Enjoy playing ESPN NFL 2k5....

[Luxor]

What does this mean for that particular franchise?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/13/news_6114977.html

[Rodent]

Holy crap, time to lay off the NFL games for a while then, I'm not touching a madden game with a ten foot pole.

[Ozzu]

That is so horribly disappointing. I've had more fun with the $20 NFL 2K5 than I ever had with Madden. *sigh* I assume they can still make a game and just change the names of the teams and players, but it's still just pure stupidity.

[murdoc]

Wow, this is terrible news.

[SirBruce]

Wow, EA actually does something smart for a change.

It's interesting that this comes on the heals of Take-Two announcing that they would return to premium pricing levels for their ESPN NFL game on the next generation of consoles.  Prices for the next versions of games for current consoles and PC was still undecided.  Yet they will still claiming their lower price point was a success.  Well, it certainly allowed them to sell a lot more copies, but with correspondingly reduced revenues, and they were still nowhere near Madden's popularity.  I guess this is moot now!

All I can say is: live with it.  I whined when Front Page Sports died, but eventually learned to embrace Madden, and so to should you.

Bruce

[Zetleft]

Fuck, they tried doing that with this years release but it didn't pan out in the end.  I haven't bought a madden game since 94 they can kiss my ass.  My EA boycott is just fueled even more.

[stray]

Wow, EA actually does something smart for a change.

Fucking ban this motherfucker already. Please.

[Dark Vengeance]

Stray, he is right. This is a smart move by EA, whether or not you happen to like it. For full disclosure, I have nothing against Madden, but purchased ESPN 2k5 this year after renting both.

It is a brilliant move by EA, because they've been forced to slash prices on titles due to the bargain bin price point of the ESPN line. The $20 per copy they can regain by bumping off ESPN more than pays for the exclusivity deal....not to mention that they'll gain even more marketshare. That's years of exclusivity for greater branding as well.

Additionally, NCAA Football will get a boost out of it, because it will be the only college football title where you can export draft classes into an NFL title.

I look for EA to continue this trend with the NBA, NHL, MLB, and possibly the NCAA. They already have NASCAR exclusivity, and could probably get it from the PGA if they wanted on Tiger Woods.

It's the smartest possible response to ESPN price slashing, and EA is far better equipped to outbid for exclusive rights.

Bring the noise.
Cheers..............

[HaemishM]

Fuck Bruce, Fuck EA and Fuck the NFL.

[Merusk]

...eventually learned to embrace Madden, and so to should you.

You forgot the, "Resistance is futile," and, "You will be assimilated," lines.


Though, yes. It was a smart business move, albeit a shitty one for consumers.  I don't expect enough people to be outraged for them to not buy Madden. Which is sad.  Numbers on how much this cost EA would be nice to see.

[Paelos]

Well, that does it, they officially made my list. No more EA games for me, which is rough, because I liked their hockey stuff. Too bad.

[John]

What does this mean for that particular franchise?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/13/news_6114977.html

Well, NFL 2K5 already has all the graphics/team names/logo's, etc... and there is absolutely no legal reason they can't continue selling that title.  So....couldn't Take Two release a yearly upgrade which required the purchaser to already have 2K5 or earlier installed an made use of the legally licensed resources from that game.  They could even continue producing 2K5 and sell it for like $5 after this year  or bundle it with 2K6+.  Only problem (providing no expansion teams are created) would be with new player names / team configurations and I'm sure they could provide a way to type those in and maybe leave a public API open so that someone could write a 3rd party utility to input the team / player name info directly from NFL.com.

[Zetleft]

Something I've wondered about as well, I guess it all depends on how the wording is on their contract agreement with the NFL about use of names, could be a time limit was placed on it for updates and such.  Guess they have to use some lawyereez there.

edit: good writeup Haem

[WindupAtheist]

I've never played a football game in my life.  Yay me.

[WayAbvPar]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gay or European?

I don't think an exclusive contract is in anyone's best interest other than EA. I don't know the specifics, but it seems to me that the NFL would be better served by handing out licenses to multiple companies, diversifying their income stream to an extent, as well as reaching multiple audiences with their product.

