Boycotting EA...

Can someone translate this? It was on the first petition (signature 5032).

Ich möchti nöd vill säge, han eigentlich kei Ahnig vo irgendwelchä NFL Sache, aber ä Petition für ESPN Games isch ulta frisch. Jede sött da öppis inäschriibä, jedenfalls find ich das. Möchet doch diä NFL Spieli au vo SEGA resp. Visual Concepts, diä sind glaubs no rächt guät druff. Keinä wo min Biitrag liist chan's verstah, aber das isch total egal, alli wichtigä Wörter sind dinä und jetzt no so es obligats Uusruäfezeiche setzä...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:lol
 
Posted this in a now-locked thread:

Is this a really big deal or something? Is it like eliminating Pro Evolution Soccer from competing with FIFA or something?
 
bach.jpg



WAHHHHHH EA TOOK THE NFL LICENSE WAAAAH WAH!


while i agree it's bad for competition, a boycott is stupid and pointless. besides, you shouldn't be boycotting EA, you should be boycotting the NFL. the NFL didn't have to accept or even make the offer. from a business perspective, this GUARANTEES ea is going to dominate the shit out of the market completely in regards to football games (which is typically the #1 selling game of ALL genres year in and year out).


boycott EA if you want to. infact, you could get yourself and 100,000 of your closest friends to not buy EA games and guess what? they wont notice nor care. sad but true. now stop crying and enjoy madden!
 
radioheadrule83 said:
Posted this in a now-locked thread:

Is this a really big deal or something? Is it like eliminating Pro Evolution Soccer from competing with FIFA or something?

Nah, I'm not sure if it's the same. I mean, ISS/PES has been around even without a license for players and teams. It's only with the most recent games they've managed to add player and team names.

As I understand it, this is a license to use official names and teams, and other developers can still make games as before but without the official license and whatever it covers.
They would have to use changed names for teams and players, like in Konami's soccer series. But I guess American football being centered around the US, having teams and players without authentic names would feel a bit weird. At least in ISS/PES, you had official names for teams representing countries. That's one license EA will never be able to buy. I hope. :|
 
Boycotting EA? :lol

Why do I picture Homer boycotting Flaming Moe's?

Homer: You just lost yourself a customer!
Moe: Wha? I'm sorry, Homer I couldn't hear you
Homer: I said you just lost yourself a customer!
Moe: Huh?
Homer: You just lost yourself a customer!
Moe: Homer you're going to have to speak up!
Homer: You just lost yourself a customer, Moe!
Moe: I've forced myself to wha?
Homer: You just lost yourself a customer!
Moe: Homer.. I'll talk to you tomorrow!
Homer: You just lost yourself a customer!
Moe: Yeah you can use it!
 
Too bad that locked thread didn't have any of the other petition links I posted earlier in this thread.

WE REALLY NEED SHAQ-FU FOR THE N-GAGE
 
Seriously sports fans, the games have player movement and create a player options. You can adjust the rosters yourselves on the old games. I've done this myself for fucks sake. You don't HAVE to get the yearly updates.
 
etiolate said:
Seriously sports fans, the games have player movement and create a player options. You can adjust the rosters yourselves on the old games. I've done this myself for fucks sake. You don't HAVE to get the yearly updates.


but it's other bells and whistles that make it worth the upgrade

and yes, EA shuts down the servers after the next game comes out
 
jetjevons said:
Burnout 3 is great.

Yeah but will BO4 be?

I mean a the end of the dev cycle EA put their hooks into BO3...and we get the worst fucking soundtrack of the year. EA TRAX sucks the big one.
 
I don't see why people are so up in arms in this after it was found out that the NFL wanted to offer exclusivity to someone, anyone. I'm glad that the right group ended up with it so we don't get Konami Football All-Stars or some stupid shit like that.
 
Well, I'm not really into Madden or any football in general for that matter, but at least it gives a good opportunity for other games like Tecmo Bowl and Midway's Blitz. I'm sure Sega can come up with some arcadey type game too. Plus there's college ball. isn't there another league that was sprung off in the late 80's early 90's? Yes, it sucks that the NFL liscense is exclusive to EA, but I'm sure there will be other games to choose from.
 
COCKLES said:
I mean a the end of the dev cycle EA put their hooks into BO3...and we get the worst fucking soundtrack of the year. EA TRAX sucks the big one.

