Who are we kidding? We are screwed

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:16 pm

Honestly whats going to change. We all know EA track recorded of not making great games except for the time they seem to get lucky. Then somehow go backwards.

We know Sega Sports won't do anything like a lawsuit or something more drastic.

We know that a fake NFL game is doomed except for the 10 people that buy it.

We know that most of us will buy Madden next year to get a football fix.

The NFL and EA were laughing at us last night while they were breaking open the bubbly.

We know the there is little anyone could do. Possibly the US government and the SEC but who are we kidding, the Bush Administration is going to be anti-coporations?

We are screwed...we could say we aren't going to take it but who are we kidding? Bend over and enjoy it.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:26 pm

Everyone is making WAY too big of a deal of this whole thing. Who really cares? The only thing that's screwed is this message board. Now all the Sega guys can't rip into the EA guys about why so and so game is better than the other. Hell, I'm all for it.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:28 pm

Unless this somehow means EA isn't SOX compliant, I doubt the SEC really cares

I doubt this will even raise an eyebrow at the FTC either.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:40 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Everyone is making WAY too big of a deal of this whole thing. Who really cares? The only thing that's screwed is this message board. Now all the Sega guys can't rip into the EA guys about why so and so game is better than the other. Hell, I'm all for it.

Who cares? Fans of football games I guess. Being limited to one option for a pro football game for the first time ever seems pretty importaint to me.

I guess we will have to wait for EA to buy out the rights of the NBA and all cell phone companies for you to see the light.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:43 pm

Limited to one NFL game, possibly forced to get a specific next gen console if you want to play NFL football, most likely being forced to pay an online fee just to play Madden NFL 2006, etc etc etc

Soup Sandwich no matter how you look at it..... and I love Madden NFL 2005.

IF EA thought they had SEGA by the balls, now they got EVERYONE by the balls!

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 6:56 pm

DB, I don't know why you see it as no big deal. When someone takes away my ability to make a choice, I get pretty pissed off. If someone told you that you could only vote for one and only one Republican candidate, and that all other Republican/Democrat/Independent choices were off the ballot, wouldn't you care? Wouldn't you express a little outrage/frustration/disgust. I've got to believe you would.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:04 pm

It really doesn't bother me too much at all. In fact, I could care less if we only had one of every genre. It would be a hellova lot easier to get in an online game with the rest of you if that was the case.

The other advantage I see, is saving money. Instead of buying every damn game when they come out, I will only have to buy one.

I'm a very particular type of consumer...I like a game for a while, then I get sick of it and I go buy the 'other' game. Being like that costs me money, and I admit and accept that. Being limited to a single game will fix that little problem of mine.

We might not get the very best of the best, but Madden has little or no competition for years and they still got progressively better nearly every year. I guess thats my arguement.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:06 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:We might not get the very best of the best, but Madden has little or no competition for years and they still got progressively better nearly every year. I guess thats my arguement.

If Madden felt little or no competition from other companies, then why did it just shell out $300 mill for this exclusive license? For a good tax write-off?

Take care,
PK

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:09 pm

The other advantage I see, is saving money. Instead of buying every damn game when they come out, I will only have to buy one.

Where is the logic to that?

Take your Cell Phones. What it there was only ONE Cell Phone and it only cost $50 but had only 1/4 of the features of your higher dollar cell phone. Sure it would be great for some people but others need or would like to have those extra features.

But hey you saved money not having to purchase something that suits your tastes by limiting your options to ONE.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:13 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Everyone is making WAY too big of a deal of this whole thing. Who really cares? The only thing that's screwed is this message board. Now all the Sega guys can't rip into the EA guys about why so and so game is better than the other. Hell, I'm all for it.

It is only a videogame, and I'm hardly the kind of person to get hysterical over something like this.

But it's easily the saddest development I've ever seen in sports gaming. And I spend a good amount of time and money on this hobby every year.

There has almost always been at least the illusion of choice in every major sports gaming genre. Maybe the choices were pretty clear cut in some years, as one title was obviously superior. But at least you could mull the choices over.

Now you will have one choice for the biggest subgenre of sports gaming. For five years. To be fair, Madden is usually pretty good, so it may work out fine. But imagine having the NCAA issues we saw this year in Madden. You would essentially be SOL for football gaming. Is it something to slit your wrists over? No. But it's a bit of a downer for those of us who enjoy football gaming more than any other kind of game playing.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:21 pm

pk500 wrote:If Madden felt little or no competition from other companies, then why did it just shell out $300 mill for this exclusive license? For a good tax write-off?

Which is why I said 'nearly every year' in my statement. They got destroyed this year. It's obviously a knee jerk reaction by EA. The realised that Sega and VC were making a damn good product at a much better price and they did what any good businessman would do...they killed off the competition. EA isn't the bad guy here, the NFLPA is by selling out.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:27 pm

They got destroyed this year. It's obviously a knee jerk reaction by EA. The realised that Sega and VC were making a damn good product at a much better price and they did what any good businessman would do...they killed off the competition. EA isn't the bad guy here, the NFLPA is by selling out.

So the NFLPA is the bad guy by selling out? Yet you have no problem with EA realizing their competion was catching up so they pulled out a wad of money and sent them packing?

