OK! There is Coke & Pepsi. There is Ford, Chevy etc, etc. There is competition in every aspect of american society. But, when it comes to a video game EA is terrified to allow any other company to produce a NFL game...i.e. 2K. In my opinion, 2K would have wiped EA with it's NFL game. That is why EA did what they did. Think about it. EA knew 2K had a gold mine on their hands. What is sad is that people and their greed and their desire to be #1 would do what EA did. Why not give people the choice? Why not let 2K have a shot at a NFL game? Why not let the consumer decide which one they want to buy? Why not? Because again EA knew they were in trouble when 2K came out with their NFL game. And it was a heck of a lot cheaper too! Left alone to produce their NFL game 2K would have had the most realistic NFL game on the market. My hope is that somewhere in a back room somewhere 2K was still working on a NFL game to drop when they are able.
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Madden would be dead. Its obvious that 2K Sports is a way better football game dev. The fact that APF 2K8 is still a better football sim than any Madden till this date speaks volumes. Madden would be barely holding its head above water like their own NBA Live.Comment
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MLB 2K may not be a great argument as that game was always crap. But NHL 2K was not crap, in fact for a couple years it destroyed EA's NHL series. But once NHL 07/08 came around, it was lights out. EA's hockey series kept improving while 2K was solid but not great, it got killed in sales. The assumption that if 2K was still making an NFL game, Madden would be gone is just ludicrous.Comment
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"Consider this: the 2K series didn't even sell half of the copies Madden did at 1/3 of the price in 2004."
In 2004 the 2K series was only about 5 years old and gaining momentum on a game that had been established back in the 1988. The first Madden's were not critical successes either and had they continued to produce great titles those sales would have only increased. I would think by now they would have had parity if not share as we all saw how NBA 2K put EA's NBA Live out of business. This is the result of a studio truly embracing the game and making it happen on the field.
No competition is clearly a problem. EA has produced a poor product for 8 years running because they can. I remember when Madden had so many bells and whistles it felt like they didn't miss anything. But right after exclusivity we got games that didn't even bother to give us a proper play by play team and score boards that didn't even really interact with the game. Just a lot of corner cutting.
Remember when the moto was if its in the game its in the game. Yeah that moto and concept died once they got exclusivityComment
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Re: OS Roundtable: How Would Football Be Different Without Exclusivity?
Madden could quite possibly be at the same crossroads NBA Live is. Many forget that Live was Madden at one time for NBA games. They more than likely would still be making a game out of pride, but knowing deep down inside that when release day comes, 2K will be taking them out back to the woodshed kicking them sideways in sales.
2K football was not what NBA 2K is now, but given the trajectory they were on at the time with their innovations and creativity, there was no reason to not believe they would have gained the momentum to eventually be viewed as a very formidable competitor in the football gaming genre .Comment
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Re: OS Roundtable: How Would Football Be Different Without Exclusivity?
I disagree with this comment and heres why, the NFL should have every right to sell the license to use its image to one suitor if it chooses to do that.
All companies wanna make as much money as possible whether that be EA or 2K. The NFL was the greedy party in all of this. They decided to take on an exclusive business model. They have done it in most aspects of their business now. EA didnt buy the license because 2K was good, they bought it because the NFL decided to go exclusive so the only way to keep your game on the market is to be the highest bidder.
On topic: I think we would have 2 good yet unique football games on the market. 2K probably would have been a hardcore sim although it seems they are getting away from that a bit with its NBA franchise and Madden would have just been a tweener game.Last edited by m1ke_nyc; 07-28-2014, 11:55 AM.It’s easier to do the right thing, than to explain why you didn’t.Comment
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Sanner's post was spot on.Comment
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I too bought both games, 2k (Xbox) Madden (playstation) after the EA/NFL deal, I've only upgraded the playstation console, so as a result, Xbox lost a customer, not there fault, it's just that I only play football games, so it made no sense buying 2 different consoles to play one (or 2 NCAA) games. I was shocked when that happened, the NFL could have double their profits, because both game were just that good!Comment
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EA's bid for exclusive rights was brilliant! In fact, it was so brilliant every die hard football fan such as myself had to reap the reality of EA's actions because they knew they had a giant in the name of 2K on their back. Funny thing is EA never took the competition too seriously (much like their loyal madden gamers up until recent) because of their tenure at the time.
