2 SR19

Well, it finally happened. The NFL has joined the dark side.

Despite the rumors that circulated in May of 2004 about the

possibility of the NFL and the NFL Players' association signing an

exclusivity deal with EA, I never thought they would do it. I mean,

for the NFL to get a good deal out of it they would have to charge

quite the price tag.

And apparently they did. Gamespot reports rumors that the five-

year exclusivity deal between EA and the NFL is valued at $1

billion dollars (with the minimum extreme falli ng atrange $300

million). So, what does it all mean? It means EA has the sole

rights to the NFL's teams, stadiums, and players. That is, only EA

can make console and PC games that have anything to do with

the NFL. That's right my fellow segaholics, that means no ESPN

NFL 2K5, or 2K6, or 2K7, or 2K8, or 2K9. I know. It sucks. I hate

EA too. It's not good for the industry. It's not good for Sega. And

most importantly, it's not good for gamers.

In response to the deal Take-Two, the distributors of Sega's ESPN

NFL football games issued the following statement:

We believe that the decisions of the National Football League and
Players Inc. to grant an exclusive license for videogames do a
tremendous disservice to the consumers and sports fans whose

funds ultimately support the NFL, by limiting their choices, curbing
creativity and almost certainly leading to higher game prices.

Indeed. I also blame the NFL for selling out. I don't blame EA (I

just hate them for being able to do it). If I were them I'd do it to.

Madden is their most important franchise and they saw their

share of the NFL football gaming market dwindling away; they

could not deal with the intense competition of Sega's franchise in

any other way.

Gamers were finally starting to notice that ESPN football was a

superior product and EA was getting scared. Any Madden fans

who claim that EA's football game was superior have either never

truly played ESPN (and by truly played I mean devoting as much

time to giving ESPN football a fair chance), are blind (as the ESPN

game presentation is light years ahead of Madden) or are deaf (as

the ESPN in-game announcing is again, light years ahead of

Madden). Of course, in my opinion the ESPN games have better

gameplay as well, but this one isn't as bad a rout.

Thus, EA adopted a version of the old motto of defeat, If you

can't beat 'em, join 'em, and added their checkbook into the mix:

If you can't beat 'em, prevent them from playing. Not surprisingly

the decision has stirred up an intense backlash from hardcore

gamers on the Internet. Whether this backlash will maintain

momentum through next season and those boycotting EA stick to

their guns remains to be seen. I will be among them, though, and I

will remain steadfast.

Gamers across the country fear the repercussions this deal may

have on future football products. Monty Phan of Newsday cites a

few of the fears that have arisen from the deal, "with no

competition, there will be no innovation, and EA essentially could

put out the same football game every year with minor tweaks

and updated rosters, and then sell it for full price." Maybe it was

just me, but that's what they did anyway. Well, at least until ESPN

football came along anyway and forced them to revamp their

mediocre franchise.

EA knew that they could not defeat Sega in a straight up

development contest. And instead of watching themselves slip

from the top they did what they had to do---stop the competition

from competing. They had to. I mean, just look at the sales

numbers released by NPD, which reveal that across all platforms

Madden 2005 sold 2.7 million copies while ESPN NFL 2K5 sold 2.1

million copies. Now Madden's numbers are not bad at all. But

when your nearest competitor has closed a gap that once had

Madden outselling competitors at a 10 to 1 ratio to less than a 4

to 3 ratio you know you are in trouble.

The numbers are even more frightening for EA if you take out the

PS2 user-base (who are, for some reason, abnormally loyal to the

Madden franchise). As IGN reports, on the X-Box Sega's ESPN NFL

2K5 outsold EA's Madden 2005. Yes, that's correct. Sega's game

outsold EA's game on the X-Box. The same thing is happening

with Sega's ESPN NBA 2K5 versus EA's NBA Live 2005, which has

only created more fears that EA will sign a similar exclusivity

agreement with the NBA out of desperation.

In addition to the better sales numbers on the X-Box, Sega's

game also received more critical acclaim. In IGN's Best of 2004

feature they awarded ESPN NFL 2K5 X-Box "Sports Game of the

Year" over Madden 2005. As IGN writes, in a head-to-head

comparison "the nod goes to ESPN NFL 2K5 for better online play

and the best presentation we've ever seen in a sports game." In

my opinion EA are cowards. They fear competition because they

have forgotten how to innovate.

The thing that bothers me most about this deal, however, is that

it was likely reached because both the NFL and EA felt

threatened by Sega's decision to lower the price of ESPN NFL

2K5 to $19.99. Sega made the right decision as the discount

pricing allowed them both to penetrate EA's market and to offer

gamers a superb game at a low price. I applaud them for that.

