EA old games archive

[MultiDarkWolf]

Hello there!

I have an idea and I'm not sure if this is the right place for it, but since I can't post on "Discussions — FIFA Forums (easports.com)."

I'll post it here.

some background: (It's mainly the how-I-got-to-the-idea part with some personal experience so you can skip this part)

I don't know how many of you people have played the old EA games - games that were released between 2000 - 2013, but I have.
Mainly FIFA 2002, NHL 2002 & NFS 2005, and I got to tell you guys - those were the best times of my childhood.
A few weeks ago I started feeling nostalgic - I mean I practically tried to find a place (EA official site) I could download those games from and on to my new laptop, but with no success, I contacted the EA support/costumer services and to be honest - most of them went through extended measures to try and help me out, but to no avail, one of them let me know the only way I can get those games is via 3rd party merchants. So I searched for a few days and found one that had those games and I bought them from them. I also had to buy an external CD-Reader, so when the package finally arrived - shakenly, I opened the wraps of the CDs, entered the first one to the CD-reader, and the setup ran, I got hyped.
I mean, you basically hold a piece of your childhood in your hands, and those are happy memories - wouldn't you be hyped?
I was praying the setup would work properly and successfully, due to the fact these are old pc games I'm installing on a new laptop.
To my relief the setup completed successfully, I felt electricity at the tips of my fingers as I hit the game icon, had to hit it a few times until it worked, and there it was - the screen of FIFA Soccer 2002, I waited patiently for the intro to pass, in the background I heard the so familiar soundtrack, and scrolled through the menus, everything so familiar and new at the same time.
The nostalgia, the excitement, I can't explain it.
Eventually, I wanted to play a match, and I picked the team, the screen loaded I saw the familiar w-a-s-d short explaining screen prior to a match and the short intro before every match started.

But then the game crashed.

So I tried again and again - each time ending with the same result, I tried different compability modes, different steps, but all led to the same result - the match didn't load.
I asked EA support for help, but nothing they offered seemed to fix the problem. So I started searching the web, whenever I came across a seemingly solution - I tried it, no matter how seemingly shady it was - I tried them all, now I'm stuck with a FIFA 2002 game in Russian (apparently I managed to delete the English language pack) that crashes whenever a match tries to load.
I gave up on FIFA and tried to run NHL, when NHL gave me the same crash I dived deep into the web, I tried to understand what went wrong.
Basically, since it's an old game on a new computer, and since the game was released with a CPU slower than 2.0 GHz and my laptop has a faster CPU - it ends up crashing.
It all made me think,

And here comes my idea:
What if EA had an old game (2000-2013/4) Archive,
an archive that has all/most of the old pc games we knew & loved, available for download to anyone who gets nostalgic and works with newer firmware/hardware?

I know - it's a massive project, something that will take time to develop, but...what are the pros?
I mean, basically we all know the * - expensive, might be none-profitable or profitable to an extent, requires human sourcing, teams of programmers to re-program the games etc. etc. etc.

But let's look at the pros: (I'll be overviewing this from a FIFA POV, only because it's the easiest for me to explain with).

1. EA will have a bigger player base
There are a lot of leftover players (like me) that don't find themselves in the newer FIFA versions (call me a dinosaur): but seriously? FIFA 2002 had the simplest keyboard - so simple it was fun you didn't need to overthink the uses - one, two dummy matches and that's it, you're good to go to the higher leagues. Later versions of FIFA got more complex/limited keyboard functionalities, in other cases I rather have the FIFA 2000-13 looks & sounds than the newer looks and sounds, different menu styles, budget limitations and what not - they all kept those players from "evolving" with FIFA - Having an EA archive for those old games will allow those players to return to EA and thus increase the player base.

2. If EA will allow free downloading of these old games
Basically, EA will destroy all those pirate sites that give away free downloads of EA games - players would rather go to the main source to download those old games, rather than a shady torrent or site that allows "free download" contaminated with viruses. Another side effect would be better PR for EA, thus might even add a few more people to EAs' player base.