We think we know but we don't really know..the sh** hit the fan when NFL2K5 hit the shelves, several high level execs within EA were let go after failed excuses tied to elaborate catered boardroom meetings on weekends to cover for their NFL2K5 tournaments. Ok I'm just kidding or maybe not? Either way they were just as fascinated about something new and fresh as the rest of us. With the help of the NFL, they pulled the plug on a healthy young newborn without consulting with the rest of the family. Yes we all are family, that's why we are all forced to be linked up online these days brah. EA's decision was clever, greedy, and lazy.
You cannot compare Madden 05 and 2K5 because one was a sim and the other was not. One was $19.99 and the other was $59.99. In case your wondering, EA has never dropped the price of Madden over the years, not even to say thank you to the gaming world. Instead they would rather sell unfinished products that require an immediate update after point of sell.
2K is always hungry!! That's why 2K basketball is off the chain and the football would have been too if they ain't pull the plug on my baby! In my opinion, EA's College football was better than Madden. Now they found a way to do that in as well.Comment
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Without exclusivity a lot of football game developers would have kept their jobs. BOOM!"Florida State, the only FBS Division-1 school to finish consecutively in the AP top 5 poll for 14 years. This is a record that no other collegiate football team will ever remotely come close to accomplishing again."
#UnconqueredComment
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What a time. Way back when all the amazing NFL game selection had me so plugged into the NFL that I'd try to buy a new jersey every year, and I tracked down new NFL posters of every new Bronco!
I wonder what could have happened in 2005/2006 that made my NFL video game passion drop, and took away my motivation for buying NFL gear, or going to games, or doing anything more that watching NFL broadcasts.
Oh well, now that I'm 27 and have disposable income but no NFL merch worth buying, I guess I'll just continue investing and saving.
(while definitely facetious, everything above is true)Comment
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Of course it's fun to speculate, but I don't think it's a stretch to think we'd be in a much better place with regards to football games today if 2k had been allowed to continue. I think the MLB2K analogy is not the best comparison, because that game was probably never "the best" baseball game on the market at any point, nor was it necessarily trending that way (although I personally liked the games). Their football offering, however, was by all accounts ahead of even where their basketball game was at that point (circa 2004), so I don't think it's a stretch to imagine it would have continued on a serious upward trajectory, given what we've seen from 2K when they commit to a sport.
Put it this way: where would basketball games be today if NBA2K5 were the last hoops game 2K ever released, and all we had today was NBA Live?Comment
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No exclusivity means Madden 06 360 doesnt get released in the condition it was in. It also means EA has more money for developing that game since the open license was much cheaper. Madden 06 or 07 would have been released as quality games instead of terrible ones. If not, 2k would've taken them out.
Meanwhile 2k releases APF with real teams, franchise mode a year or two earlier and continues to build off it.
One game may have won out and we may still have one title today, but that title would be NBA2k, the Show level king of sports games type quality in the majorities opinion and not a mediocre one.Comment
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"Competition is a sin" - John D. Rockefeller. EA and the NFL are simply following the example and doctrine of Rockefeller. Do I agree with this business practice? Absolutely not. I simply understand it. And the only way that the EA NFL monopoly will ever end is when the public stop buying EA games. I've boycotted buying Madden the last couple of years not because I don't like the Madden series, it's because I want to bring competition back and give others a chance like 2K and any other developers. Because more NFL games are better than less NFL games, right? Is that what you're actually asking? So, when/if enough others follow our example and the NFL finally get the message, then I will gladly start buying Madden again. I've been an American Football fan for years and used to buy ALL the NFL videogames, but since the EA Madden monopoly it's not surprising that NFL videogaming has been so much worse for it it's not even funny. The fault is squarely on the buying public who enable the monopoly to continue, year after year, preventing the rest of us football fans from having any choice of playing a whole load of NEW different (possibly more innovative with different engines and AI? Maybe new dev studios starting up? guess we'll never know) NFL games ever again. Boycott Madden is the only way to send the NFL the message it's time for change.Comment
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