This might seem like an odd article for The Roar, but having played the latest Rugby League video game “Rugby League Live” on PS3 (which follows Rugby League 3 recently released on Wii), I couldn’t help but think that the NRL is really missing an opportunity.
The game is decent at best; it certainly doesn’t compare to the EA FIFA and Madden titles, but that’s a given how small the rugby league market is in comparison. That said, I couldn’t help but think that the NRL is ignoring the potential of this medium in its mission to broaden its support base.
I’ve lost count of the amount of friends I’ve got who’ve started watching the NFL because they got hooked on Madden, and with the NRL trying to expand interstate, producing an up to standard video game representing the sport could help start growing the fan base. As it stands however, you just wouldn’t bother buying the game unless you were already a League fan.
HES, the company that has bought the rights to the NRL for the game, has obviously only managed to give the Rugby League games they’ve created only limited resources because of the limited return they expect.
Even in spite of this however, their games have sold very well in Australia and New Zealand (hitting number one in the charts back in the PS2 days – it’s been a long time between drinks). Unfortunately however, this just reflects that Rugby League is very popular in Australia. But ask a none league fan if they’d buy it and it’s pretty much a given they wouldn’t (barring the odd Union fan that is hankering for a title of their own).
HES’s investment in Rugby League titles is limited by market realities, but that doesn’t mean the games have to remain sub-par. Once the NRL signs it’s next TV deal (which is sure to give them a serious boost) I think they should seriously consider becoming directly involved in the development of the next title.
They should start by giving the developers free access to all the licenses and team likenesses, and then top up the resources of the developer (or even find a larger, more dynamic developer) with the investment of several million dollars on top of what HES has already invested.
Of course it’s unlikely that even with the inflated development resources that the title will challenge the long running major sports titles produced by the likes of EA, but it will nevertheless bring the standard up much higher than we’ve been used to for locally developed sports titles.
Indeed, it’s possible that the high development cost will result in a net loss, but this shouldn’t be a concern for the NRL. They must look at the project as an investment in fan base expansion. In fact, if they wanted to be clever about it, they should try to time the release of the title for when the competition expands into Perth (which seems to be all but a foregone conclusion now) and have the new team on the cover when released in WA. The TV commercials virtually write themselves.
A well-made, locally developed sports title based on an Australian sporting competition would go a long way to garnering interest from younger Australians who have only really been able to find quality sports games based on competitions and sports overseas. The further benefit is that once the initial investment is made, follow up titles are much cheaper to develop, but can be released annually at the same price and thus could work to recoup the losses incurred by the first game.
Corey
Guest
Its funny, I go for Boston in every other sport (which is New England territory), like the Celtics (NBA), Red Sox (MLB) and 13's (AMNRL) cause some of my family live in Massachusetts yet I can't find myself supporting them. i don't know why? But the Packers have that small town heritage thing going for them (and the Aussie colours).
TahDan
Roar Guru
I think this idea that EA would help the game is very misleading and simply reflects that people think of EA’s big sellers rather than their failures. EA’s rugby range was decent by their third attempt, but still nothing close to their main stream games. As I stated above, the NRL would have to partner closely with EA to ensure they didn’t screw up their investment be being half-arsed about it (which EA do VERY often contrary to popular belief). In any case, your point about the lack of an “international corporation” willing to take on such a title was precisely the point of my article. That is to say that this very fact is WHY the NRL can’t afford to sit around and wait for someone to do it; they have to do it THEMSELVES (meaning they should seek out and fund a talented development team). Furthermore, the point about an international market was largely secondary, as my whole argument was that the title would increase the prospects for DOMESTIC expansion. If it also results in some international interest, all the better, but this is not the primary aim.
