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EA Goes Xbox Live
IGN brings you the first details on EA's first Xbox Live games.
April 23, 2004 - After years of discussions, Electronic Arts and Microsoft are putting the final touches on a partnership enabling four of EA's sports titles, and possibly three non-sports games, to go online with Xbox Live this fall, IGN learned today. The Redwood City, Ca.-based publisher will announce its strategy at the annual Electronic Entertainment Exposition this May, but it may reveal plans earlier to investors this April 29, during its upcoming fiscal announcement.
"They're psyched," a former EA employee, who asked not to be identified, told IGN. "EA is going to bring its games to Live this year. It's finally happening."
Madden NFL 2005, NCAA College Football, NASCAR Thunder 2005, and NBA Live comprise the sports package for Xbox Live this fall. The non-sports games are less concrete, but as IGN has learned from several sources close to the company, Battlefield: Modern Combat, EA's new Goldeneye game, and perhaps Burnout 3 are first in line for Xbox online compatibility.
Other investigations point to EA's long-awaited move on two of these titles. Digital Illusions CE (DICE) said in 2002 it planned to make a second Battlefield game for both PC and Xbox. It quickly re-worded its statements to include only PC.
Two Wall Street analysts (UBS Warburg Equity Research and Banc of America Securities) reported in their weekly newsletters that EA will bring its games to Xbox Live, one specifically naming Battlefield as an Xbox Live candidate. "We do expect that to change this year, with Battlefield 1942 for Xbox expected to have Xbox Live capability," said a UBS report. "The popularity of Xbox Live, which is likely to be supported by Electronic Arts for the first time in 2004, also contributes to our confidence in strong Xbox hardware sales this year," reported Banc of America Securities.
Criterion told IGN in 2003 that Burnout 2 would have been Xbox Live compatible, but Microsoft was late delivering critical information, so Burnout 2: Critical Impact only had minimal support. The representative added that the next game in the series (Burnout 3) will fully support Xbox Live; this was prior to EA's announcement to publish Burnout 3.
The games have never been the problem, as EA has publicly stated its issues with Microsoft's successful online strategy: Content control and cash. Xbox owners must pay $69.99 for a starter kit (and $49.99 to renew) to play online Xbox games on centralized servers run by Microsoft. EA wants both control over its content and money for gamers to play its titles. Unlike Sony Computer Entertainment America's laissez-faire setup, which is determined by independent publishers themselves, Microsoft gathers and controls everything. While full fiscal details were not revealed, IGN believes that EA was able to strike a deal with Microsoft to lower the manufacturer's licensing fees for those particular games. Another possibilitiy is that it's working on a new monetary package to pay for online play. As for content, IGN believes Microsoft will share its data with EA.
Recently, Microsoft's move to create Live Server Protocol (LSP), which enables publishers to set up their own specialized tournaments and leagues on sub-servers, has made the move easier for EA to swallow. Sega revealed its plans to bring its sports games online (check the story on IGN Sports, detailing the LSP's flexibility, and EA is likely to follow suit.
A Sega representative told IGN, "We expect EA to go to Xbox Live this year, and we would be shocked if they didn't."
EA and Microsoft firmly deny their change in plans. "EA and Microsoft do not have an agreement for including online capability in EA titles for Xbox," said an EA representative. "We have a solid partnership with Microsoft and many titles in development for the Xbox. Discussions are ongoing."
She added: "Competition from other developers is one of the dynamics that made EA SPORTS produce so many great games. We expect these teams will be reassigned to make more great games for the Xbox."
Microsoft was less imaginative in its response. "We haven't made any announcements and we don't comment on rumors or speculation."
IGN brings you the first details on EA's first Xbox Live games.
April 23, 2004 - After years of discussions, Electronic Arts and Microsoft are putting the final touches on a partnership enabling four of EA's sports titles, and possibly three non-sports games, to go online with Xbox Live this fall, IGN learned today. The Redwood City, Ca.-based publisher will announce its strategy at the annual Electronic Entertainment Exposition this May, but it may reveal plans earlier to investors this April 29, during its upcoming fiscal announcement.
"They're psyched," a former EA employee, who asked not to be identified, told IGN. "EA is going to bring its games to Live this year. It's finally happening."
Madden NFL 2005, NCAA College Football, NASCAR Thunder 2005, and NBA Live comprise the sports package for Xbox Live this fall. The non-sports games are less concrete, but as IGN has learned from several sources close to the company, Battlefield: Modern Combat, EA's new Goldeneye game, and perhaps Burnout 3 are first in line for Xbox online compatibility.
Other investigations point to EA's long-awaited move on two of these titles. Digital Illusions CE (DICE) said in 2002 it planned to make a second Battlefield game for both PC and Xbox. It quickly re-worded its statements to include only PC.
