Posted Dec 10, 2007 at 09:39AM by Isaac C. Listed in: Opinions & Analysis Tags: Electronic Arts, Crytek, Europe, Exploit, Harmonix
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Crysis from Electronic Arts - Image 1 


Nick Button-Brown, director of business development for EA Partners, recently commented that European game developers are more creative than American developers, saying that teams from the US are "all about the money" and so take less chances:

There's more creativity in Europe than there is in America. The Americans are much more refined in their processes, it's all about the money. There are less chances taken and there is more money being thrown at developers in the US. Taking less chances means there's less failures, but I can't see the US having ever come up with Grand Theft Auto.


He explains that European developers have the advantage of multiculturalism in the creativity process:

There are a lot of really good European developers and they all bring slightly different things and there are big cultural differences as well, that they are willing to exploit. [...] So many developers are multinational. Go to Crytek and they have 27 national languages there. And that's interesting because they are bringing in so many different areas and ideas to the studio, particularly with the influx of Eastern Europe – you're getting such a wide range of experiences to pick from.


Not that this means he doesn't have respect for American studios, as he recently praised US-based Harmonix for their creativity in making Rock Band (PS3, PS2, Xbox 360).


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10 Comments


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   by Someone_PR - 2007-12-10
 » noooo!

EA is all about the money? nooo! I didn't knew it


   Re: OnimushaGTA - 2007-12-11
 » spelling lol

lol , not i didnt knew it , i didn't know
sorry i couldnt resist
   by platon - 2007-12-10
 » yeah yeah...

European have imagination? maybe some, but the best are (in my opinion):

1st: Japanese (their games are WIERD so times, and they have great JRPGs with big stories and stuff)
2nd: Quebecers (from canaa, the ones who made assassin's creed, prince of persia 1,2,3, tom clancy games, rainbow six games, etc etc)
3rd: americans (with games like GTA ,god of war, heavenly sword, etc)
4th: europeans (with quantic dream games)


   Re: gtauk - 2007-12-10
 » lol you retard

it was comparing Europe againts America and the games yo usaid America made "GTA,god of war, heavenly sword, etc." well GTA was made in Scotland which is in the UK which is in EUROPE it even says in the article, god of war was made is usa yeah i'll give you that but Heavenly Sword was made in Enland which is in the UK which is in Europe so you got those two wrong, ill give you a few other games made in europe: killzone/2, battlefield, little big planet, haze, home, eye toy, singstar, hitman, buzz, time splitters, colin mcrae, crysis, the darkness, worms, crackdown, wipeout pulse, motorstorm, burnout and so many more so go now re arrange your most creative developers

   Re: The Obsidian - 2007-12-11
 » Totally agree!!

Yeah it sucks but it seems all american developers make are Ima gonna hack u and shot u inda head games...which are way too generic....The japenese developers try new and crazy things and stories whether we like em or not...Nintendo is probably the best about trying all new gameplay and themes!
   by ~~ - 2007-12-10
 » ~~

Well, the only thing i've seen recently are crosshairs so.. =

   by Stealth! - 2007-12-10
 » LOL

I don't care who is more creative as long as the games i play is good and i enjoy them thats all it matters. But EA you suck, no one likes you. You make bad ports every time for PS3, and your all about the money, you take in the a$$ by Microsoft any chance you get.

The only game you did a good job with was NHL 08 and even then you could have done better. So i take your comment as BS.

   by AoxomomoxoA - 2007-12-10
 » return

I’m extremely fed up with all those fanbots who say ‘my console (X360 or PS3)’ is better than ‘your console (X360 or PS3)’. After reading this article, one entire group of fankids (either the X360 community or the PS3 community) will have to shut their pie holes for good (millions of fanbots!!!).

