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[hobart]

AT&T
M$
EA? :lol

I like the move. Only football games I've bought this gen were EA's. Smart move on both parts... Madden has become a LIFESTYLE in video gaming across this nation. Madden is THE NAME in football gaming. NFL knows this... hell even ESPN knows this.*

*Why is it that on MNF they do Madden 2005 Highlights and not ESPN Football highlights? Disney owns both ESPN and ABC.

 

[Matrix]

Some place a konex is crying.

 

[The Faceless Master]

what the fuck?

 

[Lazy8s]

If SEGA and Take-Two can't counter legally, it's time for them to roll out Grand Theft Football with guns for the players and extreme violence on the field.

 

[Rocket Punch]

Wow, I don't care for sports game but I'll agree this is pretty lame.

EA, sony, MS. YOU SUCK!

 

[Willco]

Wow, EA is pretty ambitious about this whole thing. It also makes it sound like there will be no more Fantasy Football on Yahoo!

 

[Marty Chinn]

Not to get off topic, but uh should we be worried about the NBA, MLB, and NHL now?

 

[Lazy8s]

kaching:

This move is the result of competition...

Anti-competitive business practices always are.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Not to get off topic, but uh should we be worried about the NBA, MLB, and NHL now?

man, if Take Two NBA... it'll be crazy...

 

[The End]

I'm looking forward to Mutant League 2006 from Visual Concepts.

 

[KiNeSiS]

I was about to say the same thing.
This is a dark day, I loved espn football since the 2k days!!!
Please EA I beg you don't do this to the NBA games!!! I love ESPN NBA!!!
What the hell can happen next in the game world. I was worried when Microsoft entered the gaming world they would do shit like this. They have in my opinion fought the fight honorably. EA on the other hand, this is like shooting a boxer in the balls during a title bout!!

 

[Smiles and Cries]

BUT FOR GOD SAKES WHY the name MADDEN

IS MADDEN the NFL?

was his great granpa the Founder of the NFL?

change the damn name

 

[Dave Long]

Not to get off topic, but uh should we be worried about the NBA, MLB, and NHL now?

Doubtful, if only because all those sports haven't had a situation where one game was so much more popular than another and all those sports have a much smaller reach than the NFL.

Though with Bettman in charge of the NHL, I wouldn't be surprised if he gave the rights to some dying publisher or something and then turned around and sued them for not giving them "cost certainty".

That fucker...

 

[KiNeSiS]

man, if Take Two NBA... it'll be crazy...

That would be the slickest counter move.

 

[jett]

This is bullshit, and I don't even care about american football games. EA is a company that needs to be destroyed.

 

[The Faceless Master]

how the hell did they come up with this one?

'damn, ESPN almost kicked our ass'

"lets make our game better"

'no'

"then what?"

'lets buy the nfl license out!'

"can we do that?"

'we can try'

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I predict an EA Sports Channel on CABLE if they get NBA and MLB next

 

[Guileless]

Wow. This is worrisome. 5 freaking years for both the NFL and PA licenses? My god how much did this cost?

Maybe we'll see "Tim Brody" handing off to "Korie Dylan" for the "Foxboro" team. In the old days not having the logos wasn't fatal because you couldn't see them on the players anyway. But not now obviously. This, for lack of a better word, really sucks.

Perhaps VC will turn to making a good college game? Remember WE thrives without team licensing. (yes I'm really reaching here)

 

[Willco]

how the hell did they come up with this one?

'damn, ESPN almost kicked our ass'

"lets make our game better"

'no'

"then what?"

'lets buy the nfl license out!'

"can we do that?"

'we can try'

:lol @ ESPN almost kicked our ass

 

[Dave Long]

The ONE FOOTBALL GAME FUTURE really sucks.

 

[Wario64]

What the fuck

I don't play football games but this pisses me off

 

[bishoptl]

Screw football, and screw basketball! If EA tries this with the NHL, I'm taking up pitchforks and torches....and you people better be right behind me!

 

[Willco]

WE'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU...


... WAY BEHIND YOU.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

hopefully ea will buy the wwe rights soon to!



get on teh phone bish

 

[etiolate]

I hope this means...

CLAYFIGHTER FOOTBALL 2006!

"Wow, did you see the way The Blob just shredded through their defense Bozo?"
"*HONK*"
"I agree, thats a superstar right there."

 

[Patrick Klepek]

i wonder how much this deal went down for. damn. :lol

 

[Miguel]

...NHL? What's that? National Housebuilding League?

"WHAT EA NEEDS IS SOME GOOD OLD FASHIONED FOOTBALL!!!!!"

 

[OG_Original Gamer]

I don't like this shit at all, thats some fucked up shit. Now I know how some gamers felt after some of the shit Yamauchi pulled.

 

[lexi]

The OCW draws closer, I can feel it in my veins!

