EA: We're boring people to death

Tuesday 10th July 2007 - 17:00

EA boss in startling confession, Potter retains the top chart spot and Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 screens

It isn't everyday that the head of the world's most successful videogames publisher admits that his company's own products are far from original anymore. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, John Riccitiello Chief Executive of EA say's that the industry needs to stop churning out sequels and start once again looking at original ideas. The irony isn't lost on us - considering EA is the number one culprit in releasing annual edition of games (FIFA, Tiger Woods, NFL, Need For Speed - we could go on but we're starting to snooze ourselves).

"We're boring people to death and making games that are harder and harder to play," Mr. Riccitiello said.

"For the most part, the industry has been rinse-and-repeat," he continued. "There's been lots of product that looked like last year's product, that looked a lot like the year before."

We couldn't agree more - but what is EA going to do about it? With the exception of Riccitiello heaping praise on original games such as Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft there was little specific details about new EA games. Perhaps this week's E3 media briefing in Los Angeles will shed additional light on the company's forthcoming portfolio.

Meanwhile, staying with EA, the company is once again celebrating another number one game as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix retains the number one chart position for the second successive week. Shrek the Third moves up one place to second while The Darkness falls one place to third. Resident Evil 4 sits pretty at fourth place while Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas moves up one spot to fifth place. With Mr. Riccitiello's comments in mind it is worth noting that out of the top five only one title (The Darkness) is an original game - and it fell one spot.

Finally, one game that may not exactly be original but is certainly the leader in its field has announced that Ronaldo, the Man Utd player and master of the sprint, dribble and dive technique is going to be the face of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008. Feast your eyes on the latest screenshots in our gallery courtesy of the lovely people at Konami.

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