A conspiracy requrires an agreement to perform an unlawful act. While the actions might have been unfair in the moral sense and anti-competitive as a result, there was nothing illegal about the exclusivity auction that I know of even nobody besides EA had a snowballs chance in hell of winning it. Anyway, you find it far fetched, and a "conspiracy theory" at best to assume that EA, which has negotiated exclusivity arrangements in the past, (NASCAR, FIFA) and is apparently in exploratory negotiations in the future (NBA, MLB) would act in its own economic self interest by explicitly or implicitly lobbying for legal exclusivity arrangements with the NFL, that it stands to profit from immeasurably? I find it far-fetched and rather naive to believe otherwise. In fact, if I were an EA shareholder, I would be disappointed to find out that they haven't been pursuing these arrangements. It's simply rational behavior. EDIT: just saw JeffB's post apparently it is true that they have been pursuing such arrangements w/the NFL. Thx JeffB. However I am not a shareholder, I'm just a consumer, which brings me to the second point: Why in the world would you be in favor of this? All it does is hurt you - with no more competition, even Madden players lose. Say goodbye to Madden price drops, like they had this year to respond to the 2k5 threat, and say goodbye to external pressures to improve the product from a design standpoint. That type of behavior is not rational from an economic perspective.
I'll be honest, paying an extra $12 a year for a game that may or may not improve any from the year before (even though I think this year's version rocks) and that I really don't play all that often isn't really a concern to me. I just like ESPN getting screwed.
I'd be shocked if, ESPN didn't license itself out to Madden eventually anyway now that it is exclusive on relatively favorable terms considering that EA is one of its biggest ad buyers. Although probably not as favorable as its deal w/Sega,take two.
Wow, EA seems to have a real mad-on for SEGA. From backward-engineering the Genesis, to refusing to release software for Dreamcast, and now this.
I was not impressed with this years Madden. Specifically, I didn't like how the game did not allow a person to turn off the "Owner Mode" as they had in years prior. The offseason was overly complex. Not because I couldn't handle it, but because I didn't want to. I also did not like the unrealistic feel and comic book look to it. The Madden franchise needs to make some serious strides in the way of the ESPN game in terms of looking realistic. However, in the very few times I've played the current edition, I did like the "hit stick" feature.
Shame on EA for looking out for their stockholders, and taking a good deal for their product. They should buck the system that made them the largest publisher in the world, because dadgummit we know more than them. Actually, a good deal for EA........but, with self publishing on the way, their days are numbered. DD
