1. How can feed forward, concurrent and feedback controls each help Electronic Arts achieve its quality goals for video games?

2. What output standards and input standards would be appropriate for the control process as applied to video game production?

3. Can you see the principle of management by exception at play in any of EA's recent business decisions? Why or Why not?

4. Further Research - What is the latest in Electronic Arts' quest to regain its former glory as the top gaming publisher? How well is EA positioned for future competitive advantage? Overall, is EA's executive team still on "top of its game?"

Such brand reinforcement isn’t limited to sports games either. EA’s Need for Speed Underground 2, a fast-paced racing game, takes endorsement beyond the omnipresent billboard ads and vehicle logos found in typical driving simulators. Here players receive “text messages” on the screen suggesting game hints, each bearing the AT&T logo. Th e signifi cance may be lost on adults, but for a younger generation raised on instant messaging, the placement makes perfect sense.

It makes fi nancial sense, too. A recent poll by Nielsen Entertainment and Activision indicates that this kind of placement may result in notable improvements in both brand recall and favorable brand perception. “I think truly that no other media type can deliver the persuasion that in-game ads can if executed properly,” said Michael Dowling, general manager at Nielsen Entertainment, Los Angeles.

Losing Ground in a Crowded Market Until recently, EA’s devotion to sports games was a winning asset—it dominated the market as the world’s largest video-game publisher. But a funny thing happened on the way to the bank—over the course of a few short years, the gaming market radically changed. Now EA fi nds itself in third place behind two strong competitors whose successes represent areas in which EA needs to double down to stay in the game.

Blame the Wii. Or blame Guitar Hero. Both led popular interest in gaming away from complex sports games played with standard controllers to new types of games, and new ways of interacting with consoles. Nintendo’s Wii has been tremendously popular, and although EA has several successful titles for the platform, many of the top games—like Wii Sports Resort and Super Mario Galaxy 2—are published by Nintendo itself. Th e nontraditional controller lends itself to movement-based games, not EA’s button-mashing bread and butter.

Emerging nearly parallel with the Wii was the popularity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It didn’t take long for casual gamers to take up cheap plastic guitars and drum sets, leaving their traditional controllers to gather dust in the corner. Small gaming shop Harmonix pulled double duty in this market, ………..