Most of EA Sports titles were better in the Mid-Late 90s
See that's something i've noticed with the series I've played. Those that keep releasing yearly without changing eventually drivel down, and are just crap with older version being better.. but the series that changes every few years with new gameplay and such, is more than getting a facelift and remains fun.
This extends to alot of EAs titles.
Need For Speed, NBA Basketball, NHL Allstars.. these games have thier official versions, but now they also have thier underground or street versions, which while remaining similar to the originals, change enough with enough new features to make them more interesting to play.
FIFA, NHL Madden, TheSims.. While small things changes each version, you only really end up buying them to see what the new team rosters are, or what that new couch looks like. Within a week your bored of it again.
EA have companies showing them that you can break away from the formula to still create alot of cash, but at the same time these new games cannot be put out yearly like EA wants for a regular in-come.
It's a case of $12million for a game every 2years, or $8million for a game every year. Until the players start making sure that it is less work regurgitating a game, they won't stop doing it.