KcMizzou
04-03-2008, 08:08 PM
Another blow for PC gaming: EA drops PC version of Madden '09
By Frank Caron | Published: April 03, 2008 - 12:06PM CT
Outcries for and against the belief that PC gaming is dying are a dime a dozen these days, but a new and unusual PC deficiency is raising the question all over again. Industry titan Electronic Arts has confirmed that there will be no PC version for the upcoming Madden 2009.
The announcement of Madden 2009 noted every major platform—both console and handheld—except for the PC, which EA has since confirmed was a conscious omission. This is the first Madden title not to hit the PC alongside current consoles since Madden NFL '96 in 1995.
EA's Peter Moore commented about the lack of a PC version on his official EA blog. "We knew that our decision to not develop this year’s Madden for the PC would be an unpopular decision in some circles," Moore admitted. "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."
In North America, Madden represents one of the core pillars of gaming. Like it or not, the franchise is an industry unto itself, topping sales charts year in and year out. Thanks to the sheer breadth of platforms and huge following in the US, Madden has routinely sold millions of copies every year. Madden 2007, for example, sold roughly 6.5 million copies in 2006. The second-best-selling title of the year, Cars, sold just over 2 million: no small feat, to be sure, but a number dwarfed by EA's cash cow.
While to some the loss of a PC version of a series built to legacy on consoles may seem trivial, there's no question that a definitive statement has been made by EA. Given the concurrent development of an Xbox 360 version, a PC port would not be too costly an endeavor. And for the hardest of hardcore football fans, the PC versions of Madden were often the version of choice: after all, they were the only versions that allowed user-generated content and roster updatability.
More than anything, EA's decision to nix the PC version of Madden reinforces the growing trend of noteworthy developers shying away from the PC as a platform for sales. The threat of piracy alone is reason enough to write off the platform, even for developers who treat their PC audience well. For example, Infinity Ward, developers of the hit title Call of Duty 4, readily admitted that its game was pirated in distressing amounts and only managed to succeed thanks to sales of the console versions.
While Madden may not be the foremost concern in the minds of hardcore PC gamers, the franchise does represent a significant contribution to the platform as a whole. The absence of such software only further contributes to the ever-shrinking content available to PC gamers, and furthers realizes that stigma that PC gaming is increasingly exclusive to massively multiplayer online games and first-person shooters.
Madden 2009 is slated to land on August 12 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080403-another-blow-for-pc-gaming-ea-drops-pc-version-of-madden-09.html
By Frank Caron | Published: April 03, 2008 - 12:06PM CT
Outcries for and against the belief that PC gaming is dying are a dime a dozen these days, but a new and unusual PC deficiency is raising the question all over again. Industry titan Electronic Arts has confirmed that there will be no PC version for the upcoming Madden 2009.
The announcement of Madden 2009 noted every major platform—both console and handheld—except for the PC, which EA has since confirmed was a conscious omission. This is the first Madden title not to hit the PC alongside current consoles since Madden NFL '96 in 1995.
EA's Peter Moore commented about the lack of a PC version on his official EA blog. "We knew that our decision to not develop this year’s Madden for the PC would be an unpopular decision in some circles," Moore admitted. "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."
In North America, Madden represents one of the core pillars of gaming. Like it or not, the franchise is an industry unto itself, topping sales charts year in and year out. Thanks to the sheer breadth of platforms and huge following in the US, Madden has routinely sold millions of copies every year. Madden 2007, for example, sold roughly 6.5 million copies in 2006. The second-best-selling title of the year, Cars, sold just over 2 million: no small feat, to be sure, but a number dwarfed by EA's cash cow.
While to some the loss of a PC version of a series built to legacy on consoles may seem trivial, there's no question that a definitive statement has been made by EA. Given the concurrent development of an Xbox 360 version, a PC port would not be too costly an endeavor. And for the hardest of hardcore football fans, the PC versions of Madden were often the version of choice: after all, they were the only versions that allowed user-generated content and roster updatability.
More than anything, EA's decision to nix the PC version of Madden reinforces the growing trend of noteworthy developers shying away from the PC as a platform for sales. The threat of piracy alone is reason enough to write off the platform, even for developers who treat their PC audience well. For example, Infinity Ward, developers of the hit title Call of Duty 4, readily admitted that its game was pirated in distressing amounts and only managed to succeed thanks to sales of the console versions.
While Madden may not be the foremost concern in the minds of hardcore PC gamers, the franchise does represent a significant contribution to the platform as a whole. The absence of such software only further contributes to the ever-shrinking content available to PC gamers, and furthers realizes that stigma that PC gaming is increasingly exclusive to massively multiplayer online games and first-person shooters.
Madden 2009 is slated to land on August 12 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080403-another-blow-for-pc-gaming-ea-drops-pc-version-of-madden-09.html