EA Sports

discussed in 4,237 posts, 1993-2011 · overall tone negative

Need for Speed (series) 1994 Andretti Racing 1996 Moto Racer 1997 NASCAR Revolution 1999 Sports Car GT 1999 Superbike World Championship 1999 F1 2000 2000 F1 Championship Season 2000 2000 Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed 2000 Superbike 2000 2000 Superbike 2001 2000 F1 2001 2001 F1 2002 2002 NASCAR Thunder (year unspecified) 2002 NASCAR Thunder 2003 2002 F1 Challenge '99-'02 2003 NASCAR Thunder 2004 2003 EA NASCAR SimRacing 2005

Posts per month

How the mood changed

Starts at zero. Every post that spoke well of them moves the line up, every critical post moves it down (weighted −2 to +2).

Press releases

Key threads

• Memories of Papyrus's original Indy 500 2004-07-27 · 93 posts
  Darf asked what Papyrus's 1989 Indianapolis 500 was like, and veterans described its mouse steering, strong AI, multiple car makes and the sense of realism at the time. Steve Smith said Kaemmer broke with EA over making the Amiga version easier to drive. Some ran it via DOSBox from abandonware sites, recalled the early LittleIndy offline league, and argued over whether EA's NASCAR licence deal caused Papyrus's demise.
• Reaction to FIRST-Racing's legal action against NR2003 exe modders 2005-03-24 · 69 posts
  JP linked FIRST-Racing's news page announcing legal action against modders who altered the NR2003 executable. Many were angry, and some vowed to buy EA's NSR instead. Others noted that most mods did not touch the exe, and Aero88 co-author Fred Anderson said his team had reverse-engineered the data formats. Reviewer Randy Magruder defended the NSR team's openness and ongoing patch work, and debate continued over NSR's state and whether the licence agreements transferred to FIRST.
• Future of Papyrus NASCAR sims and Papyrus versus ISI physics 2003-11-03 · 86 posts
  Rich worried about rumours that EA might take over NASCAR sims on PC and asked whether NR2003 would remain the best ever. Posters debated Papyrus's physics against ISI's engine used in EA's titles, with Jason Moyer and Ashley McConnell explaining the difference between Papyrus's surface-based track model and polygon-based track collision. Others noted Doug Arnao had tuned EA's car parameters, and the thread later drifted into car talk and insults.
• Self-described EA tester trashes F1 2001 PC 2001-10-15 · 68 posts
  A poster called fluffypony, claiming to be an EA tester who had worked on the PS2 version, declared the PC F1 2001 a very poor game. Most dismissed him as a troll, defended the game, and mocked him after finding his personal website, though a friend vouched that he did work for EA. Others explained the PC and PS2 versions came from different teams, with the PS2 version by Studio Liverpool.
• Flashpoint Racing Series opens 2005 season on NR2003 2005-02-14 · 35 posts
  Joe Lomas announced registration for the Flashpoint Racing Series 2005 season on NR2003, with a possible switch to EA's NASCAR SimRacing once it was patched. Posters questioned why a league would plan around a patch for an unreleased game. A long argument followed about EA versus Papyrus, the exclusive NASCAR licence, and whether NSR's online features would be ready.
• Loose NR2003 web setups, then a Papyrus versus EA argument 2005-01-08 · 53 posts
  A user asked why setups downloaded for NR2003 always felt loose. Answers covered driving style, left-foot braking, and claims that system and controller differences affect handling. The thread turned into a long argument between JP and ymenard over whether Papyrus's NASCAR games were ever truly good simulations and whether EA's coming NASCAR SimRacing would be better. Beta tester Pete added critical recollections of Papyrus's management and online collision code.
• NR2003's high resale price versus NASCAR SimRacing 2005-07-12 · 38 posts
  A returning player noted that NR2003 sold for around $100 while NASCAR SimRacing could be had for $30, and wondered how that affected new players. Most replies said NR2003 kept its value because NSR had been a disappointment that EA never properly patched. Joe argued that early Papyrus releases had been flawed too. The thread included bickering between Darus, Byron Forbes and Larry over SimBin, EA and GTR.
• Need for Speed III review and the circuit-versus-open-road debate 1998-03-30 · 88 posts
  Randy Magruder posted a review of the PlayStation Need for Speed III. Joe McGinn and others argued the series should return to the open-road point-to-point tracks of the first game, while Magruder preferred closed circuits with the new police pursuit mode. The debate ran for weeks.
• Jason Moyer's critical NASCAR Thunder 2003 review 2002-10-17 · 61 posts
  Jason Moyer posted a scathing review of NASCAR Thunder 2003, criticising inaccurate tracks such as Pocono and Watkins Glen, handling worse than the FIA GT mod and unrealistic multi-wide racing. Bill Bollinger defended the game and attacked NR2002's AI and physics, while others debated Papyrus AI quality and Dale Jr.'s use of Papyrus sims. Many readers thanked Moyer and said they would skip the game.
• Randy Magruder's 9.2 IGN review of NASCAR SimRacing 2005-02-17 · 53 posts
  Posters linked to veteran sim reviewer Randy Magruder's IGN review, which gave NSR 9.2 out of 10. Old-timers vouched for his credibility while others called the score generous. The thread ranged over GTR, rFactor, Gran Turismo and the mods for GPL. Magruder later joined the thread to explain his views on NSR's physics and to note that he was racing it online.
• NASCAR Thunder 2004 PS2 draft-sharing button question 2004-02-20 · 67 posts
  A console player asked how the draft-sharing button works in NASCAR Thunder 2004 on PS2, prompting jokes about pressing a button to draft. It was clarified that the feature belongs to the console-only Grudges and Alliances system and does not affect the actual draft. The thread became an argument over whether Thunder deserved to be called a sim, with some name-calling.
• F1 2001 no-CD patch sparks copy-protection debate 2001-11-25 · 53 posts
  A link to a no-CD executable for the F1 2001 patch was answered by a poster calling himself 'EA employed', who accused the group of encouraging piracy. Many legitimate owners argued that CD checks only inconvenience paying customers while pirates bypass them, and suggested better schemes such as Operation Flashpoint's FADE. The poster's claim that the check takes only a second or two was ridiculed, and the exchanges grew heated.
• F1 2000 runs poorly even on fast PCs 2000-05-11 · 30 posts
  Sal V. found F1 2000 still ran badly on a new Athlon 800 with a GeForce2 GTS. Many blamed EA for rushing Image Space Incorporated's game out, while Kevin Gavitt called ISI's engine inherently slow since Sports Car GT. Iain Mackenzie's claim that the eye cannot see more than 30fps drew a predictable round of rebuttals.
• Microsoft details the CART Precision Racing patch contents 1997-12-08 · 105 posts
  Dean of Microsoft's CART Team listed the CART Precision Racing patch fixes: improved AI, 25-50% frame rate gains for all users, controller null zone, pit lane auto-pilot, gamma controls, larger steering ratio and better default setups, and said a new demo would follow. He explained that a native Glide version had been benchmarked but gave little benefit, sparking a long Direct3D-versus-Glide argument with 3Dfx owners. Later posts became a Voodoo versus Riva 128 hardware debate.
• EA gets Formula One licence; Motorsport Simulations signs SCCA deal 1999-02-22 · 23 posts
  Posters reacted unhappily to news that Electronic Arts had obtained Formula One rights, questioning whether the licence was exclusive and debating EA's record on realism in sports games. Better received was news that Motorsport Simulations had signed a long-term agreement with the SCCA to develop a racing sim.

