[a]http://www.mygamer.com/index.php?platform=homepage&publisher=&developer=&game=&page=globalnews&mode=viewnews&id=599[aa]EA's really starting to tick me off now.......[/a]
I can't believe this.....
- Thread starter Wsv771
- Start date
Crazy. I wonder how long they've had this deal under wraps; the next version of NCAA and Madden must be at least halfway tohrough development, and it'd really be pressing it to rebrand everything if they only started now.
Most likely any heavy kind of ESPN integration won't show up until the 2007 versions of the games ala 2002 when Visual Concepts got the ESPN license. The 2K3 versions of their lineup had some commentators, music and overlays but that was about it. 2K4 and then this year's game really started to show it, but it was all for nothing I guess. EA Sports better seriously step their game up.
Yeah, that's a good point. They've still got Madden tied up for this year, too, so I guess they can take their sweet time rebranding the interface, especially with no big competition.
This is a great way for both to make money without making the games any better if they dont' choose to. What stinks the most is that College Hoops was looking to be a decent series of games. (Though I prefered the reqruitment interface in the first one more than the one in 2K5.)
Well EA's motto is "If ya can't beat em, Buy em!" Me complaining about EA is like when I complain about Blizzard about the b.s. business moves they make. But that just it EA is a business. They destroyed their ESPN 2k5 series problem buy buying em out. In any other genre of entertainment I would think that was a super smart business move, but I would of like to see EA beat Visual Concepts by making a better game than them.
I doubt they're just gonna sit around and not make the game better. Technically, they already had the NFL license so esstially competition for their competitor's biggest challenge was dead then. The only game that really gets me excited about this whole thing is NCAA Football. They already have the College Gameday crew for commentary, so put that with the actual College Gameday show and atmosphere now and we might have something. Madden better be damn good though....
Another rumor floating around this morning is that Take-Two is now trying to lock up the MLB license. Man this thing never stops.
Damn, EA's stock has already grown by 3.79% this morning too. They're pulling in enough dough now to pay for that NFL deal twice over now. They're already making money off all these deals.
in my mind the madden franchise will start to turn to crap year by year. By grabbing the nfl licence ea effictively removed all of their competition, they also took out the reason their games have been so good, the competition. EA must of felt the fire sega lit under their asses with the past 3 years of sports titles sega released and lets face it, this year sega produced, in my mind anyway, equally good or better titles lets not even mention the price. EA felt threatened and eliminated the competition.
Well Sega could buy the Madden franchise name. The Madden contract will be up in a year with EA.
They may not make lower quality games, but they certainly could and they'd still make tons of money. People who enjoy sports games aren't going to boycott them for 15 years, so they'll play what's made. The point is that when there's a monopoly or quazi monopoly on any product, there's less of an incentive to improve the quality. So ultimately, they set the standards, for better or for worse, for the mainstream sports game for the next 15 years. I'll make a bet that their games will make noticeable improvements from here until then only IF some unseen competition rears it's head.
Like I said before EA made a damn good business move. They pretty much have bought out their competition. Sad thing is, in the United States people do not really take attention to who are the makers of the games, they just look at the name. Its actually kind of sad really cause Im sure people will buy the game because of what they bought last year. Also another point to bring up. Madden and ESPN 2k5 series both play different. I wonder how they are going to deal with that. Espn does not have the playmakers thingy that Madden had ( shows you how much I play sports games).
My guess is that they'll still have different devlopment teams, like any two games made by the same pub and/or dev. But how much those developers are influenced/inhibited by higher powers is another factor to consider. Yuck! I'm sticking with my low-budget sports sims for a while anyways.
As much as I want to love EA (some of the best games period), I absolutely loathe their latest two sports moves. Competition is healthy, and I dare say that without the past years 2k, and ESPN efforts by Sega and Visual Concepts, EA's sports lineup wouldn't have even come close to pushing the envelope as they have. Contrary to belief, "stealing" ideas and perfecting them, or making them better for your title is what keeps games leading edge. Now...if you don't like a certain aspect of Madden, ...you have no other choice. NFL game of the year? Madden....why? Because there's nobody else, and you have to pick one. Ugh...I'm disgusted.
As an afterthought, I hope Take 2 , Visual Concepts, and Sega DO release a professional football game, including no real players, no real stadiums, but the same, awesome gameplay and graphics. We play games all the time with fictional characters, and after initial seasons in sports games, we draft fictional players anyway....so maybe it could work. I don't care about having spoiled, overpaid pros in the game anyway. Lol.
Most sports sims come with only fictional players anyway. You easily get just as attached to those as "real" players, and you get to know them as well too. Many of these games have great game play, intricate stat development, and realisticly difficult recruitment/trade interactions. There are, of course, horrific titles out there. But the good ones are terribly addictive. I spent 2 months of my life playing 25 seasons of OOTP 6. I had to get intervention. There are no "graphics" besides the interface really (though some are beginning to attempt a decent graphic representation), but god it's fun.
With the exception of Winning Eleven and the upcoming football effort from Visual Concepts, all sports sims are licensed with leagues and players except NCAA (because of amatuer rules). To counter the ESPN move, the smartest/most logical move I see is going after the Fox Sports license for presentation. Next to ESPN, they're the only network that covers all the games in their lineup and their presentation's just as good. Expect to hear something on Take Two acquiring the MLB license in a few days too because I've been hearing alot about that. If it goes through, they'll be the only third party company allowed to make a real baseball title, shutting EA and MVP Baseball (one of EA's titles with the most potential IMO) out completely. And Bri, I gotta disagree with one thing you said. EA hasn't really brought out a AAA bonafide hit in years. They're the kings of the "above average game" + "market the hell outta it" strategy right now though.