Forbes: EA Sports Exec Says NFL Lockout Has Been Good for Its NCAA Football Franchise

[cdj]

Forbes blogger John Gaudiosi has written a new article discussing how the "NFL Lockout Has Been Good for (EA's) NCAA Football Franchise." Continue on to read some excerpts of his blog entry.

Tom Goedde, vice president of marketing for EA Sports, said that the on-again, off-again NFL lockout actually was good for the annual NCAA Football bash. The company had more big-name draft players attend this year’s shindig than ever before. And that was, in part, due to the record number of players in New York for the NFL Draft.

While Madden gets all the attention – and this year Michael Vick, the NFL lockout and a lawsuit by a former Madden game creator have given Madden NFL 12 plenty of publicity; EA’s NCAA Football franchise is a perennial money-maker for the company. Life-to-date revenue for EA Sports’ long-running NCAA Football franchise is over $868 million, according to video game tracking firm The NPD Group. Since last July, EA Sports has sold over 3 million copies of NCAA Football 11 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, according to The NPD Group.

The new game, which ships July 12 for PS3 and Xbox 360 (no PS2 game for the first time), has added a new collision system, new defensive maneuvers, and new visuals like 3D grass and fog (for those night games). One of the focal points for the new game is bringing authentic sound (large crowds of 100,000 will sound different than smaller crowds) and sights (over 60 authentic pre-game on-the-field traditions) to the virtual gridiron. EA’s Tiburon Studio in Orlando also worked closely with ESPN to integrate their broadcast graphics and camera style, as well as their announcers, into the game. Of course, there will other features rolled out as launch approaches.

***

One thing that separates NFL rookies from the seasoned veterans is that the whole experience of seeing themselves in Madden for the first time is literally eye-opening to them. Before they’ve been drafted, these players love to talk about college football and video games and Madden. It’s a PR dream for EA. Sometimes, after players have been in the league and gone through the media interviews over and over again, that authentic excitement about football and video games can be lost.

The other issue is that the bigger the player becomes, the less time EA can afford to secure with them. Madden NFL cover athletes, for example, are extremely limited when it comes to gaming media. We’re not talking Tiger Woods limited – where EA gets six 10-minute blocks of time a year (last year it got none, for obvious reasons). Even Peyton Hillis, who isn’t a household name, wasn’t as accessible as the NCAA Football cover athlete.

***

One thing that hasn’t transpired over the years is an NCAA Football cover curse. While many Madden cover athletes have fallen to injuries or other bad luck over the years, NCAA Football cover athletes have remained unscathed.

For the full article, follow the link.

[ram29jackson]

lawsuit ? former creator ?

[souljahbill]

With no worries about lockouts (ever), college football really only has one problem that the NCAA needs to fix. And that’s allowing real player names and likenesses on teams. While EA Sports focuses on all college teams to make sure that, as a whole, it performs accurately; it would be nice for both the players, and the gamers, to be able to actually control Ingram on the field for Alabama. Die-hard fans can go in and put all the names on their favorite team’s jerseys, but that takes a lot of work. Maybe someday, we’ll see that change. In the meantime, EA Sports hasn’t had a problem selling its game annually to college football fans.

He obviously doesn't understand how this works.

[psusnoop]

Forbes blogger John Gaudiosi has written a new article discussing how the "NFL Lockout Has Been Good for (EA's) NCAA Football Franchise." Continue on to read some excerpts of his blog entry.

[I]Tom Goedde, vice president of marketing for EA Sports, said that the on-again, off-again NFL lockout actually was good for the annual NCAA Football bash. The company had more big-name draft players attend this year’s shindig than ever before. And that was, in part, due to the record number of players in New York for the NFL Draft.

While Madden gets all the attention – and this year Michael Vick, the NFL lockout and a lawsuit by a former Madden game creator have given Madden NFL 12 plenty of publicity; EA’s NCAA Football franchise is a perennial money-maker for the company. Life-to-date revenue for EA Sports’ long-running NCAA Football franchise is over $868 million, according to video game tracking firm The NPD Group. Since last July, EA Sports has sold over 3 million copies of NCAA Football 11 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, according to The NPD Group.

