EA Sports games "have been too hard"

By Robert Purchese Published 7 July, 2008

Moore has more on his mind.

Peter Moore believes the real "movement" for Xbox 360 and PS3 sports games in the future will be making them more approachable.

He feels his EA Sports catalogue has been "too hard" in the past and wants to move away from alienating newcomers.

"With the 360 and PS3 versions, the real movement you're going to see there is about approachability. Not dumbing it down - but stuff that feels more adaptive, helping you get through the game," Moore told IGN.

"Our games have been too hard - and even hardcore gamers will tell us at times it's just too fricking hard to play a game without having to revert back to the manual to find out what to do. We need to change that.

"We need to continue to bring people into the industry that are playing games for the first time - and not just with the Wii, but also with the PS3 and with the 360 as well," he added.

Peter Moore waded into headlines recently after airing his belief that no-one really wants PC sports games any more.

He went on to tell IGN that FIFA 09 would still get a PC release as it is particularly viable in Europe, but stood by his his right to not lose money by making unwanted SKUs.

"It's entertaining and people want me dead, or hung, drawn and quartered," said Moore of the feedback his comments sparked.

We had a chance to try out the latest instalment of FIFA recently. Head over to our PS3 and Xbox 360 hands-on, or our Wii hands-on, to find out more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • lambtron #1 4 years ago

    Oh no.

  • bad09 #2 4 years ago

    "Our games have been too hard - and even hardcore gamers will tell us at times it's just too fricking hard to play a game without having to revert back to the manual to find out what to do. We need to change that."

    Really Mr Moore? I've never heard anyone ever say EA sports games are too hard. I call BS and it's just an excuse to dumb down mores games to appeal to the damn casual market who don't want to learn using those fiddly controller thingies.

  • Darren #3 4 years ago

    Well EA sports games might have been easier if they'd actually had a decent manual to explain them properly but, in my experience, EA make absolutely the worst and cheapest manuals of any of the major publishers... options are poorly explained, controls are often listed incorrectly and modes are poorly explained. All in el cheapo black and white too and rarely more than 16 pages thick. You'd think that EA would take hints from Microsoft and Konami, who both produce superb manuals and often in colour too.

    Edit: spellings!
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/08 @ 13:44

  • skillian #4 4 years ago

    I love it when people say "we're not dumbing it down", and then invariably go on to dumb it down completely.

  • kestral #5 4 years ago

    I thought Fifa devs were happy that they went for the more simulation approach and PES went more arcadey... So hopefully it can still be that with extra guides.

  • timberwolf #6 4 years ago

    HA!

  • Aretak #7 4 years ago

    This can't possibly end well.

  • Xerx3s #8 4 years ago

    Yes EA games have indeed been the very definition of difficult.

  • lambtron #9 4 years ago

    "Well EA sports games might have been easier if they'd actually had a decent manual to explain them properly but, in my experience, EA make absolutely the worst and cheapest manuals of any of the major publishers... options are poorly explained, controls are often listen incorrectly and modes are poorly explained. All in el cheapo black and white too and rarely more than 16 pages thick. You'd think that EA would take hints from Microsoft and Konami, who both produce superb manuals and often in colour too."

    Wait, people read manuals? ;)

  • stampax #10 4 years ago

    i thought the ea manuals were pretty good.

  • jaxon58 #11 4 years ago

    Has he played Fight Night Round 3? One of the easiest games I've ever played.

  • JB_BE #12 4 years ago

    Right, this is what we need, making games more approachable and easier. FFS I swear, if everything in society keeps getting dumbed down, in 20 years kids 'll be barely able to write their own name.

  • FooAtari #13 4 years ago

    Can't help but feel Nintendo is responsible for this.

    Welcome to the future where every game plays the same and only needs one button.

  • space_ace #14 4 years ago

    would it be so hard to come up with an example or two? those managers...

  • Clive_Dunn #15 4 years ago

    Can anyone actually name a "difficult" EA Sports game ? Struggling to think of one I've found too hard.

  • dsmx #16 4 years ago

    Can anyone name a game made by EA that was hard is a better question.

  • paketep #17 4 years ago

    Yet more idiocy from Peter Moore

    Or did he meant that "EA Sports games have been really bad"?

  • gooners2006 #18 4 years ago

    "Our Games are too hard"

    thats what the easy difficulty is for, to make it easier so everybody has a chance of being good

  • chiz #19 4 years ago

    More crap from Mr. Moore. What he's really saying is...

    "We're making a controller that will challenge the wii, so we need to dumb our games down, so grannies can buy them."
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/08 @ 14:00

  • Steve007 #20 4 years ago

    He's got a point, sometimes games like NHL & Madden are near impossible to beat or get any enjoyment from on the higher and highest difficulty levels. The default is too easy and the higher is too hard - there's no middle ground.
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/08 @ 14:22

  • Quint2020 #21 4 years ago

    "Can anyone name a game made by EA that was hard is a better question."

