A Letter to EA Sports

[Demonolith]

Let me start off by saying that although sales haven't met expectations, there still is hope for the HC franchise. The reason that sales aren't up to par is the fact that EA sports is targeting too broad of a market.

Instead of focusing on Madden players on a large scale, you should scale back distribution and focus on a specific niche market. The first mistake made was the choice of platform. Simply put, this game had no chance to sell well on Xbox360 and PS3. Let's face it, the majority of the people who own these consoles are FPS junkies who dismiss a game as crap if it doesn't keep their attention for 5 minutes.

What you should do is release a new version next year as a PC only title. To offset the cost, I know I speak for many avid HC players when I say that I would not mind paying extra money for a game of this quality.

I'm sure that if you scale back distribution and instead focus on the consumers interested in a hardcore football simulation, then you would start to see profits from this franchise

[swatter555]

Quote: Originally Posted by Demonolith

Let me start off by saying that although sales haven't met expectations, there still is hope for the HC franchise. The reason that sales aren't up to par is the fact that EA sports is targeting too broad of a market. Instead of focusing on Madden players on a large scale, you should scale back distribution and focus on a specific niche market. The first mistake made was the choice of platform. Simply put, this game had no chance to sell well on Xbox360 and PS3. Let's face it, the majority of the people who own these consoles are FPS junkies who dismiss a game as crap if it doesn't keep their attention for 5 minutes. What you should do is release a new version next year as a PC only title. To offset the cost, I know I speak for many avid HC players when I say that I would not mind paying extra money for a game of this quality. I'm sure that if you scale back distribution and instead focus on the consumers interested in a hardcore football simulation, then you would start to see profits from this franchise

Agreed.

[FootballDetails]

Quote: Originally Posted by Demonolith

What you should do is release a new version next year as a PC only title.

If that's what it takes to keep the franchise going, I agree. I would definitely be interested in a PC version of Head Coach.

[senorsombrero]

i would agree if only for the fact that if the game was solely on PC those of us would be unable to play this due to the fact it would never be released over here in PC format. as it is on ps3 i can play it region free at present but if this were to change...well you do the maths. however, i can agree with the only-pc argument but in doing so it hinders myself so its catch 22 i guess. i doubt there will be another HC so i'm not really worried though.

[mercalnd]

Quote: Originally Posted by senorsombrero

i would agree if only for the fact that if the game was solely on PC those of us would be unable to play this due to the fact it would never be released over here in PC format. as it is on ps3 i can play it region free at present but if this were to change...well you do the maths.

Just import the PC game like you did the PS3 game. There are no region restrictions at all on PC games.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Hey...whatever it takes.

I love playing it on my 360, but if PC is the only way to go, I'll do it. Hell, I'd buy a new PC just to play a new HC.

[markmck]

As much as I'd like to see an more detailed Head Coach game on the PC (which I'd also be willing to pay more for) I don't see this happening anytime soon.

EA used a lot of code from last years Madden allowing the developers to work on the 'head coaching' aspect of the game and not graphics and animation. Since there isn't a PC version of Madden anymore, a PC Head Coach game would need to include additional developers to create (or port) graphics from one of the console systems in addition to creating the other head coach code. If this didn't sell as well as EA was hoping, and I don't know one way or the other, I doubt they would be willing to invest more resources in this... especially with the economy being what it is.

The only way that I could envision this happening anytime soon is if EA would purchase this from an independent developer (like Front Office Football) similar to how Sega bought Eastside Hockey Manager and branded it Sega with a few fancy gui screens. In fact, I think EA had some deal with Front Office Football a few years ago... I forget the specifics as I'm still hooked on playing the hockey manager sim (when I'm on a PC).

[hanmik]

If i'm not mistaken, I think there is talk of Madden coming back for the PC this year.