These individuals have interacted with the community over the last three to four years and have even had fans of the games flown out to Tiburon in Florida or EA Canada in Burnaby/Vancouver to check out games prior to release. They pushed to allow community members to have open access to developers, producers and designers of these products so that the team behind the game could get a better connection with the people playing them. This one small initiative has turned into one of the biggest contribution to change that EA has seen over the last handful of years.
Some of the notable Community Managers at the forefront are Will Kinsler (former owner of Madden Nation), Alain Quinto (Community Manager in Vancouver) and Justin Dewiel (Community Manager at Tiburon, FL). While there are roughly one to three other individuals behind the scenes on the community team, these three figures seem to be the most public and you would know that if you chose to follow them on Twitter (click their names to access their Twitter accounts).
NHL 2006 Vs NHL 2010
This team of Community Managers is also the brains behind EA’s latest community initiative known as the Game Changers. The Game Changer program is a group of selected community members that volunteer their time to EA Sports in order to help other gamers get better at certain games, write weekly blogs about some of your favorite EA Sports titles and run community-driven events where you can earn bragging rights or great prizes.
Game Changers has already had a great impact in our community, but we still feel
like it’s in its infancy. There’s a lot of room for growth. As we move forward,
you’re going to see what they’re doing elevated to an even greater stage as we build
out our plans for each of the EA SPORTS titles.We have a lot of plans for community activities this year, and Game Changers will be
right in the middle of all of that. We’re looking forward to letting everyone know
about our plans in the coming months as we get closer to when the products ship. — Will Kinsler
Have you noticed the difference over the last four years? I’m sure you have. We’ve now witnessed NBA Live turn from a joke to a respectable product that is almost as highly reviewed as the NBA 2K franchise. That is something most thought impossible when you rewind and look back on how terrible some of the earlier releases of this franchise were this decade.
Have you seen the quality of the NHL series return to that of the same quality as NHL 1994? Remember how amazing 1994 was? It’s hard to imagine that the team behind that game has managed to reach that plateau once more and has now started improving on it.
Take FIFA for example as well. Pro Evolution Soccer was kicking FIFA’s ass all over the pitch throughout this decade, wasn’t it? However, now? That’s right…FIFA has overtaken PES has the premiere authentic experience of footy in the entire world. Nobody saw that coming.
Tiger Woods has also continually improved year after year with great innovations like the Wiimote and amazing photo-realistic graphics on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Madden 2006 Vs Madden 2011
Finally, take a look at Madden. Madden has gone from Madden ’06 – which was the laughing stock of this generation of console’s launch to Madden ’11, which is shaping up to be one of the greatest Madden titles to date.
One that sticks out for me is my first Madden Bowl. It was interesting to hear how
athletes talk about the game and see how they say things about our games that are
similar to what fans say. They have as much of an opinion about what they want to
see in the game as anyone else, and their perspective is interesting since they are
actually participating in the events we’re trying to recreate in our games. — Will Kinsler
It’s amazing to look back at that stretch of time and realize exactly how much of a change Electronic Arts has made in the sports division. While there will always be those few that cling to the belief that each year is simply a roster update – those of us who play these games year round can see and notice the subtle and big changes made from year to year.
I look forward to the future of what EA Sports plans to deliver to gamers. Every year things get better and better. It makes it impossible to imagine exactly how far the developers will take it five years from now. So long as they continue to reach out to the community that supports them, we’re going to be in for a treat like none other.
Interesting read.
“Pro Evolution Soccer was kicking FIFA’s ass all over the pitch”
PES has since been put in an armbar and pantsed.
Mmmh naah, EA sucks xD. My logic is: “Why would I ever buy an EA game when I know for a fact that the next year (or even less) there will be a better game overall?”. I’m better of just renting it.
It’s kind of like the DBZ games or the Tony Hawk’s series over the past years (By the way, I love DBZ. . . I just don’t buy every game that comes out).
Even more, did you hear about this “multiplayer online pass” thing?; that sucks really bad.
