Not going to happen. I'm not totally sure how long the agreement is but Sony and EA signed a deal that says EA will only put the online feature into the Playstation version of all the games they make. So if you want to play any EA Sports games online you are going to have to get a Playstation. If I can find anything about how long the agreement is I will post it here later.
[b][color=blue]Owner of Absolutely Fabulous:[/b][/color]Miami Redhawks Defending League Champions, 10 team 2 keeper money league.
Xbox Sports Network Helps Explain EA Sports Online Snub by Kristopher Abel E3 2003
It’s become a major source of pain and confusion for sports fans – EA’s continued decision not to support Xbox Live. At one time it made some sense, the PlayStation 2 was the market leader and it looked like EA was aligning themselves with Sony for that reason, but after both online services were launched things became complicated. It wasn’t just the landslide opinion of critics, but as more gamers got the opportunity to try out the two networks a strange truth came out – technically, Xbox Live was superior. You could argue there are better games on the PS2 to play if your passion was with Sony, but even die-hards had to admit that Xbox Live was the easier, smoother, and better experience. So why was EA refusing to use it?
A tough question considering the success of EA Sports has always come from their commitment to quality. They’ve had the best sports catalogue, period. You’d think they’d want the best online sports experience too. And, no one said they had to choose one network and not the other. They’ve chosen the PS2 for a reason. Some said it was money (which is part of it), some have said it was personal differences between Xbox and EA leaders (doubtful), and others have actually listened to EA reps who explained it was an issue of control.
Unfortunately, that’s where a few journalists stopped listening and a wild rumour began. Let me emphasize, underscore, and hi-light that word rumour. Here it is – on Xbox Live, EA wouldn’t be able to use their own online technology from EA.com, but on the PS2 they would. EA had invested a large amount of money and time on an online network and they didn’t want to give it up. Sounds good, eh? Horrible rumour, no truth at all and both at last year’s E3 and this year’s E3 I’ve heard top EA and Xbox reps patiently try to explain that to anyone who will listen.
The issue of control does centre on an invested network, but not on a technical one. It’s actually an issue of culture and marketing. “EA Sports – It’s in the game”. Electronic Arts has invested an incredible amount of money establishing their EA Sports world, it’s culture, and most importantly, it’s brand recognition. If sports gamers had to buy blindly, they would choose anything with the EA Sports logo on it to be safe. Their worry has always been that if they were to join up with Xbox Live, that marketing and cultural network would be threatened and that’s just something they won’t give up.
Up until recently it’s been hard to understand what that meant, hence why most people felt they were talking about technology, not branding, but at this year’s E3 Expo, it’s finally becoming clear.
This year, Microsoft will launch the “Xbox Sports Network”, an Xbox Live league system that will take social and competitive online sports gaming to a dream-like state. It’s potential is incredible and it’s only going to widen the online gap of quality between the PS2 and Xbox. But as wonderful as it might be technically, it is a new brand. I even have one of the new hats complete with the new logo “XSN Sports”. This is where the conflict comes up – EA Sports vs. XSN Sports. All sports games online through Xbox Live will end up becoming part of the XSN brand. The leagues that you’ll play online, the teams that you will form, the tournaments, the bowls, the competitions, the sports stars, the sponsors, the streaming video for spectators, the replays, the uniforms – they will all become part of the XSN brand, rather than the Sega Sports brand or EA Sports brand. You see? And it’s necessary, because in order to have a solid network, in order to have one singular online sports world and all of the benefits that come with it, you need to have it happen under one brand and that’s decided by whoever runs it. On Xbox Live, that means Xbox themselves.
So you can see why EA Sports might not want to join up. You can understand, they’ve had this same ambition, probably long before the Xbox arrived and they were hoping it would be them to launch it. Perhaps they still hope to do so on the PlayStation 2, which admittedly has the bigger audience, but then without the hard drive, without the kind of resources and deals that Microsoft can arrange, and having to do it after XSN is already established, it’s going to be tough.
EA Sports fans might not think the fight is worth it, especially if it’s keeping the franchises from reaching their full potential. That’s a sting that Madden fans, who dream of what it would be like to play on Xbox Live, already feel. In time, fans might get weary of it all.
The problem for EA Sports is that the Xbox Sports Network, for good or bad, is really going to be amazing and will certainly make EA look, temporarily, as if their being left behind.
Every player in the network is going to have their own bubble-gum card-like file. After joining a league and getting your play schedule, you can click on your opponent’s name to bring up all of their network stats – that includes ghost trails from past games, strategy trends, lists of past players that person has won or lost against. There’s even room for personal info, so if you are someone who’s foolish enough to list on that you like cats, you can expect someone to make fun of you for that with smacktalk during your game. As the network is upgraded, you’ll even be able to store video highlights and career honors in your file and brass it up to really psych someone out who’s checking up on you.
Microsoft is already working on getting a number of top sponsors to throw in prizes for XSN games. You and your friends, school mates, and or co-workers will be able to form a league and then apply for a free sponsorship pack from say, Pizza Hut or a company like to provide prizes to the winners.
That you will be able to track all of the changes in your league, in other leagues, national, regional, cross-sports not just through Xbox Live, or websites on your PC, but through your cell phone, wirelessly though your PDA or SPOT Wristwatch, that’s a very powerful thing. That’s the kind of resources Microsoft is going to bring to the table. Imagine getting a beep from your watch and finding a message that you’ve just been traded. The entire network will be updated in terms of schedules, trades, and scores every fifteen minutes.
No doubt EA Sports and Sony won’t be sitting idly by and you can bet the two will be launching their own EA Sports Network next year, but since the key will be in the exchange and broadcast (streaming as it upgrades) it will be difficult with dial-up and no hard drive. Can’t wait for that solution.
[b][color=blue]Owner of Absolutely Fabulous:[/b][/color]Miami Redhawks Defending League Champions, 10 team 2 keeper money league.
The way this looks to me is Microsoft trying to control everything that happens on their system just like the do with personal computers. Microsoft wants to build a gaming system and then control everything that is made to be played on it. Just like Windows and all the programs that come packaged along with it. Where Sony just makes a system with similar capabilities and lets the game developers control how they utilize the system. If you can't tell I'm not a big fan of Microsoft and that is a large part of the reason that I never bought an X-Box.
[b][color=blue]Owner of Absolutely Fabulous:[/b][/color]Miami Redhawks Defending League Champions, 10 team 2 keeper money league.
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by CKY_ROX » Sun Mar 07, 2004 10:43 pm 
