How can one tell when a platform is dead? When EA Sports abandons it, it’s a damn good way of measuring the life cycle of a platform. There’s usually one EA Sports game at launch and one as its final ballad (i.e. Madden 08 for Xbox and GameCube).
Using my impenetrable logic as a guideline, it can only spell disaster for the PC as a viable gaming platform (don’t hate me).
EA has announced that it will no longer be making NBA Live for the PC. This announcement comes eight days after we learned that Madden NFL 09 won’t be coming to the PC. Interesting moves indeed.
EA is not a stupid company. Evil, yes. Stupid, no. The only way EA would stop producing a game on a particular platform would be if it were no longer profitable. NBA Live and Madden NFL are the two biggest EA Sports titles. If they can’t make money on the PC what hope does the rest of the EA Sports line have. I’d say close to zero.
The cancellation of Madden and Live also says a lot about the current state of the PC gaming industry. It’s costly. People are seeing online play and graphics that are just as good on the consoles for a fraction of the price.
Console gamers will spend 500 dollars on their system and controllers once every five – six years. And that’s over estimating on price. PC gamers spend 400 dollars on a video card that’s out dated after a year and a half. Don’t forget about adding ram, making sure your processors are up to snuff and whether you have enough space on your hard drive.
With consoles you just put the disc in. That’s all. Just pop it in and it will play with no worries about "system requirements." And you get to sit on your couch instead of a desk chair. Also a plus. I’m sure EA didn’t take any of the above factors into account when removing their two biggest sports franchises from the PC.
They just looked at the bottom line. And it was red. If you loose money at EA before long you find yourself kicked to the curb.
