EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

[PeoplesChampGB]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Heh.......I'll just play another year of Madden 12. And if something happens to my copy I will just buy another. USED of course.

[Hooe]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Apparently not the final build but similar to NBA Elite's demo, a short time before Madden 2006's release, EA Tiburon admitted to starring at blank screens, ie not having a playable game but they proceeded to throw something together in time to release in an exclusive market. So if you don't think EA would have done the same thing with NBA Elite, if they had an exclusive NBA license, I again refer you to what they did with Madden 2006.

I'm not sure what this has to do with anything?

The released version of Madden 2006 was not broken, regardless of quality and regardless how tight the window between having a fully stable build and a gold master. NBA Elite was never released after a broken demo. Madden 2006 never saw a demo, much less a broken one. I'm not sure what else there is to say.

Having unstable builds in-dev happens. I've experienced it first hand; particularly under compressed time schedules, things have a way of breaking in new ways at the worst possible times. Making video games is hard. In-dev instability is not something that should be held against a developer so long as whatever is released to the public is stable.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

I'm not sure what this has to do with anything?

The released version of Madden 2006 was not broken, regardless of quality and regardless how tight the window between having a fully stable build and a gold master. NBA Elite was never released after a broken demo. Madden 2006 never saw a demo, much less a broken one. I'm not sure what else there is to say.

Having unstable builds in-dev happens. I've experienced it first hand; particularly under compressed time schedules, things have a way of breaking in new ways at the worst possible times. Making video games is hard. In-dev instability is not something that should be held against a developer so long as whatever is released to the public is stable.

I'll state it one more time then leave it at that, Madden 2006 for PS3/360 was an admitted bungling, much like the handling of NBA Elite. Both set out to develop something that they realized wouldn't pan out prior to release but Madden was still able to salvage a releasable game, in an exclusive market, whereas NBA Elite would have been released in a directly competitive market. It begs to reason that if the NBA Elite demo had been released in a scenario where EA had a NBA exclusive license, they would have salvaged what they could for a release, like they did with Madden 2006.

Ergo, a clear example of a moment a poor quality Madden was likely able to avoid a NBA Elite style cancellation due to the exclusive license.

[23]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

How is there to be an NBA Elite moment with no competition? Madden has been Live/Elite for years now but since there's no competition there's no one to make them go lay in there dug hole of mediocrity.

I mean the general disgust and protest altogether caused the change not competition itself.

You guys complain a lot but still play the game used or not it was a sold copy you still pay to play. They still collect info from you from the console and as I said until that moment of total boycott comes nothing will change.

Even with down sales there aren't enough people that care about the NBA live series to sell a million copies let alone consistently. One madden hits that low then you'll see stuff shifting to scramble for those sales again.

[Hooe]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

I'll state it one more time then leave it at that, Madden 2006 for PS3/360 was an admitted bungling, much like the handling of NBA Elite. Both set out to develop something that they realized wouldn't pan out prior to release but Madden was still able to salvage a releasable game, in an exclusive market, whereas NBA Elite would have been released in a directly competitive market. It begs to reason that if the NBA Elite demo had been released in a scenario where EA had a NBA exclusive license, they would have salvaged what they could for a release, like they did with Madden 2006.

Ergo, a clear example of a moment a poor quality Madden was likely able to avoid a NBA Elite style cancellation due to the exclusive license.

Again, not sure how it's relevant. NBA Elite was cancelled because it was broken. Madden 06 was a subpar game, Madden 06 through 08 were poorly designed games, but Madden 06 was never fundamentally broken game necessitating cancellation.

If poor quality absent instability was a factor in EA canceling games, we still wouldn't have seen a release build of Gen-8 NBA Live.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Again, not sure how it's relevant. NBA Elite was cancelled because it was broken. Madden 06 was a subpar game, Madden 06 through 08 were poorly designed games, but Madden 06 was never fundamentally broken game necessitating cancellation.

If poor quality absent instability was a factor in EA canceling games, we still wouldn't have seen a release build of Gen-8 NBA Live.

The bold is apparently where our disagreement stems from because I think NBA Elite didn't release for the same reason EA felt the need to rebrand NBA Live in the first place, it couldn't compete with NBA2k. NBA Live wasn't "broken" yet they decided to create NBA Elite because of competition.

As far as EA choosing to release NBA Live for PS4/Xbox1 in spite of its' poor quality, I presume they believed it could compete off of nostalgia, NBA branding and offering something different than the competition but they were wrong. Turns out that those things don't override poor quality when consumers have direct choices.

[kjcheezhead]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Again, not sure how it's relevant. NBA Elite was cancelled because it was broken. Madden 06 was a subpar game, Madden 06 through 08 were poorly designed games, but Madden 06 was never fundamentally broken game necessitating cancellation.

If poor quality absent instability was a factor in EA canceling games, we still wouldn't have seen a release build of Gen-8 NBA Live.

This was in madden 09. Imo, the glitch does make the game fundamentally broken. It's just as bad as the infamous half court Jesus vid.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=b3mLy78Jw8w

No quality alternative like Elite had made all the difference here.

[23]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

The sales on NBA live were down the entire generation because they kept starting over and not enough people bought that junk. They developed the bad reputation they have. They didn't get it from 2k...make no mistake EA screwed EA. They lost their own loyal fans in the process.

