EA/NFL Extend NFL Exclusive License by One Year to 2013

[43M]

I honestly dont even care if Madden's presentation is as good as 2k5.

DONT GET ME WRONG, I would love it if it was, but hell, at this point Id be happy just seeing it get in the same ball park.

Until the commentary is overhauled, in game presentation will always seem lackluster. People keep blaming the commentators, but thats not the real problem at all. Its the choppy, pieced together way EA does their audio announcing and the fact that all the comments are horribly generic and cheesy. Makes immersing yourself into the game practically impossible.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

The blame rests on Tiburon for not providing a solid experience that can compete with the top sports games today.

While I agree that Tiburon does not appear to have it in them to deliver the game we want, I'm not sure you can divorce the developer from the publisher/business partners. It's all related, unless Tiburon is being left completely alone to do what they want with the game with no interference from corporate or the NFL (in terms of content, deadlines, budget, etc.).....which I seriously doubt is the case. In fact, I would guess that it's probably the exact opposite - there probably isn't a more meddled-with game on the planet than Madden in terms of input from marketing, corporate, the NFL, etc...

Maybe that doesn't excuse Tiburon, but I think it puts things in perspective. It's not like EA is giving Tiburon a blank check and an empty calendar and saying "Go develop the best game you possibly can, and let us know when you've finished!"

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

They already tried that in 2005 and it wasn't working.

That was because of the pricing war between 2k and EA. It was at that point that the NFL decided to accept EA's proposition, which they admitted to lobbying for prior to 2004, to purchase the exclusive license. Now, of course, they gave other companies a shot at it all also to maximize their (the NFL) leverage; we all know that no publisher was going to outbid EA. [/quote]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

An ex-EA employee was already quoted in this thread. The NFL was making less money with multiple licenses vs giving a company with exclusivity. The NFL will opt to take the more money deal vs multiple licenses.

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

This is what we want, is this what the NFL wants, though? The NFL wants a brand that everyone is familiar with. Madden fits that category.

The NFL could care less about the most recognizable brand name; the NFL is one of the most recognizable brand names in existence. 505 games, if they somehow got the exclusive license, would be the most recognizable brand name if they were the only publisher making an NFL football game; the NFL only cares about their bottom line.

[SageInfinite]

Quote: Originally Posted by pietasterp

While I agree that Tiburon does not appear to have it in them to deliver the game we want, I'm not sure you can divorce the developer from the publisher/business partners. It's all related, unless Tiburon is being left completely alone to do what they want with the game with no interference from corporate or the NFL (in terms of content, deadlines, budget, etc.).....which I seriously doubt is the case. In fact, I would guess that it's probably the exact opposite - there probably isn't a more meddled-with game on the planet than Madden in terms of input from marketing, corporate, the NFL, etc... Maybe that doesn't excuse Tiburon, but I think it puts things in perspective. It's not like EA is giving Tiburon a blank check and an empty calendar and saying "Go develop the best game you possibly can, and let us know when you've finished!"

I agree, I can't place the entire blame on Tiburon, but my problems with the game this generation(presentation, animations, glitches) seem more like issues on their end rather than EA as a company. I'm sure they have alot of pressure on their shoulders every year to deliver, but that's where the license comes into play. With that sewn up, no matter what type of garbage they put out(not saying Madden is garbage), it's still guaranteed a nice amount of sales, more than the average game at least. Plus it's history helps push this as well.

I'm not dogging Tiburon, but history has proven they can't provide a football game that blurs the lines between reality and video games, and at this point, that is exactly what this game SHOULD be doing.

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

It's my understanding that EA is currently paying approx twice as much per year as the league used to earn from all of it's videogame licensees combined. Imo that alone pretty much rules out the NFL ever returning to a multiple licensee setup. If EA were to decide at some point in the future that 200% is simply too much, it's likely that the league would counter by offering exclusivity at a reduced rate.

That wouldn't make much sense for the NFL. They could cut their current price in half, but award licenses to two companies and make just as much.They could award three publishers licenses for 80% and make %40 more than they were making with EA.

[Jasong7777]

If Madden is good next year i'm buying it, just like 90% of the people in this thread.

[EddieV]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

Totally agree. As you said, I dont want to keep going off topic, but the direction as far as presentation is concerned is off. I hate saying a dev team isn't capable, but they haven't proved they are yet.

Amen. Ten characters.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

I agree, I can't place the entire blame on Tiburon, but my problems with the game this generation(presentation, animations, glitches) seem more like issues on their end rather than EA as a company. I'm sure they have alot of pressure on their shoulders every year to deliver, but that's where the license comes into play. With that sewn up, no matter what type of garbage they put out(not saying Madden is garbage), it's still guaranteed a nice amount of sales, more than the average game at least. Plus it's history helps push this as well. I'm not dogging Tiburon, but history has proven they can't provide a football game that blurs the lines between reality and video games, and at this point, that is exactly what this game SHOULD be doing.

I could not agree with you more, Sage...(you've been getting that a lot lately, huh? ). I am in no way, shape, or form defending Tiburon - they are simply not a top-tier, AAA house, it's just that simple. Visual Concepts and SCE San Diego eat Tiburon's lunch annually, and the difference in attention to detail is astronomical.

I guess the only point I was trying to make was that some (not all, but some) of the problems with animations, glitches, and presentation might be due not to their unwillingness (or inability) to deliver on those fronts but rather interference/meddling from EA's end, in the sense that maybe EA tasks them with adding "x" number of new "back-of-the-box" features every year, and either does not stress (or explicitly instructs them not to spend time on) the things that we know are important in a great sports game. Things like TV-style presentation, immersion, stat overlays, Offensive/Defensive Line interaction, blocking logic, tackling logic, physics...the list goes on. It's possible Tiburon knows they could be doing better, but maybe they are getting pressure from above to focus time and resources on other, "flashier" things to move units. I don't have any evidence that this is the case, but given what we know about Madden's development and occasional candid comments from developers past, I think it would not suprise anyone if this turned out to be true. Not to mention, probably 90-cents out of every dollar of the Madden budget is spent on marketing, so you know where EA's priorities are...

Having said all that, Tiburon just doesn't deliver, and that's the bottom line. If Visual Concepts were EA's sole football development house in an exclusive-licensed world, would we have a better game of football for 360/PS3 right now? I would be willing to bet on it.