Guest Flyboy Report post Posted January 17, 2005 Here Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2005 Seeing "ESPN Madden 2006" will take some getting used to. And apparently, if you've got a product out that's in direct competition with EA Sports, you shouldn't fuck with them by lowering your prices... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted January 17, 2005 That's the thing. It won't be "Madden" being that this year was probably Madden's last year with the series. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Failed Mascot Report post Posted January 17, 2005 That photo was taken back in the better days of SEGA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimmy no nose 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2005 Sega did such a good job giving the games the complete ESPN feel too. I guess the price drop was the biggest mistake they could have possibly made. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2005 Sega did such a good job giving the games the complete ESPN feel too. I guess the price drop was the biggest mistake they could have possibly made. Well, on the glass-still-has-some-water-in-it side, maybe they can make a CFL game... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted January 17, 2005 They couldn't make an AFL game -- EA has those rights as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2005 I don't think Madden will be ESPN-ized that much, people already like what they know. EA's other franchises aren't so strong, though. So games like NBA and NHL will gain some strength with casual players while Sega's Non-Football games look like crap in presentation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Gendo Report post Posted January 17, 2005 Well I guess we will have FSN NBA2k6 and FSN NHL2k6 and FSN High School Football 2k6. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CronoT Report post Posted January 17, 2005 So, are we going to start a pool on how long it will be until the inevitable lawsuit is filed? I'm guessing as early as tomorrow, or by at least next Monday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Young 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2005 It's sad... EA knows the competition has a better product and will undercut them at any opportunity just because they have the money and industry clout to do so. Don't get me wrong- Madden is a good game, but it's vastly inferior to the Sega Sports football line. This just makes me sick... As we so often see in the video game industry, actual quality and innovation loses out to the same old tired rehashed shit since that's the only thing that's profitable these days. Before all this, I would've gladly bought an EA game. I actually own quite a few. It was my belief that both EA and ESPN's games were worth owning. Now I will just stick with ESPN 2K5 for football and I will not buy another EA Sports game period if there is an alternative available (Tiger Woods being the exception). I'm not dumb enough to think that EA will go out of business if I and other boycott them, but with the amount of people who have sworn off EA already, they'll take a hit in sales for sure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cartman 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2005 Wow...putting sportscenter in Madden...AWESOME! It's like the best parts of each game combined into one now. ESPN presentation and Madden gameplay and franchise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly Report post Posted January 17, 2005 I'm super pissed about this. They did this shit to fuck over their baskeball games. It sucks to be a consumer in the video game market right now. If I want to play an NFL game it HAS to be EA's, and that's bullshit. ESPN NFL2K5 was the best football game I can ever remember playing. It had the best presentation, graphics and gameplay. Sega had a damn good basketball game this year too. Let's see what other ways EA tries to fuck with them. Why not make a better game? You have 15 years of Madden to build a fanbase but you're scared of competition? You have 10 years of live but you're afraid of competition? This is chickenshit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaParkaMarka 0 Report post Posted January 17, 2005 You know, it's going to be sad when Visual Concepts has to let most of their staff go, and they're going to end up getting 80 hour work weeks at EA. This is so fucking terrible. I don't think I'll ever buy an EA football game, 2k5 can last me a while. I hope the user community will find a way to get some new content up for next season...there has to be a way to find out the format ESPN used for their player database etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lomasmoney 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Hopefullty, Sega and VC can find a way to make NHL, NBA, MLB, College Football, games without the use of the ESPN name. There really was no reason for EA to kill their competition and this will come back to hurt them either in dropped sales or antitrust lawsuits. Sega made better sports games than EA for the most part, and now EA gives consumers one choice when it comes to NFL football games, this is just bad, and the only EA game i can find myself buying is NCAA Football 2006. Madden is so unrealistic to play that it's not even fun to play. March Madness and Live are so buggy it takes away there fun, and the MLB and NHL games are at best even with their Sega counterparts. This is a sad day for sports video game consumers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Oh hell no. One reason I like my Madden is because it's ESPN-free... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Golgo 13 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 This was an inevitibility once Sega lost the NFL. The NFL is pretty much the biggest moneymaker for sports games year after year, and you had to figure ESPN wouldn't stick around for anything else. That combined with rumors of this being Madden's last year on the series, it was coming eventually. While it won't be enough to make up the ground, I just hope Sega pours their efforts into their other sports franchises so they can best EA that way. I was thinking a fake league just different enough from the NFL is a possibility as well, along with ample edit options for team names, player names, etc., or an aforementioned CFL game. A recognizable brand name goes a long way, though, so it may not be popular, but it'll be something other than college football. