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EA Sports is Taking Donations

EA Sports announced the launched of their new Season Ticket program that looks to cater to avid fans of EA Sport titles.

There has always been a strong demographic of gamers that like to exclusively play sports titles, and if you enjoy it, it’s not really a bad gig. Madden, NBA Live, NHL Hockey, FIFA, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, these games all come out annually, so there’s always something to look forward to if you are a sports fan and a gamer.

The EA Sports Season Ticket is an all-new program that provides premium benefits to all of those sports gamers. With an annual fee of $24.99 or 2000 Microsoft Points you can get the red carpet treatment when it comes to any EA Sports title.

Here’s what you’ll get for coughing up $25 to EA:

-Early Full-Game Digital Access:  Three days before a game’s scheduled release, fans will be able to download and play the full version of all five participating titles on  Xbox 360 and PS3. The digitally downloaded game will time out when the game is available at retail and consumers have the option to purchase the same full game on disc at retail.  EA SPORTS Season Ticket subscribers can transfer all achievements earned during the three-day download period to the purchased disc, resulting in an early edge over the competition.

-Discounted Downloadable Content: Subscribers will get a 20% discount on all available downloadable content for participating EA SPORTS titles. Downloadable content, which enhances and refreshes the core game experience, includes such items as Ultimate Team packs, accelerator packs and gear upgrades.

-Free Premium Web Content: Premium web content extends the game experience beyond the console to a web browser. All participating titles will feature premium web content that will be free to EA SPORTS Season Ticket members beginning with the premium Creation Center packs for FIFA Soccer 12. These packs provide a deeper set of customization tools and abilities within Creation Center to build your own teams and tournaments, and will be available to the consumer until the membership to the program has expired.

-Membership Recognition: Subscribers are easily identifiable with an exclusive membership recognition badge displayed both in-game and on their EASPORTS.com profile.

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Membership Recognition…won’t you feel special….

But in all seriousness, I could see this being worth it if you are really into competitive sports gaming. Some people take their Madden very seriously!

What did the big cheese have to say about his new plan?

“EA SPORTS Season Ticket is an exciting program for our core fans – it lets our biggest fans play earlier, play more and play better than anyone else,” said Peter Moore, President, EA SPORTS. “EA SPORTS Season Ticket is an important step in our vision for transforming how deeply fans connect with the sports games they love through digital products and services. We’re excited to continue evolving EA SPORTS Season Ticket as we listen to what consumers want most in their gaming experiences.”

Now, this all seems pretty cool, but it really depends on how seriously you take EA Sports titles, which I will admit have been improving over the years. When we were still in the first decade of the millennium I’d say they were hit or miss.

For me, $25 is a bit much for what they are offering here. You get to play the game three days before it’s released, but that really shouldn’t mean much to most players. Don’t allow EA to make it out like those three days are going to give you a huge competitive edge. Two weeks after release you’ll see just how irrelevant those three days were.

20% off on downloadable content? That’s a bit thin EA. You’d have to purchase a lot of discounted downloadable content to justify the $25 you gave them in the first place. So I’m still not convinced, let’s move on.

Free premium web content… I honestly hate when companies offer things like this. The offer itself is layered with ambiguity. They detail “premium Creation Center packs for FIFA Soccer 12. These packs provide a deeper set of customization tools and abilities within Creation Center to build your own teams and tournaments,” but this is one game and I’m not even convinced I’d want to waste my time doing this. Besides that, I have no idea what “free premium web content” really means, and I’m not sure EA has it fully planned out either at this point.

Lastly, membership recognition is a bit humorous. You’d have to be incredibly petty and superficial if you want to pay $25 so that you have a special EA badge in-game and on your online profile.

Despite my opinion, colossus videogame monopoly chain Gamestop was quick to hop on an offer that they seem to really be in favor of.

GameStop President Tony Bartel states, “We are excited to be selected as the exclusive retail marketing partner for the roll-out of EA SPORTS Season Ticket. GameStop is in a unique position to deliver this digital product utilizing its multichannel network. We will continue to work with progressive publishers to bring great gaming experiences to our customers.”

I worked for Gamestop in years past and there’s a great reason why you get harassed and peer pressured with offers when you walk in there: The employees are trained and pressured to hit certain sales marks, and commission is never at stake, in fact employees don’t get commission, but if they don’t perform, they lose their job. Not everyone who works there is a donkey’s behind, they are just pressured to act like one. Besides that it’s a great job, and I’m an angel from heaven…

So, Gamestop will be the wheels behind this operation, and despite my disapproving banter, this deal isn’t totally worthless. If you look at each aspect of the deal individually, it seems like you’re getting a fabricated excuse to give EA $25, but in whole, I could see this offer really being beneficial for a select group of hardcore gamers who choose EA Sports titles as their competitive medium.

My only gripe is that a subscription to Xbox Live is $50 a year and the EA Season Ticket is half of that and comes with way less than half of the offers you get with a subscription to Xbox Live.

Don't you just love how they try to appeal to the alpha dog that resides within all of us?

Taking the aforementioned into consideration, ask yourself, “Is this for me?”