Electronic Arts, ESPN hook up in exclusive 15-year deal

[DrPizza]

bummer.. they've pretty much got the market cornered now... they can produce whatever quality of crap they want... minimal upgrades from year to year and be assured there's no competition to turn to. Yet, anyone wanting to have the current versions is going to be forced to shell out $50 (til they realize they can probably get away with 60 or 70)

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: NakaNakaI am pissed at EA. But I can admit I won't boycott them. I might not buy Madden next year, but I know I am going to buy MVP Baseball. I just bought Burnout 3: Takedown. MVP was my favorite game last year, Burnout rocks.

I'm not exactly "pissed" at EA. These are smart business decisions that they are making, and undoubtedly the very same ones I'd make if I were in charge at EA. "Sad" would probably be a better description of my feelings about all this.

All that being said, I am certain I will be buying the best football game next fall. I've been doing it since my Sega Genesis days, and I'll continue.

About the ONLY way that I would change my buying ways, is if somehow Sega makes it so there's no need. If roster updates continue, if the online community is still strong, etc... I really wonder what Sega's options/restrictions are for keeping 2k5 up to date.

 

[bradolson]

I think Sega/VC's only shot now would be to put out a football game similar to what NFL2K6 would have been, just without the actual team names/logos/players. So you still have the same cities, conferecnes/divisions, color schemes, player numbers, maybe player initials instead of names.

But the real way they could do something would be to combine this with an extreme amount of online and customization options. First of all, make it real easy to patch the game to include actual teams/logos/players (done by a :cough: 3rd party of course). Then allow for a much better online system than Madden has. Allow people to create their own teams, join official online leagues, etc... really put the online aspects above anything else. If the gameplay is good enough and online play is top notch, I think people would be willing to look past the lack of NFL/ESPN logos everywhere, especially if the game is $19.99. A lot of people played games back in the day without NFL licenses (madden pre-NFL, Tecmo, etc...).

Still the loss of the licenses is going to hurt and even if they could come out with a game like I described, they might feel that the sales just wouldn't be high enough to justify the effort.

 

[NakaNaka]

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: NakaNakaI am pissed at EA. But I can admit I won't boycott them. I might not buy Madden next year, but I know I am going to buy MVP Baseball. I just bought Burnout 3: Takedown. MVP was my favorite game last year, Burnout rocks.

I'm not exactly "pissed" at EA. These are smart business decisions that they are making, and undoubtedly the very same ones I'd make if I were in charge at EA. "Sad" would probably be a better description of my feelings about all this.

All that being said, I am certain I will be buying the best football game next fall. I've been doing it since my Sega Genesis days, and I'll continue.

About the ONLY way that I would change my buying ways, is if somehow Sega makes it so there's no need. If roster updates continue, if the online community is still strong, etc... I really wonder what Sega's options/restrictions are for keeping 2k5 up to date.

There's a difference between a smart business decision to give yourself the upper hand and the total annihilation (spell?) of all your competitors.

Maybe, we should be pissed at the NFL, who went from a perfectly good licensing deal that let competition determing the market to giving their brand away to just one company.

 

[Modeps]

Looks like VC is trying to fight back:
http://sports.ign.com/articles/580/580468p1.html

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: NakaNaka
There's a difference between a smart business decision to give yourself the upper hand and the total annihilation (spell?) of all your competitors.

Legally stomping on your competitors is an incredible business coup. If you are telling me that you, as the head of EA, would not jump at such an opportunity... You'd either be full of crap, or one of the worst business leaders of all time.

Like I said... Yes it sucks. As someone who hasn't purchased a Madden title since NFL2k on the Dreamcast, I can easily say that these latest moves by EA make the NFL video game arena a bleaker place. But I certainly don't blame EA for embracing this opportunity. I blame the NFL more.

But then again, I don't see anyone boycotting the NFL.

 

[NakaNaka]

Originally posted by: Modeps
Looks like VC is trying to fight back:
http://sports.ign.com/articles/580/580468p1.html

I would not be happy with this. I love MVP Baseball. Talk about consumers getting screwed even more. This is a huge mess.

 

[chimmytime]

Lack of competition is going to bring about a decrease of creativity. Unless EA starts to give its designers alcohol, or other substances.

 

[Wingznut]

There's a two-page article about this in the latest Official Xbox Magazine. They basically reiterated what I've been saying...

The NFL approached the publishers, asking for bids. EA ended up shelling out somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 million dollars, citing "If we didn't purchase the rights, someone else would've."

I wonder if all the people so upset would still be upset if it were Sega that placed the highest bid. Yes, I realize all the Madden fans would've been.