kevnz Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Well the worst possible thing for NFL video games happened, EA now has exclusive rights to the NFL. That sucks. Now instead of doing anything innovative they will sit back and release the same game every year with updated rosters and nothing special. I know there are some people around here that swear by Madden, but not having any competition is very very bad.News StoryElectronic Arts, the leading maker of sports video games, signed an exclusive five-year contract with the National Football League and the NFL Players Association, deals that will give the company sole possession of the licensed football video game business.The partnership, which will commence with the publishing of Electronic Arts' Madden game next August, eliminates the competitive battle EA endured this year with ESPN's NFL 2K5 game, a joint venture between Sega and Take-Two Interactive. Without the use of team and player names, generic games have struggled for survival in the current environment.Before this year, EA's Madden franchise -- which the company has sold more than 40 million copies of since its debut in 1989 -- previously dominated the football game marketplace. Bit players, including Midway, 989 Sports and Microsoft, dropped out of the licensed football game business this year.But the Madden 2005 game was seriously challenged by NFL 2K5, thanks to good reviews and a pricing war. NFL 2K5 was available in stores in August for $19.95. For three months, the Madden game was priced at $49.95, until the company finally relented on Nov. 8 and lowered it by $20."We considered a whole variety of factors in making this decision," said Gene Goldberg, the NFL's vice president of consumer products. "We chose EA based on game quality, marketing ability and track record."As part of the deal, EA will have access to NFL resources, including video, audio and music scores from NFL Films. The partnership pertains to every aspect of gaming, including content for hand-held games, personal computers and cell phones.Goldberg said he's not concerned that the monopoly on the business will cause EA to relax the year-to-year innovations that have been pushed by recent competition. Though financial terms of the deal are not known, Goldberg said there is "a lot of self-imposed pressure to improve the product to make it stand out in a robust and diverse marketplace."Sports video games accounted for more than 20 percent ($1.2 billion) of the $5.8 billion video game market last year, according to the NPD Group, a market tracking firm.EA spokesman Trudy Muller said that the deal is not a financial risk for the company."We believe this is a good investment for us, as well as the league and the players," Muller said. "We know we have a responsibility to our fans to continue to make the best game. We have plenty of competition with other games in the marketplace."Electronic Arts also has exclusive deals with NASCAR, FIFA and the PGA Tour."This exclusive relationship will maximize the value of NFL players through EA's continued commitment to bring fans closer to the game," said Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFLPA and chairman of Players Inc., the organization's licensing body.In a statement, Take-Two spokesman Ed Nebb disagreed."We believe that the decisions of the National Football League and Players Inc. to grant an exclusive license for videogames do a tremendous disservice to the consumers and sports fans whose funds ultimately support the NFL, by limiting their choices, curbing creativity and almost certainly leading to higher game prices," Nebb said. The game was "not a material contributor" to the company's profitability, "nor was it expected to be," Nebb said.An ESPN spokesman said the company will evaluate the impact that the deal has on the company's licensing business.The EA deal continues an unprecedented business year for the league. In January, the NFL signed Visa to a six-year deal worth $400 million. In February, Gatorade ponied up $500 million for the right to be called the official sports drink of the league for the next eight years. And PepsiCo signed a contract worth $560 million to use the NFL shield on its Pepsi, Frito Lay and Tropicana products in March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jditty47 Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 no its not. madden is a game for the fans. it will update and fix and change s**t every year regardless of competition. its a champions game, it knows how to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbrooks21 Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 no its not. madden is a game for the fans. it will update and fix and change s**t every year regardless of competition. its a champions game, it knows how to win. I agree. It is the best for a reason, and that is providing the best game regardless.Goldberg said he's not concerned that the monopoly on the business will cause EA to relax the year-to-year innovations that have been pushed by recent competition. Though financial terms of the deal are not known, Goldberg said there is "a lot of self-imposed pressure to improve the product to make it stand out in a robust and diverse marketplace." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevnz Posted December 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Oh please. Madden isn't the best football game on the market, hasn't been in years....But see, that's all a matter of opinion but now you have a heap of fans that won't get a game that they'd prefer. (ESPN/Sega all the way) And EA has a history of regurgitating that same crap year after year when allowed to (see the Sims if you don't believe me). I know what I'm talking about. People will buy the game cause it's the only football game in town. With that kind of audience there is no need to truly innovate. What are they gonna do next? More create a fan crap? Ugh. Why improve? There is now no need to. Shame on the NFL for this crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbrooks21 Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Why improve? There is now no need to. Shame on the NFL for this crap. They had better make a game that sells especially if they are going to have to pay a multi-million dollar contract to the NFL. The game will get better, which will be tough to do for the best game out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevnz Posted December 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Why improve? There is now no need to. Shame on the NFL for this crap.They had better make a game that sells especially if they are going to have to pay a multi-million dollar contract to the NFL. The game will get better, which will be tough to do for the best game out there. But football fans will buy it regardless so