Boom Shakalaka
EA and 2K Sports let me down almost as much as cookies with raisins.
Suppose you wanted to make an app for both mobile and web. Best practice is to start with mobile and then bring it over to web because there’s less ‘real estate’ on a mobile device. Since screen sizes are smaller, you’re forced to be strategic and choosy about what you show your users. It’s a good prioritization exercise to distill your clunky, grandiose web vision to its core. Though there are mobile-first apps with very cluttered interfaces, imagine boiling 100% of a desktop screen onto a phone screen…and that is why it’s not ideal to go from web to mobile.
The same principle applies to console and mobile games.
So here’s my recommendation for 2KSports and EA Games: save the full games modes with time-outs, annoying rules and sweat dripping off a player’s nose for the console. EA did make a gem out of NBA Jam, but only because it stayed true to its original zany, 2 vs 2 arcade style fun. When you try to do too much and bring everything to mobile, you inevitably have half-baked gameplay or game modes, shifty graphics and terrible controls.
Make mobile games part of your ecosystem and use them to drive sales for console games. All I want to do is shoot a basketball with some fun game situations. Facebook proved it’s possible to take a single part of a sport and make it into a game amongst friends in a group chat. Think about the plethora of other playground sport games like H.O.R.S.E, 2-Ball and Around-the-World. I think they can be real winners in terms of engaging multiplayer mobile games, especially with the introduction of Facebook Messenger games. Bring those type of games onto mobile as a simple 2-D game with easy controls, addictive gameplay and authentic content.
The latter is crucial because licenses for team and player data from pro leagues is a unique resource only big time developers can buy. It piggybacks on existing fanship, adds rivalry dimension to multiplayer gaming and it gives more monetization touch points. Engaging, authentic content is wasted when plugged into a terrible game, and it’s the drop-off point when absent in a well-made game. No one wants to play a game with LeBran Jomes.
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