cdj
04-02-2011, 10:04 PM
http://thegamingtailgate.com/images/misc/NCAABasketball10.jpg
College basketball gamers find themselves without a college basketball franchise in spite of the immense popularity of March Madness and the Final Four. In recent years, both 2K Sports and EA SPORTS have dropped their college basketball franchises. 2007 marked the last year of 2K Sports' popular College Hoops franchise while 2009 was the last year for EA SPORTS' re-invigorated NCAA Basketball franchise.
Despite the gaming success of another college sport (EA SPORTS' NCAA Football) and immense NCAA Tournament viewership (across CBS & Turner Broadcasting as well as March Madness On Demand), hopes for either franchise returning appear slim. Forbes blogger John Gaudiosi weighs in on how we've reached this point and also the possibility of a college basketball franchise returning in the future.
After checking out Gaudiosi's blog, come back and share your thoughts with the community. What would it take for a college basketball franchise to be successful in the future (in terms of sales and community reaction) and why haven't they been so in the past?
With CBS and Turner experiencing record TV ratings for the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, the video game industry is sitting on the bench during March Madness and ignoring the Final Four and the massive fan base it attracts annually. And publishers like Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive are leaving all of that potential money on the table.
2007 was the last year that both EA Sports and 2K Sports released NCAA basketball games under the NCAA March Madness 08 and College Hoops 2K8 franchises. According to video game tracking firm The NPD Group, 2K Sports sold 200,000 copies of its game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 in the U.S. and decided to abandon the college sport completely the next year.
In 2008, Electronic Arts released NCAA Basketball 09 with UCLA star Kevin Love on the cover. Without any competition, the newly re-named franchise sold only 223,000 copies for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 in the U.S., according to The NPD Group. The company gave college hoops one more try in 2009 with NCAA Basketball 10, featuring Los Angeles clipper star Blake Griffin on the cover, before abandoning the sport altogether.
For the last two years, there have been no college basketball video games from any game company. But college sports still thrive on the gridiron. EA Sports has sold over 3 million copies of NCAA Football 11 since last July for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, according to The NPD Group. That annual franchise thrives and regularly competes with EA Sports’ Madden NFL franchise in the U.S sales charts for top-selling game of the year.
The recent push by EA in the free-to-play online space with titles like World Series Superstars, FIFA Superstars and Madden NFL Superstars is one possibility, since the cost of developing a current gen console game on a regular basis seems unrealistic. But considering the last two years have seen no new game, it’s likely March Madness will be relegated to the real hardwoods, rather than the virtual.
Click here to read the full blog from Gaudiosi (http://blogs.forbes.com/johngaudiosi/2011/04/02/game-industry-fails-to-capitalize-on-march-madness/).
College basketball gamers find themselves without a college basketball franchise in spite of the immense popularity of March Madness and the Final Four. In recent years, both 2K Sports and EA SPORTS have dropped their college basketball franchises. 2007 marked the last year of 2K Sports' popular College Hoops franchise while 2009 was the last year for EA SPORTS' re-invigorated NCAA Basketball franchise.
Despite the gaming success of another college sport (EA SPORTS' NCAA Football) and immense NCAA Tournament viewership (across CBS & Turner Broadcasting as well as March Madness On Demand), hopes for either franchise returning appear slim. Forbes blogger John Gaudiosi weighs in on how we've reached this point and also the possibility of a college basketball franchise returning in the future.
After checking out Gaudiosi's blog, come back and share your thoughts with the community. What would it take for a college basketball franchise to be successful in the future (in terms of sales and community reaction) and why haven't they been so in the past?
With CBS and Turner experiencing record TV ratings for the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, the video game industry is sitting on the bench during March Madness and ignoring the Final Four and the massive fan base it attracts annually. And publishers like Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive are leaving all of that potential money on the table.
2007 was the last year that both EA Sports and 2K Sports released NCAA basketball games under the NCAA March Madness 08 and College Hoops 2K8 franchises. According to video game tracking firm The NPD Group, 2K Sports sold 200,000 copies of its game for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 in the U.S. and decided to abandon the college sport completely the next year.
In 2008, Electronic Arts released NCAA Basketball 09 with UCLA star Kevin Love on the cover. Without any competition, the newly re-named franchise sold only 223,000 copies for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 in the U.S., according to The NPD Group. The company gave college hoops one more try in 2009 with NCAA Basketball 10, featuring Los Angeles clipper star Blake Griffin on the cover, before abandoning the sport altogether.
For the last two years, there have been no college basketball video games from any game company. But college sports still thrive on the gridiron. EA Sports has sold over 3 million copies of NCAA Football 11 since last July for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, according to The NPD Group. That annual franchise thrives and regularly competes with EA Sports’ Madden NFL franchise in the U.S sales charts for top-selling game of the year.
The recent push by EA in the free-to-play online space with titles like World Series Superstars, FIFA Superstars and Madden NFL Superstars is one possibility, since the cost of developing a current gen console game on a regular basis seems unrealistic. But considering the last two years have seen no new game, it’s likely March Madness will be relegated to the real hardwoods, rather than the virtual.
Click here to read the full blog from Gaudiosi (http://blogs.forbes.com/johngaudiosi/2011/04/02/game-industry-fails-to-capitalize-on-march-madness/).