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Agent_Bond34 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 That's the thing. It won't be "Madden" being that this year was probably Madden's last year with the series. I don't know whether or not this indicates anything about keeping the name the same... This is from the article you posted. Gibeau seemed intent on dispelling chatter that has suggested the ESPN deal means a hasty departure from any future work with John Madden. "If you think about the deal, it’s not an inevitability that he goes away…I'm not sure where those stories are coming from," Gibeau said. "I think the simple fact is we've had a long-term, great relationship with John Madden. And he’s in our games next year." They're gonna keep him around, from the looks of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karnage 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Sega really should do a Hockey Night in Canada game now, they just gotta. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Why would they care to sign the ESPN license? Does anybody really buy a game because it is sponsored by a sports network? The NFL, I understand, but would people buy ESPN NFL Football by EASPORTS over simply EASPORTS NFL Football? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaParkaMarka 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 I think it's more to draw in the fans of the ESPN series, and maybe to steal some of the presentation elements of ESPN like the recap show etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Why would they care to sign the ESPN license? Does anybody really buy a game because it is sponsored by a sports network? The NFL, I understand, but would people buy ESPN NFL Football by EASPORTS over simply EASPORTS NFL Football? Well, see, nobody bought the license previously because before VC owned it, Konami did, they shat on it by putting out shitty games that were basically Track & Field clones with ESPN's black/yellow/red color scheme in the menus. VC had gone ahead and done some pretty impressive stuff that took advantage of the ESPN likeness with 2K5 that people enjoyed, and now EA can take that and add those features to their own game since people will expect them with the ESPN name attatched. So basically, VC worked and worked to add some polish to the ESPN videogame brand, and EA swooped in and takes all the profits that will generate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 With ESPN in there I guess they could have Al Michaels and John Madden actually on Monday Night Football? Maybe? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest sek69 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 What I don't get is how can the NFL have an exclusive deal with one company? There has to be a case made for effectively shutting out competition in one of the largest industries (sports games) in the video game industry. What's the other companies supposed to do now, make Arena League Football 2k6? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaParkaMarka 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 What I don't get is how can the NFL have an exclusive deal with one company? There has to be a case made for effectively shutting out competition in one of the largest industries (sports games) in the video game industry. What's the other companies supposed to do now, make Arena League Football 2k6? EA has exclusive rights to the Arena League too. The only other football game announced is based off the Playmakers show. That could actually be a fun alternative to Madden. I want to be able to able to fool the Piss Man using a hilariously disgusting urine transplant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
El Psycho Diablo 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Y'know, if Midway was smart, they'd just lease it out to Visual Concepts, and let them handle the gameplay end of it. *shrugs* At least that way you'd catch the part of the audience that liked the EPSN-style play.. Anyway, many people at EA deserve beatings for pulling the shit that they have these last few months. The NFL license, trying to swallow DICE (Rallisport Challenge, among others), and fucking with Ubisoft by buying 20% of their stock..(I don't want PS2 port versions of Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and the like..). Ugh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreatWhiteNope 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 The only other football game announced is based off the Playmakers show. That could actually be a fun alternative to Madden. You realize "Playmakers" is an ESPN property, right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 What I don't get is how can the NFL have an exclusive deal with one company? There has to be a case made for effectively shutting out competition in one of the largest industries (sports games) in the video game industry. What's the other companies supposed to do now, make Arena League Football 2k6? Shit, you're going to make me sound like a Republican. Oh well, here goes: The NFL isn't public property, nor is it the owner of the whole game of football. That nobody will buy a football game without NFL pro teams is a fault of the free market, not the NFL. Also, to GreatWhiteNope, the PlayMakers game has been in the works since VC had the license. I think the show is property of some other company, ESPN just broadcasts it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ced 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Unless EA takes the best of the Madden and ESPN series of football games, I may feel a need for a shotgun riot. *preps the shotgun* I'll see you in 2006, EA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2005 Sega didn't have the ESPN license for a while, and it didn't seem to hurt. The only problem I think this presents Sega is that loyal customers might pick up EA's ESPN game, thinking its Sega's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
