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

[coogrfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by EddieV

Besides the point? Really? It would seem to me to make more sense to pay 1x for those 5 million copies sold than pay 2x for the same 5 million in sales. But that's just me.

Don't get me wrong--sales are important. I'm saying there are also certain intangible benefits to being "The Official ______ of the NFL".

[droopizzle34]

after reading an article on pasta's site today,this is all the NFL's doing. They are the reason the exclusive license exists and it looks like there is no relief in sight. Its really sad because I believe they only look at this from a business aspect and not seeing the depression they are putting on us as consumers.
But EA gets no pass from me,I don't feel like they care about delivering a quality game. As much as the developers complain about people attacking them and dissecting them they don't see how catering to certain audiences and leaving out others builds frustration. Do they really do all they can or are they just sitting back putting out half effort knowing they're the only game in town. Sometimes I feel they do this. The NFL's love for exclusive rights in nice on Sundays for beer,sunday ticket,and apparrell,but it is terrible for video games....period.

[droopizzle34]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

Don't get me wrong--sales are important. I'm saying there are also certain intangible benefits to being "The Official ______ of the NFL".

from a business aspect yeah,but I bet you the developers have headaches everyday knowing they are some of the most hated people in the world for the effort they give on Madden. I bet they wish someone else had to deal with the hate and backlash they catch on a daily basis. They not spending those millions with a smile...lol

[EddieV]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

Don't get me wrong--sales are important. I'm saying there are also certain intangible benefits to being "The Official ______ of the NFL".

If you mean, no one can buy another NFL game (i.e., keeping all competition out of the market), then I agree with you. It's debatable whether that justifies paying the exclusive premium, though.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by droopizzle34

after reading an article on pasta's site today,this is all the NFL's doing. They are the reason the exclusive license exists and it looks like there is no relief in sight. Its really sad because I believe they only look at this from a business aspect and not seeing the depression they are putting on us as consumers. But EA gets no pass from me,I don't feel like they care about delivering a quality game. As much as the developers complain about people attacking them and dissecting them they don't see how catering to certain audiences and leaving out others builds frustration. Do they really do all they can or are they just sitting back putting out half effort knowing they're the only game in town. Sometimes I feel they do this. The NFL's love for exclusive rights in nice on Sundays for beer,sunday ticket,and apparrell,but it is terrible for video games....period.

Do you really think the developers are putting forth half the effort? If that happened in my job, I'd be shown the door.

The developers are part of the whole picture. People have a tendency to forget about the marketing department and the suits above. Marketing has a huge input on the game.

In the end, does it really matter where and who you shake your fingers at? It won't change a thing.

[kjcheezhead]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

As much as I don't like what EA and the NFL have done, I'm more mad at the fact that Tiburon can't make a football game that can rival The Show and NBA2k. It's just disappointing year after year to see that they just don't provide the type of football experience I'm looking for. I would LOVE to have a choice, but if Tiburon would make football games that made me not care if there was a choice or not it would be great. They still haven't made a football game that compares to what we got last gen as far as providing a total experience. It's just sad for me to think that they just don't have it in them. I skipped Madden 11 for the first time ever, and I'll probably be doing it again this year. And while NCAA 11 is the best it's been this gen, as far as a total football experience during gameplay, it's still lacking.

I totally disagree. All my anger in this situation is directed at the NFL. If EA/Tiburon could make a satisfactory game, that doesn't mean gamers still aren't getting shorted. For example, 505 games and their Euphoria technology could change the way football are played forever if it was used by the right developer.

Unfortunately because of the NFL's love of exclusivity we will never know. We have to take EA's word for it. The same EA who spends less on development of Madden because of how much they paid for the license. The same EA who said it was impossible to do what Gameday managed to do and had to eat crow and take a year off in 1999.

Because the NFL closed the door and any other designers making a game and EA spent so much on the license they are unwilling to throw money into development costs, football games will continue to be behind what the Show and NBA2k11 delivered.

7 years in and Madden has one of the worst superstar modes of any sports game, a barebones online and offline franchise mode, weaker mini game modes, a complete removal of tournament modes, historic rosters and playbook editors. All the while, they continue to spend fewer resources they do have to improve areas like MUT and Madden Moments that will collect more revenue.

If the NFL charged a little less and cared more about its fans, EA would have more funds to put into Madden and the door would be open for new technology. It's the NFL and they are free to do what they wish, it's just sad to see their greed watering down the video gamers segment of their fanship.

[mestevo]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaReapa

As for me, personally, I'm not upset with neither EA, the NFL, nor Tiburon - but moreso the consumers who continue to blindly purchase Madden annually giving EA the fuel it needs to keep the license exclusive. And for the record, I feel the exact same way as you about NCAA 11. NFL 2K5 has become a standard for me to measure all others by.

Maybe they aren't blindly purchasing it, maybe they're enjoying the game that is produced each year?

Madden and NCAA are easily the best investment of my video game dollars every year vs the time that I spend on them with few exceptions. When one has a stronger year or a feature gets more of my interest thats the game I'll gravitate to for the majority of the dozen or so seasons I'll play. So far only the unlicensed games have made me regret purchasing a football title, not Madden (or NCAA) having bought both titles every year since ~2005 and I've yet to go back a year or skip years because of some perceived slight or the humous 'they didn't change anything' that some like to claim. I am not sure how some of you guys define value from a video game purchase, but the time I am willing to give it is how I define it, and I am still playing a couple games/week of my offline franchise. I can't say I am doing that with any other game that I've had for 6 months.

As much as it pains some of you to hear, they are doing SOME things right. There's a ton I wish they'd improve or do but to generalize everyone who buys it as blindly doing so is as absurd as saying the developers themselves are only putting forth less than their full effort to do their jobs.

I enjoy the closest to football a video game can currently provide, I am annoyed but it doesn't ruin the game that they preview the QBs before every single game and then never 'follow that story', or that the announcing is not always that great (or ever is great at all). I get my money's worth though from my purchase, and look forward to the changes each year, some more incremental and some much more than that.

[N51_rob]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Do you really think the developers are putting forth half the effort? If that happened in my job, I'd be shown the door. The developers are part of the whole picture. People have a tendency to forget about the marketing department and the suits above. Marketing has a huge input on the game.

This. Competition breeds innovation, superior products, cheeper price point. Even in sports games where it could almost be considered a white-wash Baseball games, The Show is still pushing the envelop. I can almost say with 100% certainty that if there were two companies making NFL games this past year there is no way the Madden Dev team puts franchise mode on the back-burner for an entire dev cycle. In fact I would wonder if the person who made a decision like that would still be employed if there was more than one option in the market for an "Officially Licensed NFL Game."