Home Gaming Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space “Fell Short” of EA’s Expectations

Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space “Fell Short” of EA’s Expectations

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EA Boss Frank Gibeau says that two of the company’s biggest new IP’s this generation fell short of the gaming empire’s expectations. If you haven’t been paying attention, the two “big” new IP’s that failed to set charts alight were space survival horror Dead Space and First-Person free-running platformer Mirror’s Edge.

They have both gone on to attain quite a cult following though. Dead Space fared the better of the two; A brilliantly executed survival horror that refined in-game map systems to the point of perfection. Mirror’s Edge was riskier, changing the traditional view for platforming platforming games to first person. Why’d they fall short then?

“First-person parkour across buildings is fun, but to be blunt, Mirror’s Edge’s’ execution fell short,” Gibeau said in an interview with Develop.

“There were issues with the learning curve, the difficulty, the narrative, and then there was no multiplayer either,” he added. “The key learning from us was that if you’re going to be bold with that kind of concept, you need to take it as far as it can go in development.”

And although Dead Space was more successful at retail, he added: “It made money for us, but didn’t hit expectations. We felt like we had an IP that struck a chord, and one that hit quality, but again it missed multiplayer modes. Although both gave the company, “some degree of success … they didn’t quite meet our expectations, for sure.”

“So when we re-worked Dead Space  we looked at how to make it a better idea, how do we make the story more engrossing, how do we build Isaac as a character, how do we make this game a success online.”

Gibeau says EA “won’t give up on those IPs”, adding: “”A new idea obviously has a lot of risk attached to it, but if you get it all right it can be huge.”

I’ll be honest in saying I found both games to be a refreshing change of pace for the company, and i loved both games. In fact, Dead Space 2 is one of the games I’m looking forward to most next year – although the addition of needless multiplayer isn’t much of a factor. While there was announcement of a Mirror’s Edge sequel last year, that talk has quietened down to little more than whispers. I’d buy Mirror’s Edge 2 in a heartbeart.

Source : Develop

Last Updated: November 30, 2010

5 Comments

  1. NiteFenix

    November 30, 2010 at 12:52

    I second your views Master Geoffrey. Never played Dead Space, but I too, would buy Mirror’s Edge 2 in a heart beat.

    Reply

  2. flmboy

    November 30, 2010 at 12:59

    Geoff you are missing an ‘h’ somewhere in the article. I’ll let you figure out where.

    Reply

  3. al360

    November 30, 2010 at 13:26

    deadspace to for me please!!!! i loved the first 1 even thou i only played it like 2 months ago i thought it was awesome for such an old title!
    but the multiplayer bleh! looks pointless and looks like it would bring its petential ratings down once reviewed on release day so i think they need to either can it or re-think it = totally :angel:

    Reply

  4. Aussious

    November 30, 2010 at 14:07

    Well I must give them props though for doing something that is very rare in gaming and that is huge corps supporting new IP’s, The Existence of both EA and Activision in their current forms is killing creativity in gaming…

    Reply

  5. Aussious

    November 30, 2010 at 14:19

    I remember in earlier years you had alot of games that took chances the likes of Giants: citizen Kabuto, Sacrifice,Nomad soul etc…now we reduced the same game different shell. :angel:

    Reply

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