Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 EA Securing NCAA Exclusivity? First it was the NFL. Then came ESPN. And now, it appears Electronic Arts is very close to securing another license: NCAA Football. Sources tell us that the publishing powerhouse will soon announce an exclusivity deal with the NCAA, enabling only EA to make football games using university squads (thus shutting another football door in the face of rival 2K Games). Reps from EA won't confirm or deny the rumor (or whether this will include college basketball titles), but expect plenty more info in the weeks to come. They also may buy more UbiSoft, including possibly a controlling stake. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eclipse 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 My god, this is QUITE the impact EA has done to the sports gaming scene. There won't be MUCH variety in sports games as we had last year. It's gonna get stale QUICK-like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lightning Flik 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 I'm just too fucking stunned for words on both fronts. Geezus, I'm just waiting for them to make another attempt at buying out Square (but now SquareEnix). I mean, my God, this is just nuts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 For the Gamecube generation anyway, Id rather have EA, which supports the Gamecube and works with Nintendo, to have the liscenses for all the sports than to have to deal with the fact that I wont be able to play any new sports games. Of course, the more I think about it, their 2005 games should tide me over to the Revolution and hopefully more support from 3rd parties so that EA wont be the only company putting out sports titles for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EricMM 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 There won't be if EA has anything to say about it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 Oh goody, getting sent back to the glory of the March Madness franchise. Dammit! I love the college football game, but March Madness has never been worth the money they sell it for. Everytime I bought it, I was beyond disappointed. This exculsive stuff has got to stop. Hell, EA has rights to the AFL and I haven't seen an AFL game since Midway released Kurt Warner Arena League Football. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Baron 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 I wish I was a multi-billionare, bought EA, fired all the employs, bankrupt them, sell the company to Visual Concept and Sega, and restart the 2K Series. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MrRant 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 Oh goody, getting sent back to the glory of the March Madness franchise. Dammit! I love the college football game, but March Madness has never been worth the money they sell it for. Everytime I bought it, I was beyond disappointed. This exculsive stuff has got to stop. Hell, EA has rights to the AFL and I haven't seen an AFL game since Midway released Kurt Warner Arena League Football. Right now it's just the football portion of the NCAA. Though I wonder how ND would feel since I believe they have some odd negotiation rights. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaParkaMarka 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 I wish I was a multi-billionare, bought EA, fired all the employs, bankrupt them, sell the company to Visual Concept and Sega, and restart the 2K Series. Yes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 tide me over to the Revolution Off topic, but how do you know you want a Revolution? Virtually nothing has been said about it yet, and if the DS is any indication, top management at Nintendo are losing their minds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 I wish I was a multi-billionare, bought EA, fired all the employs, bankrupt them, sell the company to Visual Concept and Sega, and restart the 2K Series. EA treats their employees like trash, and the only reason they stay on is because they badly (presumably) the job. Also, Visual Concepts changed hands from Sega to Take2. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
razazteca 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 So the only football games are Madden and Blitz? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 Oh goody, getting sent back to the glory of the March Madness franchise. Dammit! I love the college football game, but March Madness has never been worth the money they sell it for. Everytime I bought it, I was beyond disappointed. This exculsive stuff has got to stop. Hell, EA has rights to the AFL and I haven't seen an AFL game since Midway released Kurt Warner Arena League Football. Right now it's just the football portion of the NCAA. Though I wonder how ND would feel since I believe they have some odd negotiation rights. Just the Football? I can live with that. As long EA stops being lazy and actually IMPROVES their games. EA is slowly becoming the Barbie of Sports games. Same game, but with new bells and whistles that don't fix the old problems. But in terms of College Football, I have to give them the nod although the engine needs some upgrading cause right now I won't need a new game of that forever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ripper 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 As long as they don't fuck with the basketball game because ESPN College Hoops was the best basketball game to come out last year period. better than all the NBA games, just plain better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Golgo 13 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 So the only football games are Madden and Blitz? They haven't even made it the past couple of years, but Blitz is shut out as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
