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Pro
OVR: 15
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Iowa
Posts: 821
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My take on the madness
Just got home from work and on the front page in the first headline of Operation Sports is an article telling about the rumors circulating on how Electronic Arts has possibly secured exclusive rights to be the only company that is allowed to use the NFL players, teams, stadiums, and damn near anything else in a video game. Most people who read this statement are sitting there wondering what the big deal is. I have spent the past 35 minutes telling my wife why I am all pissed off about this and she gave me this look of, why is this bothering me? I began to wonder why is this bothering me so much? I got a hundreds of comments running through my head and none of them are worthy to print. I started typing all of my thoughts and after a couple hours of pondering decided to put my thoughts together. I decided also to post my thoughts in the forum, one just to voice my opinion, two because this is something that I feel strong about, three to maybe be heard, four because I know there are a lot of thoughts running through a lot of people's mind, and five to keep the Operation Sports name out of it unless Steve or the others think it is worthy of others to see. Operation Sports has spent a lot of time over the past couple years building up relationships with various gaming companies and developers and my opinion shouldn't affect that, but I do hope some strong gaming activists do see this, because i know they are writing just as fast as I am and probably with just as little thought behind it.
Ultimately though you know what, EA isn't the only one I am pissed at. The NFL is on the top of that list too along with Players Inc. You know how many people they just put on the streets with this contract? Again, the average person is sitting there saying ok this is a business and isn't a successful business based off of competition? That is where I get really ticked off.
Video games have been in the limelights for years, but more so recently with games like the Grand Theft Auto and the Halo series plastered everywhere imaginable that one needs to realize the amount of money that is being poured into this 'hobby'. It is this genre, the sports genre, that is where the real battleground is being staged. Electronic Arts has been a staple in the sports gaming industry for years. They have fought damn near every sports gaming company on the planet, some directly, some inadvertently, some they probably didn't even know they were competing with. Ultimately though they have survived. Until recently though the fight has been a semi-fair one. Late 2002 as Sierra and developer Papyrus were announcing their latest NASCAR videogame offering for the PC, the community also found out it was to be their last. In 2003 Electronic Arts officially took over exclusive videogame rights to the NASCAR name, and were allowed to use the vast majority of licenses, ultimately shutting anyone else from competing against them with a NASCAR themed game until 2009. Shortly after EA took over the license Papyrus ultimately began to plot their land for their videogame gravestone.
Look at what has happened with NASCAR. EA secured exclusive rights to that a little over a year ago and ultimately killed the greatest NASCAR sim franchise on the market. Yes, I know EA is busy creating a new NASCAR Sim game, and they have employed people from Sierra, Papyrus, and others from their various competitors but you know what? It is not going to be the same, and there will be something missing from the game in the end, and that is the developer who cares about the fan and what they want in a their video game. Most probably will not admit it but EA does not give a crap about the fans. Their only concern is the about of money they give for their investors. That is the bottom line in a Wall Street traded business is giving the investors payback. No one can argue that point. That is why Yahoo, Reuters, and ultimately every other financial news agency will be reporting on this over the next couple days. Hell, given the state of videogames this could end out becoming a major story. In the end though nothing will be done, because it is only a 'game'. Games are immature, games are for the young. Bull to all that. Games are huge. Anything videogame related continues to boom. There are more gamers on the planet now and the amount of them is growing at an astonishing rate. Why else would EA secure the rights to the National Football League?
So what does this entire deal do to the gaming industry. Number one it puts a large dagger in Sega, Midway, 989 Sports, and any other gaming developer/distributors. Number two it sets EA up to be the only 'game' in town. Number three it gives EA the ability to jack up the price of Madden because if anyone wants to play an NFL videogame, they must buy their game. Number four, it gives them now the power also to charge monthly to play online, charge for tournaments, the options are endless, and there is nothing that is going to be able to be done about it. The users are still going to buy the game. It will return to the top of the industry, and it will continue to dominate. The fact that they are the only game in town will give them the extra sales because everyone knows that very few people are going to buy a football game with no-name players and teams. At least not one that will be played by the masses.
Madden football in a couple years could be the best damn football game that we ever have seen or played, it could be perfect, but this whole situation is still going to be wrong. Very wrong. Funny thing about it is, no matter what the cost I will buy it, I will play it, and still be just as pissed about it, but I am a gamer, a sports gamer. The kind that gets the newest major sports games day one, agonizes from the minute I hear the first amount of news, all the way til the release date. Where does all of this lead though? That is the question that is going through a lot of minds. The sports gaming forums including Operation Sports are being blasted with upset gamers. There are a ton of Madden 'fanboys' even ticked off about this. That is where this ultimately comes down to being a really bad deal. What is next? You know EA is not going to stop. They will continue to try and secure exclusive deals with other organizations. They have the resources, they have the money, and they have the clout. Nothing is going to stop them. What is funny is that the NFL and the Players Inc have not even realized what they just did to the sports industry. If companies start to drop, which is going to happen, they are going to pull out of other games that are being developed, which makes these other sports easy pickings. Ultimately this has a trickle effect, it could be minor, it could be major. I could just be searching for an excuse, or I could have a damn good point.
I could keep going for hours, but the damage has initially been done. Take-Two earnings dropped over 6% upon the announcement, which is huge in Wall Street terms, and EA's got a big boost, but in the end EA is going to be able to do what it intended on doing from the time the announcement was made, and that is, provide that all important dollar to the shareholder. Let's just hope that us the fan will get what we were hoping for and that is a damn good videogame from the top sports videogame releaser on the planet. If not, you may have just witnessed the lowest moment in gaming history. Good luck Sega, 989 Sports, Midway and others, and EA I hope you didn't let down the gamer.
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12-13-2004, 08:50 PM
