View Full Version : EA sign exclusive NFL gaming deal!
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/13/news_6114977.html
That is just bad news - ESPN NFL is literally dead in the water now which is a massive shame. For me, it was the genuine NFL experience but now EA like the big crime syndicate that it is, just eliminates the competition in one foul signature! :mad: :oh-hum: :mad:
Company in wanting to make mass money shocker :eek:
Imagine that!
internetuser
14-12-2004, 12:49
what ever happened to the John Madden games EA used to make ?
they are syill around. The Madden games are the EA exclusive NFL games.
Can't say i'm too bothered, although competition is always good Madden has always been great. Just need reliable Xbox Live Play now
Great news for EA.
Bad news for everyone else. They don't even need to change anything now for the next 5 years aside from roster updates, they'll still sell millions.
Got this from a games news site. Hits the spot:
--------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous source sent me an audio tape of an EA executive meeting concerning Madden 2005 sales and the future course of the franchise.
I know you're not surprised.
Jerry Bonus, Nathan Commission, Jim Options, and Dan (last name unknown) are all EA vice-presidents. The transcript begins as the meeting opens.
Jerry: Gentlemen, let's review the sales number.
Nathan: Outstanding, I'm sure.
Jim: The big dog's gotta eat. Woof-woof!
Jerry: Last year, Madden sold five million units. ESPN sold less than half a million.
Dan: Woot!
Jim: I see an ass--I think I'll kick it.
Jerry: This year, through November, Madden's sold three million units. ESPN has sold over two million.
Nathan: WHAT?
Jim: Dan, my leg's wet. Tell me you spilled a drink.
Dan: I don't HAVE a drink, Jim. Christ, did you have asparagus for lunch?
Jerry: All right, all right, let's not panic. I arranged to have the development team come in for a talk.
(Rush, Hurry, Careless and The Duke file in)
Jerry: We want your input on why Madden sales are flat this year.
Rush: We sucked ASS this year.
Hurry: MAJOR ass.
Careless: Did you see the quarterback in the console version? Dude would face backwards, then turn and fling the ball downfield.
Rush: I knew a kid in third grade who did that, but only after he got hit by a car.
Jerrry: What about online leagues?
Hurry: We have online leagues?
Careless: We're all in the same ESPN league, Mr. Thompson. Hey Rush, I rocked your world last night, man!
(Careless and Rush high-fivej)
Jerry: Do you mean you aren't even PLAYING Madden?
Rush: Dude, you pay us to MAKE it, not to PLAY it. Leagues in ESPN absolutely RULE. I only play Madden if I can't sleep. I haven't needed one pill all fall.
The Duke: I wandered lonely as a cloud.
Jerry: Who is that kid? Why is he wearing a cape?
Hurry: That's the Duke. He's the CEO's nephew.
The Duke: When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils.
Jerry: What the hell is he doing?
Careless: He thinks he's William Wordsmith.
Rush: Wordsworth.
Careless: Whatever, gay poetry dude.
The Duke: Ten thousand I saw at a glance, tossing their heads in a sprightly dance.
Jerry: Where does he work?
Rush, Careless, Hurry: QUALITY ASSURANCE.
The Duke: And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.
Jerry: You can all go now. Thanks for coming.
Jim: Don't touch the executive snack trays on your way out.
(the developers file out)
Jerry: Ideas? Anyone?
Dan: Why don't we just make the game better?
(raucous laughter)
Nathan: Dan, you kill me! You are the funniest man alive.
Dan: Thanks--I'll be appearing here all week.
Nathan: Come on. Making it better is HARD. We'd have to make a list of everything that doesn't work, then pay one of those developer guys to fix it.
Dan: Screw that.
Jim: Can't we just make them work forty more hours a week and not pay them?
Jerry: Not anymore. Class action suit.
Jim: Damn.
Dan: Maybe we should just increase the budget.
(more laughter)
Nathan: There he goes again!
Jerry: Let me explain some basic business to you. MAKING games is an EXPENSE. SELLING games is REVENUE. We want to SELL games--any money we spend actually MAKING games hurts our bottom line, and our stock price.
Nathan: And our options package.
Jerry: Exactly. What we need is a way to ship the same weak, tired-ass **** we've been shipping.
Dan: Conundrum.
Nathan: What?
Dan: Word of the day.
Jerry: I got it! We don't have to improve OUR game. We can just kill THEIR game!
Nathan: Genius.
Jerry: We'll buy exclusive rights to the real players and stadiums.
Dan: It worked with NASCAR and FIFA.
Jim: Hell, we can RAISE the price for the same old ****!
Jerry: Plus, if we kill Sega's game, maybe we can hire some of those developers from Visual Concepts.
Nathan: Yeah, because those guys have MAJOR talent.
Dan: Word.
Jim: I'm going to go change my pants.
Read this last night. It's a shame but there's nothing to stop other developers doing a Pro evo and using non-official names
Read this last night. It's a shame but there's nothing to stop other developers doing a Pro evo and using non-official names
That will just never, ever work in the US IMO - its just a terrible shame as games always need competition in my eyes :(
Solidstate
15-12-2004, 06:37
Also read that Midway's NFL Blitz is now to become Playmakers Blitz - after licencing he cancelled TV show Playmakers. I, like many others, thought that Playmakers was a top show and it'll be interesting to see what they do with the licence.
Read this last night. It's a shame but there's nothing to stop other developers doing a Pro evo and using non-official names
That will just never, ever work in the US IMO - its just a terrible shame as games always need competition in my eyes :(
Agreed, no way will they make up a football league just to put a new game. It's a struggle to keep up with Madden regardless of features, so no real life players, stadiums, names or even the league name! will flop big time IMO.
No competition means EA can do whatever the hell they want too.
Oh dear....
This is going to be really bad for gaming - I can see EA doing it for NBA and NHL as well, and probably MLB too
Ea or nothing? I'll stick with my old versions of the competitors
I can see EA doing it for NBA and NHL as well, and probably MLB too
Ea or nothing? I'll stick with my old versions of the competitors
EA's MLB game is the only one of the US Sports lineup which is superior in most aspects to Sega's efforts IMHO, so I'd be definately expecting to see EA wipe out the opposition in those areas as well! :(
Idle Child
15-12-2004, 14:37
terrible news really that the NFL have agreed to this. I hope other leagues don't go the same way - particularly my favourite, the NHL. It means that EA can just release a roster update every year and it'd still sell. It's pretty digusting to the consumer and to the other game developers concerned when there's no choice available -
HOwever, it'll mean that if Sega sports release another NFL game it'll have to go down the Pro Evo line of editing false names. It could still be workable, but with so many players in the NFL it'll also be an absolute nightmare without a network connection to download correction patches.
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