Danny_Mac
Roar Guru
I find it very interesting to hear everybody refer FIFA and Madden... Football is (while growing rapidly) is nowhere near the AFL/NRL and even RU, and American football... well don't get me started, its a minority sport played by people with a unique interest that extends beyond the video game. Ice Hockey is the same... But FIFA, Madden and even NHL are all wildly popular video games. why? they have engaging gameplay, and are distributed by a massive company (EA). If the AFL or NRL were truely serious, they would be pushing to have thier game included in the EA-Sports range. Provided they can get some quality gameplay, it sport itself is irrelevant to the product. In fact, AFL (and possibly NRL) would have a novelty attraction in non-AFL/RL countries. The graphic engines behind the game are the same for all the EA-Sports games, so it is just tweaking it to fit the game. Again, this is part of the attraction for the samller sport games, EA-Sports big games are FIFA, Madden, NHL, NBA & PGA (Tiger Woods) Golf. Any other games that can tap into the same look and feel attract people because they know a) if its EA its good, and b) they know where to find things and how things will work, thus allowing them to focus on the gameplay as opposed to the more administrative side of a new game. The other interesting idea would be to have a whole of rugby league approach. the V8 supercars game published by Codemasters was the same game througout the world, but if you bought it in Australia it was "V8 Supercars", in the UK it was "TOCA Touring Cars" and in Germany as "DTM", the game was actually Called Race driver, but from all the packaging and marketing you'd barely know that fact. In light of the fact that the UK is a much bigger market than Aus+NZ, having a generic "Rugby League 11" game that has NRL stars on the Aus version marketing/packaging and Super league stars on the UK version, would actually make a bit of sense, and provide a bit more of an incentive for game developers. I suppose the problem is that AFL doesn't really have the market globally (Football, Golf, Olympics), or have a big enough market domestically (American sports), and the NRL doesn't really have a pyramid structure of governance, ie FIFA, IOC, PGA, that can push a game from a global perspective. the reason that EA sports will hold onto Football is that it doesn't take much to change the game from English to German, French, Spanish etc and cover the whole world, all you do is change the "target league". Rugby league could do this as stated above, but i don't think that there is an international body that could take the responsibility...
Stormin Red
Guest
That is very true, NRL would need assurances the game would be handled correctly. I remember the exact Rugby game you are referring to. Clearly it was rushed for release before the world cup and the graphics were so average I remember laughing when the players ran out onto the field.
M1tch
Roar Guru
mate, the Patriots is where its at ;)
Corey
Guest
Really good idea. I bought Madden last year, and although I was a Packers fan from way back, I watch the NFL constantly on ONE HD. I am watching their progress and even thinking of a getting a jersey. Although they are massive. I think many Yanks would take to RL on console. Along with Europeans. Bring it out and they will come.
TahDan
Roar Guru
Actually EA aren't publishing the next rugby title coming out, though it is the same developer. I personally don't really like the idea of them going to EA though... their business ethic is pretty brutal and very much a "quantity over quality " ethos, and I can imagine the NRL getting ripped off for a very very poor and possibly even unfinished product. You have to remember that EA only produced 3 rugby titles in the last 10 years and the first one in particular was one of the worst, most underdone sporting titles they ever released.
Stormin Red
Roar Rookie
I have often wondered why the NRL has not approached EA to make a console game. I remember they did this in the 90s and it was brilliant. EA already make a Rugby game so most of the basic graphics, physics and animations are already there. It would just need stadiums and players to be edited and some basic rule tweakings and AI settings to be changed and you have got yourself a game. Surely this would be an even cheaper option to get it made.
TahDan
Roar Guru
Absolutely agree Matt. But I would argue that people buy FIFA and Madden often because there simply aren't any decent incarnations of sports they actually like. This is why I think they NRL should get into it, because if they're the only code in the country (apart from soccer, which doesn't have to worry about this) who invest in producing a great video game, then by default they'll be reaching a larger audience as people will want to check it out irrespective of whether they're a league fan. As it stands though, the games are really only for the died in the wool.
Matt
Guest
And just in addition. Getting players to play and endorse the game (because I know A LOT of those guys do love playing as themselves etc) is such a cheap and effective way to promote a game. So, should the governing body invest in a console game (from promotion purposes) why not get the Twitter using players to chat about it, and even get them involved in online play (which is a huge thing moving forward with the technology). How much fun would it be to play Rugby online with Mat Giteau in your team playing from the console at Brumbies HQ etc??! That kind of promotion, where the fans can "touch" the players is gold!
Matt
Guest
Interesting topic Dan, Could it be as simple as allowing free licensing for players and competitions in whichever sport, league in this instance? It would mean that one of the MAJOR costs for developers would be removed, as well as removing the monopoly. So you'd get competition for the game quality then, as ANY little gaming company could throw together some code and have Jared Hayne etc in their game. So you'd get more than just one game on the market, pushing the quality of the gameplay (and enjoyment up). I wonder how much licensing costs the developers? Personally, as a big Union fan, it's the LACK of a game that seems to push people towards FIFA and Madden. Most mates I have will buy EA Rugby just because they want to play SOME rugby, they then go out and buy these other sports titles to fill their time. So I'm not 100% sure that just because you have a good game you're going to start converting non-fans into fans. Because Madden and FIFA will always exist to a decent level, and have annual updates. So you'll be doing well to wrestle away the attention and $'s of fans of those sports. But the free licensing isn't a stupid idea though!
