Competition Creates Better Games is Baloney

[RaychelSnr]

Sambowie,

First off great screen name.

Secondly, asking a question then doing some reasearch and then setting a hypothesis and then testing it with more research and then coming up with a conclusion is the wrong way to do an experiment, I guess we need to rethink a lot of what we've done the past few centuries

My question back to you would be, how would you prove that direct sport competition affects game quality in a standard measurable way? To disprove the data given, you have to come up with a better source of data, and I am as of yet unaware of one.

Sure reviews are subjective, but so are your opinions which you think are right. Until you come up with harder numbers than the ones I have provided, you are simply the one speculating that the numbers are lying

[TombSong]

This article speaks as though reviews is the ONLY data to point to to prove or disprove competition breeds better games, LOL

What god did he pray to that told him that and sent him to OS to preach this garbage ?

Here is proof, IAN cummings was inspired to BEST 2Ks Gang tackling. Thats what started him coming to these forums. LBzRule challeneged IANS claim with vids and the rest is history.

Everything you see in this years madden was their answer to alot of stuff 2K 5 did well. How can you look at Madden 2010 and doubt it was not competition that inspired the attempt ?

The only time competition is NOT needed to make a better product is if the one maker of the product is self motivated and takes pride in ALL its work, and makes sure it puts out a quality product no matter what.

[StormJH1]

spursfan, here's the problem with that logic: You're saying that Madden 2005 was the last great game because 2k5 pushed it to be better. But those two games were released in the same year. Nobody talks much about ESPN NFL Football, which was the 2004 game from 2k. In fact, the ONLY reason people started talking about 2k5 as much as they did was the decision to release it for $19.99 (We all remember the T.O. commercials--"Tis the season for giving, but receivings aiiight")

So, are you saying that Madden never comes up with Hit Stick unless 2k is there? What were they afraid of this year, when they slowed down the gameplay and put in Pro-Tak....Backbreaker?

Even in the sports where we have "competition", there is usually a big dog and a little dog, and the big dog doesn't lower itself to copying innovations of the smaller dog. If the smaller dog's innovations catch on, then maybe their sales will improve, but that's simply evidence of an internal creative process.

In 2007, EA's hockey game clearly surpassed 2k's. NHL 2k8 offered a much deeper feature set, functioning online leagues, and all kinds of franchise goodies. But the gameplay sucked, and NHL 08 focused on refining an idea (Shot Stick) that they created on their own. In NHL 09, did EA bother to go back and copy all of the missing features that 2k8 had and they didn't? Heck no! They focused on their own formula, and made another GoTY.

Contemporaneous games don't influence each other to the degree that consumers perceive them to.

[BBkobe87]

I wont even give this article a chance. Since when did it become acceptable to spell balogne, "baloney"??

[Joeyland]

Using stupid magazine ratings by loser writers ruins your argument. And any Madden gamer worth anything knows Madden has never been the same since 2K died.
Gaming is different than the general marketplace, I'll give you that, and it doesn't always follow the rules.
But anyone who can't see the stunted growth in Madden is blind, reviews will never show an accurate picture, most of these reviewers are in the tank for someone. Madden reviews have always been a joke, we know that.

[RaychelSnr]

StormJH1,

Great points all around man. Although I will disagree that review scores are unreliable simply because the games are all on an even footing. In testing the theory you will see I don't take into account the initial quality as a measure of competition but the improvement the game either does or doesn't make. So the console lifespan issue really isn't a big deal in terms of what we're measuring.

I agree wholeheartedly sports gaming companies are still figuring out how to properly develop games on a one year cycle for these machines, and it has resulted in less than stellar games overall across the board, but you'd at least expect games to be getting better against each other if direct sport competition was truly a factor

[StormJH1]

TombSong, I knew that comeback about gang tackling was coming. Ian Cummings TOLD people that they were inspired to make people forget about 2k5 because they were personally tired of hearing 2k5 fanboys talk about how a 5-year old product was better than theirs.

That's NOT "competition". The "competition" theory says that EA is going to fear LOSING SALES to a rival game coming out in the same year, so they innovate (and borrow ideas) in ways that they wouldn't or couldn't in an exclusive license environment.

EA has no reason to keep chasing the ghosts of a football game that very few people cared about until (a) it was gone; and (b) they lowered the price of it by $30!!!

[RaychelSnr]

Jet Sufferer,

So your only response is to simply try to call me a Marxist? Is that really your refute?

I'm not saying competition doesn't create better games through the marketplace, I even said that it does in a post or two in this thread. But the point I'm making here is that direct-sport competition is not the biggest reason why a developer will create better games ultimately.

So if you want to try to belittle me and call me a Marxist on a Sports Video Games message board, I guess that's your prerogative. I'd submit to you my political beliefs are almost in direct contrast on the other side of that theory though.