Nerdvana

I’m not gonna lie…I am hooked on Madden 10.  It has been my go-to game since I broke it’s cellophane wrapper a few weeks ago.  I love the feel of this year’s game, I love that it is harder to throw the deep ball, I love that a running play doesn’t automatically net 12 yards, I even love the lame ass highlight show that plays between games in franchise mode.  But I began to notice how many advertisements are in the game, I’m talking everywhere.  And this didn’t really strike me as odd until I noticed that they still had Plaxico Burress in the game, and Michael Vick had yet to be added to the Eagles.  Now this isn’t a big deal, personally I don’t give a damn if Vick ever takes a snap again, and good ole’ Plaxico is gonna be behinds bars for the next 2 years.  I didn’t find this interesting until I realized that some of the ads throughout the game had been changing, not only that but they had been updating.  For example, an ad for a MTV show that was to air in a few days, then an ad for the current promotion from McDonald’s.  Does this mean that EA is updating their advertising faster than they are updating their roster?

More evidence that EA is trying to squeeze every cent out of this franchise is that they are now charging for practically everything.  Not happy with the progression of your superstar, just pull up your Xbox live account, spend a couple of bucks and you to can “maximize your superstars progression throughout his career”. Some little shit talker on-line really needing to get his goofy ass stomped, throw down some Washingtons and you can get a 10% ratings boost to all of your players for 1 play.  So if you are playing somebody and suddenly they pull out a play that seems to have come down from the football gods, then that might mean that they just have deeper pockets than you.

EA has even come out with an “Elite” package for $5.  And what does one get for being “Elite”, access to elite leader-boards (gasp), becoming ranked in elite matches (double gasp), and a harder difficulty setting (woman faints in background).  Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me, you are paying $5 for a difficulty setting.  EA has found a way to charge for something that has been a staple for the majority of games since the dawn of Nintendo.  I gotta hand it to EA though, if I had sat in on that meeting where this idea was pitched, I would have fallen over laughing.  “You mean people are going to pay to make the game easier, and at the same time pay to make it more challenging.  And we don’t have to do anything. Ha!” 

I get the idea of finding new ways to make money on a product, and I’m not against it.  If people are stupid enough to buy these things, then shame on them.  But why not have both options, allow these extras to be unlockable after a certain amount of play.  And you can still charge for the people that don’t want to wait and need their instant gratification.  I feel like part of the game is being kept from me because I won’t pay for these extra upgrades.  And for a game I enjoy this much, it stings to not have access to all of it.

-Ryen Doty

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