Unless, of course, you own an XBox. I don't know know what's on the EA TRAX soundtrack, and I'm fine with that. Thank goodness for custom soundtracks. :D
 
The idea of boycotting anything is always hilarious to me. Because 99% of the time not enough people will participate to make even the slightest of difference. But if it gives people a sense of accomplishment(even though utterly false), to each his own I guess. Electronic Arts will continue to make billions, and continue to anually lead all publishers in sales if a few hundred, or a few thousand internet game nerds purchase their titles or not.

The funny thing is that most are completey oblivious to the fact that this was really a brilliant business move; and no doubt if Sega/Take Two had pulled off such a deal in the, all of these angry sega fanboys who are still hold this pointless grudge against because of the whole DC saga, would be decalring EA "pwned" and spamming thread after the thread with countless :lol icons.

Still, there is nothing stopping Sega/VC from making football titles with realistic rosters(sans the players' names) and authentic uniforms(sans team logos). If they truly do make the "vastly superior football game"(which is also utterly false) it shouldn't matter then should it. Early iterations of Madden were made without any official NFL licensing. Funny, because for such a title, without player names,likenesses,team logos or stadiums, the $19.99 price point seems a bit more....pratical.
 
Yup, time for a good old-fashioned boycott.

Gamers: Don't buy anymore EA games. Purchase other, non-EA games to which an EA game competes. Nintendo folk, don't buy into Mario & Co. in that EA basketball game. Buy one or two Mario Parties for your Mario fix. Everyone, spread EA hate where applicable.

Gamestoppers/Botiquers: Push the non-EA games. Spread the word that EA pulled such a heinous act.

People who live near EA HQ: Protest!
 
If they truly do make the "vastly superior football game"(which is also utterly false) it shouldn't matter then should it.


you don't get it yet do you! let me explain something to you about the american videogame consumer. they DONT PLAY GAMES! they dont play videogames nor do they care about graphics or features or any of that. all they care about is that it says madden. that's right. videogame players would wipe their asses with a $50 bill and flush it down the toilet if it meant getting the newest version of madden. not because they geniunely enjoy the game, no that couldn't and isn't it, it's because of the name. the one and ONLY reason EA sells any copy of madden is because of the name. nevermind that professional coaches and players have actually used the game to test out possible formations and play structures. bottom line is everyone who buys madden are sheep. sega is the real deal ladies, they clearly have the greatest football game ever but without the name madden on it, it will never sell.
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
you don't get it yet do you! let me explain something to you about the american videogame consumer. they DONT PLAY GAMES! they dont play videogames nor do they care about graphics or features or any of that. all they care about is that it says madden. that's right. videogame players would wipe their asses with a $50 bill and flush it down the toilet if it meant getting the newest version of madden. not because they geniunely enjoy the game, no that couldn't and isn't it, it's because of the name. the one and ONLY reason EA sells any copy of madden is because of the name. nevermind that professional coaches and players have actually used the game to test out possible formations and play structures. bottom line is everyone who buys madden are sheep. sega is the real deal ladies, they clearly have the greatest football game ever but without the name madden on it, it will never sell.

salute.jpg
 
It may be the NFL's fault that EA has exclusive rights, but there is more to the story than that. EA is just bad, it has done a lot of bad things business-wise. Most people know this. In fact, the company's size is enough to make anyone a bit concerned.

Anyway, I don't think a boycott will do anything, but once again, the thousands that protested George W. Bush's administration didn't do anything either -- he still got elected. But there's more to it than that; it's just public dissent and I think there is inherent value in that even if EA doesn't come crumbling down.
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
you don't get it yet do you! let me explain something to you about the american videogame consumer. they DONT PLAY GAMES!

Sounds like the average GAF poster, too.
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
you don't get it yet do you! let me explain something to you about the american videogame consumer. they DONT PLAY GAMES! they dont play videogames nor do they care about graphics or features or any of that. all they care about is that it says madden. that's right. videogame players would wipe their asses with a $50 bill and flush it down the toilet if it meant getting the newest version of madden. not because they geniunely enjoy the game, no that couldn't and isn't it, it's because of the name. the one and ONLY reason EA sells any copy of madden is because of the name. nevermind that professional coaches and players have actually used the game to test out possible formations and play structures. bottom line is everyone who buys madden are sheep. sega is the real deal ladies, they clearly have the greatest football game ever but without the name madden on it, it will never sell.

