The EA Embargo

[IStillDoWhatIDo]

Quote: Originally Posted by xboxgator

Some people are such Madden-lovers that they will buy the game no matter what EA throws at them.

Unconditional love. I am a victim. It's like having a husband that was good to you in the beginning and now he abuses you but you keep running back. i'm a male but that's the only example I could think of..

this is the first year that I have been "abused" by madden tho. I enjoyed all other years, and I am slowly beginning to really like this game..

[coogrfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mos1ted

LOL to be honest with you I didn't. I gotta retake both classes lol.

I can relate, I took some Econ stuff back in college. Dullest. Courses. Ever.

[Mos1ted]

But seriously, it's a proven fact that lack of competition deters product growth and development.

Back in the day for football there was:

Madden (EA)
Sega Sports (Prime Time, Joe Montana, NFL 2K)
Tecmo Super Bowl (Tecmo)
NFL Gameday (989)
ESPN Football (not the 2K brand)
NFL Fever (Microsoft)
NFL Blitz (Midway)
And that other NFL game that 989 created to rival Blitz, I forgot the name
NFL Quarterback Club (Acclaim)

And in Baseball There was:

Triple Play (later MVP)
MLB (989 Brand)
World Series Baseball (later MLB 2K)
High Heat ( I forgot who published this)
All Star Baseball (Acclaim)
and that game that Midway made

It's funny how it all started with the NFL license. Then EA went and snagged up the NCAA Football license. Then the Arena Football license. Then 2K snags up the 3rd party MLB license. The NBA says no, we feel that the quality of NBA branded games will falter if there's no competition.

Every defense to the exclusive deal is that the NFL approach gaming developers first. So are you saying that the NCAA and Arena Football and MLB followed suit? I seriously doubt. It was the gaming companies going after the brand, giving them an offer they can't refuse. And isn't it funny how the NFL deal happened after the success of NFL 2K5 with the 20 dollar price tag? And isn't it also funny that EA had to lose money by following suit and offering their games at a 30 dollar price tag? Now I find it a coincidence that all of a sudden the NFL decides that they want to only deal with one gaming company. I still believe to this day that EA made the first approach. They realized that another company was gaining a market share that they held on for so long. They also realized that this company was actually putting in more effort in innovating their game each year. There's not a man on this earth that can't say that the current gen cycle and effort of EA games surpassed that of the 2K games. If EA was so concern with securing the NFL license, why did they just stop there? Why buy out the NCAA license and Arena license too? To prevent the other company for making a superior product with that brand that would easily surpass any effort put for by EA.

[blackceasar]

Quote: Originally Posted by nxt

What I'm afraid of is with all of the people who were up in arms over the "HOF" and "Fatigue" fiascos prior to the release, do you think EA will now put some type of NDA so that these websites, etc. will no longer be able to make any comments whatsoever (not just reviews) prior to the release. We were lucky that these glitches were discovered early on, so people (who actually cared) were able to make an better decision as to whether or not they still wanted to purchase the game knowing beforehand of these problems. It also allowed EA to recognize the issue (as if they didn't know about already) and respond (by hopefully fixing/patching it as soon as possible). After this year, I wouldn't put it past EA to come up with some type of unwritten (you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours) agreement. I wonder how quickly EA would have responded, if the game had already been in the hands of thousands of customers before these issues were discovered.

I completely agree. I could seriously see EA doing this because 99% of all stores that have video games for sale on thier shelves will NOT refund your money. If you didnt like it, so what, youre stuck with it. Once you open up the package its yours and EA is guaranteed another sale with no chance of them having to give your money back. Even if you say it's broke all you can do is exchange it for another copy...so EA still has your money.

[Mos1ted]

Here's an article that was written when the original deal was first made. Gamesindustry.biz was the source.


"EA wipes out rival NFL titles with new five-year exclusive deal
Illustration
Rob Fahey 16:02 14/12/2004

Dominance of NFL sports games assured as EA plays its ace in the hole against ESPN

Leading publisher Electronic Arts has announced the signing of an exclusive five-year deal with the NFL and its players association, effectively eliminating any competition to the firm's NFL sports titles from rival publishers.

The deal signs the National Football League and the NFL Players Inc licensing division into five years of exclusivity with EA, preventing any other company from using the NFL brands, stadiums, player names and player likenesses in their games.

The deal will come as a devastating blow to Sega and Take Two, whose ESPN sports range made up significant ground on the EA Sports titles this year thanks to an aggressive $19.99 price point.

