EA - Interview with Frank Gibeau EA Games Label President @ Guardian.co.uk

The Guardian did a two part interview with Frank Gibeau, the president of EA Games Label.
In the first part he talks about the rivalry with Activision, how the industry might evolve, and the support for the Wii U and much more. In the second part he talks about his views on games as a transmedia experience, where original games fit in, and how story has and will become important and a lot more.

It's a fairly lengthy two part interview so here are some highlights - first one is about social connectivity:

Social connectivity has become a key element of EA games over the last year with the Autolog and now Battlelog features. Where do you see this going for EA?

It's a primary design pillar for us. Social mechanics and social features drive gamer engagement – you stick with the game longer, you play with friends, it gives us the opportunity to put out more downloadable packs, different features and keep you engaged longer.

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The next one is about the Wii U:

EA has very publicly stepped in with support for Wii U; Riccitiello was onstage at Nintendo's press conference. How will this system fit in to EA's release strategy?

From our perspective, it's a lot easier for us to build experiences on the Wii U that are closer to what our DNA is all about, that also take advantage of what Nintendo has done with the controller. It's very different than the Wii which was standard def, very different GUI, very young, family-based audience – it was contrary to what we typically do. The Wii U is an important part of our framework, but we're platform-agnostic, we will support all platforms that make sense to us.

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The third one is about how original games fit in:

Amid all this talk of intellectual property, where do original games fit in? Can they still remain a key element of your strategy?

Look, this is an entertainment business, sequels have to start some place.......What you'll see from EA is a lot more IP starting with mobile games, social games or even on Xbox Live and PSN, and these may evolve into larger console games. But we will do large console new IPs, but probably not as many as we have done in the last two years.

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And the final highlight is about how stories in games has become more important:

One thing Medal of Honor did achieve was a more mature and emotionally resonant story. Do you think that element is going to become more important?
LA Noire was a really good example – it's story-driven, it's about character. The Mass Effect 3 demo playing downstairs (in which a small boy is killed by Reaper fire while aboard an escape craft) has stuck with a lot of people – it's much better than a soldier at the top of a mound of dead aliens, waving a flag. Games are an artform and they are evolving in terms of the types of experiences they offer and the stories that they tell ...

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If this interview is anything to go by, it might mean that RPG games will now first appear on Xbox Live or PSN. Interestingly, he didn't mention the pc as a gaming platform at all...
More information.

*cringes*

*cringes again to meet the minimum character length for a post*

I dont know if it is much better than a soldier waving a flag but it suits much more the decorum of the ME shooter series.

Stories in shooters should work to spirit up the player, give meaning to the oncoming battle sequence and the sight of a kid being killed by a reaper speaks more for a guy about to save the universe and forced into a battle to protect his homeworld.

So maybe indeed Bioware will make good shooters as they seem to provide better stories to serve in a shooter.

Guess I just don't like shooters much, with the exception of ARMA II, but they like to call that a combat simulator.

Social features are great for multiplayer games but they just annoy me in singleplayer. I have realized at this point that I am in the minority though.

As I've suspected there is no word on cutting material out of the game and selling it later as DLC.
For all interested, check out the community rage because of latest DLC thing EA cooks with the Battlefield 3 game.

joxer said:

For all interested, check out the community rage because of latest DLC thing EA cooks with the Battlefield 3 game.

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It's hilarious that they made the weapons DLC.

Welcome to the warfront! Could I perhaps interest you in this machinegun, or maybe this hand-granade, then head one over to the EA store!
Disclaimer: ammo costs extra.

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