FEATURE: Next Console Manufacturer – Electronic Arts?
- Scribbled on January 10th, 2009 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Features, Industry News
If you listened to Episode 63 of 2Old2Type, one of the reader voice mails asked Codemonkey and DSmooth if 1. Sony would pull out of the console manufacturing game, and 2. Who would replace them. Both immediately said there would be a PlayStation 4, but they started pondering who would be the next company to jump into the game and make their own console?
The company that would be the most intriguing would be Electronic Arts, and what a behemoth they could potentially be. Let’s cite some factors onto why EA might try their hand:
- They have the financial wherewithal to get it started.
- They’ve been eternally at war with Activision, and the merger with Blizzard gave their rivals not only World of Warcraft, but the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo licenses, effectively making them the Kings of PC Gaming. Electronic Arts’ recent PC offerings have been scant and unsuccessful; even the long-hyped Spore underperformed.
- EA has the licensing. Imagine the console sports landscape with every EA Sports title suddenly exclusive to a single console? “You can only get Madden on our system!” They already have the premiere soccer (FIFA) and hockey (NHL) titles. Then you have all of their other powerful licenses – The Sims, for example. Rock Band. Valve’s console adaptations. Mass Effect. Command & Conquer. Battlefield. Burnout. The Simpsons. Can you imagine how it would rock the gaming landscape if they announced: “The Sims 4, only on our system! Rock Band 3, only on our system!” iD Software. Even relatively defunct licenses could get new life, like Wolfenstein, SSX, Need for Speed and Medal of Honor. Can you say Spore 2?
-
Focused, cheaper development – Electronic Arts always tries to get their major titles on multiple platforms – well, on every platform available. They even released Madden NFL 08 on the defunct Xbox and GameCube systems. Now, with a single platform to develop for, maybe their yearly games wouldn’t be nearly as shoddy.
- They would no longer have to pay Nintendo, Microsoft and PlayStation 3 fees to publish on their systems.
- EA classic games: Let’s not forget their massive library of older games. How would you like to download M.U.L.E. for your new system? Archon? Pinball Construction Set? The Bard’s Tale? The Seven Cities of Gold, Mail Order Monsters, Populous, and Skate or Die! Imagine them reskinned for better graphics. That’s just a taste of their classic library. They could start their own version of Xbox Live Arcade and improve upon it.
- The console world is still relatively untapped in terms of MMOs. This would be fertile ground for them to establish their own alternative to World of Warcraft. If the PCs are already owned by WoW, then why not fight on a different turf?
- EA would also learn from the mistakes and successes of Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. They’d realize they could make two SKU’s of their console – a cheap $250 system that would include a cheap hard drive and a $399 system with all the fixin’s – and include a chatpad with both. They’d make a software development package that’s easy for themselves and third-party devs to write on.
Most of all, Electronic Arts could kneecap Microsoft and Sony by taking the most profitable third-party games from them, attract the younger casual gamers by only releasing something like The Sims 4 on the console (while you’re on the charts, let us know where The Sims is all-time), and offer the hardcore some of the most intense games they already enjoy – a brand-new console-based Counter-Strike, anyone? Remember, Electronic Arts had expressed desire for a world with only one console system. And unlike their previous foray into hardware manufacturing, the 3DO, they won’t charge an outrageous $700 for the system.
Plus, they know if they fail, they can always go back to third-party game development and continue on their merry way, like Sega. One wonders why they haven’t done it already – or if they’re planning it now and are waiting to strike.
January 10th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
This is very true. Over the time I have come to enjoy Sony and Microsoft a lot but having EA would certainly lower prices because that would mean more competition. Also another competitor I think would have to be Apple/Mac. They already have expressed an interest and they have the money and experience(hardware/software). All I know is that next gen Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and the newbies are all gonna be fighting like hell. I even think that one of the companies will go out of the video game industry(possibly). The reason why is because the wii already took the casual gamers and casual gamers don’t upgrade all the time to have the latest tech. So next gen is gonna be all about who has the best technology on their system with the lowest price (and games of course).
January 10th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
It’s a nice idea though I don’t think we’ll be seeing it anytime soon. As expensive as developing games is developing, manufacturing, and then marketing a console is degrees more expensive and largely a losing proposition. Sony still isn’t making money on its “cutting edge” PS3, 360 is just now making money, and Nintendo makes money because all their selling is a gamecube in a new case.
Would it be good for the industry? Yes. Will it happen, I’m not going to hold my breath.
January 10th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
ea doesnt have the rights to any oof valves games and they have to publish all there sports game on all platforms its in there contract also the same 4 all there other licensed games
January 10th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Electronic Arts has publishing rights to Valve’s games, which is why they developed the PS3 version of The Orange Box internally when Valve refused to.
January 10th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
EA sims is huge on the pc. Spore is still selling very well on the pc dispite what people think of it. Fifa is huge on the pc in fact it sold alot more on the in korea than consoles.
EA also sells pc’s but i’m not sure how ell it sells.
January 10th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Yeah it would be a good idea and EA would deinitely rule the world if they designed a console that would work with mouse and keyboard (for RTS and action RPG games) and controllers for the other types of games. I keep wishing MS would implement the mouse and keyboard for the Xbox360 for RTS and Action RPG games, it would make their platform awesome man.
January 10th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
My gut says no.
IF EA is capable of putting out shoddy annual games doesn’t that say something about the ideology of its management team. EA hardware would make the 360’s RROD look like a cake walk.
You can walk away from bad software but a stinker console sticks with you for years.
January 11th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Um, DEEP NNN, ever consider EA spreads its development out too thin trying to develop for 6 consoles for every game? Even EA complains about multiplatform development.
If EA was only developing for ONE platform and focused on ONE platform, and didn’t have to worry about porting…
January 11th, 2009 at 12:35 am
omfg…. i just cant believe that i didnt think of this. if ea makes a console, they will destroy the competition.
January 11th, 2009 at 12:57 am
[...] start developing a games console, this is pure conjecture from certain game sites, one of which is Game Stooge. But there are some interesting points made about why EA would be the logical choice of company to [...]
January 11th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
When is EA gonna close down?
January 11th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
It’s too late now.
January 11th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
[...] we pondered Electronic Arts’ possible foray into console manufacturing for the second time in its life, [...]
January 12th, 2009 at 4:02 am
[...] we speculated that Electronic Arts could be the next console producer, but that’s going to Brazilian toy company TecToy, who will be releasing the Zeebo. Centered [...]
January 13th, 2009 at 12:38 am
I’m not sure they have the financial clout. EA’s market cap has been reduced to a quarter of the 20B it reached a couple of years back, and their cash reserves would hardly cover the amount SONY spent on a few chip manufacturing plants. Certainly nothing left for the huge losses that launching a next gen machine usually incurs.
In fact, their strength is not being tied to an individual console – why only publish on one when it’s more profitable to port to several? It’s unlikely selling Madden on a single platform would make enough to pay the license fee, even if it were the best selling platform.
If EA ends up producing for one piece of hardware it’s more likely to be through a takeover by a manufacturer.