In early June, 2K Sports announced that NBA legend Michael Jordan would grace the cover of their upcoming NBA 2K11. Most consider Jordan the greatest (or at least one of the greatest) NBA players in history, and having him cover the video game would seem like a great move for 2K. Competitor EA Sports doesn't think so, however.
Speaking with IndustryGamers recently, EA Sports boss Peter Moore noted that Jordan may be the greatest but he's long since retired and being on the cover possibly sends the wrong message about the game to consumers. "I’m not quite sure what [Jordan on the cover] signifies, quite frankly," he said. "We haven’t announced our player yet, but we tend to be forward thinking about our franchises. I mean, I’m a huge Michael Jordan fan, but in the same way that I don’t put Pelé on the cover of FIFA, we have the young up and coming stars. You’re going to see that again from us with NBA. We never went after Jordan. They have done it; it’s an interesting marketing move to use a retired player. I don’t know how they intend to use it. Michael Jordan? Well yeah, greatest player to ever play the game. [At the] same time, it's strange for the consumer... what does it signify?"
Moore added, "They’ve got a great product and I’m sure their cover boy isn’t going to impact that."
As for EA Sports' own basketball franchise, the company recently rebranded the long-time NBA Live series as NBA Elite. Moore told us this was based on "exhaustive research" and he's expecting big things for the new brand. "[We] did a ton of research and put names in front of consumers and even guys who played NBA Live said, 'Boy, NBA Elite sounds very, very cool.' And I think it signifies something different is going on and that’s clearly what’s going on there," he stated.
6 Comments
July 15, 2010
im a big moore fan...but i think having the greatest player of all time on ur cover signifies to the consumer that this is the best game of basketball on the market, very much like they had muhammad ali on the cover of their boxing games in the xbox ps2 and gamecube era....
July 15, 2010
You know you're desperate when you're hating on Jordan for being on a cover of a basketball game.
Don't be mad EA because gamers have been saying for years that 2K is better than live. Now you're going with a name change and that won't help you either. Also 2K isn't doing Online Pass so I'm more than happy to buy their game brand new which I intend to pre-order (something i've never done for a sports game). You have football just be grateful for what you got.
It's not confusing at all. People who have been buying NBA 2K (I have every game) have been asking for Jordan to be in the '80s or '90s players team list for a while now and we're finally getting it. I assume almost everybody else knows who Jordan is and that he's retired.
It signifies that Jordan's in the game and we don't have to try and make so so Jordan characters this year. We'll be able to put him on any team we want (I'll go with bulls and then knicks hahaha). We get his stats and not just, put everything at 99 lol.
Who you calling "boy" Moore? LOL j/k Do you mock me moor? lol forget it.
July 20, 2010
i dont get it. he says," Well yeah, greatest player to ever play the game. [At the] same time, it's strange for the consumer... what does it signify?" EA put Ali and mike tyson on the cover of fight night round 4 not to mention Ali on knockout kings 00 &02. thanx for the link AzureEffect
August 16, 2010
I am also a peter moore fan, but he is acting like an EA Doosh..and I hate EA...he makes no sense..especially when they put Ali and Tyson on their boxing game...what does that signify Peter? Give me a break.
August 30, 2010
I'm a big peter Moore fan, i get my hands on fifa every year, but he need to take those words back. At the end of the day its just business right, they should know something about that. EA got the NFL license they tried to bankrupt 2ksports, and there's still some NBA license they EAsports have. They grace Mohammad Ali on the cover of all their boxing titles, knockout kings all they way to fight night, so whats the difference. don't make us loose respect for u Peter Moore.
September 29, 2010
How about actually shipping your game? Does that matter? ;-)