EA, cowardly moves... NFL is now EAs for 5 years...
- Thread starter chrisrt2
- Start date
Hey, has anyone heard of a Microsoft manager migrating to EA?? Because this is surely a move Billy G would make! 
Ok, being serious...
That was precisely what I was thinking. I may not give much of a damn about american football games, but costumers should have an option, and this hurts competition greatly.
EA also had the FIFA license for a good while and I had to deal with fake player names in good football games for a long time because of that. I hope something can be done to undo this...
Ok, being serious...
chrisrt2 said:
That was precisely what I was thinking. I may not give much of a damn about american football games, but costumers should have an option, and this hurts competition greatly.
EA also had the FIFA license for a good while and I had to deal with fake player names in good football games for a long time because of that. I hope something can be done to undo this...
This is HORRIBLE news.
Game review sites have noted the steady rise in quality of the Visual Concepts NFL2K series. While I personally like Madden better, the reality was that the high quality Football games that VC/Sega were turning out were forcing Madden to continue to innovate and give customers what they want. Further, with the price cuts that Sega did this last year it finally opened the door to some healthy competition. And the MS NFL Fever series was not bad and I thought they were taking time off to possibly make a polished second go on Xbox2.
EA must have paid the NFL a LOT of money (more than what Sega, MS, 939/Sony, etc... were) to get this exclusive.
The dissappointing aspect is that I see a repeat of past EA games here. I have the first version for the PC and SNES and have played every version since, and history tells me when EA has no competition that the Madden line lags badly. If I were a betting man, I would put some serious money that Madden for the new consoles will have pretty graphics and strip a significant chunk of the current game, only to backfill the features in their yearly updates. Basically they will resell us what we already have, just with a prettier package. And the sad part is that there will be no other option to turn to get a comparative product.
This is bad for consumers, and bad for NFL fans. Competition has kept the Madden franchise honest as of late. This is surely a sad day...
Game review sites have noted the steady rise in quality of the Visual Concepts NFL2K series. While I personally like Madden better, the reality was that the high quality Football games that VC/Sega were turning out were forcing Madden to continue to innovate and give customers what they want. Further, with the price cuts that Sega did this last year it finally opened the door to some healthy competition. And the MS NFL Fever series was not bad and I thought they were taking time off to possibly make a polished second go on Xbox2.
EA must have paid the NFL a LOT of money (more than what Sega, MS, 939/Sony, etc... were) to get this exclusive.
The dissappointing aspect is that I see a repeat of past EA games here. I have the first version for the PC and SNES and have played every version since, and history tells me when EA has no competition that the Madden line lags badly. If I were a betting man, I would put some serious money that Madden for the new consoles will have pretty graphics and strip a significant chunk of the current game, only to backfill the features in their yearly updates. Basically they will resell us what we already have, just with a prettier package. And the sad part is that there will be no other option to turn to get a comparative product.
This is bad for consumers, and bad for NFL fans. Competition has kept the Madden franchise honest as of late. This is surely a sad day...
Another thought is that this could lead to some pretty devastating results for MS/Nintendo/Sony/PC if/when EA decides it is not a viable platform. I think everyone remembers what EA did with the Dreamcast.
This puts EA in a position to seek a king's ransom to support a platform unfairly because there wont be any competition. It is a fact that sport's games are a big mover in game systems, and a system without a NFL series is doomed. If VC was allowed to continue with the NFL license I would not see this as a big issue because NFL2k, quality wise, is a solid competitor. Not only do consumers lose because of the lack of competition, but not EA has a serious ace in the hole to use against console makers. Exclusives, even in the form of features, could be a very artificial way to sway support from one platform to another.
I cannot see how this is a good deal for anyone but EA. I would even say in the long run this is bad for the NFL because when EA does not live up to NFL fans standards it will reflect badly on the NFL. Yeah, they make their money, but I know this is a huge turn off for me. While most gamers wont care about the politics, most gamers and review sites will notice the reduction in features and will be sure to note the lack of competition.