* Remember EA (in the IGN interview yesterday) has already stated they have gone to the NFL the last few years asking for an exclusive. We do not know all the terms of the "deal" that was done in the Spring of 2004 (according to EA Interview at IGN yesterday) that was reported way back in May (yet denied by EA and the NFL back in May). Could the NFL be taking the flak for EA because they already had this deal done at a price the NFL could not resist knowing their competition could not match it?

None of this bothers you? You have me dazed and confused by every single reply on this thread. This is coming from the same person who in the past enjoyed purchasing every football game to try them out amongst the other sports game. I recall posts here and that "other site" where we mocked each other for our game puchasing habbits.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:28 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
pk500 wrote:If Madden felt little or no competition from other companies, then why did it just shell out $300 mill for this exclusive license? For a good tax write-off?
Which is why I said 'nearly every year' in my statement. They got destroyed this year. It's obviously a knee jerk reaction by EA. The realised that Sega and VC were making a damn good product at a much better price and they did what any good businessman would do...they killed off the competition. EA isn't the bad guy here, the NFLPA is by selling out.

We'll see if you have such empathy for EA if Madden 2006 is as screwed up as NCAA 2005 was this year, especially if EA releases another bad NCAA game and the whole football punchbowl is full of floating turds next fall.

Take care,
PK

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:32 pm

The NFLPA is the bad guy here in my eyes. I've got no problem with a company eliminating the competition. That's business.

Sure, we might suffer with a lackluster game, but what are we going to do? The NFLPA is the one who sold out...and that bothers me more than what EA did.

No one is going to convince me otherwise. Sure, I'll be pissed if next years version sucks, but that's the NFLPA's fault in my mind, not EA's. If the NFL wants to have better and better games, they would not have sold out.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:39 pm

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:42 pm

Flagstaff is gorgeous at this time of year. I'm in.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:44 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:The NFLPA is the bad guy here in my eyes. I've got no problem with a company eliminating the competition. That's business.

Sure, we might suffer with a lackluster game, but what are we going to do? The NFLPA is the one who sold out...and that bothers me more than what EA did.

No one is going to convince me otherwise. Sure, I'll be pissed if next years version sucks, but that's the NFLPA's fault in my mind, not EA's. If the NFL wants to have better and better games, they would not have sold out.

So the NFLPA is responsible for the quality and content of its videogames, not the videogame producer/developer?

That's an interesting theory.

Funny, I didn't see any posts from you about the angry letter you wrote to NCAA President Myles Brand in early August when NCAA 2005 was a steaming heap of sh*t. But you did have some pretty choice words for EA.

Take care,
PK

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:50 pm

pk500 wrote:Funny, I didn't see any posts from you about the angry letter you wrote to NCAA President Myles Brand in early August when NCAA 2005 was a steaming heap of sh*t. But you did have some pretty choice words for EA.

Where is the connection? I didn't like NCAA so I didn't play it. Why is that any different than what might happen next year if Madden isn't very good? If it sucks, I'll find something else to play.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 7:55 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Sure, I'll be pissed if next years version sucks, but that's the NFLPA's fault in my mind, not EA's. If the NFL wants to have better and better games, they would not have sold out.

There's the connection. You suggested that it would be the NFLPA's fault if Madden 2006 sucked, not the fault of the game publisher/developer, EA.

So I countered by saying I'm surprised that you didn't hold the NCAA accountable for the sh*tty NCAA 2005 instead of EA.

Yes, EA doesn't have an official monopoly on college football. But it's the only company producing an NCAA game, so it's an exclusive deal in all terms except for a formal contract.

So why don't you hold the NCAA to the same standard as the NFL and NFLPA? The NCAA still is receiving a healthy licensing fee from EA, just like the NFL and NFLPA, even if it's not a formal exclusive deal.

Out,
PK

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 8:06 pm

The NCAA isn't allowing itself to be bought out entirely by EA. Sega tried to make a college game and it sucked ass. EA's NCAA franchise has been so damn good every year (except this years of course), companies don't even want to spend the money to try to compete. That all could have changed this year had Sega been in the market with an NCAA game. All that would have done though is pissed EA off and they would be some exclusivity from the NCAA as well had they lost some of their dominant NCAA market share.

skinsfan · Post by **skinsfan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 8:16 pm

Look at the bright side-no more having to remember the different button commands going from one game to the other.No more updating rosters for so many games.No more learning which sliders do what in different games.And more room in my game cabinet.Who am I kidding? If EA "misses" on a given genre you will be screwed for that year.Not the end of the world,but not having a competing product to try will stink.Almost as bad as that turd filled punchbowl.

seanmac31 · Post by **seanmac31** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 8:26 pm

The real hidden disaster here is the impending demise of NHL hockey. EA at least puts out a competitive product in the other major sports, but hockey fans are going to get screwed in a major way. Of course, they can't get any more screwed than they already are by the actual NHL...

I've played and enjoyed the 2K series since its inception. It was the reason I got a Dreamcast. It was the reason I got Xbox Live. But Madden is a great game (at least this year it is), and there's no point in my pretending that I'm not going to be picking it up next year and the year after that and the year after that. But I also pick up WE, and I'd be happy to shell out for a VC football game with generic names and teams (I played Madden 64, I don't see why I'd stop now).

skinsfan · Post by **skinsfan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 8:31 pm

If there is no season in the NHL then NHL2K5 will be "good to go" for next year(if there is one).You'll be able to keep the game updated,anyway.I wish the other 2K5 games had more create-a-player slots like NCAA2005.It has at least 400 some CAP's or more.That would really help to keep them fresh.