EA-NFL Exclusive License

[King_B_Mack]

My pipe dream is that one of the Super Bowl commercials this year will be an NFL 2K teaser that just shocks everyone and completely blows them away because nobody saw it coming.

Honestly EA has run this franchise so far into the ground during this license that I think 2K might outsell them right out of the gate because everyone is so fed up with Madden.

[roll2tide]

I don't think it was that 2k just made the best football game ever.....but it was at least different. EA seems to be the more commercial of the 2 companies whereas 2k seemed to strive for innovation and realism. The real problem, imho, has been that 2k was pretty good at innovation and realism while EA can't even get the basics of a dry commercial product correct.

The fact that, even after 25 years, EA still can't get things like stats and playoff formulas correct tells you just how little they care about their product or your entertainment dollar.

[kjcheezhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by King_B_Mack

My pipe dream is that one of the Super Bowl commercials this year will be an NFL 2K teaser that just shocks everyone and completely blows them away because nobody saw it coming. Honestly EA has run this franchise so far into the ground during this license that I think 2K might outsell them right out of the gate because everyone is so fed up with Madden.

My first instinct was to laugh at the idea of 2k outselling madden, but then I remembered 2 ks basketball game outsold madden on next gen this year with the complaints about vc and all. Given how parched of football games the markets been lately, it's not a stretch at all to say that could happen.

[elgreazy1]

Gamers deserve options. Regardless of whether 2K or EA was better, it's pretty much agreeable that both companies really pushed each other to make their best product. After the exclusive license, one could make a very strong claim EA put it into cruise-control when it came to the Madden franchise.

[tdogg097]

It comes down to simple monopolistic economic principles. Once a company has the market cornered they can go in one of three directions. Increase the sales price, lower the manufactured price (which often lowers the quality), or a combination of both.


I think EA did a little bit of both. Of course the price is fixed so there is little they can do about that. But Madden is always one of the longest holdouts to lower the price of their game. They have no incentive really to do this until the new version of the game is getting close to release date and they need to move their excess inventory. And then they added all the "add-on" costs which ultimately increase the cost to consumer. Simultaneously, the game is "canned" with only a few options being added which lowers the cost, to EA, of the game. If you have a superior product this makes logical sense, why fix it if it isn't broken? But I think the majority of people would not label this a superior product and their decreased sales figures would seem to support this.


I'm sure most people would disagree but if this was a superior product I would be willing to pay $120 for the game. Madden and the Show are pretty much the only games I play so it wouldn't be that big of a deal. So there is the dilemma for EA, they can't charge you more and so the quality suffers.


So what is the fix? Split the game in two. Version 1: Online play, play now, and an online season (no CFM). Version 2: A true in-depth simulation CFM experience with all the bells and whistles. No online play with the exception of an online CFM/roster updates. The gameplay and presentation itself would be the same with all the improvements that are needed. Sell each Version for $60 and maybe the combo for $100. I think one thing EA has failed realize is there truly is 3 types of consumers. Online players, offline players, and those who are 50/50. I think they tried with Head Coach 09 and the sales weren't exactly where they wanted to be. I think if it was under the Madden umbrella and executed correctly it would work. I don't know maybe I'm the only one who thinks online play has ruined a one time quality product.