Two Wall Street analysts (UBS Warburg Equity Research and Banc of America Securities) reported in their weekly newsletters that EA will bring its games to Xbox Live, one specifically naming Battlefield as an Xbox Live candidate. "We do expect that to change this year, with Battlefield 1942 for Xbox expected to have Xbox Live capability," said a UBS report. "The popularity of Xbox Live, which is likely to be supported by Electronic Arts for the first time in 2004, also contributes to our confidence in strong Xbox hardware sales this year," reported Banc of America Securities.
Criterion told IGN in 2003 that Burnout 2 would have been Xbox Live compatible, but Microsoft was late delivering critical information, so Burnout 2: Critical Impact only had minimal support. The representative added that the next game in the series (Burnout 3) will fully support Xbox Live; this was prior to EA's announcement to publish Burnout 3.
The games have never been the problem, as EA has publicly stated its issues with Microsoft's successful online strategy: Content control and cash. Xbox owners must pay $69.99 for a starter kit (and $49.99 to renew) to play online Xbox games on centralized servers run by Microsoft. EA wants both control over its content and money for gamers to play its titles. Unlike Sony Computer Entertainment America's laissez-faire setup, which is determined by independent publishers themselves, Microsoft gathers and controls everything. While full fiscal details were not revealed, IGN believes that EA was able to strike a deal with Microsoft to lower the manufacturer's licensing fees for those particular games. Another possibilitiy is that it's working on a new monetary package to pay for online play. As for content, IGN believes Microsoft will share its data with EA.
Recently, Microsoft's move to create Live Server Protocol (LSP), which enables publishers to set up their own specialized tournaments and leagues on sub-servers, has made the move easier for EA to swallow. Sega revealed its plans to bring its sports games online (check the story on IGN Sports, detailing the LSP's flexibility, and EA is likely to follow suit.
A Sega representative told IGN, "We expect EA to go to Xbox Live this year, and we would be shocked if they didn't."
EA and Microsoft firmly deny their change in plans. "EA and Microsoft do not have an agreement for including online capability in EA titles for Xbox," said an EA representative. "We have a solid partnership with Microsoft and many titles in development for the Xbox. Discussions are ongoing."
She added: "Competition from other developers is one of the dynamics that made EA SPORTS produce so many great games. We expect these teams will be reassigned to make more great games for the Xbox."
Microsoft was less imaginative in its response. "We haven't made any announcements and we don't comment on rumors or speculation."
Xbox Selling Big
NPD data has Xbox performance looking sparkly.
April 23, 2004 - NPD data for March showed that Xbox market share -- both in terms of hardware and software sales -- has steadily grown so far this year. The most dramatic example of this came in March itself, when Xbox sales jumped 20% higher than the same period in 2003. The sales surge moved the Xbox to a market share of 30 percent -- the highest since the console's launch way back in November 2001. In fact, the Xbox is currently the only console showing year-over-year sales growth for both hardware and software.
Clearly the tasty new $149.99 price tag has much to do with the sudden growth in sales, though we suspect that hot exclusive titles like Ninja Gaiden (and console exclusives like Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow) have also done plenty to encourage sales of the console.
In fact, Ninja Gaiden turned out to be the number one best-selling title for March across platforms, while Pandora Tomorrow made the top five after only two weeks on the shelves.
The strong performance coincides with Microsoft announcing earlier today that the company expects the Xbox to reach 14.5 to 16 million shipments worldwide. Microsoft also expects Xbox Live, which of course is now revamped with its third-generation features, to reach one million subscribers by the end of June.
The Xbox winning streak will hopefully continue this year, with titles like Jade Empire and Fable on the horizon, not to mention a sequel to a certain sci-fi shooter that a few people have heard of. Additionally, Microsoft is planning some apparently big announcements at E3 next month, which will hopefully turn out to be even more reasons to love the big black box. Stay tuned.
NPD data has Xbox performance looking sparkly.
April 23, 2004 - NPD data for March showed that Xbox market share -- both in terms of hardware and software sales -- has steadily grown so far this year. The most dramatic example of this came in March itself, when Xbox sales jumped 20% higher than the same period in 2003. The sales surge moved the Xbox to a market share of 30 percent -- the highest since the console's launch way back in November 2001. In fact, the Xbox is currently the only console showing year-over-year sales growth for both hardware and software.
Clearly the tasty new $149.99 price tag has much to do with the sudden growth in sales, though we suspect that hot exclusive titles like Ninja Gaiden (and console exclusives like Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow) have also done plenty to encourage sales of the console.
In fact, Ninja Gaiden turned out to be the number one best-selling title for March across platforms, while Pandora Tomorrow made the top five after only two weeks on the shelves.
The strong performance coincides with Microsoft announcing earlier today that the company expects the Xbox to reach 14.5 to 16 million shipments worldwide. Microsoft also expects Xbox Live, which of course is now revamped with its third-generation features, to reach one million subscribers by the end of June.
The Xbox winning streak will hopefully continue this year, with titles like Jade Empire and Fable on the horizon, not to mention a sequel to a certain sci-fi shooter that a few people have heard of. Additionally, Microsoft is planning some apparently big announcements at E3 next month, which will hopefully turn out to be even more reasons to love the big black box. Stay tuned.
Very cool.
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