LMFAO nice parody, but sadly TOO many people actually do think that way.

The Irony of all this is, that all of these rabid Sega fans, the same ones who cursed EA to the firey depths of hell for ignoring the DC, the same ones who are now cursing EA to the firey depths of hell for out muscling the NFL2k series fail to realize that if EA HAD in fact brought Madden to the DC, the NFL2k series most likey wouldn't have been nearly as succesful as it was, and would have likey folded along with the system.

Its pretty much damned if you do, damned if you don't when it concerns EA now adays. Tough love is good sometimes, and I think that this move will FORCE alot of gamers who never really gave Madden a chance in favor of 2k, to see what a superb football simulation EA puts out.
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
they dont play videogames nor do they care about graphics or features or any of that. all they care about is that it says madden.

Another thing to think about. Madden ain't gonna live forever, being fat and old with bad cankles from eating too much turducken and all that. EA's been asked several times recently what they were going to do in the post Madden era and they would just say something like, "Well we'll just call it EA Sports NFL or something." They seemed to try to project that they weren't all that worried about it.

But you just know their marketing people were definitely worried about it. They would be losing one of the most valuable brand names in all of videogaming, and while "EA Sports NFL" has some brand name recognition, it's about on par with the ESPN brand amongst casuals.

Now this problem goes away quite nicely for them.
 
Dsal said:
Another thing to think about. Madden ain't gonna live forever, being fat and old with bad cankles from eating too much turducken and all that. EA's been asked several times recently what they were going to do in the post Madden era and they would just say something like, "Well we'll just call it EA Sports NFL or something." They seemed to try to project that they weren't all that worried about it.

But you just know their marketing people were definitely worried about it. They would be losing one of the most valuable brand names in all of videogaming, and while "EA Sports NFL" has some brand name recognition, it's about on par with the ESPN brand amongst casuals.

Now this problem goes away quite nicely for them.


Joe Buck NFL 2015....Its in the game

JoeBuck.jpg
 
Dsal said:
Another thing to think about. Madden ain't gonna live forever, being fat and old with bad cankles from eating too much turducken and all that.

Madden's tombstone will read:

BOOM! He's on his back!
 
Nameless said:
The funny thing is that most are completey oblivious to the fact that this was really a brilliant business move;

'Brilliant business move' != worthy of consumer respect or admiration. I wonder if some of you people are ever going to get it--unless you work for EA (in which case you have my pity, given the recent reports of working conditions there) or own EA stock, why the hell are you acting like this is something praiseworthy? Do you really admire EA for shrewdly monopolizing the videogame football market (because in the minds of most sports gamers, a football game without the NFL license is worthless), even though it screws over you, the consumer? Are you really that stupid? Lack of competition means no incentive to improve quality or reduce costs--deny it until you're blue in the face, but that's a fact, not an opinion.

Nameless said:
and no doubt if Sega/Take Two had pulled off such a deal in the, all of these angry sega fanboys who are still hold this pointless grudge against because of the whole DC saga, would be decalring EA "pwned" and spamming thread after the thread with countless :lol icons.

Oh, please. If you really think the only people unhappy about this are bitter Sega fanboys, you're sadly mistaken.

Nameless said:
Still, there is nothing stopping Sega/VC from making football titles with realistic rosters(sans the players' names) and authentic uniforms(sans team logos). If they truly do make the "vastly superior football game"(which is also utterly false) it shouldn't matter then should it. Early iterations of Madden were made without any official NFL licensing. Funny, because for such a title, without player names,likenesses,team logos or stadiums, the $19.99 price point seems a bit more....pratical.

So it was 'impractical' to offer consumers an NFL-licensed football game with real teams and rosters at $20? However, $20 is a far more reasonable asking price for a no-name, generic football title, and Sega/VC should be grateful for the opportunity to sell their football game without having to spring for an expensive license, even though you know bloody well that nobody's going to buy the damn game without said license?

Nameless said:
Its pretty much damned if you do, damned if you don't when it concerns EA now adays. Tough love is good sometimes, and I think that this move will FORCE alot of gamers who never really gave Madden a chance in favor of 2k, to see what a superb football simulation EA puts out.