People like good games regardless of company. So Many People Loved live 10. Ot introduced stuff 2k didnt have like the authentic play calling system the pick and roll mechanic among other thinga but they decided it wasn't enough for them and put the hockey guy on the project and bam.


They didn't listen to their fans and lost all of them. Not just because of competition but years of incompetence.

[bkrich83]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

This was in madden 09. Imo, the glitch does make the game fundamentally broken. It's just as bad as the infamous half court Jesus vid.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=b3mLy78Jw8w

No quality alternative like Elite had made all the difference here.

That video didn't take me anywhere.

I get my versions mixed up, I thought 09 was a bad game, and had a ton of weird bugs, but broken? As in broken enough to not ship? That I don't remember.

What was the video of?

[bkrich83]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

The sales on NBA live were down the entire generation because they kept starting over and not enough people bought that junk. They developed the bad reputation they have. They didn't get it from 2k...make no mistake EA screwed EA. They lost their own loyal fans in the process.

People like good games regardless of company. So Many People Loved live 10. Ot introduced stuff 2k didnt have like the authentic play calling system the pick and roll mechanic among other thinga but they decided it wasn't enough for them and put the hockey guy on the project and bam.


They didn't listen to their fans and lost all of them. Not just because of competition but years of incompetence.

Was Live 10 the one that introduced the DNA stuff, and the mode where you could play any game on the schedule with the players DNA from that day?

I loved that version, then they seemed to abandon all the things that made that version of Live appealing and I simply never went back. I can't imagine a time i the near future where I even think of buying an EA NBA game.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

The sales on NBA live were down the entire generation because they kept starting over and not enough people bought that junk. They developed the bad reputation they have. They didn't get it from 2k...make no mistake EA screwed EA. They lost their own loyal fans in the process.

People like good games regardless of company. So Many People Loved live 10. Ot introduced stuff 2k didnt have like the authentic play calling system the pick and roll mechanic among other thinga but they decided it wasn't enough for them and put the hockey guy on the project and bam.


They didn't listen to their fans and lost all of them. Not just because of competition but years of incompetence.

I don't necessarily disagree with this line of thought but the key part you failed to mention is that those NBA game fans had a direct video game alternative. In this exclusive market fans can be disgruntled with EA all they want, it doesn't change the fact that they have no other direct NFL video game choice.

[Blzer]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

That video didn't take me anywhere.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/b3mLy78Jw8w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[bcruise]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/b3mLy78Jw8w" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>

To me, an abusable bug is not the same or worse in severity as an unavoidable one (the bynum thing). A bug like that certainly breaks multiplayer play completely (unless between two friends who agree to not use it), but for single player it's a choice of whether to break the game with it or not. I don't recall there being a choice on Elite's bugs.

[23]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Was Live 10 the one that introduced the DNA stuff, and the mode where you could play any game on the schedule with the players DNA from that day?

I loved that version, then they seemed to abandon all the things that made that version of Live appealing and I simply never went back. I can't imagine a time i the near future where I even think of buying an EA NBA game.

Technically DNA was introduced in Live 2009 but yeah the play any game from that day and try to determine the outcome yourself started with Live 10.. IMO it was much better than NBA Today that 2k has.

I don't necessarily disagree with this line of thought but the key part you failed to mention is that those NBA game fans had a direct video game alternative. In this exclusive market fans can be disgruntled with EA all they want, it doesn't change the fact that they have no other direct NFL video game choice.

There was Sony's basketball game, 2k, Live, Inside Drive, etc...

EA screwed that series for years on end. Multiple 3 year plans that got cancelled every year, player movement was never right, and the best game they made was Live 10 when Mike Wang came over from 2k, until he left because they handed the control to a hockey guy.

Microsoft abandoned their Inside Drive series after 2004
Sony abandoned their series after 2009 (bad game, bad sales for the time, but people loved their Inside the Life [think my player] mode) and so 2k adapted that starting with the combine as a digital DL with Derrick Rose back in 2k10.

EA made the move to put the hockey guy on when they couldn't get consistent sales, and while Live 10 was their highest rated and best of the series they didn't like the sales numbers.

I saw and played elite before everyone, before the demo and all along with a a couple of other OSers at Venice Beach, and I while I knew people would bash it because they hid so much, I didnt realize it would be that bad.

That was until that demo came out and it was full of bugs (which I never saw in the final version I played but it was still a very bad game)

Since they couldnt appreciate Live 10s sales they were about to lose money in just releasing that Elite and decided to cancel and got rid of the team.


Bottom line though is that again, until people stop buying this game... it'll be a yearly tradition to bash them and complain but keep playing it and doing it all over again.

Im not advocating this, its just a point that I see the passion football fans have and see you guys are screaming for fixes and if not that an alternative, but im saying its probably going to take a radical rejection from the community to make it happen at this rate.

[Valdarez]

Re: EA Still Owns the NFL License Exclusively

Because it's a fun game. Could be much better with competition but I still enjoy it a lot, especially on the PS4

Fun, much like beauty, is definitely in the eye of the beholder. I personally can only enjoy Madden on single player seasons/franchise, and that's for a limited time, with a strong imagination, and forgoing of the laws of physics. With the movement such as it is, I can't imagine playing online. I'd be surprised if the games online boil down to real football mechanics, and that's just not fun to me.