Well, who knew that a good-natured poke in the ribs at a year-end list would generate such a passionate reaction from so many! From the thoughtful and articulate, to the vitriolic and somewhat predictable, I have enjoyed reading each and every response to my post last week about Eurogamer’s Top 50 list, as well as the response they published. If nothing else, it showed how we all have differing views on what the criteria for a “top” game should be – commercial
success, unique game play mechanics, addictiveness, depth of storyline, character development, fun factor, authenticity… all different strokes for different folks, and all correct.

For those of you who thought I was whining or promoting FIFA as a catalyst for extra sales, you were missing the point. I was simply hoping to spark a conversation about the position the sports genre has in the psyche
of industry journalists. Do they recognize the real innovations the developers put into the titles year-in, year-out or are sports games simply removed from consideration and recognition – despite strong scores and impressive sales –
because they are annual sports games based on annual sports? There is obviously no definitive answer, but I was happy to jar you out of your eggnog induced slumbers and have you scramble for your keyboard. I also
randomly called out World of Goo during my rant. I must admit I have never played the game, but have heard and read a lot about it. A number of you have made contact with me, telling me how addictive the game is. It is my intention to download it in the next day or two and give it the respect it clearly
deserves. No disrespect was intended.

Anyway, I’d invite you to continue the dialogue on FIFA with our team on EA SPORTS Football World, our football dedicated sister site to EA SPORTS World. As I’ve mentioned in the past, we now have producers regularly interacting with fans and answering your questions, posting blogs looking for your feedback on our games, and more.

Those of you in the U.S. probably saw the Video Game Awards on Spike TV on December 19^th. I remarked in a post the following week that it “felt like a watershed moment for the industry”. The viewing numbers, which came in this week
from Spike, certainly validated that opinion, with 10 million viewers (approximately 4% of the US population) tuning in to watch the show. You will recall that we debuted EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 4 with our world premiere trailer, and the game now has more than 340,000 views on GameTrailers alone, with an impressive 8.9 viewer rating. Thanks again to the team at Spike TV for producing such as impressive and successful show, and providing further proof of the truly mainstream entertainment status of gaming.

On a more somber note, I was saddened to see the announcement this afternoon that Electronic Gaming Monthly is closing its doors as part of the Hearst acquisition of the Ziff Davis Media gaming assets. EGM has been a print publication mainstay of our industry for two decades, and while the real-time nature of web sites has
put long-lead magazines and print media in general across most genres under real pressure, it is a sad day when such an important icon in gaming has to say goodbye.