Tech News
Electronic Arts boss labels games industry as 'boring'
By Stevie Smith
Jul 10, 2007, 13:15 GMT

Despite the videogame industry growing at an exponential rate and presently being worth somewhere in the region of $30 billion USD annually, the boss of its largest third-party publisher and developer has slammed the industry as being "boring" and lacking in innovation.

John Riccitiello, CEO of California-based Electronic Arts, has warned that the industry’s formulaic reliance on franchise and series sequels could lead to consumers drifting away from their favoured pastime. Riccitiello also issued a call to gaming companies to more readily appeal to the world’s casual players.

"We're boring people to death and making games that are harder and harder to play," Riccitiello commented in a Wall Street Journal interview. "For the most part, the industry has been rinse-and-repeat. There's been lots of product that looked like last year's product, that looked a lot like the year before."

By way of product examples that, in his view, have recently made the grade in terms of unique attraction and originality, Riccitiello highlighted the likes of Activision’s hugely popular musical rhythm game Guitar Hero and Blizzard’s sprawling online role-playing epic World of WarCraft. He also placed EA’s upcoming Rock Band in that category.

However, while Riccitiello’s words may well ring true throughout the industry, it is worth noting that Electronic Arts is largely viewed as the main proponent of annual sporting upgrades and endless series sequels, most of which add little more than aesthetic gloss and peripheral features to the same core "rinse-and-repeat" experience – while demanding a full retail price point.

Riccitiello’s comments may also rankle somewhat with Nintendo, which has successfully redefined the stereotypical gaming demographic through its innovative touch-screen DS Lite handheld and, most recently, its Wii motion-sensing home console system.

The Nintendo DS, which launched at the tail end of 2004, remains sold out across Japan despite Nintendo’s best efforts to keep stores well stocked. The DS already has many original and massively popular ‘non-game’ titles such as Nintendogs and Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training alongside more traditional fare such as New Super Mario. Bros and the upcoming Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass.

The Nintendo Wii, which launched in November of 2006 is presently outselling the PlayStation 3 by 6-to-1 in Japan, and 3-to-1 in the United States.