 

[Smiles and Cries]

VC will work with Nintendo again on MARIO FOOTBALL

 

[WarPig]

i wonder how much this deal went down for. damn. :lol

The current estimate around the office here is an even billion. I think that's a bit high, but I bet it's up there.

IMO, it wasn't worth it, whatever they paid. Killing ESPN doesn't put THAT much more money in EA's pockets, even over five years. Unless they're taking the long view and assuming that Sega and Take-Two might actually be able to even the race in that time frame.

DFS.

 

[Spike]

Doubtful, if only because all those sports haven't had a situation where one game was so much more popular than another and all those sports have a much smaller reach than the NFL.

Wrong.

EA themselves have stated that NHL sells in Canada as well as Madden sells in the US.

Expect an NHL announcement soon, I'm sure.

 

[hyp]

my speculation:

costed too much to pay madden for his name. use the money they're saving and put it all into securing the NFL contract. end the madden contract and call the game NFL Football 2XXX. this way, even if they lost the madden name, they'd still be the sole provider of all video game NFL football games.

EA can bite a bratwurst.

 

[KiNeSiS]

Screw football, and screw basketball! If EA tries this with the NHL, I'm taking up pitchforks and torches....and you people better be right behind me!

I was right behind you with a .45 but walked away on the screw basketball.
THAT GAME RULES!

 

[Willco]

They're not going to lose Madden's name. Who else is he going to sign with?

MADDEN CFL 2006?

 

[Mooreberg]

The timing on this is pretty obvious. Take 2 was on to something with the bargain pricing, and PSP and XB2 launch in the coming year.

I guess this means Take 2 won't be buying VC since most of the money they would have generated would be on the football games. Pretty lame of EA to do this.

Expect an NHL announcement soon, I'm sure.

LOCKOUT 2005 - IT'S IN THE GAME!

 

[Bishman]

my speculation:

costed too much to pay madden for his name. use the money they're saving and put it all into securing the NFL contract. end the madden contract and call the game NFL Football 2XXX. this way, even if they lost the madden name, they'd still be the sole provider of all video game NFL football games.

EA can bite a bratwurst.

Good theory.

I love how VC & Take-Two lowered the price overall on sport games. Remember when EA announced a huge price drop for all their sport franchise, we can forget about that ever happening again. :/

 

[Bob White]

:lol

This is like a friendly sparring event turning REALLY ugly when one of the fighters hits their opponent with a kick to the groin.

VC: "No fair! Buying the NFL licence wasn't in the rule book!"

 

[Lyte Edge]

I don't even like football and I know this is shitty news.

Yep. EA has definitely gotten too big for its own good. I wonder when they'll finally release a console of their own with all their games as system exclusives?

 

[Mrbob]

Don't put all the blame on EA here. It is pretty obvious Paul Taglibue had a big hand in getting this deal done. He is a pretty shrewd business man. Don't think for a second the NFL comminisioner's office had not noticed the decline in Madden sales. Madden is a big face in the NFL. You can argue fun all you want, Madden still offers the most realistic on field gameplay experience. The NFL likes authenticity. The NFL really likes authenticity with Maddens name plastered on the cover. The NFL would rather have a football game successful with Madden on the cover than promoting the ESPN brand. The NFL wants Maddens success to continue just as much as EA does. To hell with the competition when you can guarantee sales of around 4 to 5 million + a year. I think this number may even sky rocket higher now that EA owns exclusive rights.

 

[Wellington]

This is bad news. Due to some stiff competition, Maddens 2004 and 2005 were spectacular. I fear that the awesome job that Tiburon has been doing each year with the franchise will now be less than what we have grown to expect. Both 2004 and 2005 saw a huge amount of improvement over the previous year... we'll see about 2006.

 

[Link316]

the only real way gamers can fight back is to boycott EA but I know that isn't gonna happen, guess Take 2 won't be buying ESPN from Sega now

 

[kaching]

Anti-competitive business practices always are.

They've been competing with all challengers for the last decade and the NFL is the primary party in this decision, not EA. It's their license to give out and they chose to give it exclusively to EA for the time being. Can they not make a determination as to who will put that license to best use? How is this any different exclusive game publishing deals around movie or book licenses?

 

[Smiles and Cries]

The current estimate around the office here is an even billion. I think that's a bit high, but I bet it's up there.

IMO, it wasn't worth it, whatever they paid. Killing ESPN doesn't put THAT much more money in EA's pockets, even over five years. Unless they're taking the long view and assuming that Sega and Take-Two might actually be able to even the race in that time frame.

DFS.

