EA and NFL & ESPN

[shadytool]

i  know that this is kind old news, but i dont think that i have seen this topic brought up here at all.  

for those that dont know, EA has a 5 year deal with the NFL.  this means that no other company for 5 years can make a game using the nfl players or anything to do with the NFL.

source:  http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=4015

i dont know if everyone here jsut plays madden (if any football title at all) but it anyone has played sega's ESPN football game you would knw that the ESPN game was giving EA a run for its money.  not only a budget title at $20 new, but a really good game.  personally i bought the ESPN game this year and i liked it better than last years madden.  

then EA went out and bought the rights to the AFL.  are they really scared that someone would make an Arena Football League game and it might beat out their madden game?  cause that was the first thing that i thought.  like they are just buying up the competition.  i could be wrong though.  
source:    http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=4154

now things are going to get real strange... EA has bought the rights to use all things ESPN for the next 15 years.  i guess so that at the end of the 15 years no one will remember a great little sports title that beat down the great madden years ago.  
what a shame.
source:  http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=4179

[Sureshot]

EA really do have quite a stranglehold on a number of genres when it comes to gaming.  At Codemasters, the festive season is labelled 'The EA Christmas'.

[Izret101]

EA i buying up everything they can get their hands on so that there is little to now competition.
I honestly hope they turn into the Atari of my time trash the market and never really come back. But then alot of other companies would loose out that i like.
So everyone boycott their products.
I don't think i own anything made by EA post '95 and anything i do own i got really cheap or free.

[Tynstar]

That sucks. The ESPN games have been better then the EA counter parts for the last few years I think.

Does any one remember when ESPN was all about sports? They are going liek MTV did all specials shows and series.

[shadytool]

That sucks. The ESPN games have been better then the EA counter parts for the last few years I think.

ESPN NFL was way better than madden this year.  with updated rosters on LIVE and online play.  the sports center recap of the week and the halftime show was cool as hell.  i know that shit is jsut eye candy, but it kinda brought something to the game that madden doesnt have.  and collecting cards to buy things for your 'crib'.  plus the game play was real tight.  just as good if not better than madden.

i was really looking forward to next years game... but oh well.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

i think we need to boycott EA sports.

[Lord Nepenthean]

I had heard about the NFL thing, but I guess it isn't really registering till now.  The AFL and ESPN buyouts are news to me, and that makes it suck even more.  I dunno what Sega Sports have been doing since the demise of the Dreamcast, but the ESPN football game (I haven't played it but I'm taking your word on it) wasn't the first or only game to beat out Madden any given year.  NFL2K , 2K1, and 2K2 were all better than the Madden games of the same years.  Sega Sports had kind of sucked for a while, and they REALLY screwed up World Series Baseball 2K1, but the NFL2K series brought back the return of sports games I could actually pay a teeny tiny bit of attention to.  I guess the only thing we can hope for is a new Mutant League Football....  but, oh wait - 4hat's made by EA too.  Maybe Sega will make a really awesome NCAA game next year.....  but nobody will care even if they do.

EA does indeed kind of frighten me.  Yuck yuck yuck.

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

Didn't the ESPN game come out at $19.99 this year? Well I guess it was last year.

[Arrrhalomynn]

[The Metamorphosing Leon]

What is it?

[Lord Nepenthean]

Yeah I had to go into edit mode on his post to get the address of the image since I too am on a Mac right now.  Here ya go, Mac users:

http://www.penny-arcade.c...images/2005/20050126l.jpg

[Zimbacca]

Arrr.  You got to it before me...you bastard.

[Izret101]

LOL
That comic is so true.

[Tynstar]

Thats a great comic.