EA turns out a system seller?

Razer · 4934 5157 5662 5658 Gender: Joined: 07 Oct 2002

In my opinion...yes. No, it's not another Madden game or a sports game of any type.

It's Pogo Island.

In case you don't know about the Pogo games www.pogo.com it's a site with some simple Gamehouse/Popcap games. Millions of people log in every day to play card games like Spades and Bridge as well as arcade games (Bejeweled) and word games (Bookworm) among others. The hook to the DS version is that you can transfer the Pogo points you earn to your online account. Now I forgot that I even had a Pogo account, I made it way back before EA bought Pogo simply to teach my friend's mom how to play games online, but even tho I've not used it in 7-8 years it recalled all of my account settings. I found I have over 3000 points waiting (for what, I don't know). Now understand that the largest played online games have nothing to do with Worlds or Warcrafts, they're card games. Take a handful of the Pogo players, say 10,000 (1%) and figure that if they buy the DS game, EA makes millions and millions.

Now also add in that the DS version has 5 games while the online site has maybe 50 (totally guessing here). Follwoing the EA formula, that means they can release 6, 7, 8 sequels and still not tap all the games. And you thought they were milking Madden.

I don't know but I think EA's just fallen into another goldmine.

RivaOni · Full English! Age: 41 Gender: Joined: 24 Sep 2002

PRobably, but thias sounds remarkably similar to alot of games thatt are already on the DS, for a start, theres 42 all time classics which has card games in I believe, just recently we've seen the release of Puzzle Quest too.

Although they wont have the kind of advertising backing that EA can put behind this, much like Pro Evo Soccer was always behind in sales in comparison to FIFA until recent years.

Razer · 4934 5157 5662 5658 Gender: Joined: 07 Oct 2002

Well I know all too well about the 42 Classic games and Puzzle Quest (both of which are in my DS falsh cart right now) but it's not just that the games are card games. Maybe you can't imagine how serious people are who play card games, I know I never realized it until I started teaching computers. The "non-tradiotnal" game players who play Bridge, Texas Hold'em, Hearts, etc for 6-10 hours a day run the online world. I personally thiought it was ridiculous (sad?) until I tried seeing it from their point of view. I mean I'm a grown man with kids but I can drop 4-5 hours into Pokemon each day (if I had that kind of time). Some fantasy game where we run around slaying dragons or pretending that we're playing sports may seem just as silly as it seems to us that people can play Poker online all day. And they're actually making winning money while all we do is spend (by running up electricity). Maybe we're the dummies.

Daijaga · Chosen of Luck Gender: Joined: 17 Dec 2003

Shurikane · Dim Panties As String Joined: 24 Sep 2002

How could people be so stupid as to buy a DS game when they could be playing the same games for absolutely free on their computers?...

...Oh wait, I tried to use logic. Disregard my post. Sad

BK · undefined Gender: Joined: 20 Oct 2006

DS is more portable and cheaper than buying a laptop. I see your logic with more logic. Ace over Jack.

Sciler · Mistress Age: 46 Gender: Joined: 15 Sep 2002

I think that it WILL appeal to the non-gamers that would like something more convienent to take with them, on vacation or waiting in a doctor's office. I mean, hell, I'm the only gamer in my family overall, and I actually got my mom, dad, stepdad and grandmother all into LOVING the Wii. They all want one, but they just cant find it in stock currently. Considering they are just getting it for the Wii sports, and if there is a way to play the card games and stuff on DS, I'm sure if I got it and showed them, they would want that too lol.

Touching is good Wink

RivaOni · Full English! Age: 41 Gender: Joined: 24 Sep 2002

Touching is indeed good Sciler Wink

I think it'll be a success, hell most stuff with the EA name on sells like hotcakes no matter what the quality.

I have to admit though, I've been impressed with their output recently. I'm not a NFL fan but after I got sent Madden 07 and NFL Street 3, I got some enjoyment out of them, SSX has always been a great series of games and I've heard positive things about SSX Blur, this years FIFA was a huge improvement over 06. Hopefully this means a change in the way EA works.

I know Sciler's boyfriend works for EA (?) and while I don't think its the lack of talent on the dev teams or anything like that, I think its the sheer amount of time they're given to make a game, I mean, do we really need Criterion to make a new Burnout game every year? Burnout Dominator's good don't get me wrong, but its still not upto the standard of Burnout before EA (i.e. Points of Impact)

Razer · 4934 5157 5662 5658 Gender: Joined: 07 Oct 2002

I read 3 reviews of SSX Blur and it's not all that. It looks good but the control method, while cute, is simply not playable. All reveiewers mentioned that it's no intuitive making hand gestures to pull off the tricks. Kinda like drawing alchemic symbols, it just takes away from the game. Worst of all, I don't know why companies continue to produce games that do not support the Classic Controller. If Nin's "pushing' them to do motion stuff to emphasize the Wiimote then why'd they even bother to make the Classic? Like MK, they should just include multiple configs. It's not like you can even use your wii without the damn Wiimote so we already know about the motion capabilities.

I'm also kinda tired of EA tho.

RivaOni · Full English! Age: 41 Gender: Joined: 24 Sep 2002

Funny that, were these american reviews per-chance?

Not criticsing you guys but your reviewers don't seem to have much patience, its recieved mixed scores over here but the vast majority have said its good but you have to give it time to gel, once you've given it that time its incredibly intuitive, aside from the uber tricks which are difficult, as they should be tbh.