....because there ain't going to be a 2k6, or anything else to do with the NFL anymore that is non-Madden. EA signed an exclusive licensing deal with the NFL and NFLPA, which means that any other video football game will have to use no-name players. I don't plan on debating the ESPN vs. Madden thing for the umpteenth, time, but suffice it to say the ESPN series was an excellent game in its own right - certainly the best looking football video game out there. Now it will be no more, due to EA's market power. A perfectly legitimate business practice, I suppose, but video gamers lose out in the end, even if you're a Madden die-hard. Less competition here means less incentive to improve from year to year. http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/13/news_6114977.html This sucks. I will never purchase another Madden product.
Well, there is a reason why I didnt buy Madden this year and will NEVER buy an EA SPORTS game after this, well, with the exception of NFL Street 2/NBA Street 3.... I am a VERY ticked off person right now, Im not a heavy football fan other than routing for the Texans, but I am a heavy favorite of NFL games.
It really is major league bullsh-t. i doubt whether a viable antitrust case can be made here but I would like to see somebody try.
Wow. I'm not sure I agree with the 'less incentive to improve' thing, since this was the first year there was any real competition anyway, but it definitely hurts the price benefits gamers were looking to receive from the rivalry.
This is not that big a deal. ESPN will still make a NFL game and complete rosters with names will still be available for DLing. Who uses defualt rosters anyway? /Madden guy who knows competition is a good thing
I've been a HUGE Madden guy for years and years, but this is bush league. ESPN finally made it a serious competition and, instead of improving thier game to new levels, they low ball the competition by taking the legs out right from under them. I have been dissapointed in Madden more and more the last few years as I ended up trading it earlier and earlier. I was looking forward to what ESPN was going to be improving on this up coming year. Oh well, guess I'll have to deal with the EXACT same overall gameplay again for the 5th year in a row.
By definition, when there's no competition, firms aren't going to improve their products as much. Anyway, there has been competition for about the last 8 years.. The early playstation Maddens were a pile of suck compared to Sony's early NFL gameday offerings - then Madden cleaned up its act and surpassed it. Likewise, the early NFL2k series offerings (NFL2k in particular) surpassed Madden2000 easily, which spurred large improvements in Madden which have made the two products more or less equal to date, quality wise, depending on who you ask. The biggest leaps, IMO, occurred when they had competition. Now they won't have any anymore. Was this sarcasm? I think, right? Because they got the whole shebang. Rosters, Stadiums, Franchises - Every thing. So unless you like playing with the Houston Zaxxons in Relay Aunt Stadium, they're not going to make this game anymore.
No, that's exactly what is being blocked. EA has exclusive rights to Teams, Stadiums, and players, meaning they'll probably only do college football now. They might make a generic "pro football" game, but it won't have NFL logo's/uniforms/stadiums/players. Hmm, does anyone have the rights to mutant league football? I wouldn't mind seeing a newer version.
Wow. EA's got a LOT of money. They've already been using a lot of money, and this certainly is no small deal. This does not bode well for the 2K games, which I prefer slightly over the EA sports games. One interesting idea brought up by this news that I read about is how much power EA can have on Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo/Whoever. If they don't feel like releasing their NFL game on that console, that console may not be able to come up with a replacement type football game, something that could have occurred had both EA and VC/Sega kept up the battle. Now, those companies will have to make sure they keep EA happy, or else no Madden for them. It is starting to get to the point where EA could release their own console if they felt like it, just increasing the power of EA. As for the whole series going downhill from here on, it does hurt to not have a competitor, but I imagine they'll be working on putting out a next-gen Madden next year, as long as Xbox 2 stays on target. They'll most likely be focusing on creating a entirely new game anyways, rather than feeling the heat coming from ESPN and any features they supplied this year. It will probably sell well no matter what, being a Madden title and a next-gen title. Of course, I'm assuming EA will make a Madden for Xbox 2. There may be some time between the current gen Maddens and the Xbox 2 Madden, but I would guess they wouldn't mind coming out with it then, rather than waiting a year, when most likely all consoles will be released, to come out with a next-gen Madden.
I saw the error in my post after I reread the article, no competition for EA sucks and as I said I've been a Madden guy since '92 on Genesis. Hopefully EA can stay on top of it's game and not get complacent. In theory though, ESPN could still put out a game with no name players with the exact right attributes, stadiums and jerseys that resemble ones teams play in now and maybe only city names ie. Houston, Denver Philadelphia etc. and no doubt as long as they give the option to change players names someone will still put out a viable roster. Maybe they could also allow users to change team names from say Houston Heros to oh, I don'r know; the Texans.
I am sure this violates some sort of antitrust laws of some sort. Doesnt ESPN/SEGA have some sort of contract with the NFL too? (in relation with video games) I would be highly surprised by this move to stand, while Madden was still regarded by many (not by myself) to be the standard of football gaming, it had a lot of flaws and many reviewers believed ESPN put out a better product. At the same time I blame ESPN for the lack of marketing. Jeez you have at least 4 24/7 sports channels, have exclusive national broadcasts rights to the sunday night games, numerous nfl programming and do nothing to push your product. Maybe they didnt want to seem biased but why is it then do they have NFL Matchup presented by EA Sports' Madden? Merrile (sp?) and Jaws use sims from Madden to make a point or show formations/plays. Then at every commercial break there is a plug for Madden. ESPN should have never let anything like this on the air, if anything make it a show with ESPN simulations instead. ESPN may get burned for their obvious lack of insight. It is a shame too because Sega made a superior product (imo) year in and out when compared to the EA products and now it may just get regulated to a college type system with "#7 passing to #86 for a 10-yard strike" which takes away from the game. F$%# EA Sports!
Meh, only gameday really had a brief run, but Madden not only surpassed it but that franchise completely fell apart. And 2K may have been a strong contender - debatable - but nothing Sega has offered has come as close for the majority of the public until this last year. Madden has been resting on the top of the pile for quite a while now. Part of the reason EA has money to blow like this. Competition hasn't been a problem for the last four or five years. But in general, yeah, I don't like seeing this happen. I was just getting more spoiled with price than anything else. (Since I considered Madden the better football game anyway). This is pretty bad...but if they do it with the NBA license I will consider it much, much worse.
This is the first year I didn't buy Madden since I got my PS2. What's the point? Nothing changes except the rosters and you can just do those yourself. I'll just keep my $50 this year and play my 2004 version, thank you very much.