This puts EA in a position to seek a king's ransom to support a platform unfairly because there wont be any competition. It is a fact that sport's games are a big mover in game systems, and a system without a NFL series is doomed. If VC was allowed to continue with the NFL license I would not see this as a big issue because NFL2k, quality wise, is a solid competitor. Not only do consumers lose because of the lack of competition, but not EA has a serious ace in the hole to use against console makers. Exclusives, even in the form of features, could be a very artificial way to sway support from one platform to another.
I cannot see how this is a good deal for anyone but EA. I would even say in the long run this is bad for the NFL because when EA does not live up to NFL fans standards it will reflect badly on the NFL. Yeah, they make their money, but I know this is a huge turn off for me. While most gamers wont care about the politics, most gamers and review sites will notice the reduction in features and will be sure to note the lack of competition.
chrisrt2 said:Can't the NFL actually be sued for creating a monopoly?
There is always the EFL (Essex Football League), the HCBFU (Hackney Council Block Football Union)............
The Sega franchise, from a critcal standpoint, is a success. The lower cost this year was the first chance many had to actually experience it.
I personally like how Madden plays, but there is no denying that the ESPN series was excellent and screamed polish and innovation.
I honestly feel the NFL name would have been in better hands with Sega than with EA. EA has a history, in general and specifically with the Madden franchise, of repacking the same product. I am actually quite upset about this (and I am a Madden fan). I wonder if this move had anything to do with the EA worker issues. Maybe they knew they were not going to be able to continue pushing their staff insanely hard year after year. This way they have no competition and can have a more relaxed outlook?
Does anyone think this could be good for gamers who are a fan of the NFL? Maybe I am missing something... :?
I personally like how Madden plays, but there is no denying that the ESPN series was excellent and screamed polish and innovation.
I honestly feel the NFL name would have been in better hands with Sega than with EA. EA has a history, in general and specifically with the Madden franchise, of repacking the same product. I am actually quite upset about this (and I am a Madden fan). I wonder if this move had anything to do with the EA worker issues. Maybe they knew they were not going to be able to continue pushing their staff insanely hard year after year. This way they have no competition and can have a more relaxed outlook?
Does anyone think this could be good for gamers who are a fan of the NFL? Maybe I am missing something... :?
More information from IGN. The more I think about it the more it upsets me.
Based on EA's past comments concerning not enough room for 3 consoles, I wonder which one will be affected? My guess would be Nintendo. It was my understanding EA almost dropped Nintendo last year. If Nintendo really has some divergent hardware that is "revolutionary" it could cost too much to support them and thus get ignored. The only positive I see for Nintendo is that they may have a system very similar to the Xbox2 which would mean porting could be easier. But I do not see them dumping Sony because the PS3 will have a big install base. I see this getting ugly fast...
Based on EA's past comments concerning not enough room for 3 consoles, I wonder which one will be affected? My guess would be Nintendo. It was my understanding EA almost dropped Nintendo last year. If Nintendo really has some divergent hardware that is "revolutionary" it could cost too much to support them and thus get ignored. The only positive I see for Nintendo is that they may have a system very similar to the Xbox2 which would mean porting could be easier. But I do not see them dumping Sony because the PS3 will have a big install base. I see this getting ugly fast...
marconelly!
Veteran
I don't give a crap about American Football, but I really don't like what EA is doing here :\
There are all kinds of dire predictions, like EA raising the price to $75 and cutting development resources since they no longer have to compete.
Even if there are no other NFL games, they still have to try to win over gaming dollars from other gaming genres.
Regardless of genre, games are fungible.
EA has a high bar for the Madden series, aiming for over 5 million units a year. They don't get that if they just slap the NFL logo on it and doesn't invest in refining the game every year.
EA has exclusive licenses for NASCAR, FIFA and PGA. Is there any evidence that they didn't devote enough resources to developing and improving those games?
Even if there are no other NFL games, they still have to try to win over gaming dollars from other gaming genres.
Regardless of genre, games are fungible.
EA has a high bar for the Madden series, aiming for over 5 million units a year. They don't get that if they just slap the NFL logo on it and doesn't invest in refining the game every year.
EA has exclusive licenses for NASCAR, FIFA and PGA. Is there any evidence that they didn't devote enough resources to developing and improving those games?
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