It’s just like those crappy DRM from Ubisoft. It means I can no longer bring my games to play online at my buddy’s house anymore. It also means people will be less likely to buy or sell these games used which in turn affects the new games market.
I don’t know. I have seen the improvements over the years, but it just feels like milking to me.
Yes you can. The online pass is locked to your account, not your console. When you bring the game over to your buddy’s house, just log into the PSN with your account. It’s not that difficult. You’ll have full online access.
@The Dean
Where do people come up with this stuff? Misinformation is the gamer’s worst enemy.
@Tokyo:
Where you refering to me?, lol: http://www.easports.com/onlinepass
I still don’t like the strategy. I would rather see a release every other year, with roster updates via software update and a fee 1 year after release (15 bucks or something). That way the games benefit from a longer development and we are encouraged to keep our games
@Dreamer_Lion
Yes, I was referring to you. Not about the online pass itself, but you saying it can’t work on multiple consoles if you bring a game to a friend’s house. That is false information that you’re spreading. See the same website here,
Do I need an unique Online Pass for every user on my console?
No. One Online Pass will give online access to multiple users logged into the console where the Online Pass was first activated (subject to the console manufacturer’s and EA online terms of service).
Also, the user that activated the Online Pass will be allowed to access online features on other consoles (of the same manufacturer) by logging into the same account credentials that they used when they enabled the Online Pass.
lol
Great read, never tried any EA sports game other than Fifa. But NHL as been slowly gaining interest as I have played NHL 2000 on pc.
Thankfully PES is getting a lil better now Konami really really needs to make some serious changes.
@Tokyo:
Then you should have referred to me in the first place. I don’t really care about being pointed out wrong (like Dean did [btw, I’m not wrong that often xD]).
@Dreamer_Lion
Er, I guess I didn’t directly refer to you because nobody else before you wrote a post that could be considered relevant to misinformation, or that I replied to the dean who corrected you, so it is assumed I was referring to you. I don’t really care that you were wrong either, or how often. It’s just that I wonder why you would even start saying what you said without any basis, especially when the website you directed me to said otherwise.
@Tokyo: Exactly.
Some people might even assume you were referring to The Dean (who is actually right), therefore causing more confusion.
Listen, just as you said: “Misinformation is the gamer’s worst enemy”. After Dean pointed me wrong I googled for the online pass and found that link.
Again, I assumed everyone else but me knew what the Dean said was true and so, I provided the link with the complete information about EA’s online pass in my response.
The problem is, pretty much every website I’ve seen with news about the online pass hasn’t linked to EA itself. I thought the details weren’t avaiable yet and started making assumptions (which proved to be a bad move, lol).
Oh well, this was a fun little argument =)
@Dreamer_Lion
Regardless, wherever you got your information when you first heard about the whole EA online pass thing(assuming it wasn’t from Playstation University), you should have immediately Googled the details before making random assumptions that could leave an impression on other people. Why would you start saying something that no one has any information on even if EA hadn’t explained it on their website yet?
Well, it’s not really an argument, and I don’t have any ill intentions. This is just how rumors get started.
@Tokyo:
That’s the thing, nowhere on the sites I’ve checked was the link to EA sports and the online pass. I just infered those things, seeing no more explanations were given.
I mean, why do I have to google this stuff in the first place?. I just spoke up my mind and If I was wrong, so what?. By your logic people that read my post should have google the details too, therefore leaving no room for rumours. . . . . .
@Dreamer_Lion
There is a saying, “Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but that doesn’t mean their opionion is right.” By “speaking your mind” and not looking at other resources before writing your post, you could lead people into doing the same thing. They may accept what you say is true, and then they’ll continue to regurgitate it, a la rumor.
As for your second paragraph, you say this as if leaving no room for rumors is a bad thing. You’re right, other people should Google as well, but the importance isn’t as great as long as it’s coming from a reputable source (PSU, EA), instead of word of mouth(yourself). Had you not written your post and left the explanation to EA, they would have cleared things up for you and everyone else, and you wouldn’t have had to question them.