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EA Drops Online Support for Aging Titles

T

Tomcat

Member
EA has revealed that it will be dropping online support for a host of older titles, specifically sports games, beginning in September 2007.

As of September 1, the likes of FIFA World Cup 2006, Madden 06 and Tiger Woods 06 will face the chop, along with a range of other titles on numerous platforms, next-gen included.



The titles subject to the move will therefore only be multiplayer playable in offline mode, although the aforementioned key franchises should be receiving their annual yearly updates in the form of 2008 editions a few weeks prior to the online shutdown.



Here’s the full list:



September 1, 2007 Online Service Shutdown

Arena Football for PlayStation 2
Arena Football for Xbox
FIFA Soccer 06 for Xbox 360
FIFA Soccer 06 for PC
FIFA06 for PC
FIFA Soccer 06 for PlayStation 2
FIFA Soccer 06 for PlayStation Portable
FIFA Soccer 06 for Xbox
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PC
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PlayStation 2
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PlayStation Portable
FIFA World Cup 2006 for Xbox
Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation Portable
Fight Night Round 3 for Xbox
Madden NFL 06 for Xbox 360
Madden NFL 06 for PC
Madden NFL 06 for PlayStation 2
Madden NFL 06 for PlayStation Portable
Madden NFL 06 for Xbox
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects for PlayStation 2
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects for Xbox
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball for PlayStation 2
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball for Xbox
NASCAR 06 Total Team Control for PlayStation 2
NASCAR 06 Total Team Control for Xbox
NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360
NBA Live 06 for PC
NBA Live 06 for PlayStation 2
NBA Live 06 for PlayStation Portable
NCAA Football 2005 for Xbox
NCAA Football 2006 for PlayStation 2
NCAA Football 2006 for Xbox
NCAA March Madness 06 for PlayStation 2
NCAA March Madness 06 for Xbox
NFL Head Coach for PC
NFL Head Coach for Xbox
NFL Head Coach for PlayStation 2
NHL 06 for PC
NHL 06 for PlayStation 2
NHL 06 for Xbox
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 for Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 for Xbox



November 1, 2007 Online Service Shutdown

Burnout Revenge for Xbox
Burnout Revenge for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Underground for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Underground 2 for PC
Need for Speed Underground 2 for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Most Wanted for PlayStation Portable
Need for Speed Most Wanted for Xbox

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6682&Itemid=2
 
Shutting off last gen online titles = upgrade consoles bitches
Shutting off stuff like Madden 2006 = upgrade to 07/08 titles bitches...

I find the former slightly less sickening than the latter. They should support games longer than a year.

A lot of those titles probably have dwindling online numbers though, so there'll be few people to complain. I still think it sucks.
 
radioheadrule83 said:
Shutting off last gen online titles = upgrade consoles bitches
Shutting off stuff like Madden 2006 = upgrade to 07/08 titles bitches...

I find the former slightly less sickening than the latter. They should support games longer than a year.
Click to expand...

They do. Most of these are 2 years old.
 
EA should be required to place a disclaimer on their products stating that they will discontinue any online services within 12 months.
 
nofilter said:
They do. Most of these are 2 years old.
Click to expand...

Yeah... I forget they actually release sports titles within the year prior of the actual title's name. Even so, it's a short amount of support. I understand why they're doing it but I think it's a shame.
 
Visualante said:
EA should be required to place a disclaimer on their products stating that they will discontinue any online services within 12 months.
Click to expand...

They do. Well, kind of. This isn't the first time this has happened, it happens every year.

Surely no-one's playing a 2 year old sports game. No-one cares, do they?
 
Visualante said:
EA should be required to place a disclaimer on their products stating that they will discontinue any online services within 12 months.
Click to expand...

They do. IIRC one version of Madden had one where they had the right to turn it off after the Superbowl.
 
Visualante said:
EA should be required to place a disclaimer on their products stating that they will discontinue any online services within 12 months.
Click to expand...

They do
 
Metalmurphy said:
For Xbox 360 too? Wasn't MS supposed to be managing the servers so this type of stuff wouldn't happen?
Click to expand...

EA manages their own servers, that was part of the deal to get them on Xbox Live.
 
storybook77 said:
EA manages their own servers, that was part of the deal to get them on Xbox Live.
Click to expand...

Ha figures... EA will find any way possible to screw someone over.

But then again, who plays a 2yr old (current/last gen) sports title.
 
radioheadrule83 said:
I find the former slightly less sickening than the latter. They should support games longer than a year.
Click to expand...
They do. Most of these are 2 years old.
Click to expand...

Visualante said:
EA should be required to place a disclaimer on their products stating that they will discontinue any online services within 12 months.
Click to expand...
They do
Click to expand...
They do
Click to expand...
They do
Click to expand...

Ladies and gentlemen, give these two a hand! They were shut down right there at the end, but they sure did give it their all!
 
Oh I'm sorry. I just assumed that with all the whining that goes on around EA online that EA were doing something wrong and not informing you of the facts.

For the record I don't buy Madden anymore- so I wouldn't know.
 
Visualante said:
Oh I'm sorry. I just assumed that with all the whining that goes on around EA online that EA were doing something wrong and not informing you of the facts.

For the record I don't buy Madden anymore- so I wouldn't know.
Click to expand...

EA are always doing something wrong, it's just that shutting down support of older games is less wrong that most of the stuff they do. :D
 
Surely the servers essentially do **** all, right? They just find two or so people to play don't they?

By shutting down online servers, does that also mean you can't create an online private match with friends?
 