[ Top ‘17’ X360 exclusive games ]
- Gears of War: graphics! all you do is hide-shoot-hide-shoot-hide-shoot-... (repeat this 3000 times more) / 90pts
- BioShock: graphics! only 10 hours long, no reason to replay / 90pts
- Halo 3: almost same gameplay as the 3 year old Halo 2, terrible and highly pixelated graphics (in close proximity) / 70pts (or 120pts if you are a fanboy)
- Project Gotham Racing 4: sweet graphics / 80pts
- Forza Motorsport 2: all those customization is only for lifeless garbage kids / 70pts
- Burnout Revenge: at first sight it looks fantastic, but once you played it for 1 hour then it gets extremely boring / 70pts
- Dead or Alive 4: 60pts
- Mass Effect: this game’s graphics is even much worse than 2 year old game, Perfect Dark Zero, bad frame rate very frequently (LOL), the gun fight is terrible and laughable (just compare with any shooter game): 40pts
- Command & Conquer 3: 50pts
- Eternal Sonata: garbage / 30pts
- Saints Row: terrible frame rate all the time and blend graphics / 30pts
- Dead Rising: 70pts
- Lost Planet: 70pts (if only a few things were right, this deserves 90pts)
- Crackdown: mediocre gameplay is mixed with average graphics / 60pts
- Prey: X360 version was rushed, terrible frame rate with average graphics, garbage multiplayer too / 50pts
- Blue Dragon: 90pts (if your mental maturity is ten), or 30pts
- Quake 4: X360 version was rushed, horrible frame rate with medium graphics, the multiplayer is trash / 50pts
- Final verdict: the average value of ‘9’ best X360 exclusive games is: 76pts (top 9 among these 17)

[ Top ‘17’ PS3 exclusive games ]
- Warhawk: technologically and graphically mind-blowing, because the map is ridiculously huge, ground combat is terrible, but the air combat is groundbreaking / this is the real bomb, a lot of X360 fanbots I know are mesmerized by this game / 90pts (points)
- Resistance Fall of Man: when you look at things in close proximity they are very ugly and highly pixelated, mediocre graphics in general! mindless run & gun garbage / 70pts
- Uncharted Drake's Fortune: luscious graphics! but the entire game’s 5 hours long, and there’s no reason why you want to play it again / 60pts
- MotorStorm: amazing graphics and technological achievement! the game has only a few modes (you only play same modes again and again) / 70pts
- Heavenly Sword: gorgeous graphics! but the combat sucks, and the whole game’s 6 hours long, no reason to play again / 60pts
- Ratchet & Clank Future: fantastic 90pts (if you’re mentally 10 year old) / 40pts (if you’re older than ten)
- Ninja Gaiden Sigma: Sigma’s pretty much same as years old game, Ninja Gaiden Black / 50pts
- Folklore: it was hyped a lot too / 30pts
- Lair: extremely hyped, but failed / 20pts
- I need 8 more PS3-only games, but all the other PS3-only games are garbage... If I list 8 more PS3-only games here, it will only dramatically lower the average score for PS3 to zero...
- Final verdict: the average value of the best PS3 exclusive games is: only 54pts

   by Advertising -
   by mohaas05 - 2007-12-11
 » wtf

this is the most retarded comment EA has ever made. Heres a bit of news for you...EVERYONE IS FOR THE MONEY! Companies dont make games for the hell of it. They do it to make a profit. thats why its called a *****ing BUSINESS!. And GTA wasnt exactly a "creative" game. You take a shooting game, a driving game, and a bunch of other stuff like flying planes and stuff and combine it into one game. If you wanna see a creative game look and Japanese games like LocoRoco or Mainichi Issho.

   by Zan Long - 2007-12-11
 » This is the only time I agree with EA

Mainly for me, if you want a good Sci-Fi strategy, or space fighter games, go to Europe.(I know they have made meany other great games, but they seem to love Sci-Fi games more then the US.)
You want great games overall go to Japan.
No one enters this bissness not wanting some money, but both Japan and Europe seem to look at game making more creatively. The only thing the US has is RTS and FPS. Not realy into RTS games, and I do not have a problem with FPS, as long as they stay away from the "DOOM effect".
But this seems to be the only type of games that we make. Untill we get back to the late '80s and most of the '90s, where US game makers where just as creative, I will still stand by what I have said.
Oh and about "Mass Effect". That game is one of the few US made games that is extremly creative. both in story and graphics. I would like to see more Sci-Fi RPGs like this one.



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