Finest Hour: Electronic Arts

Your task is to choose one general era which best represents the apex of games for which Electronic Arts is responsible for providing.

1) Up to late 80's: Early PC / pre-console era.
2) Early 90's: Genesis 16bit era.
3) Late 90's: PS1 era.
4) Early 00's: PS2 era.
5) Present day: Everything from their first Xbox 360 game published.

While these groupings mostly only name consoles there is PC development throught this entire span in which to consider for your choice.

Personally I'm having a tough time deciding between 16-bit and current, and would like to see some arguments before making a decision myself.

Genesis Madden and NHL by a mile.

Early-to-mid '90s. Runner up: Present day, just because this fall has been so good from them.

Too early to judge. If they keep on their present course then Present Day is an easy win, and the addition of Brutal Legend is giving me hope. But they've still got some work to do to overcome the 360's early days and the endless cloned sports games.

James

Early 90s, thanks to Origin Systems, Bullfrog, and Westwood - before EA decided to really screw up the studios.
The 80s were pretty awesome too, thanks to games like Bard's Tale, Project Firestart, Seven Cities of Gold, M.U.L.E., and Archon.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

Genesis Madden and NHL by a mile.

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This is the only correct answer.

Genesis NHL (best with penalties turned off, so I'm not constantly getting busted for Cross-Checking and fighting - I had 71 minutes of penalty time in one game with 5 minute periods :lol: ), Battle Squadron, and Galahad all own.

A big "what were they thinking" on PS1 Viewpoint, however. What a horrible thing to turn an excellent Neo-Geo game into.

Early 90's, easy. Two words: Mutant League.

This is hard because for so many of their games I automatically think of the developer so it's easy to forget that EA was the publisher. They have published awesome games their whole history even if some of those years they had some annoying business practices. I won't vote yet as I have to catch up with the current gen and play the full game of Mirror's Edge but I'm leaning towards early '90s (I assume System Shock 1 would count for this period since it's 1994 but pre-PS1; it holds a lot of sway for me).
I probably wouldn't vote '80s anymore even though Archon 1 ranks very high for me but I do think that era is going to get underrated by many people who started playing EA games with the Genesis.

They published a ton of good games in the mid 90s, beyond just system shock. I included those in my vote.

Battlefield 2 . Skate . NHL 09 . As much as I enjoyed their 16 bit era( The Immortal!!!) , these are truly the best of days for EA.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

They published a ton of good games in the mid 90s, beyond just system shock. I included those in my vote.

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Definitely, SShock's just at the top of a pile of good stuff for me. A lot of mid '90s computer games borderline on two different eras. Relentless on PC seems to fit better with 16-bit even though it was ported to Playstation.

Also, nice thread Dog$

EA's finest hour will be its last hour.

Early '90s. Genesis sports games, Road Rash, Mutant League, Battle Squadron, etc.

Average quality of EA: fairly good company with ups and downs, comparable to Capcom.

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

Relentless on PC seems to fit better with 16-bit even though it was ported to Playstation.

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I never really thought so. The high resolution, CD music and cut scenes, and smooth-shaded 3D made it seem like a very next gen game to me at the time, though that was around the time I was (temporarily) losing interest in consoles altogether.

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Originally Posted by Bishamon

Average quality of EA: fairly good company with ups and downs, comparable to Capcom.

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ban pls.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

I never really thought so. The high resolution, CD music and cut scenes, and smooth-shaded 3D made it seem like a very next gen game to me at the time, though that was around the time I was (temporarily) losing interest in consoles altogether.

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I was thinking more about the release date for the PC version which slightly predates the Japanese Saturn and Playstation launches, IIRC. Technologically-wise the PC was ahead of console gaming at the end of the 16-bit era but for this poll, I figured if it predates the 32-bit console launches, it would count for 16-bit. Games like Relentless make the dividing line blurry, though.

With them publishing Brutal Legend, I say current day is their finest.

Early 90's though there's plenty of recent releases that I look forward to trying.

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Originally Posted by Dyne

With them publishing Brutal Legend, I say current day is their finest.

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Every gen EA seems to pick up a stylish action romp that goes on to bomb, Skull Monkeys, Stranger's Wrath....hoping this one is actually successful.

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Originally Posted by Timber

This is the only correct answer.

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Troof.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

ban pls.

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Bish is correct. This gen has been kind to EA. They've even put some new IP's out there, which was one of my main bitches with them in the past. The one thing that EA has in common with Capcom is quality.

He was saying "ban pls" at the allegation that Capcom has downs. They've had a few rough seasons perhaps, but nothing that lasted long enough that it could be designated an outright company-wide downturn, and certainly nothing on par with EA's gen-long brushes with irrelevance.

To me, closing down Clover Studio was a big letdown, if not a down. That said, I merely base my comment on general opinion and sales, which doesn't necessarily make EA a total shite company; nor does it make Capcom one. Madden and Megaman games still sell, even if some hate them.

Okami, Viewtiful Joe 2/DS/RHR, and God Hand are all shit and sold accordingly. Closing Clover was not only good business, it was the right thing to do, period.

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Originally Posted by Bacon McShig

Okami, Viewtiful Joe 2/DS/RHR, and God Hand are all shit and sold accordingly. Closing Clover was not only good business, it was the right thing to do, period.

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WORST POST IN TNL HISTORY. NEGATIVE REP BUTTON REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY.

The early 90's takes the prize for where EA's best efforts were found.

Populous, Command and Conquer strategy games, System Shock, Ultima... there was just so much quality coming out of that company. I must say, as much as I enjoyed "Black and White" and "Command and Conquer: Renegade" (yes, I do actually find that to be a great game) they really sucked during the early-to-mid 00's. That had to be their darkest hour.

16 bit days was glorious, their 80s computer games are also classics.... yet I am very impressed with the quality and innovation they are putting out this generation. NHL 09 is probably the best hockey game ever (yes better than 94) and Skate is just unbelievable. Still I will go with 16 bit just because current gen hasn't ended yet. But if they keep it up, I am going to change my mind.

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Originally Posted by WhatsHisFace

The early 90's takes the prize for where EA's best efforts were found.

Populous.

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Populous came out in 1989 on the Amiga and PC.

I'm having a hard time deciding on this one. Populous and other EA games on the Amiga and C-64 were some of the best of their generation. The Genesis had a ton of greats as well and the Burnout series in the early 2000s was one of my favorites.

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Originally Posted by Bacon McShig

Okami, Viewtiful Joe 2/DS/RHR, and God Hand are all shit and sold accordingly. Closing Clover was not only good business, it was the right thing to do, period.

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Click for full size

He's not wrong.

Okami needed to be on the DS to make sense. Or the Wii, now, I guess.

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Originally Posted by Drewbacca

Or the Wii, now, I guess.

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Nine months ago.

The input method had nothing to do with Okami's inherent shittiness.

Okami was a good game that only suffered from extensive hand-holding and perhaps having an extra climax that felt like too much.

No doubt, the 16-bit days were great. But in the 80s, an EA game was almost synonymous with a quality game. The titles Neo mentioned, along with Larry Bird and Dr. J, Worms, etc. Every game they put out seemed innovative and cutting edge compared to the seriously primitive shit that passed for videogames in those days. Tough call.