there will be built in buyers that will buy Madden cause they (wrongfully) think it's the best game out there, well guess what, no there is no other game out there now. It seems that EA got scared of ESPN NFL and decided to eliminate the competition not by coming out with a better product, but by keeping them from even coming out with anything. EA don't care about making the best game possible, they care about the bottom line and now the bottom line just got a lot bigger cause they have the only football game in town. Plus now EA has way to much stroke with the console makers. Don't piss of EA or you'll lose your NFL game (trust me, that scares the hell out of MS and Sony) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B24 Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 I totally agree with Kev. This is a terrible decision by the NFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turningpoint Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 as do I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan2330 Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I for one like the decision for the simple fact that now perhaps EA will sit back and wait to release the game for a few more weeks, giving time for all trades in the NFL to take place (no more Eddie George on Titans or Ricky Williams on Dolphins). These were both summer decisions that were past the cut off time that game changes could be made. With no competition on the market, no reason to rush the game out before even Pre Season starts. Like or Dislike Madden you have to give them credit for being pioneers in the football game market, the Madden titles have held up and won award and award for best sports game. After all we could always go back to the days of Atari '10 Yard Fight'. Personally I still like the old versions of Tecmo Bowl, anyone remember that one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengalboomer7 Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Techmo Super Bowl for Nintendo was the greatest game EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved that game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LABengalsFan09 Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I love Madden, but I also loved having something to compare it to. I bought both this year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkendall Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 I love Madden, but I also loved having something to compare it to. I bought both this year... Competition breeds better products. Hopefully the Madden Series doesn't fall into the oh-well-we-have-the-entire-rights-so-we-can-put-out-whatever-we-want attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LABengalsFan09 Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 "Hopefully the Madden Series doesn't fall into the oh-well-we-have-the-entire-rights-so-we-can-put-out-whatever-we-want attitude."The Fate of the Cyber football world depends on it.... :player: :player: I'd probably be a shmuck and buy Madden anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobcat Bengal Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Man, I guess the word Monopoly means nothing to you guys.(The ones who are in favor of Madden dominating the shelves.)Didn't youse guys ever take an economics class?This isn't gonna benefit anyone.Madden 2005 was hot garbage. All those defensive plays confused me, and those Brolic-ass super-hero looking ass football player models were wack.I'll pass.BTW, 2004 was the best version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTBengalsFan Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 I got both this year, Madden was light years ahead of ESPN. The models in ESPN moved like robots and the passing game was not even close to Madden. The Madden models were also a lot better.The one thing about Madden that pissed me off was they f**ked up the Bengals numbers.... and field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTBengalsFan Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 PS. Tecmo Super Bowl was the shizit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Antonio Bengal Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 PS. Tecmo Super Bowl was the shizitTecmo Super Bowl was and still is awesome. Just the other day I was playing it (using an emulator; I have no clue where my Nintendo is), and had one of the most freaky stat lines ever. I was playing as the Raiders and handed Bo Jackson the ball on every play.Passing: 0 attempts/0 yardsRushing: 15 attempts/760 yardsFirst Downs: 0Final Score: 84 - 14I wish I had taken a screenshot of the final stats screen. All but three of my plays went for TDs. And I think I recovered 3 or 4 of my on-side kicks. I'm now up to about week 7 in the season and the Raiders already have 2000+ yards rushing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SycamoreBengal48 Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 i for one own them both...madden 05 and espn 05, and i find espn to be better but i also enjoyed playing madden for certain features liek the mini camps and things.but yeah the nfl really went retarded whe nthey signed this contract, there will be no competition now to make more btter modes, or there may be some motivation to do it but thats not the same as having espn breathing down your neck and making you put out a great product Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Next_Big_Thing Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 You can count on a law suit by someone because of this. The NFL has just given an unfair competitive advantage to EA Sports, and the makers of ESPN can easily prove damages based on the number of copies of their game they sold for $20 (forcing EA to lower their prices) as proof that competition is needed for fairness to the consumer. Without this competition, EA will be able to jack the price of Madden back up to $50 a copy. That's what we call an anti-trust violation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengalboomer7 Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 I for one prefer Madden, but you guys hit the nail on the head Competition breeds excellence. If EA has no competition than what is it's incentive to make it better. I don't have the greatest memory but aren't madden's 98 - 02 like the same damn game. I remember in 03 when it got a lot better and 04 was great but I like 05 even better. In 04, you just had to get a good reciever and throw him a bomb and there were other plays that were unstoppable. I could run hook ins on Madden 04 on every play and get it 9 out of 10 times. Basically it was the competition that made Madden get Better. Now there is no more competition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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