Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

[ProjectRipCity]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

It's pretty much evident that Madden outsold 2k...That is not even the point. The point is 2k is actually the better company...It's just the Madden people do not see that. Madden will always remain king because they eliminate any competition so they can change a few things and make millions on a product that is half *****. This is why EA is trying to buy out 2k...EA knows that 2K is just flat out better. It would be truly a shame if EA were to buy out 2K because that would eliminate any good sports game that is out there. To get rid of a less superior company does not take a few years...It would of taken about ten. If 2k still made football games...I gurantee 2k would be the king right now.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

It's pretty much evident that Madden outsold 2k...That is not even the point. The point is 2k is actually the better company...It's just the Madden people do not see that. Madden will always remain king because they eliminate any competition so they can change a few things and make millions on a product that is half *****. This is why EA is trying to buy out 2k...EA knows that 2K is just flat out better. It would be truly a shame if EA were to buy out 2K because that would eliminate any good sports game that is out there. To get rid of a less superior company does not take a few years...It would of taken about ten. If 2k still made football games...I gurantee 2k would be the king right now.

How can you possibly gaurantee such a thing? Yes, they closed the gap in a year by dropping the price to 19.99. There are a lot of people who bought it just to check out something new since it was cheap (which I recognize was the point...get the product into more hands to build a base). Many of those were Madden players who tried it out as well. It was mentioned that the gap was closed from 10:1 to 5:1, but that's still a significant gap. They were going to raise the price back up the following year...it was known that the 19.99 pricepoint was to build interest. I'm not questioning the quality, but the fact is they would be more break even when the price jumped than gain significant ground.

What people fail to realize is 2K football, much like the "starving artist," is a better sell in death than in life. I would agree that if 2K comes back in the mix when the new deal is up and Madden still hasn't improved, it would probably make a stronger push based on "legend" status alone. However, if it would have continued as normal then it would have been a tough fight as it never would have garnered the status it received when canc'd. Madden 05 and 2K5 were neck and neck in many people eyes and 2K still got outsold at a lower price. I'm not talking right or wrong, fair or unfair. Generally speaking, follow the money and the hype to find the winner (as far as sales, not quality). EA has both.

[MJenness]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

How can you possibly gaurantee such a thing? Yes, they closed the gap in a year by dropping the price to 19.99. There are a lot of people who bought it just to check out something new since it was cheap (which I recognize was the point...get the product into more hands to build a base). Many of those were Madden players who tried it out as well. It was mentioned that the gap was closed from 10:1 to 5:1, but that's still a significant gap. They were going to raise the price back up the following year...it was known that the 19.99 pricepoint was to build interest. I'm not questioning the quality, but the fact is they would be more break even when the price jumped than gain significant ground.

What people fail to realize is 2K football, much like the "starving artist," is a better sell in death than in life. I would agree that if 2K comes back in the mix when the new deal is up and Madden still hasn't improved, it would probably make a stronger push based on "legend" status alone. However, if it would have continued as normal then it would have been a tough fight as it never would have garnered the status it received when canc'd. Madden 05 and 2K5 were neck and neck in many people eyes and 2K still got outsold at a lower price. I'm not talking right or wrong, fair or unfair. Generally speaking, follow the money and the hype to find the winner (as far as sales, not quality). EA has both.

Actually, the 19.99 price deal was a 3 year agreement, 2k5 was the 1st of the 3 years. So, if they closed the gap from 10:1 to 5:1, who knows what would have happened had they been allowed to continue.
I still remember this bigshot EA exec stating "2k could tape a ham sandwich to their game, sell it for 20 bucks, and it still won't sell"...what a moron he was.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

Actually, the 19.99 price deal was a 3 year agreement, 2k5 was the 1st of the 3 years. So, if they closed the gap from 10:1 to 5:1, who knows what would have happened had they been allowed to continue.
I still remember this bigshot EA exec stating "2k could tape a ham sandwich to their game, sell it for 20 bucks, and it still won't sell"...what a moron he was.

I could be remembering wrong, but I'm pretty sure they backed off that because of financial reasoning...that's why I mentioned the hike. They raised their other games prices, I believe. They would have made it interesting for a bit though. I agree the EA exec was stupid in that regard, but it is no easy task to bring down the hype machine that Madden is. Just by securing NFLPA advertising through their tournaments and events was a huge advertising boon.

None of this speaks to 2K being better or worse...just going up aginst a giant. That's actually how the whole licensing issue got started EA made an offer they knew 2K couldn't match. It sucks, because I think the competition benefited all of us (whether you were a fan of 2K or not). What's done is done though, we just need to hope Ian and co. hold true to there stated vision.

[sois]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

Tecmo bowl didn't stay king forever...

I beg to differ

Yeah, it did feel that 2k was gaining momentum on the internet scene. I don't know many fellow real life gamers so I don't know how the masses felt about 2k.

[Lumalu]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

Madden is one of the few game franchise's guaranteed success year in year out.

2K put up a great fight, but l don't think they would of ever out sold madden. having said that, if 2k were still in the game, We probably would of had the two greatest football games of all time.

[Exonerated]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

We've reached the point of no return.

The Madden juggernaut is unstoppable.

[Sadly] Even if 2k or any company released a game that was better than Madden, Madden will still kill the sales. As long as Madden targets the casual audiences that don't look at internet forums, then it will remain atop of the sports game food chain.

[Heelfan71]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

I wont say Madden loss money but the sales are flat. Factor in the cost of inflation then 2% may even be considered a decrease.

If you factor in the economy right now, I would say 2% is a big increase.

[MJenness]

Re: Madden 09 Dominates US Sales in August

If you factor in the economy right now, I would say 2% is a big increase.

But that is a 2% increase over last years 14% DECREASE.....