EA Hitting Snags With Revolution

EA, through its Los Angeles VP and general manager Neil Young, has expressed having difficulties developing games for Nintendo’s upcoming next-gen console, Revolution. Citing the console’s lack of High Definition features and the complexity of its high-end hardware as the main obstacles, Mr. Young explained that although game projects for it are progressing well, the said components are creating a lot of red signs.

“One of the challenges for the Revolution is that it’s not HD. If you think about RTS games, one element is the control scheme, but the other is the distance from the TV screen when you’re playing a console game versus a PC game.” he explained. (Why am I not surprised? Well, creating a “real” game has always been a challenge for EA, ie: Madden)

Comparing the upcoming console to Xbox 360, Mr. Young emphasized that the HD plays a huge role in the game’s development: “One of the reasons Battle for Middle Earth II works so well on the [Xbox] 360 is the controller, but the other reason is the HD – you can see everything, frankly, as well or better as you can when you’re [as close as you would be to a PC].”

However, while he somewhat complained about what the Revolution does not have, he also find fault for something it already (and all next-gen consoles) have, saying that “The other issue is performance. The hardware performance is sort of current gen plus, versus the 10x or 20x multiple that you get on next-gen. I mean, EA is building stuff for it, but I kind of prefer the DS. It makes the most sense to me.”

It’s quite surprising since EA earlier signified excitement over future porjects for Revolutions claiming that the console, particularly its much-talked about Revmote, can bring innovation to the gaming world thus paving the way for more ambitious ventures. It’s not apalling for developers to hit some snags while creating a project, that’s normal. What’s really disturbing is when the maker starts blaiming the tools, rather than take a look at the hands that are using them.

EA, through its Los Angeles VP and general manager Neil Young, has expressed having difficulties developing games for Nintendo’s upcoming next-gen console, Revolution. Citing the console’s lack of High Definition features and the complexity of its high-end hardware as the main obstacles, Mr. Young explained that although game projects for it are progressing well, the said components are creating a lot of red signs.

“One of the challenges for the Revolution is that it’s not HD. If you think about RTS games, one element is the control scheme, but the other is the distance from the TV screen when you’re playing a console game versus a PC game.” he explained. (Why am I not surprised? Well, creating a “real” game has always been a challenge for EA, ie: Madden)

Comparing the upcoming console to Xbox 360, Mr. Young emphasized that the HD plays a huge role in the game’s development: “One of the reasons Battle for Middle Earth II works so well on the [Xbox] 360 is the controller, but the other reason is the HD – you can see everything, frankly, as well or better as you can when you’re [as close as you would be to a PC].”

However, while he somewhat complained about what the Revolution does not have, he also find fault for something it already (and all next-gen consoles) have, saying that “The other issue is performance. The hardware performance is sort of current gen plus, versus the 10x or 20x multiple that you get on next-gen. I mean, EA is building stuff for it, but I kind of prefer the DS. It makes the most sense to me.”

It’s quite surprising since EA earlier signified excitement over future porjects for Revolutions claiming that the console, particularly its much-talked about Revmote, can bring innovation to the gaming world thus paving the way for more ambitious ventures. It’s not apalling for developers to hit some snags while creating a project, that’s normal. What’s really disturbing is when the maker starts blaiming the tools, rather than take a look at the hands that are using them.