This is bad, bad, bad. The Madden games are pretty good, but now EA has exactly zero incentive to make them better. It is going to be years of paying new box prices for roster updates. Bollocks.

[HaemishM]

I imagine that any attempt to update the NFL 2k5 game with new names and rosters will run afoul of this agreement. The NFL Players Association gets involved, because THAT'S the body that allows the use of the likenesses and names of the players. You can have an NFL license, which allows the use of team names, mascots, logos and such, without having an NFLPA license agreement, which means your players have to be named something generic. Madden used to have this in the first days of the game, the year they started adding year numbers to the title (91 or 92?) They just used the numbers of the players. Adding the player names was big.

It's the same reason Barry Bonds is not listed on the San Francisco Giants' roster in ESPN MLB 2k4 (I think). Bonds did not agree with the MLBPA about licensing, stating that anyone who wanted to use his name or likeness would have to deal with him directly.

[UD_Delt]

Say what you will about it, it was a great move for EA financially.


Investors agree... EA up nearly 5% on the news (TTWO down 5%). Up nearly 10% overall after  a JP Morgan upgrade and this news.

"This contract should allow EA to eliminate competition in the pro football category, hold premium pricing next year and raise prices for the next console cycle," Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson wrote in a research note. "It should also alleviate some of the pressure to re-sign John Madden's contract at the end of the year."

Although EA did not disclose financial terms of its deal, Wilson said it is "likely" that EA has doubled its royalty payment to the NFL from an estimated 5 percent of net revenue.

"While the increased payment could pressure 'Madden's' margins, the increased revenue and gross profit should offset it and have a positive effect on earnings," the analyst wrote.

Edit: Don't forget to factor in what this will do for EA 2 years from now once the next generation consoles are out.

[Paelos]

Oh good a price hike. That's great news.

[UD_Delt]

Oh good a price hike. That's great news.

Its coming across the board. Expected prices of next-gen games are in the $65-$69 range already.

[Paelos]

Oh good a price hike. That's great news.

Its coming across the board. Expected prices of next-gen games are in the $65-$69 range already.

That's a lot for a shiny turd-in-a-box. They better get their heads screwed on tight if they want people to start forking over that kind of money for the regular crap I've seen in the past.

$69 for KOTOR? Ok.
$69 for NHL200x now with new hats? Fuck you.

[Dark Vengeance]

I imagine that any attempt to update the NFL 2k5 game with new names and rosters will run afoul of this agreement.

I don't expect Sega will do anything like that. However, the fan community will be all over it. I look for fan-created downloadable or Ebayed 'roster updates on a mem card' to become a bit of a market. At least until a team moves, or changes its uniforms drastically, or Madden implements some kickass feature that even ESPN fans think is uber enough to try.

Honestly, I think too many anti-Madden folks got hung up on hotdogs back in 2004, and embraced ESPN because it didn't expose the fact that they suck at playing pass defense.

Madden 2005 was pretty good, I really liked the way they implemented different motives for player signings (aging vets would play for peanuts if you could help them win a title, etc)....and the sports radio/newspaper bit (which echoes the Sports Illustrated covers of NCAA) was kind of cool. The gameplay is good, though the feel is decidedly different from ESPN. If it had the same price point as ESPN, I probably would have bought Madden.

Bring the noise.
Cheers............

[HaemishM]

I pick ESPN because I'm all about the gameplay. It felt more "real" than any game of Madden I ever played.

[WayAbvPar]

I pick ESPN because I'm all about the gameplay. It felt more "real" than any game of Madden I ever played.

ESPN still feels a bit 'game-y' to me (especially when Ozzu is running EDDIE FUCKING GEORGE over, around, and through my defense), but it is definitely close to the Madden series, if NCAA is any indication. The First Person Football thing was a pretty cool innovation as well.

Arrgh. This whole thing just pisses me off to no end. EA is Satan.

[stray]

Madden 2005 was pretty good

While I'll prefer ESPN, I'll agree. Madden is a solid game. I still think ESPN is better, just because of gameplay, but on the flipside, Madden has a lot more features than ESPN has ever had.

But that's beside the point....I don't care if it was the greatest football game of the bunch. It's that now it'll be the only choice.