I really do think they ought to put in a consolation, though: the ability to create your own server (with your home console, of course) for at least four-people play. All the client machines would just need to enter the IP or domain name of the server machine.

People would still want to use EA's servers, too, because you could play against people you didn't know, could play with more people for some games, and wouldn't have to enter an IP when you wanted to play. So it wouldn't be like people wouldn't still want to upgrade to the newest version of the game. It'd just be an alternative if you just wanted to play with a few friends (especially if they had no plans to upgrade themselves).
 
Would it be impossible for them to allow players to host their own games after they switch off the servers?

I mean, it's not costing them anything...
 
Pakkidis said:
Could you imagine if EA did the online service for Blizzard games.....starcraft IS STILL going strong.
Click to expand...
Heck Blizzard restarted the ladder in Diablo 2 in late June and it's about 6 years old.
 
nofilter said:
They do. Well, kind of. This isn't the first time this has happened, it happens every year.

Surely no-one's playing a 2 year old sports game. No-one cares, do they?
Click to expand...

On neogaf, no, but in the real life, where people don't always buy the lastest version of a sport game because it's too expensive, i guess that they care...

Two years is really short IMO

Nintendo, please don't drop the online for mario kart DS this november !!
 
I can kinda understand phasing out yearly-updated sports titles - understand it from an EA perspective which is largely evil, that is - but chopping off stuff like Burnout Revenge is kind of rotten. It makes me wonder how long they'll allow the 360 version of Burnout Revenge to last - a game that /requires/ Live play in order to get half of its achievements. Or what about Battlefield II on the 360?

Considering that no online play = broken games where owners of the title cannot earn their achievements, this is something MS honestly should take a second look at when it affects the 360. If MS is going to keep live support running for the long haul - just like all Xbox 1 games are still supported - why can't they work out a deal to take over matchmaking / authentification support for games EA drops?
 
As long as they keep BF2: MC I could give a f**k.

Can't get enough of this game. As soon as I get off work tonight it will be non-stop playing on the couch all weekend. Got my Jolt Cola in the fridge ready.

GamerTag = Un4rmedBl4ckM4n
 
Has anyone pointed out quite a few 360 games on that list. So much for a paid for premium service. Remember the shit Konami got for closing down MGS online? That was an extra for subsistance and free.
 
Hopefully for games like Burnout Paradise - where it's pretty essential to the game to have online - it won't go down so easy.

Incidentily, when was Burnout 3 taken off online play?
 
I came here expecting Battlefield 2 for 360.

Thank God it's not being shut down. The servers are shitty, true, but it's the only online multiplayer game I can get my friends into.
 
Some of those titles are from 06,

There not old!!!!!!

They better leave LOTR and CNC3 on the 360 online for a few more years yet.

no wonder M$ like p2p gaming, none of thise BS
 
bengraven said:
I came here expecting Battlefield 2 for 360.

Thank God it's not being shut down. The servers are shitty, true, but it's the only online multiplayer game I can get my friends into.
Click to expand...


What's ur GamerTag brother?
Me = Un4rmedBl4ckM4n
 
I'm really surprised they held out on NCAA Football 2005 for Xbox so long. Maybe because it was a pack-in or that it was the first EA Sports title on Live.

If only they would release the code so people could set up their own onilne servers instead of making part of their games unplayable.

I'm anticipating Microsoft dropping the axe on Original Xbox online support sometime next year.

EA: Upgrade or Die!
 
I hate this, I mean C&C 3 has to connect to EA just for a hand sake before starting a game which is P2P play!!!!!!

Sneaky Sneaky!!!
 
speculawyer said:
Pity the poor retailers that still have unsold copies of those games. They are getting screwed.
Click to expand...

Yea, pity the poor retailer with 10,000 copies of Madden 2006 lying around. Now he will have to sell them for $2 instead of $5 :(

Why does EA have to be the only company to ever shut down old game servers? :(
 
Andokuky said:
Yea, pity the poor retailer with 10,000 copies of Madden 2006 lying around. Now he will have to sell them for $2 instead of $5 :(

Why does EA have to be the only company to ever shut down old game servers? :(
Click to expand...
They save money where ever possible?
 
I really think they should just standardize their server shutdown, across the board.

Say that all their titles will continue their online support for three years, UNLESS the # of unique weekly connections is above X, in which case they'll continue to support the title until the number of players drops.

I think that would be a nice compromise. That way EA wouldn't have to be supporting 15 versions of super-old Maddens and all their other titles, but gamers wouldn't feel like they were getting cheesed over either.

the big problem is that two years of support isn't enough. I'm not much of a sports gamer, but I like them a little. So I usually end up buying one iteration of Madden every console generation or so, and that tides me over for the next several years.

Now I can't do that.
 
Andokuky said:
Yea, pity the poor retailer with 10,000 copies of Madden 2006 lying around. Now he will have to sell them for $2 instead of $5 :(

Why does EA have to be the only company to ever shut down old game servers? :(
Click to expand...

he has a point

this is EA

c'mon, they got the money to keep these up
 
I'm blind for not noticing the fact that they are shutting down the 06 version of Madden two weeks after 07 comes out. WTF? I hate Madden, but what happens if the customers hate the changes they have made to the gameplay and want to play an older version. Guess what, you are screwed! Damn that is evil EA.
 
Visualante said:
EA should be required to place a disclaimer on their products stating that they will discontinue any online services within 12 months.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure they do. I remember NCAA 05 PS2 had such a disclaimer.

D'oh beaten.
 
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