Busiest threads

• Memories of Papyrus's original Indy 500 (26 posts about it)
• Reaction to FIRST-Racing's legal action against NR2003 exe modders (19 posts about it)
• Future of Papyrus NASCAR sims and Papyrus versus ISI physics (19 posts about it)
• Self-described EA tester trashes F1 2001 PC (19 posts about it)
• Flashpoint Racing Series opens 2005 season on NR2003 (18 posts about it)
• Loose NR2003 web setups, then a Papyrus versus EA argument (16 posts about it)
• NR2003's high resale price versus NASCAR SimRacing (14 posts about it)
• Need for Speed III review and the circuit-versus-open-road debate (13 posts about it)
• Jason Moyer's critical NASCAR Thunder 2003 review (11 posts about it)
• Randy Magruder's 9.2 IGN review of NASCAR SimRacing (10 posts about it)
• NASCAR Thunder 2004 PS2 draft-sharing button question (10 posts about it)
• F1 2001 no-CD patch sparks copy-protection debate (10 posts about it)
• F1 2000 runs poorly even on fast PCs (10 posts about it)
• Microsoft details the CART Precision Racing patch contents (10 posts about it)
• EA gets Formula One licence; Motorsport Simulations signs SCCA deal (10 posts about it)

Sentiment by year

Who talked about them most

Dave Henrie · 169 ymenard · 97 Joe McGinn · 68 Larry · 56 (unknown) · 46 Steve Smith · 39 jason moyer · 38 DjFIL · 28 JP · 27 Marc Collins · 27 Schooner · 26 Andre Warringa · 26 Haqsau · 25 Darus · 24 William Bradshaw · 23 Michael E. Carver · 22 Mitch_A · 21 Jeff Reid · 20 Alan Bernardo · 20 David G Fisher · 20

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