Word is....EA Sports to give up exclusive rights to NCAA football games

[majesty95]

Quote: Originally Posted by Crimsontide27

EA is also giving up the NFL rights as well, NCAA isnt the only one. They accomplished what they set out to do, and as such, no longer need exlusive rights.

That's not true. They are giving up the exclusive rights to NCAA as part of a lawsuit settlement. Where are you getting your information?

[Crimsontide27]

If you believe that they are giving up their rights soley on a lawsuit agreement, I have ocean front property to sell you in Arizona. Not only is NCAA no longer exclusive, but the actual future of ANY college football from EA in the coming years is in jeopardy. Just ask a few people that were recently reassigned from the NCAA team..

[majesty95]

Here's my proof:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/ea-agre...sivity-6388207

Where's yours?

[TCFClemson]

Quote: Originally Posted by majesty95

Aren't there already threads on here discussing this? Why do people still think 2k5 was so great? I played it then and thought it was terrible. There were some cool features but overall Madden 05 blew it away. I don't think anyone will try to compete with NCAA. Look at the sales. They've dropped off dramatically. At its peak NCAA had over 2.5M sales. Now about 1.0M. http://www.operationsports.com/forum...p?p=2043995609 Is that a customer base that can be recovered? Maybe. But most likely developers are going to look at the overall sales and see little room for profit.

2k5 was great due to player movement and interaction. Line play in 2k5 was and still is light years better than any of the garbage EA has produced. Presentation was also much better in 2k5 Halftime shows and pre game shows etc.

[HuckleberryBC]

If 2K puts out a college game next year, I won't care if the first year's version is better than NCAA 14. I will buy it to convince them to keep at it and get their version up to speed after 2-3 years' worth of work.

I hope others do the same.

[mr janny]

Quote: Originally Posted by HuckleberryBC

If 2K puts out a college game next year, I won't care if the first year's version is better than NCAA 14. I will buy it to convince them to keep at it and get their version up to speed after 2-3 years' worth of work. I hope others do the same.

no, not if it's bad. I don't need to spend my money on a bad first effort to help prop up a company in hopes that they will one day produce a good video game. That's what investors are for. If 2K can't produce a good game, they don't deserve my money. As a consumer, if I wanted my dollar to go to charity, I'd give it to the Red Cross.

[TimLawNYC]

Quote: Originally Posted by majesty95

Aren't there already threads on here discussing this? Why do people still think 2k5 was so great? I played it then and thought it was terrible. There were some cool features but overall Madden 05 blew it away. I don't think anyone will try to compete with NCAA. Look at the sales. They've dropped off dramatically. At its peak NCAA had over 2.5M sales. Now about 1.0M. http://www.operationsports.com/forum...p?p=2043995609 Is that a customer base that can be recovered? Maybe. But most likely developers are going to look at the overall sales and see little room for profit.

It would be awfully short-sighted and a terrible business decision to look at these numbers and conclude definitively that the decrease in sales means that there simply isn't a market for a college football game anymore. EA's game has shown decreased sales because EA's game started showing decreased effort and innovation from year to year. Customers stopped wanting to spend $60 each year on the same game they had last year, just with new bugs and glitches.

A savvy businessperson would instead look at these numbers and think "Hmmm, EA is selling fewer copies each year, but video games are still really popular, more kids are going to college, and college football gets more popular every year (see http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/...llege-football, for example). EA sold 2.5 million copies two years ago, and this year they're at 750,000. Those fans didn't all give up on college football or video games in just two years. That means there are nearly 2 million former (and potential) customers out there who might be looking for a new NCAA game." It's a pre-installed customer base that isn't currently being serviced by the only option in the market.

If anything, this is proof that monopolies kill innovation and harm both consumers and manufacturers in the long run. I didn't buy NCAA 13 this year, and it's the first time in probably 15 years that I haven't purchased at least one college football game. I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation. There is a large number of customers out there just waiting to snap up any quality college football game that comes on the market--unfortunately, EA hasn't provided that product in several years.

[HuckleberryBC]

Quote: Originally Posted by mr janny

no, not if it's bad. I don't need to spend my money on a bad first effort to help prop up a company in hopes that they will one day produce a good video game. That's what investors are for. If 2K can't produce a good game, they don't deserve my money. As a consumer, if I wanted my dollar to go to charity, I'd give it to the Red Cross.

I'm assuming you haven't purchased EA's version in 5 years or so, then.