EA issues warning to Sony

PSP News | PSP comes under fire as publishing giant warms to DS.

EA executive VP and COO of worldwide studios David Gardner has told Sony that it "can't afford to sit back" where the PSP is concerned, and has admitted that the success of Nintendo's DS has resulted in EA revising its policy on the two handhelds.

“There’s no doubt that EA has historically bet more on PSP," Gardner told UK industry publication MCV. "I think we were excited by the technology, but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun. We must never forget that what we need to focus on is fun and so EA is putting more effort behind DS games - and creative ones that really take advantage of the hardware. I don’t think Sony can afford to sit back - I think they still have things they can do with the price and performance of the [PSP], things that they need to address.”

Gardner's criticism arrives after a particularly strong showing in all regions by the DS Lite when it launched earlier this year.

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57 Comments

Phil

5 years ago

Since when was the DS ever behind the PSP in hardware sales?

Infested Jibbs

5 years ago

BURN

D.Dark

5 years ago

This just gives us a glimpse of what may become of the PS3 if it goes down the path of the PSP.

ZNMS

5 years ago

Hopefully, Sony will take action and price the price of the handheld.

dc0079

5 years ago

If EA is saying it, then it's rather serious.
PS3 would be a completely different market however, the result might still be the same... might

Gamesta

5 years ago

Who cares what EA says.

Frozencry

5 years ago

^PS3 IS a different market. That's where Sony are the top and Nintendo below. It'll take alot to take down the PS brand IMO.

döppelgangbang

5 years ago

"We must never forget that what we need to focus on is fun and so EA is putting more effort behind DS games"

Oh and I thought EA was focussed on money!

The Brett

5 years ago

I love how much everyone is taking the comment completely out of context. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; Nintendo fanboys take practically anything they can get.

He's saying that the DS is fun, not that the PSP isn't fun.

?oe?oe

5 years ago

Nintendo is handheld king. Wise and all powering.

Since when are EA games top-notch, dare I say fun?

mqphu1

5 years ago

Im agreeing that the PSP is expensive for some
and SONY will do something about this at Xmas.

Possibility AU$280 this Xmas.

So don't worry EA and "keep on porting games"

DS is fun alright but it is NOT better than PSP.

I am using my DS for games ONLY.
Whereas for the PSP, i am using for games,
viewing of my MUSIC VIDEO and check EMAILS.

Soon I can watch TV programme and use it as a GPS in the CAR.

These two features are worth buying the PSP IMO.

Qbert

5 years ago

Topic closed: mqphu1 has spoken.

mqphu1

5 years ago

thanks, N fanboy

Jellyfish

5 years ago

Remember folks, don't PSP and drive or you're a Pommy bus driver!

Joseph

5 years ago

Meh, so EA don't sell as many PSP titles/ release as many titles on the PSP. They haven't lost much. Although, many other developers would probably follow suit.

However, it can be debaited that EA haven't sold that many PSP games because most of EA games really suck on the PSP or are average, going from a few reviews I've read in the past. Come on EA, do something ground-braking for once. Haven't we had enough of the sport and racing titles people?

InvivnI

5 years ago

Joseph wrote

Haven't we had enough of the sport and racing titles people?

We have but much of the mainstream hasn't.

D.Dark

5 years ago

InvivnI wrote

Joseph wrote

Haven't we had enough of the sport and racing titles people?

We have but much of the mainstream hasn't.

And mostly the younger generation.

NismoR34

5 years ago

^ And Nismo, well when speaking about the racing games anyway. Nothing wrong with Burnout or NFS as far as I'm concerned.

ZOMGWTF!!!+1eleventy!

I must now be a mainstream gamer. Oh well, you lot will deal with it.

---

Someone above asked about who cares what EA says. Well I think in this case it is important what EA says. Electronic Arts are the biggest third-party publisher in gaming now, if a platform doesn't get that much EA love (even if the games do happen to be pitiful) then that is a massive blow to whichever company that is behind said platform. So yes in this instance it is a big deal.

InvivnI

5 years ago

I love racing games too (Riiiidge Racer!). I was more referring to the crappy sports titles being released.

ugh the boot

5 years ago

Well basically EA are two faced, that's why I really don't care about what they do or say.

"We must never forget that we need to focus on fun.."
Lol

That's hilarious!! Replace the word 'fun' with 'money' you idiots!!

