Madden NFL 09 Not Releasing For The PC

[Steve_OS]

That's right, straight from Peter Moore and his updated blog post entitled, Madden 20th Anniversary and More! According to his post, there will be no PC version this year. Wow...

Quote:

"We knew that our decision to not develop this year’s Madden for the PC would be an unpopular decision in some circles. But I’ll reiterate what I said a couple of weeks ago in this space…the PC presents some very serious business challenges to us in the sports category, particularly because so many of you all are playing your favorite sports games on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. We are committed to shipping a limited number of our games on the PC this year, but we’ve also had to cut a few of our games from the platform. We do have ideas for how to revitalize the PC for sports games and the types of games that are best suited to the platform, and we’ll continue to explore those."

[PlayaHataSupreme]

I guess he knows the economics of the Madden PC game better than I do because from where I'm sitting Madden = cash cow.......... and I thought it was all about the $$$.

And I would think that the development costs would be cheap assuming they are using the PS2 engine.......... maybe I'm missing something here?

[umd]

Is EA going out of their way to alienate their entire *current* fan base? Sure looks like it to me.

[RaychelSnr]

I highly doubt Madden for the PC was making that much money to begin with if this decision was made. I don't want to defend killing off what has been a tradition for a long time, but it's not like the PC market is going gangbusters.

With that said though, I'm actually really shocked at this. I didn't expect them to pull the plug on it this year, I can't even imagine what folks at sites like FootballFreaks are thinking right now.

[Nza]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMChrisS

I highly doubt Madden for the PC was making that much money to begin with if this decision was made. I don't want to defend killing off what has been a tradition for a long time, but it's not like the PC market is going gangbusters. With that said though, I'm actually really shocked at this. I didn't expect them to pull the plug on it this year, I can't even imagine what folks at sites like FootballFreaks are thinking right now.

It's mixed. Some reactions are expected - rejection from EA after years now of 2nd class treatment, etc. It stinks because these guys have continued to buy the game in hope of better days; in support of the series. Many saw the arrival of DX10 and Vista as hope of such days, but instead EA's new top dog obviously puts his console/360 agenda at the forefront and spits out a measly paragraph in an obscure blog belitting the community as some "circle" of insignificant customers.

Other reactions are actually positive. Despite EA's efforts (or lack thereof), Madden 08 PC was the best version last year in almost all facets. A large part of that reason was because of community add-ons. 1985 rosters, NCAA rosters, editors etc, and the recent ability to edit the game's textures. Right now a few people are making kick *** NCAA uniforms without the crappy restrictions of Madden's in built uniform designer. A fair amount of people will be relatively happy to continue playing 08 PC including myself, because there's a good chance it will still be the best version. After all, chances are 09 PC would have just been a *tiny* upgrade over 08 PC anyway, just like 08 PC was for 07 PC. If you've heard of MVP Baseball PC, you'll know that is a series still going strong on PC despite its cancellation years ago, due to user updating and addons. Madden can be much the same. There are about half as many users over at Football-Freaks as there is here at OS, and OS covers all sports gaming, not just a "niche" version of a game supported by "some circles". I think it's an error for Moore to assume the PC fanbase will happily merge to the console versions because many PC gamers play the PC version for a good reason - a reason that won't change in 09.

There is no doubt Madden PC didn't sell anywhere close to the console versions, but it wouldn't have costed anywhere near what they cost to make either. It was a direct PS2 port. Keep this in mind - go over to VGChartz.com (I think it is) and see how well Madden 08 sold for the DS - and yet it is still getting a 09 and I'd say EA actually have to make a unique DS copy of the game and not just easily port another across. EASports have been wanting to kill PC for a long time now and they finally got their wish, on the series' 20th anniversary no less. 20 years ago, there was a title known as John Madden Football on the PC DOS platform that helped start this whole series, and for a while there EASports were *lucky* to have such a strong following from their PC fan base. Now, we're trash. No loyalty, not even equal treatment anymore. While Moore and EA spout off on how much the PC stinks as a game console, the reality is, when you release the same title year after year with little to no effort to make it a unique PC game, it won't sell well. It may fly on the console, it just doesn't on the PC. One would be wise to perhaps see this outcome as a possible window into the future for EA, if user expectations grow on all platforms and they don't shape up.

Hopefully this move is a blessing in disguise though, inspiring some other up and coming company to start their 20 year football franchise on a platform that cares - John Madden Football wasn't a licensed NFL game when it started, either.

[Cusefan]

Quote: Originally Posted by umd

Is EA going out of their way to alienate their entire *current* fan base? Sure looks like it to me.

Yea there going to Alienate their HUGE Fan base. I used to be a diehard PC gamer but PC's just are not as big of a game machine as they once were. I remember when the great games came out on PC first then were ported over to consoles, now its almost always consoles getting games first then getting ported over to PC.

I hate to say it but PC gaming is dying and i dont see anything that is going to bring it back...

[RaychelSnr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cusefan

Yea there going to Alienate their HUGE Fan base. I used to be a diehard PC gamer but PC's just are not as big of a game machine as they once were. I remember when the great games came out on PC first then were ported over to consoles, now its almost always consoles getting games first then getting ported over to PC. I hate to say it but PC gaming is dying and i dont see anything that is going to bring it back...

I wonder what exactly has done PC gaming in? I would venture to guess just as many people have PCs as do consoles in their houses. Is it because software and hardware advanced too fast for the average consumer to keep up with? Nowadays, your system is good for 1 year at best if you spend $800 on it for PC gaming...sometimes that's not even enough. If you spent $3000 you got a machine that'll last you 3 years where with a console you spent $400 for a machine that is good for 5-6 years easy. I don't know but that seems to be the case here

[Cusefan]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMChrisS

I wonder what exactly has done PC gaming in? I would venture to guess just as many people have PCs as do consoles in their houses. Is it because software and hardware advanced too fast for the average consumer to keep up with? Nowadays, your system is good for 1 year at best if you spend $800 on it for PC gaming...sometimes that's not even enough. If you spent $3000 you got a machine that'll last you 3 years where with a console you spent $400 for a machine that is good for 5-6 years easy. I don't know but that seems to be the case here

Exactly, take Cyrsis for example, a awesome game but if you want to run the game on max setting your looking at a 2500-3000 dollar machine, easy. I gotta pretty good computer for playing the games that i like for PC(Company of Heros and Civilization 4). But im not even sure my computer could run Crysis. One day when Kickass hardware is cheap ill buy it and play the games i am missing out on now...