Please God, no. (EA/NHL agreement?)

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:49 am

If you go to EA Sports website and start clicking on the 06 games you will see that Madden says Exclusive NFL License. Click on NCAA 06 and you will see that it says Exclusive NCAA license. Click on NBA 06 and you will see Official NBA License. Click on NHL 06 and it says Exclusive License. Did I miss something? Did EA buy exclusive rights to the NHL license? If so, that's worse than the NFL deal IMO. At least Madden is consistently good. The NHL series has had more ups and downs than a hookers head in the front seat of a car.

NHL Page:http://www.easports.com/games/nhl06/home.jsp
NBA Page:http://www.easports.com/games/nbalive06/home.jsp
Madden Page:http://www.easports.com/games/madden06/home.jsp
NCAA Page:http://www.easports.com/games/ncaa06/home.jsp

Please say it ain't so.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:51 am

ugh......that sucks.

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:14 am

I guess i'm blind but I don't see where it says "exclusive license" on the NHL 06 page. It was a late night however and I haven't had my morning caffeine just yet either...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:16 am

Oh, dear. That really blows. EA does hockey about as well as it does soccer -- not good at all.

EA has had one good hockey game in the last seven or eight years -- NHL 2004. I still don't understand why so many people blow NHL 98 -- that was total sh*tware.

I don't mind exclusive licenses if it's a sport that EA does well or has shown a commitment to improvement, even though it's a bummer that lack of competition could stifle innovation. Football, baseball and NASCAR are examples of major sports EA does well for consoles or seems committed to improvement. But it really sucks for all of the other sports.

Take care,
PK

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:22 am

pk500 wrote:EA does hockey about as well as it does soccer -- not good at all.

Here recently, I agree. NHL2005 was so bad (from what I read here and other forums) that I did not get a copy, which is the first time I have not had a copy of the game since the series started in 93 or 94.

pk500 wrote:I don't mind exclusive licenses if it's a sport that EA does well or has shown a commitment to improvement, even though it's a bummer that lack of competition could stifle innovation. Football, baseball, NASCAR. But it really sucks for all of the other sports.

Again, I agree. However, I was saddened to hear that Tiger PC lost it's Executive Producer earlier this year (Ken Sayler) to return to the NHL team at EA Canada. I don't know how much influence Ken will have on NHL 2006, but I have a feeling he will have a positive influence on NHL2007 if his work on Tiger PC is any indication....

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:24 am

This definitely sucks. They must have offered to pick up the tab at a nice restaurant to secure the rights.

I haven't played their 2005 NASCAR game (much improved over 2004 according to opinions I trust), but their exclusive deal there pretty much assures there will not be another sim-based game on consoles, which isn't great. At least they made it playable, but I wonder how long they will keep that up. I look forward to giving 2006 a spin to find out.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:34 am

Dave:

I think it's "Must Try Racing Game Week" at Chez Snyder. I know you're getting Moto GP 2 for a rental spin. You should do the same with NASCAR 2005. It's not a pure sim, but it's a very fun "relaxed sim." Definitely has that "one more race" quality to it in the career mode.

NASCAR 2005 is EA's best NASCAR console effort, with ease. A good, deep, immersive and fun game. One of the most enjoyable racing games I've played in the last year.

Take care,
PK

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:39 am

tjung0831 wrote:I guess i'm blind but I don't see where it says "exclusive license" on the NHL 06 page. It was a late night however and I haven't had my morning caffeine just yet either...

It's right below the NHL06 and above the player's stick.

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:42 am

Leebo33 wrote:
tjung0831 wrote:I guess i'm blind but I don't see where it says "exclusive license" on the NHL 06 page. It was a late night however and I haven't had my morning caffeine just yet either...
It's right below the NHL06 and above the player's stick.

That's weird because it doesn't show up when I view that page yet it shows up when i view the madden page.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:51 am

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:52 am

I also find it intersting that the image is called: money1.jpg

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:57 am

Leebo33 wrote:I also find it intersting that the image is called: money1.jpg

Damn...I kid you not..i still don't see it. WTF???

I see it on the madden page plain as day but I don't see it in that image you posted.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:03 am

Odd.

I can email you the jpeg

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:07 am

Leebo33 wrote:Odd.

I can email you the jpeg

Leebo,

I even copied the jpeg off the EA site because i was going to post it myself. that is extremely weird though...
So everybody sees "exclusive license" but me?

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:12 am

tjung0831 wrote:
Leebo33 wrote:Odd.

I can email you the jpeg
Leebo,

I even copied the jpeg off the EA site because i was going to post it myself. that is extremely weird though...
So everybody sees "exclusive license" but me?

Maybe we see (or not see) what we want to see? If this turns out to be true, there goes another sport I am not going to buy. That sucks.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:20 am

This thread ties in perfectly with the "I'm going into videogame retirement" thread. I'm not going to retire (at least not yet, anyways), but nothing good could come from EA owning the exclusive license for any of these sports, IMO. If true, this will cement my decision to go with a PS3 where I will at least be able to play MLB from 989.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:42 am

Or someone hacked their site.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:55 pm

I hear that the 06 version may come packaged with the 93-94 Genesis version of NHL (arguably, one of the best EA has produced), so if the O6 version stinks again, you can go back to the game made some 10 years ago.

Also getting back to the NHL, apparently an agreement should be ironed out in the next 2 weeks...

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:58 pm

Wow... was 2005 that bad? I still play 2004 from time to time. Fun game.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 2:04 pm

Slumberland wrote:Wow... was 2005 that bad? I still play 2004 from time to time. Fun game.

Yes. Absolutely brutal. A complete 180-degree turn from the vast improvements, fun and realism of NHL 2004.

I gave the gameplay a score of 23/100 and an overall score of 45/100 for my DSP review. In hindsight, those scores may have been a bit generous.

Take care,
PK

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:07 pm

The image says "Official License" not "exclusive". BIG difference. All it means is they have the official NHL and NHLPA licenses. So does 2K sports. For now we are safe.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:10 pm

That's weird how they changed it so quickly. Don't suppose anyone from EA reads this board...do they?

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:12 pm

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/24 ... 28105.html

Looks like Gamespot already spotted the blunder. I guess they just screwed up and accidentally put up the exlusive tag line.....I hope

kicko · Post by **kicko** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:27 pm

Damn you guys were ready to bugout..

very strange i am feeling a NHL bug coming on and its not even fall yet? i might have to pick 2k5 back up again. nhl 2005 on the pc was almost ok with a few mods cut the speed in half and take the hits out and its cool too

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:37 pm

GTHobbes wrote:That's weird how they changed it so quickly. Don't suppose anyone from EA reads this board...do they?

LOL. It does say official license now. I saved a copy of the old image on my hard drive for posterity.