[FaceMask]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

With respect, I believe you're seriously mistaken here. It is my understanding that back when EA and Sega were both in the football game business the NFL/NFLPA did not get paid up front: If this is correct (and DrJones was in a position to know since he actually worked for EA prior to "the Great Purge") that means that Sega wound up paying the NFL only a $1.99 per unit sold instead of $4.99. The notion that the NFL wouldn't care about this or the precedent it might set vis a vis their other business partners is fanciful at best.

I'm not familiar with DrJones, but him working for EA is a separate matter from what his involvement was--if any--in the drafting, negotiation, signing and keeping of the contract in question. If he wasn't involved in that capacity, then that would make him an outsider on the matter just like the rest of us.

Until we see the contract (and we won't), we can't assume that this per unit thing was ever a thing. Not that per unit deals are uncommon, it's just that there is a lack of proof that this was the deal in this particular matter with the NFL.

Extending onto that, there has never been a single known word from the NFL regarding having a problem with the price of NFL 2K5, so because of that this "NFL was mad about the price of 2K5" concept has to be considered conjecture. There is no proof. Without seeing the contract terms in black and white, there is no proof.

What's not conjecture is that EA had a big problem with the price of NFL 2K5 according to the Pecover documents.

So, no slight against DrJones, but I'm going to stick with what's been proven and what we can see in writing. It's the most logical option.

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

Again according to VGChartz: NFL 2k3 (North America) PS2 1.06 million units + XB .38 million units = 1.44 million units ESPN NFL Football (aka NFL 2k4) PS2 .27 million units + XB .27 million total = .54 million That's a 62% drop in sales from 2002 to 2003. Under those circumstances I can certainly understand why Sega felt they needed to roll the dice. Confident or desperate?

Both. Confident in their product, desperate for market share. It's not a new or uncommon circumstance.

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

Perhaps. The fact that it was an licensed NFL game for a mere $20 and it was released three weeks before Madden (July 20th vs Aug 9th) may have had little something to do with those numbers as well.

Not all 4.26 Million though. I believe they even sold over 1 Million copies past its initial sales period. That doesn't happen when a game is bad. $19.99 attracted more people, the game being a beast reeled in even more. Once enough people (including the media) declare a game hot, it goes viral. That's what happened with NFL 2K5. If the game sucked and that had become the consensus, it wouldn't have mattered what the price was.