Its Official: EA SUCKS

biggest copout ever...

this will pretty much signal the end of the ESPN NFL 2K series, but i think the other games (hockey, basketball, baseball) could thrive if they play their cards right...

the NFL, of all organizations, should know the financial and spiritual value of parity.

what a huge disappointment.

why is everyone so down on this. They didnt just pay espn to use their name and broadcasters, they will be partners in 2006 when segas deal runs out. That means that EA sports is bringing in the espn programmers to try to make a better prodcut. so now instead of having them competing, its a two heads are better than one idea.

I think this is great news, why wold espn wanted to waste their time making some game that couldnt use nfl players. i dotn want afootball game if its not nfl, even it is good.

bottom line was espn couldnt use nfl rights, well now they can as a partner and try and make a better product. im happy about this, mabye now the presentation and sound will get a lot better for madden games. sucks we have to wait two eyars to see it, but itll be on a new gaming system and probably bas ass.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportsbusiness/news/story?id=1969067

why is everyone so down on this.

because combined with the previous NFL deal, EA now has NO competition to:

1)lower the price of their little-more-than-a-roster-update-yet-full-priced game.

or

2)improve their game to the level of the competion's strengths

Sega could have still come out with a great game with numbers instead of names for the players, like the first Madden did before it got ITS license back in the genesis days. and it could have continued to push up the quality of football games in general, while bringing the price down.

now EA will have nothing to worry about from any competition, not even name recognition. remember, EA already forced Microsoft to shelve Fever (which was doing some genuinely awesome stuff with the passing game) to allow online Madden play on the Xbox. EA is abusing it's power (again) to keep their game number one. it's called a monopoly, and don't be surprised when you see the words 'anti-trust' come up soon.

Capitalism at it's best. Buy out your competitors and partner up with other giants in the industry.

The key to all this is the deal EA has with the NFL. Other companies may continue to try to make football games, but without the players, teams, stadiums, etc., there's no way they can put a dent in EA's sales.

Many people have always thought if you could combine the best of the NFL2K series and Madden you'd have an incredible game. But just because ESPN is partnering up with EA doesn't mean EA will bring on the programmers from Sega.