I guarantee they will go wherever the money is. And yea I know most companies have the same ideas in mind....but atleast they don't abandon a platform or go on record for saying that the platform is failing.

On the Gamecube they stopped releasing games because the platform wasn't making as much money. This statement that has just been made just means they could be doing the same to the psp.

Look at Ubisoft....they've all of a sudden become a huge success and that's because their games are new/fresh/original as well as the fact that they support all the consoles. They've pretty much been supporting all 3 last generation platforms evenly...and they've made money and people have bought their games.

EA just need to learn to make better games and stop blaming the platform for their failures/successes. I've always hated EA (except back in the 16-bit days), and statements like this prove why. EA don't care about the industry as a whole....they only want the next season's roster or the next movie-tie-in!

Chris-Leigh

5 years ago

ugh the boot wrote

I guarantee they will go wherever the money is. And yea I know most companies have the same ideas in mind....but atleast they don't abandon a platform or go on record for saying that the platform is failing. On the Gamecube they stopped releasing games because the platform wasn't making as much money. This statement that has just been made just means they could be doing the same to the psp.

That's known as good business sense, surely? If platform X was selling more units than platform Y, would you back the platform that's selling lowest if you were a publisher with profit margins and shareholders to consider? Nothing wrong with backing the leader - as I say, EA has shareholders to answer to, like other publishers.

ugh the boot wrote

Look at Ubisoft....they've all of a sudden become a huge success and that's because their games are new/fresh/original as well as the fact that they support all the consoles. They've pretty much been supporting all 3 last generation platforms evenly...and they've made money and people have bought their games.

EA is the biggest third-party publisher in the world, ahead of Ubisoft. I'm still struggling to see how you think EA has done something wrong?

ugh the boot wrote

EA just need to learn to make better games and stop blaming the platform for their failures/successes. I've always hated EA (except back in the 16-bit days), and statements like this prove why. EA don't care about the industry as a whole....they only want the next season's roster or the next movie-tie-in!

EA get a lot of stick to be honest, as I know a lot of companies who both develop and publish far worse games than they do, just as we could all name companies with a better track record. Ultimately, the sports games aren't that bad - in many cases, they're actually above-average (case in point - FIFA is the second-best football game out there, from a field of about five or six major football franchises). And a company that's developed or published the likes of Black, The Sims, Burnout and Need for Speed aren't exactly making/backing bad games exactly.

And finally, of course EA wants, "next season's roster or the next movie-tie-in" - it's where the money is, and this is a business!

tikalal

5 years ago

Owned............

MrAndyPuppy

5 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

ugh the boot wrote

EA is the biggest third-party publisher in the world, ahead of Ubisoft. I'm still struggling to see how you think EA has done something wrong?

ugh the boot wrote

Agree with absolutely everything Chris-Leigh says here, plus adding in Lord of the Rings games, Tiger Woods, Battlefield 2, Star Wars Battlefront, etc.

Ubisoft? Over G Fighters didn't get the best reviews, and Open Season and Pirates of the Carribbean are movie tie-ins just like EA does. And saying they're targetting all platforms evenly feels a bit rich - their Wii launch line up reads like it should be Nintendo's not an independent third party publisher, while their originally exclusive title for PS3, Assassin's Creed looks like it's going to head to other platforms while X360 stuff looks like it will undergo a similar thing.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE (most) Ubisoft games. However, I also usually really love EA games. I think there are two "classes" of hardcore gamers (note, talking hardcore gamers who cannot get enough as opposed to casual gamers) - those who are very picky about their games - they only play those with extremely high quality and production values, and those who don't really care about what game they play as long as they're playing a game and enjoying it.

I fall into the latter category (as someone else has pointed out, even though I have over 1000 games in my collection, he wouldn't even touch half of them if he could) because I simply enjoy playing games regardless of what they are. I obviously like playing Burnout Revenge on Xbox 360 much more than Trixie in Toyland on PS2, but if I only had Trixie, I'd still play it.

Long way of saying I like EA.

Cerebral

5 years ago

I agree with the above. Far be it for a business to actually pursue higher profits. A lot of the crap EA generally gets is undeserved, unwarranted, and quite often plain untrue.

EA games don't only cater to the casual and they are not always a sloppy job to cash in on franchises or movie tie-ins, thus somehow making then inferior. These are generalisations people make up to offset the fact that they are the largest 3rd party publisher - that's right, publisher - they don't actively develop all their games, in the world.

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