The new game, which ships July 12 for PS3 and Xbox 360 (no PS2 game for the first time), has added a new collision system, new defensive maneuvers, and new visuals like 3D grass and fog (for those night games). One of the focal points for the new game is bringing authentic sound (large crowds of 100,000 will sound different than smaller crowds) and sights (over 60 authentic pre-game on-the-field traditions) to the virtual gridiron. EA’s Tiburon Studio in Orlando also worked closely with ESPN to integrate their broadcast graphics and camera style, as well as their announcers, into the game. Of course, there will other features rolled out as launch approaches.

Could this mean a different set of announcers for different games? I think that would be a cool, maybe I'm reading into it to much though.

[souljahbill]

Could this mean a different set of announcers for different games? I think that would be a cool, maybe I'm reading into it to much though.

It's something you would hear in a Play Now game so I think technically you could ask but if that were the case, I'm sure that cat would already be out of the bag.

[psusnoop]

It's something you would hear in a Play Now game so I think technically you could ask but if that were the case, I'm sure that cat would already be out of the bag.

Yep your probably right. I still think it would be pretty cool to have a few different sets of announcers for games and big games.

[JBHuskers]

Lockout aside, NCAA has made bigger strides lately, and Madden really hasn't.

[xGRIDIRONxGURUx]

with JB acting like that question wasnt asked i assume they cant talk about it... =)

"E"

[JBHuskers]

with JB acting like that question wasnt asked i assume they cant talk about it... =)

"E"

LOL

If you're talking about announcers....in a play now game, it's Herby and Nessler.

Both did come in and record some new lines this year though.

[psuexv]

LOL

If you're talking about announcers....in a play now game, it's Herby and Nessler.

Both did come in and record some new lines this year though.

Don't forget about EA.... she recorded some new lines too. I'm assuming she be more involved in the game.

[gschwendt]

Don't forget about EA.... she recorded some new lines too. I'm assuming she be more involved in the game.

She's more involved... I don't remember specifics about during the game itself but as part of the post-halftime game track story, she's involved in that.

[xGRIDIRONxGURUx]

If you're talking about announcers....in a play now game

so there is a chance... all i want to know...

"E"

[psuexv]

She's more involved... I don't remember specifics about during the game itself but as part of the post-halftime game track story, she's involved in that.

Gotcha

I always thought it would be cool to include a shot to the sideline reporter when they are giving those updates. I know you don't really want to waste time in game doing cutscenes but maybe like they used to where the background of the playcalling screen was the players on the field and I think they used to do replays too.

[CLW]

LOL

If you're talking about announcers....in a play now game, it's Herby and Nessler.

Both did come in and record some new lines this year though.

so there is a chance... all i want to know...

"E"

Interesting. Could it be a slip? You boys should have lawyered up. I could have told you easily how to answer the question w/o leaving it open to the possibility of a different meaning.

[JBHuskers]

More like you're getting your hopes up

[CLW]

More like you're getting your hopes up

Or that. I guess I'll never know oh wait 69 days remain....

[Rudy]

The article does mention some cool things like fog being in the game and the difference in crowd noise from smaller to large stadiums.

The most surprising thing was the comment that EA only gets 60 minutes of time with Tiger Woods all year. That's terrible!

[JBHuskers]

The article does mention some cool things like fog being in the game and the difference in crowd noise from smaller to large stadiums.

The most surprising thing was the comment that EA only gets 60 minutes of time with Tiger Woods all year. That's terrible!

Night fog games are AWESOME.

[steelerfan]

Interesting. Could it be a slip? You boys should have lawyered up. I could have told you easily how to answer the question w/o leaving it open to the possibility of a different meaning.

Every answer I have ever given in a court of law (and there have been a few) have left the possibility of a different meaning. How else can I lie without fear of perjury?

[jaymo76]

So over 60 entrances??? Intersting. If memory serves last year was "over 25?"