OS Roundtable: How Would Football Be Different Without Exclusivity?

[The_Gaming_Disciple]

Without exclusivity a lot of football game developers would have kept their jobs. BOOM!

[RickyAC]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nfl2k5updateroster

Remember the days when we had 989 Sports NFL Gameday, NFL Quarterback Club, NFL Fever, NFL Street, Backyard Football, NFL Blitz, Madden & last but not least NFL 2K? It was our choice which NFL game we wanted to play. Those were the days

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)

[pietasterp]

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?

[kjcheezhead]

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.

[blackadder33]

"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.