who tell their less obsessive friends about good games. They aren't going to reiterate your top ten list to their Madden playing buddies (or if they do they'll be ignored). Spend your time drawing attention to smaller games. Indie studios, small projects from big developers, or something else useful. Once a year, you come out and review Madden, and remember that the core gameplay mechanic of Madden is Football, and the point of the review is almost a review of a football simulator, not a real game.
Actually, that's a pretty good idea I had just now. Some games are games, and some are simulators. Flight Simulator games may be boring as all getout to people not into flying a plane, but to those looking for the simulated experice, the game is judged by a new set of rules. Steel Battalion isn't a game as much as it is a mech piloting simulator. That's why I love that game to death despite numerous obvious flaws.
This brings up an interesting questions of game vs. simulation for sports. NBA Street is a game. EA's NCAA basketball game is more of a simulation. Virtua Tennis is both maybe? I'm not sure, but I like this new way of looking at sports games because it shows how love of Madden is more borne of love for football than love of games. Because I think we can all agree, if it was about the video games, we've been playing the same game for more than ten years.
Anyway, back to my point, Game Journalists, stop preaching to the choir and
start talking about things the choir doesn't know. I know everyone likes to read
blogs that affirm their world view, but I see life as a long journey of learning,
and when I read your blogs I want to learn more than that this year's Madden has the
same conceptual problems it's had every year since the series moved to 3d.