Look at it this way:

ONE OFFICIAL NFL FOOTBALL GAME means EA can call some shoots on future generation consoles - You don't play nice with EA no football game for your machine

 

[Wellington]

Don't put all the blame on EA here. It is pretty obvious Paul Taglibue had a big hand in getting this deal done. He is a pretty shrewd business man. Don't think for a second the NFL comminisioner's office had not noticed the decline in Madden sales. Madden is a big face in the NFL. You can argue fun all you want, Madden still offers the most realistic on field gameplay experience. The NFL likes authenticity. The NFL really likes authenticity with Maddens name plastered on the cover. The NFL wants Maddens success to continue just as much as EA does. To hell with the competition when you can guarantee sales of around 4 to 5 million + a year. I think this number may even sky rocket higher now that EA owns exclusive rights.

And what about NFL Street?

 

[CrimsonSkies]

I think the Xbox 2 version of Madden next year will make people forget about this deal. But we shall see.

 

[Willco]

Don't worry guys, #ga has solved all your problems by suggesting...

ESPN NFL WASHOUTS 2K6!

[17:36] <ESPN-FINAL-SOLUTION> Eli Manning should be the coverboy for ESPN NFL WASHOUTS 2006
[17:36] <Shinobi_ROC> LOL
[17:36] <Shinobi_ROC> ESPN NFL BUSTS
[17:36] <ESPN-FINAL-SOLUTION> "FEATURING AN ALL-STAR ROSTER OF FORMER NFL PLAYERS!"
[17:36] <Popopop> That would be a fair trade
[17:36] <CK> LOL
[17:36] <bish_GroveSt> lol
[17:37] <Popopop> heh
[17:37] <MiG> RYAN LEAF!
[17:37] <Shinobi_ROC> NFL Madden All-Suck Team
[17:37] <bish_GroveSt> Ryan Leaf
[17:37] <MiG> ELI MANNING!
[17:37] <etiolate> haha espn nfl washouts
[17:37] <Popopop> DAVE BROWN
[17:37] <Popopop> AKILI SMITH
[17:37] <ESPN-FINAL-SOLUTION> KIJANA CARTER!
[17:37] <Popopop> JEFF GEORGE
[17:37] <bish_GroveSt> Tony Mandaraich!
[17:37] <ESPN-FINAL-SOLUTION> MICHAEL WESTBROOK!
[17:37] <MiG> TIM BIAKABATUKA!
[17:37] <ESPN-FINAL-SOLUTION> hahaha
[17:37] <etiolate> at the end of the season you get signed by a team or your QB takes his life
[17:37] <bish_GroveSt> Jeff George plays for Chitown!
[17:37] <Shinobi_ROC> jeff george would be the cover guy for the next ten years
[17:37] <Popopop> hehe
[17:37] <ESPN-FINAL-SOLUTION> "NEW TEAM CHEMISTRY MUST BE BAD OR YOU WILL FACE ANXIETY DISORDERS!"
[17:37] <MiG> isn't Chris Chandler still around
[17:37] <Shinobi_ROC> sega needs to get some pti stuff into the games next year
[17:37] <bish_GroveSt> time to stop my the operationsports.com forums and watch the flames
[17:37] <MiG> Didn't he throw SIX INTERCEPTIONS yesterday?
[17:37] <ESPN-FINAL-SOLUTION> RICKY WILLIAMS = NFL WASHOUT STUD
[17:38] <Popopop> hahah
[17:38] <Popopop> Terrell Davis
[17:38] <Popopop> backup
[17:38] <ESPN-FINAL-SOLUTION> hahaha
[17:38] <Shinobi_ROC> which flames?
[17:38] * Mank has joined #ga
[17:38] <CK> Brad Johnson will be a starter
[17:38] <MiG> Shinobi's been under a rock the past 2 hours
[17:38] <CK> Charlie Garner starting RB
[17:39] <MiG> SEGA SPORTS IS DEAD
[17:39] <MiG> EA BUYS OUT THE NFL!
[17:39] <Popopop> Brad Johnson and Garner overachieved
[17:39] <etiolate> hey garner rocked
[17:39] <Popopop> Ron Dayne
[17:39] <CK> http://www.ga-forum.com/showpost.php?p=747878&postcount=90
[17:39] <Popopop> He needs to be on the all-bust squad

 

[joshschw]

This is bad news. Due to some stiff competition, Maddens 2004 and 2005 were spectacular. I fear that the awesome job that Tiburon has been doing each year with the franchise will now be less than what we have grown to expect. Both 2004 and 2005 saw a huge amount of improvement over the previous year... we'll see about 2006.

You must have gotten special versions of Madden then since it's been utter crap since 2003. Well it hasn;t gotten worse but its stayed the exact same.

 

[Willco]

You must have gotten special versions of Madden then since it's been utter crap since 2003. Well it hasn;t gotten worse but its stayed the exact same.

Not really.

 

[Mrbob]

And what about NFL Street?

It is over the top action with players playing in street clothes in fantaty fields. This is the main reason the NFL let EA get away with this type of game. Plus the character faces are pretty detailed and with no helmets this helps promote the NFL.

I noticed from that press release the NFL is also putting sanctions on online games. I wonder how this will affect future games?