Yes, let's force people to buy the game that you (and EA) think is best! You're really doing them a favor by strangling competition! Hell, why stop there? EA should angle to lock out the competition in every genre! Then people can see what superb driving/action/fighting/RPG/whatever titles EA puts out, too, because they won't have any other choice!

I don't know if you're a corporate shill or just severely deluded, but either way, you're talking like an idiot.
 
I don't buy any of their shitty games anyways, so I'm in...

(Though I got a copy of Madden 97 when I bought my Saturn off ebay a few years ago. It hasn't yet set foot inside my console)
 
I think this about sums it up:

238074.jpg



Fight for the future! Fight for...wait a minute...what's that logo doing there...
 
Why bother? Unless you're going to get a large percentage of the casual market (EA's core demographic) to boycott with you, EA's not going to care. Why deprive yourself of the occasional EA gem if your suffering is not going to have any impact on the situation? Sure, EA'd like the $50 that you're withholding from them, but they know that the people upset over this are probably not their core group anyway. They know that it's very likely that you're going to spend that money on a psychodelic big-eyed, blue haired Japanese niche title where you roll paper clips and legos into a big ball instead of buying the next Madden game.

Every nerd thinks he can change the world.

Nerds w/ DVD burners could probably change the world. :P
 
At this point I'm pissed enough to say I'm done with EA games, but when X2 comes out next fall and I'm looking for a football game it might be tough to pass up Madden 06'. My only hope is that X2 will launch with other great titles and I'll avoid buying Madden 06'. I really didn't like Madden 05' much and had more fun playing ESPN this year.
 
I have never bought an EA game. Never....Oh wait, there is Fifa 96 Saturn...I needed a game I wouldn't care scratching to do the disc swap (for imports).
 
mr2mike said:
Boycotting EA shouldn't be hard.

I mean, what's with you sports fans anyway? buying sports games year after year after year, with just statistical changes, a few visual tweaks and few improvements under the hood.

really, WTF is up with that!? are you guys sucker for having your money taken from you!? So yeah, now you got the sports games for this year, Why would you even need new ones at least until next gen hits? really. enlighten me. You cna't have 1 NFL game you have to have 5?

good point. it's pretty stupid I agree. I dont have a lot of respect for these kinds of people who just throw money away. Kind of like ppl who buy every new nintendo handheld that ever comes out and any crappy game for it at unbelievable prices. ya you heard me =)
 
1. Let's not forget that there are other companies who bid on the NFL license, not just EA. As always, I tend to wonder if the backlash would be different if EA lost the crown, and VC won it. hmm... And even funnier is the level of damage control of C to VP level guys. Did you forget that placed a bid, too?

2. Some of you folks posting away in this thread don't play sports games, and somehow, this is your chance to speak out against EA. Keep fighting the good fight, keep beating the dead horse. *cue picture*

3. If you're going to boycott EA for picking up the NFL license, then you should do the following. Don't drink Gatorade when you're hung over or drunk, cause they paid $500 million to the NFL to be called the official sports drink for the next 8 years. Got a VISA? Well do a balance transfer and cut that bitch up, they're the official credit card of the NFL, $400 million for the next 6 years. OH, and PepsiCo products, like Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Frito-Lay, and Tropicana, spit that out, give it to a homeless person, cause they can use the NFL shield on their products for $560 million. The source for this is at:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsbusiness/news/story?id=1945691

But I'm not exactly digging the exclusivity agreement either. I can't say that for certain that 2006 will be the same game, but I also can't say for certain that it WON'T be the same game. Although I will appreciate the stadium rendering work that a GAFfer will do for the game, there are many things the gameplay can use some serious tweaking. (I won't post the list in this thread.) And I don't expect them to have the proper motivation unless there is some contingency clause with the NFL, much like how some endorsement contracts with athletes have with proper conduct and such.

EDIT: ARTIE RULES
 
EA is fucking up everything, they recently also bought Digital Illusions, argh. I fear what will happen to the Rallisport Challenge and Battlefield series.
Now all they hav to do is buy Starbreeze too and they have bought all the best developers this gen.

Freaking terrible whats going on atm.
 
I guess they ran out of ideas for the next Madden. Who thinks they will be lazy when making the next? No competition...
 
Tellaerin, point, set, match. Damn good post.

