[TheWatcher]

^^^ I think Dave was meaning that the NFL license appeals to gamers more than a non-NFL licensed product, and all EA has to do is play up that part with a strong marketing push and it's going to hurt any competitor who's trying to make a mark with technology alone.

Madden is going to sell in the millions anyway and BB isn't going to hurt that, we all know that. But if BB sells a few hundred thousand it'll be a big victory for everybody.

What bothers me is when I hear gamers say they won't touch this game because it doesn't have an NFL license. I understand why they say it, but they may not realize that not buying it will only help to keep the market down. If the game is good and you have the means, it would be a good idea to buy it just to help open up the market.

This is a copycat industry, and if a non-NFL licensed game succeeds, more studios will take a shot. This is exactly what we want to happen. But like I've said in the past (and we see this happening here and there), smaller indie's will pop up making American football games. If you count between console, mobile, and internet-based American football games, there is a good number out there. Right now, it's up to gamers to help open the possibilities. Instead of all the complaining I hear people doing about how much they hate Madden and the NFL license situation, I wish they'd stop and start buying and getting into these other games on the market. This situation is not going to change unless gamers stop crying and start getting involved.

Finally, it should be noted that making a good football game has nothing to do with a license. Some of the greatest football games of all time did not have the NFL license. It's already a fact that the technology exists to make the NFL license irrelevant, meaning that the NFL can be recreated by end users. It just takes a developer who is willing to make the tools available like BB is doing. The only thing that will keep this from being 100% are the player models which look nothing like current players (BB is supposedly going for a futuristic look), but another company may come along and create models that look like current players. We just need to keep supporting the market to make sure these possibilities become available.