As for this being a smart business move on EA's part, yeah...But it also fucks the consumer. I never really cared much for complaints about EA in this past, but now I see what it was all about. Fucking monopolistic shitheads is what they are. No different than what happened to Microsoft, and someone needs to step up and put EA in check before they get worse.

[WindupAtheist]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gay or European?

Pfft.  Football is for pussies.  I am fond of EA's boxing sims.

[WayAbvPar]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gay or European?

Pfft.  Football is for pussies.  I am fond of EA's boxing sims.

Answer the question, Claire! =P

Fight Night is pretty damned fun for a thumb-raping game. Wish it had XBL capabilities. Who would have thought that 2 players might want to fight EACH OTHER? /boggle

[Jain Zar]

Oh good a price hike. That's great news.

Its coming across the board. Expected prices of next-gen games are in the $65-$69 range already.

That's a lot for a shiny turd-in-a-box. They better get their heads screwed on tight if they want people to start forking over that kind of money for the regular crap I've seen in the past.

$69 for KOTOR? Ok.
$69 for NHL200x now with new hats? Fuck you.

69 dollars for any game?

FUCK THAT.  I barely buy many games at the 50 dollar price points, and a 70 dollar pricepoint won't work at all.  Nintendo tried it with their N64 and it was one of the things that killed the system.  Only Japanese idiots dropping 83 bucks for Dragon Warrior 8 seem willing to pay that high of a price.  The mass market won't accept it I don't think.

Least I hope.. *shudder*

[schild]

They'll accept it because they have no choice.

[Jain Zar]

Us relatively smart folk do.  Its called not buying them at all.  Most parents are gonna slap their kid silly if they dare ask for these 70 dollar games that last 10 hours or less, and few adults can afford 70 dollar games either.  A lot of people outside of the fools who OMG GOTTA HAVE IT OR MY LIFE SUCKS TILL I GET 20% VALUE ON IT 2 WEEKS LATER WHEN I TRADE IT IN TO BUY THE LATEST OVERHYPED GAME will just wait for the prices to come down or spend our money elsewhere.  I have more games than I know what to do with now anyways.  Ive always wanted to go back and complete Lunar 2 on the PS1 and Dark Wizard on the Sega CD anyhow.. :)    

We just have to hope the amount of lost sales surpasses the increased profits.  Hell, even Working Designs is releasing their flagship game of the year or two in a cheaper edition since apparently their overpriced collector's editions haven't gone over too well, and those things came packed with tons of goodies!

Oh yeah..  why I am posting again.  SirBruce?  We know you keep sucking off Madden Football and have since July or so this year, so of course the game that's made you look like a jackass with mediocre taste in games doesn't matter to you.

So to quote the best line from a former Golden Girl in a movie about giant alligators: "This is the part where if I had a dick I would tell you to suck it."

Ahh..  I feel better now!

[SirBruce]

Excuse me?  I'm the one who said play Madden, not ESPN, months ago, and now those people who didn't listen to me just wasted their time with a dead franchise and will have to play Madden now anyway.  You're the one who should be on her knees, biiyaaatch!!

Bruce

[Shmtur]

Excuse me?  I'm the one who said play Madden, not ESPN, months ago, and now those people who didn't listen to me just wasted their time with a dead franchise and will have to play Madden now anyway.  You're the one who should be on her knees, biiyaaatch!!

Bruce

Why?  Because we were smart enough to purchase a cheaper, better game?

What's your damn point?

[Roac]

What's your damn point?

Silly troll bait, Bruce doesn't make points.

[MrHat]

What's your damn point?

Silly troll bait, Bruce doesn't make points.

Haha, trollbait, nice.

[SirBruce]

I don't know if it's bait, but it certainly smells.

Bruce

[eldaec]

Um, surely this just means the ESPN title will have made up names?

(if the agreement is even enforceable, there is no way on earth Championship Manager ever got agreement from every football club on earth to include their names for instance)

Its coming across the board. Expected prices of next-gen games are in the $65-$69 range already.

That's what piracy prevention does for you.

Piracy might be immoral on a personal level but it has a proven history of being the only force capable of keeping software prices down. Which is utterly depressing.