TahDan
Roar Guru
AFL is certainly a complicated game to try and replicate in a video game, but I honestly think that it's problems are still far from insurmountable. Rugby Union has similarly complicated aspects that are very hard to translate, but some of the games that have been released by EA have actually been pretty decent (and EA invested stuff all in them and rushed production). Nevertheless, my article is centred on Rugby League, and if there is a sport that can be adapted to the video game format, League is definitely it. The game is highly structured, has clear cut rules on most things and lots of the players have similar roles. In terms of programming, League would be far simpler to create than either Union or AFL.
Dan
Guest
That's precisely the point though. FIFA and Madden doesn't need money from the respective governing bodies of the sports it simulates because they are so large. Rugby League and AFL don't have this luxury however, so it would be worthwhile for them to take a direct interest in ensuring these games are good quality. Of course it's still unlikely they'll produce games to challenge the FIFAs and Maddens of the world, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't produce titles that were still great in their own right with the extra assistance. You have to remember that the publishers still have to waste some of their budgets just to get the rights to the comps.
Mister Football
Guest
That's my personal experience as well. I too tried my hand at AFL 98 (and parts of it were enjoyable), but as a gaming experience, it was miles and miles behind pretty much all the soccer games. Resources aside, there are very close parallels with the difficulty gaming houses have in recreating an AFL game as a computer game, and the inherent complexity which exists in translating an AFL game to the small screen. The other thing is that it's very easy to reduce a soccer game to five minute halves, churn through whole seasons and stay relatively true to an average score of roughly 2.3 goals per game, whereas you can't do a similar thing reducing an AFL game to, say, five minute quarters (unless you're trying to replicate the St Kilda game plan).
Brian
Guest
Interesting and fresh idea, however I suspect the problem is that as new technology mediums constantly arise the FIFA & Madden's of the world will always have more money to throw at the technology when compared to AFL or NRL. Back in 1998 my mates and I used to play AFL 98, however on a gaming front it really had very little ability to compete with EA FIFA. My mates still preferred following the AFL but on the console front more money was always being thrown at the FIFA games
TahDan
Roar Guru
The title seems to have been changed from what I wrote, so sorry about the confusion guys. My title was "the NRL should look to gaming in expanding." But maybe that would have been unclear too :S Oh well, as long as people are reading :)
TahDan
Roar Guru
Rugby League Live is actually a pretty decent title for a first attempt by a small local developer, but it's not quite good enough to have many non fans (other than union fans who can't wait for HB Studios "Rugby 2012) picking it up. It's a decent first step, but for the NRL to capitalise on its potential, the next step should be more of a leap and with their backing and financing that is definitely possible. But yeah, BigAnt are now making an AFL game, so that should be interesting. In fact as far as my argument is concerned, the AFL is in a much better position to pull something like this off well. Their TV deals are always massive and it honestly wouldn't be much skin off their nose to invest $20 million (which is more like the standard for big sports games) in producing a title that would be brilliant. What I don't understand here is that video games for sports basically represent an opportunity for advertising and education for the non-fan in the most engaging way possible. Yet for some strange reason neither the AFL or NRL seem to recognise this in spite of the fact that a large proportion of their future markets owns video game consoles. I would also argue that the IRB would do well to help HB Studios in collaborating to produce a top quality Rugby game in time for the World Cup, but those bozo's have no vision, so I'm not holding my breath.
AndyRoo
Roar Guru
I assumed it had something to do with the Bulldogs vs Nth Qld match Fresh idea though which is always good.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
It's an interesting proposition, and I think there is something to the idea - soccer games certainly help drive a broader interest in soccer in this country. I have to confess, I thought from the title that you were going to talk about gaming revenues - which pricked my curiosity because it seemed like such a politically incorrect idea!
Forgetmenot
Guest
Ive noticed the exact same thing with Madden and FIFA. The same company believe is releasing an Australian Football version as well. Im also hoping that the game will help educate non-followers about the sport. And i certainly believe it will. The rugby league version looks of very good quality considering the financial restraints comign with the smaller market than the huge markets like Madden and FIFA cater to.