A lot of these mediocre or good games are produced because the results were proven in the past and it is estimated that a similar set of circumstances can be created by sticking to the formula. Good games are really what EA wants, great games are a side-effect they will welcome, but certainly not what they are striving for despite what they claim.

Great may be the goal to some, but the meetings and planning sessions I suspect parse down anything too bold.

This is why pre-existing properties are so sought after and traded like real treasure, they offer the corporate an angle of predictability.

You cannot take risks and innovate while being comfortable unless you have a great deal of faith in your team and abilities. Thats asking someone else to be in the driver seat and most people in management on up to the top simply cannot envision that. This is putting faith in people, not the product. People cannot be broken down in to pie charts and powerpoint presentations.

The sheer number of Grand Theft Auto clones for example is just corporate trying to cash in on the comfort blanket.

EA treats games like a product but they really need to take some concepts from other aspects of the entertainment industry. Games are more than code. How are people going to feel playing it? What is the game trying to tell them in regards to it’s story? How does the actions in the game relate to the story?

You know guys, treat it like something called “entertainment” rather than an strict software.

So I’d say that EA is very good at producing solid, even good games on a consistent basis, because they’ve mastered the waterfall and have the funds to pour down it. The result is games bloated with static assets, whearas the really great games, the ones with character, often exhibit a unique procedurality.

At my company, I can get that procedurality by paying a single programmer/designer (he’s brillaint too, check out his blog, Project Perko) and I can get the character by paying a single artist. We’re doing a casual game, I imagine the scope will increase in future projects, but thats where outsourcing comes in.

Let the player and the processes make your content for you, and not only do you save time and money, you open up the potential for the game to be truly interesting.