The first thing I thought when I heard EA Sports would be partnering with Blue Ribbon for the new NCAA Basketball 09 game was: Is this a real news story, or is this a marketing ploy by EA to bring attention to its game? To be fair, I’m sure it was a little bit of both.

It’s suspicious to me how EA announces such a feature/partnership at this time of the year since it could impact the game in tremendous ways as far as strategy is concerned; did EA land this partnership when developers started working on this title approximately 10 months ago when development began or not? Of course, I am perhaps being a bit naiveté to think in those rational terms, because most probably believe this is a full-on marketing tactic by EA that was created to develop hype and gain some publicity on gaming sites. So, I suppose it wouldn’t surprise me either if this feature was in the works many months prior to the recent press release.

EA Sports has phenomenal marketing teams. Every year EA gets its customer base and other constituents alike to believe that this is the year its game will have unprecedented realism. EA hypes something up -- in this case the company exclusively partners with coaches and players and pastes them in video clip previews and screenshots bit by bit, thereby making us come back for more month by month. Using these exclusive rights, consumers are drawn in by the logos, jerseys and players of their favorite teams that they want to emulate in video game form.

Sports consumers are not a unique phenomenon; the passion and love they possess for a game can be taken advantage of, and as any corporate giant should, it studies these consumers and it creates campaigns that draw them in. Even the readers of OperationSports.com, a fan base of sports video game consumers who understand the monopolies that game giants possess, are vulnerable to such tactics. We at OS derive the most complex theories and conspiracies about how the corporate bullies muscle over other third-parties, yet we too are guilty of buying into the hype –- and that’s OK -- because the hype and the marketing strategies aimed at us are aimed at our personalities, our passions and our perceived needs related to the sports we love.

To EA’s credit, its marketing strategies and business practices are working. The company has found the formula for success and hasn't swayed after years of dominance in the sports sector of video-gaming.

Which just goes to show you that EA capitalizes on its market as well as any company in the entertainment sector. It’s worth mentioning that EA’s business has been a direct beneficiary of market policies and regulations that have been abused as of late; buying up more than one major license agreement, thereby leaving little room for third-party developers to make any headway in this huge market segment.

To EA’s credit, its marketing strategies and business practices are working. The company has found the formula for success and hasn't swayed after years of dominance in the sports sector of video-gaming. Last week’s TNT broadcasts featured masterful ad campaigns for NBA Live 09. The exclusive two-minute ads displayed the NBA’s most recognizable teams and players, and showcased the capabilities of NBA Live 365 "Made Fresh Daily." The color, the music and the flash of real-life highlights -- mixed in with in-game footage -- was a good indicator of the power EA's marketing campaigns possess. The commercials were exciting, upbeat and created a positive vibe that probably made some consumers want to go out and buy the game. Basically, the ads did everything good marketing should.

Don’t get me wrong. It's OK to be loyal to a company or a game series, but take a long look at what you're doing next time you purchase one of these EA Sports titles and just become more self-aware.

Sunday NFL Countdown on ESPN even features a virtual game room of life-sized Madden characters that are used to demonstrate player’s real-life skills. It’s marketing at its best, and it is deadly.

The but here, and it’s a big but (I'm talking Kim Kardashian big), is that we have seen it all before. We’ve been promised better gameplay, and have been promised that there will be revolutionary game controls and strategies that are supposed to mimic real-life signature styles. The only thing is that EA hasn’t delivered on the hype machines it has built consistently enough, leaving fans wondering when the "comeback" year for some series will be.

Don’t get me wrong. It's OK to be loyal to a company or a game series, but take a long look at what you're doing next time you purchase one of these EA Sports titles and just become more self-aware.

The truth is EA is a very powerful and successful company and it is here to stay. The funds EA possesses allows it to plaster Madden all over ESPN on Sunday mornings; and while it’s entertaining, it can be frustrating to see EA's marketing tactics slammed in our faces. Some of EA's games have been great, but we cannot predict the level of quality in a game via the new features marketing teams are presenting to us. All I have to say is don’t believe the hype so easily, because at the end of the day, companies have the red dot aimed on you -– and their ammo is the hype and anticipation they all try to build before a game launches.