    NFS: Most Wanted was pretty tough.

  • kestral #22 4 years ago

    Madden probably qualifies as a difficult EA game.. not in difficulty level of the gameplay but in the learning curve, level of understanding and complex controls that are required to play a decent game?

  • monkie_king #23 4 years ago

    Hopefully this just means implementing an optional one-button "Tard Mode", not removing complex controls alogether.

  • Zomoniac #24 4 years ago

    Anyone with all the Global Challenge achievements in FIFA 08 will tell you that it's fucking hard. Given most publications mark FIFA down on the grounds that it's too hard to score, I'd say it was pretty tricky. 1king skate is no easy feat either.

  • bestforever7 #25 4 years ago

    @ kestral

    I think that's just american football in general. Its impossible to understand for beginners

  • MGG #26 4 years ago

    FIFA 08 Pc was damn hard. COS THE CONTROLS, ANIMATIONS, LOGIC AND MENUS ARE SHIT.

    Sorry, I need to vent.....

    And manuals? Hahahahahahahahaaa Worst. Ever.

  • Feanor #27 4 years ago

    "i thought the ea manuals were pretty good."

    You what? They're completely horrible, and it's one of the reasons I only buy EA games used. If they can't be fucked to slap in a half-decent manual for incredibly complex games like Madden, then they're not getting a cent from me.

  • StrayBezza #28 4 years ago

    What is this cock on about? Ea games too hard for the hardcore gamer. Sausage Jockey.

  • ozallez #29 4 years ago

    isn't that what difficulty levels are for? they don't need to dumb down the whole game, just make amateur easier. Cater for all comers EA, or you'll just lose a bunch of us back to pro evo.

  • BBIAJ #30 4 years ago

    I find the majority of EA's manuals seem to favour the multiplayer over anything you might actually need to know for single player, although admittedly, I rarely read them these days.

    I remember back in the 16bit era when EA's manuals were like War & Peace!

  • TheWretched #31 4 years ago

    > Can anyone actually name a "difficult" EA Sports game ? Struggling to think of one I've found too hard.

    NHL 96 was frikkin' hard... the goalie was nigh on perfect... He didn't let any puck through^^ But that was way back in 1995, so, it basically isn't true anymore

  • wayneh #32 4 years ago

    Can't understand why everyone hates EA? Army of Two aside their games are generally pretty good. I get Tiger Woods every year, my daughter loves the Sims and at the moment I'm playing Battlefield:Bad Company which is shit hot and has finally got me off COD4. No one likes every type of game and because they make so many games there are going to be ones you don't like but to say everything EA makes is rubbish is just bollocks. I will probably even buy Madden this year as every year I look at it but get put off by the complexity of it but this year they have promised a decent training mode.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/08 @ 06:11

  • pergamon #33 4 years ago

    Next week's interview with Peter Moore:
    "Moore states that Fifa 2009 is more difficult and complex than Europa Universallis"

  • Widge #34 4 years ago

    The way I'm seeing this is that Fifa08 is not difficult in regards to its challenge factor, but to get the best out of the free flowing football style, its a non-intuitive pain. To get people to run onto the ball without trapping it, its usually like a case of Hold L1, press direction then X and O.... I would hope its that kind of thing they are trying to remove, because in the heat of a quickly developing move, pulling stuff off like that IS difficult. It would be nice if you could just make things happen without embarking on a memory game vs Twister exercise.

    and just to back that up, the choice quote from the article:

    ""With the 360 and PS3 versions, the real movement you're going to see there is about approachability. Not dumbing it down - but stuff that feels more adaptive, helping you get through the game," Moore told IGN."

    so not difficulty levels, intuitively
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/08 @ 11:16

  • craziii #35 4 years ago

    basically, expect new EA sports games to be kiddie level. I don't play sports games, but my mate plays baseball games like 24/7, he will be piss.

  • zzyzx #36 4 years ago

    No, the guy is right. The titles that are most popular in the US: the American football franchises (Madden and NCAA Football) have become very, very involved. Same with NHL. EA's NBA title is just bad - I'll leave it out.

    You also have to think that the sports game audience might trend a bit older than the overall market. This audience doesn't qualify as casual - but they don't have 20 hours to waste slogging through practice/training modes before they have some idea what in hell they're doing. They do want to be able to play a game or round of golf straight away.

    Granted, it's a fine line to walk - trying to make sports titles play more intuitively without going soft. And it may turn out poorly. But it's not s bad goal. I'll give them a chance and see what they do with it.

    The nice thing about sports franchises is that the next release is only ever a year away. If Madden 2010 is terrible, people won't have to wait long for 2011 . . .