Exclusivity
Well, nothing like the powers that be working together to give you less choice. It's like Clearchannel, only on your consoles. For the next 5 years we're going to be staring down the barrel of Madden in all forms with no other NFL competition in sight (other than those who have fantasy teams like the Tennessee Wildcats or something).
What does it all mean? That when a competitor releases a game at a lower price point then the owner of said property thinks that they are weakening the strength of that license. Well, the NFL think that way, quote:
"No licensor likes to see a price war being fought with its brand value at stake. At the same time, exclusive licenses in the sports world are more the norm than non-exclusive licenses. The NFL's apparel license is a Reebok exclusive, as is its beverage license with Gatorade."
It just seems apparent to me that the more they try to make video games into something like footwear the less and less we'll actually attain quality from these titles.
I'm not saying Madden is shit, I'm saying that the Madden dev team now has absolutely no pressure to make a better game. Those who want the newest "features" and the updated play rosters will buy Madden 2007 no matter what, but those who do not will simply stick with what they have. I think in the end EA wanted to corner the market while admitting in a passive aggressive way that they weren't fucking around with a company who wanted to release a $20 game that was just as good.
So each year you must now pay your $50 like a good consumer/gamer and like it if you wish to have Fantastically Realistic Coach Movements and Unbelievable Player Physics Including The All-New Real-Time Nose Blowing. Take Two, the publishers of ESPN's now dead-in-the-water NFL2kX games, are obviously pissed, but what's done is done. $20 is just too little for the pleasure of playing with real NFL players/teams, and we the people get to enjoy the brunt of it.
It's a sad day for sports gamers everywhere, as this sets the precedent for other sports as well. Don't be surprised when Tiger Woods may soon be the only place you'll ever see a PGA Tour logo.
What does it all mean? That when a competitor releases a game at a lower price point then the owner of said property thinks that they are weakening the strength of that license. Well, the NFL think that way, quote:
"No licensor likes to see a price war being fought with its brand value at stake. At the same time, exclusive licenses in the sports world are more the norm than non-exclusive licenses. The NFL's apparel license is a Reebok exclusive, as is its beverage license with Gatorade."
It just seems apparent to me that the more they try to make video games into something like footwear the less and less we'll actually attain quality from these titles.
I'm not saying Madden is shit, I'm saying that the Madden dev team now has absolutely no pressure to make a better game. Those who want the newest "features" and the updated play rosters will buy Madden 2007 no matter what, but those who do not will simply stick with what they have. I think in the end EA wanted to corner the market while admitting in a passive aggressive way that they weren't fucking around with a company who wanted to release a $20 game that was just as good.
So each year you must now pay your $50 like a good consumer/gamer and like it if you wish to have Fantastically Realistic Coach Movements and Unbelievable Player Physics Including The All-New Real-Time Nose Blowing. Take Two, the publishers of ESPN's now dead-in-the-water NFL2kX games, are obviously pissed, but what's done is done. $20 is just too little for the pleasure of playing with real NFL players/teams, and we the people get to enjoy the brunt of it.
It's a sad day for sports gamers everywhere, as this sets the precedent for other sports as well. Don't be surprised when Tiger Woods may soon be the only place you'll ever see a PGA Tour logo.
2 Comments:
The Sad thing is that all sports games are found a year later in the used video game dumpster bin for 10$ and then a year later for 5$. They pile up in used video stores like a cancer and you cant find any other genre of game hardly. Plus with this deal on, I bet they arent going to add the realistic rapes and murders to the games that some NFL stars do, darn!
True dat. The worst part is that last years was always "terribly flawed" or had some stupid bug that made everyone hate it, but of course the new version fixed it along with ALL NEW FEATURES!
Sigh.
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