starvenger 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 As long EA stops being lazy and actually IMPROVES their games. EA is slowly becoming the Barbie of Sports games. Same game, but with new bells and whistles that don't fix the old problems. That's pretty much the long and short of it. As more people get online, they'll be able to update their rosters for whichever game they bought, so if you only make it look prettier, it may not be enough to get all the sheep to buy it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Flyboy Report post Posted February 11, 2005 As long as they don't fuck with the basketball game because ESPN College Hoops was the best basketball game to come out last year period. Last year AND this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 High School Football! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cartman 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 NFL - EA NBA - VC/Take2 NHL - VC/Take2 MLB - EA NCAA Football- EA NCAA B-Ball - VC/Take2 Nascar - EA ...in a perfect world... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 NFL - EA NBA - VC/Take2 NHL - VC/Take2 MLB - EA NCAA Football- EA NCAA B-Ball - VC/Take2 Nascar - EA ...in a perfect world... ESPN 2K5's gameplay is infinitely better than Madden Arcade 2005. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cartman 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 ...and that's your opinion. We can argue this forever and get nowhere. Madden also owns ESPN in terms of franchise mode without question. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted February 11, 2005 ...and that's your opinion. We can argue this forever and get nowhere. Madden also owns ESPN in terms of franchise mode without question. As was your "perfect world" post, but my opinion was correct. ESPN's gameplay is better, just like Madden's franchise is better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Exslade ZX 0 Report post Posted February 12, 2005 ...and that's your opinion. We can argue this forever and get nowhere. Madden also owns ESPN in terms of franchise mode without question. As was your "perfect world" post, but my opinion was correct. ESPN's gameplay is better, just like Madden's franchise is better. There's no such thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted February 12, 2005 tide me over to the Revolution Off topic, but how do you know you want a Revolution? Virtually nothing has been said about it yet, and if the DS is any indication, top management at Nintendo are losing their minds. Well, Im pretty sold on it even without knowing a thing about it just because its being made by Nintendo. -- EA does a good job with the NASCAR Games, but I saw that they are releasing a "NASCAR Sim Game" on the PC soon to please all the NASCAR Sim fans out there that hadn't had a new "sim" game in several years. There used to be several on the PC before EA bought the exclusive rights to NASCAR. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted February 12, 2005 Papyrus made the best NASCAR games PERIOD before EA came along. I'm still disappointed by EA. They should focus more on getting the actual tracks and maybe some of the classic tracks before worrying about their stupid fantasy tracks. Papyrus games>EA Sports racing Hell, I'll even say Ratbag>EA Sports racing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cartman 0 Report post Posted February 12, 2005 Fantasy tracks? I have Nascar Thunder 2004 and all the tracks are real in that... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skywarp! 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2005 This is pretty old, but has anyone ever read EA Spouse? It's a blog entry that has gained considerable popularity on the internet in programming circles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted February 13, 2005 So the only football games are Madden and Blitz? They haven't even made it the past couple of years, but Blitz is shut out as well. Blitz became Blitz Pro because the NFL whined about Blitz turning the game into some kind of fantasy bloodsport. Blitz Pro sucked. Blitz is now going to be a game based on the ESPN series Playmakers, a pro football drama that ended a while ago because, ironically enough, the NFL pressured ESPN into dropping it because of the unfriendly image it portrays of pro football (drug use, affairs/prostitutes, etc.) Though the series was dropped, the IP rights are still out there, so Midway dropped onto them. So expect Blitz to stay around, but to get edgier, with swear words and ho-slappin' and whatever. The dev team seems rather excited to get into something beyond cartoon violence but still plans to keep the football component in the game, though you'll be playing with these made-up Playmakers teams barring any Create functions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skywarp! 0 Report post Posted February 14, 2005 Like I said before, I hope that in response to this, Nintendo steps forward on their console and revives the Playaction Football franchise. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted April 13, 2005 6 year deal between EA and NCAA for Football starts this year with NCAA 2006. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