3. Profit
3.1. Ads
Well, I hate ads, but for an archive you come in once a day or so, just to check what's new, or what new old games were added or just              curious about a forum question/game support issue it's bearable. Those ads would also probably be crowd-targeted since you can                    practically analyze the people who will come to download those games.

3.2. New Features/Packs sold for cash
By "New" I mean New, as in never were part of the original old games: if we'll take FIFA - a new feature would be something like increasing      the stats of players from 97 to 99/100, or increasing the players attributes from 7 to 9/10. Other options: Packs that allow a wider                      customization of created players, jerseys, accessories and what not, another pack that allows you to mix soundtracks of games -                      like listening to NHL 2000 EA official soundtrack when playing FIFA 2005, or adding/changing specific music tracks via the game you are          currently playing.

3.3. Online-Tournaments & PVP Options
You got FIFA 2000 your friend has FIFA 2000 and you both want to play together, only one problem - he is in North America and you are in      South Africa what are you going to do?
well- you both purchase a PVP card from EA which adds a new feature to FIFA 2002, that allows you to search/find your online friend and        play together.
Another option - Holding out Online tournaments/Leagues/Cups - based on version games - 8/10/20/or how many you decide, each player      that enters the online competition      needs to pay a min buy-in in order to participate, also the game he is playing on must be the same          version of the competition - i.e. EA's 1st FIFA 2000 Tournament will only allow people with FIFA 2000 to join & participate after they                  payed the min buy-in. The buy-in will be the price for normalizing all players stats & attributes and/or connect people who didn't buy the            PVP card and as an entrance fee (for updates about upcoming matches/player match reminders...etc.).

3.4. Discounts

Well, you got 3-4 or even 20 packs/Features you want to buy, each of them costs x$ and you only got y$. If you have an EA account you          get a discount per every 10/20/etc. features/packs bought or you get extra stuff in newer versions of FIFA, no EA account? well you get a        lower discount.

4. EA newer game demos/EA overall features
Let's say EA does implement an old game archive - how can EA not repeat past mistakes - like neglecting older-game-loving dinosaurs like me?
Well, the short answer is: make sure the User Experience (UE) is similar across all platforms.
The long answer:

4.1. Trial & Demos
Allow old-gamers to try out newer games, they are downloading FIFA 2000? give them a short 30-day-trial/demo of FIFA 2001, if they liked      it they can download it from the archive, if not they can delete the short demo/trial version. They downloaded FIFA 2014? give them the            taste of FIFA 2015, which isn't in the archive yet. They liked it? They can buy and download it from the official EA site.

4.2. Keyboard Configurations

Allow players to move their current keyboard configuration to newer versions of FIFA, in case the newer version has more options: allow          each player to decide which button to assign for which action. You'd probably want to keep the same language - i.e. in early FIFAs' we got        the "pass/shoot/sprint/lob" while in later FIFAs' we got "pass/kick/run/tackle" (just as an example) - if you keep the same names for moves -      it will be easier for us players to understand what each button does.

4.3. Menus

Allow players to decide how they want their menu - old style like older FIFA games or the default FIFA based on version or allow them to          import the looks they want from the FIFA games they loved and played.

I know, some of these stuff are already implemented on newer FIFA versions/other EA games, I'm talking about re-vamping older & newer versions to support this options which will allow the migration of old players to newer FIFA platforms/games in a way that if EA will feel that the  archive is no longer relevant/profitable - there won't be hard feelings from older players,

To sum it up:

My idea is for EA to create an official EA old-games-Archive where players could download all older game versions EA ever released - compatible for up-to-date operating systems.
By making those downloads free & with some additional buy-to customize packs I believe EA would not only profit from this archive but will also allow an easier way for older players to migrate to newer EA game versions.

so, what do you guys think?