Without the ability to use NFL players and brands in next year's game, however, the ESPN NFL titles are likely to sink without trace, as are all other rival titles - leaving EA's Madden NFL and NFL Street titles as the only real contenders in the sector.

EA has been seeking this form of deal from the NFL for several years, but it seems likely that its lobbying became even more intense this year after the pressure from Take Two's pricing forced the firm to drop the prices of several of its own range of sports titles.

The company also admits to paying a premium for the exclusive license, but chairman Larry Probst clearly believes that the price was worth it, enthusing in an official statement that "we are excited about the opportunity to further enhance our relationship with the NFL and Players Inc. The five-year agreements will usher NFL fans through the console technology transition with new ideas and innovative game play experiences."

Take Two, understandably, is somewhat less impressed with the deal. "We believe that the decisions of the National Football League and Players Inc to grant an exclusive license for videogames do a tremendous disservice to the consumers and sports fans whose funds ultimately support the NFL," the publisher said in a statement, "by limiting their choices, curbing creativity and almost certainly leading to higher game prices."

However, the company claims that the loss of the NFL brand will not affect its bottom line significantly, and moved to reassure shareholders that the negative impact to the firm will be insubstantial.

"While sports games in general are an important part of Take-Two's product diversification strategy," the firm explained, "the licensed NFL game we distributed on behalf of Sega this year was not a material contributor to our profitability to date, nor was it expected to be a meaningful contributor in the upcoming year. We remain committed to continued diversification of our product portfolio, including sports."

The exclusive NFL deal isn't the first exclusive sports licensing deal that Electronic Arts has struck - with one high profile example being the firm's exclusive licensing deal with the English Premier League, which has forced rival titles such as Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series to use fake player names and rename famous clubs, with Liverpool becoming Merseyside Red, for example."

[Radja]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mos1ted

It seem like yesterday that the exclusive deal was done. I remember EA reassuring us that the quality and innovation wouldn't cease just because of the exclusive license. Well 2 years later and I'm yet to see EA hold their end of the bargain. I also hate the exclusive deal with the MLB as well. This is the first year in 4 years that I didn't buy a baseball game. I heard such horror stories about the 360 version of MLB 2K5 that I just avoided it. I wish they were something that Congress could do to reverse all of this. I'm serious considering just sticking to NBA and College Basketball games in the future. I know a lot of people in here love Madden. I personally am more disappointed in the fact that little effort seems to be put in this year. Last year we all gave EA a mulligan considered the short creation cycle. A year later and we get two new features with only one being 100 percent new to the Madden franchise. I don't see why most gamers are overlooking this.

i really have to agree with you on this, aside from congress doing anything about it. there are much larger problems with society in general to fix the atrocity that is 'gamer issues'. especially since i doubt the majority of video gamers would even be registered voters.

but i have been playing the basketball titles more lately, simply because they 'feel' better than the football titles. i love the baseball titles of mlb 2006 the show and mvp 2005. those developers are simply doing a better job innovating & designing than all the football titles (including 2k5), imho. i really feel i dont have to overlook as much to get something out of the experience.

lately, i have been playing madden 06 and ncaa 06 to get a football fix in. but over the year, i will play the other games much more.

[On Base]

Quote: Originally Posted by jonesha2000

I just played Madden on the current gen and I am SHOCKED! I've been reading that it is the exact game but I really thought people were just speaking out of disgust. I won't let EA or anyone else tell me that the exclusive deal with the NFL does not have anything to do with this. Seems like they updated the rosters and added the Cardinals stadium. Other than that, nothing new. If there is something I missed, please point it out to me. I am disgusted...this is a total lack of effort on EA's part. And just to think, we still have three more years after this year to put up with this. I'm sure we'll be playing the exact same game the next two years. Who's getting a new stadium built? I'm sure they'll have that as the feature on the back cover of next years game...."featuring the new stadium for the Miami Dolphins!!!".....TOTAL CRAP!

The gameplay is way better. Best gameplay in a Madden game BY FAR.

The franchise mode does suck pretty hard though. They did make it from scratch in a year though (pretty much an inexistant franchise last 360 version). It will take another year before franchise mode is back to where it used to be.

[Bobolini]

Quote: Originally Posted by On Base

The gameplay is way better. Best gameplay in a Madden game BY FAR. The franchise mode does suck pretty hard though. They did make it from scratch in a year though (pretty much an inexistant franchise last 360 version). It will take another year before franchise mode is back to where it used to be.

and they still charged you full price. By buying this game you only allow them to proceed at a "wait for next year" pace. Forking out the $60 tells EA you will buy this product regardless.