WasabiKing said:
3. If you're going to boycott EA for picking up the NFL license, then you should do the following. Don't drink Gatorade when you're hung over or drunk, cause they paid $500 million to the NFL to be called the official sports drink for the next 8 years. Got a VISA? Well do a balance transfer and cut that bitch up, they're the official credit card of the NFL, $400 million for the next 6 years. OH, and PepsiCo products, like Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Frito-Lay, and Tropicana, spit that out, give it to a homeless person, cause they can use the NFL shield on their products for $560 million. The source for this is at:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsbusiness/news/story?id=1945691
I appreciate the point you're trying to make, but there is clearly a difference between a video game and those other products. When someone buys an NFL-branded football videogame, they are motivated (at least in part) by their affection for a particular real-world team and desire for a simulation experience as close to real life as possible. When someone reaches for an NFL-branded Gatorade...more than likely, they are just thirsty and could give a rat's ass WHO endorses that particular product.

I think the NFL branding -- specifically, the actual player/team identities and stats -- matters far more for a videogame than it does for a credit card or soft drink.
 
Marty Chinn:
Now, maybe I'm mistaken, but it sounds like the NFL decided to make the license exclusive and shopped it around to the highest bidder.
The NFL couldn't afford to issue that ultimatum. Licensing is a major source of income for them, so it's not like they could afford to collect zero dollars by withholding the license from everybody if no one agreed to pay a premium for exclusivity, especially when they could just make millions upon millions of dollars by licensing the brand out to the open market as usual.
Now EA had a choice, either win it, or not have the NFL license for Madden next year. Can you blame EA in this case for getting the rights?
This rationalization is so hilariously desperate in its defense of the indefensible that it deserves its own category. Let's call it the Gun-to-the-Head excuse. An excuse from this school of rationalization basically absolves an offender of any blame by asserting that they had no reasonable choice in the matter, like someone held a gun to their head.
 
While saddened by the news, I will not participate in a boycott of EA games. I'll have to see the product they put out for madden 2006. By all indications, an Xbox 2 version will be coming out late next fall with a new game engine, and since I'll probably be buying one at launch, I'll defiantly take a subjective look at EA offerings. I’m almost positive the game will retail at around $60 US and they will most likely be a premium price you’ll have to pay to play online.
 
"We (EA) have proposed exclusivity several times in the past, but this year, in the spring the NFL had an off-site meeting, and they decided to consider bids for exclusivity," Brown told IGN in an exclusive interview. "Several bids were submitted but they accepted EA's. I cannot tell you how much this cost, but exclusivity is expensive, we are paying a premium. It wasn't cheap. I can tell you this, though, all parties all happy with this agreement, and Wall Street seems happy with it too."


Sure the NFL was the one who decided to go this route, but EA sure as hell helped push them in this direction knowing they would be able to outbid everyone else. Don't think for a second that EA was innocent and simply had to outbid everyone because the NFL chose this direction. EA proposed this several times in the past.


http://xbox.ign.com/articles/573/573241p1.html
 
Eh. One could argue that anyone who buys Madden every year doesn't deserve the luxury of low prices.

I really think there is a vast difference between "realistic" sports video games and the rest of video gaming as a whole... folks play "real" video games for the fun of playing them, and a "real" games doesn't lose its appeal just because the new sequel came out. Sports games have a much lower shelf life than most other games because the average consumer simply buys it every year for the roster changes. That is so far from the "gamer" mentality that it sickens many of us.

Or it's just a sign that I had a SNES and not a Genesis.
 
-jinx- said:
I think the NFL branding -- specifically, the actual player/team identities and stats -- matters far more for a videogame than it does for a credit card or soft drink.

Especially since the videogame is a product that ENTIRELY depends on having the license. All this other stuff that were mentioned: drinks, credit cards, etc.... they're all things that obviously have established markets on their own. Gatorade can be gulped down with no discernable disadvantage to the customer, even without the NFLs approval.
 
demi said:
I think this about sums it up:

238074.jpg



Fight for the future! Fight for...wait a minute...what's that logo doing there...

We need a huge Russian publisher as a counterweight.
Elektronski Artzki. Just flip the E, turn the A upside-down and we're good to go!
First game out: Russian Hockey League 2005. Based on a real, active hockey league.
 
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