What EA and the NFL have done, however, is ensure that you will

not be paying less than $50 for an NFL game for years to come.

The customer loses big time thanks to EA's and the NFL's greed.

Of course, monopoly-seeking is nothing new to EA as they have

long had exclusivity agreements with NASCAR, PGA Golf, and

FIFA Soccer, but those agreements pale in comparison to the

behemoth that is the NFL. So, what's the next step? Well, Sega

probably won't announce anything till E3 2005, but I hope they

follow in the footsteps of Midway, who recently announced a

Blitz-like game based on ESPN's fictional drama of the NFL,

Playmakers. Hopefully Sega will continue to release excellent

football games and gamers will continue to purchase them

instead of EA's games.

Unfortunately it seems that gamers care more about licenses

than gameplay, and thus, it is unlikely that they would play a non-

NFL football game. But there is always hope. If Sega makes a

game that is completely customizable, so that gamers can

recreate the NFL in the game, a non-license game could have

potential. One of the IGN editors even suggested they could

exploit EA's deal by creating a football game of retired NFL Hall

of Famers (since they are not included in the deal). And who

wouldn't want to play a game where you could coach as Vince

Lombardi, have Ray Nitschke and Reggie White on the same

defense, or bring Barry Sanders out of retirement?

If Sega cannot make a successful non-licensed football game

critics' fears could come true. Besides the likelihood of mediocre

Madden games for at least the next five years, there is the

possibility of the price tag to Madden increasing even more.

Other theories suggest that EA snagged the deal because they

wanted to increase profit margins by ending its licensing deal

with John Madden, and thus, saving huge on royalty fees. And

this would make sense, since Madden's commentary is the most

criticized component of the game. In fact, rumors state that EA

has wanted to dump the Madden name for years but has been too

afraid to give up the name recognition it has created.

Therefore, the exclusivity deal could be a means for EA to dump

the Madden name and still have five years to create a new name

for the franchise. In that sense, they could profit from the move in

the long run. If they do so, however, they run the risk of another

company picking up the Madden name and stealing everything

they have created. Mainstream gamers are usually so ignorant

they probably would not know the difference between the former

EA version of Madden and a new Acclaim or 989 version. In this

sense EA's plan could backfire, and I would love to see that

happen. But I wouldn't want Sega to buy up the Madden name. I

think I would want it to be Sony as I love to see power hungry

allies stab each other in the back.

It seems as though EA will dump Madden (even though they deny it
right now) since they recently bought out the ESPN license for the
next 15 years. Yes, that's right. They bought the license Sega
currently holds. A namebrand that Sega built up and successfully
linked with the notion of quality. Just another example of EA using it's
pocketbook to defeat the competition.

Update: (3.28.05)

Unfortunately, EA's plan has worked. Sega has sold off their entire
sports division to Take-Two Interactive for a measly $24 million. This
includes Visual Concepts and Kush Games. Sega is out of the sports
game all together, though their 2K brand name will live on through
Take-Two. The disturbingly low pricetag for the sale is likely due to
fear that no one will be able to compete with EA's monopoly. That is, it
would be financially wiser to dump sports than risk investing more
money to compete.

This comes as a major blow since, in addition to IGN's praise of Sega's
football game over EA's, the highly respected Academy of Interactive
Arts & Sciences awarded Sega's ESPN NFL 2K5 "Console Sports
Simulation Game of the Year." Furthermore, Sega's ESPN NHL 2K5 was
also nominated for the award (EA only had one nomination in the
sports category, Madden). Indeed, this is another sad day for gamers
who grew up on Sega Sports, but I wish the best of luck to Take-Two
as they take on EA.

Update: (4.14.05)

It seems as though it will take a revolution to stop EA as now acquired
a six-year exclusivity agreement with the NCAA. The deal makes EA
the only company that can create NCAA football games for all
systems. Including the deal they signed with the Arena Football
League (AFL) not too long ago, that gives EA six exclusivity
agreements in the sports industry. I'm not even counting all the non-
sports licenses they hold such as Bond, Lord of the Rings, Harry
Potter, et cetera! These exclusivity agreements and EA's corporate
buyouts of small development companies are not good for the
industry. It will take a lot of us to make a difference, but I am
boycotting EA and you are welcome to join me.

End of Update

I'll leave you with a comment by videogame analyst Michael

Pachter: "I'm really curious to see how EA will defend this, but at

the end of the day, the consumer has fewer choices, and that's

bad."

Still not convinced that EA is the bane of the gaming industry? Read
Part I and Part II of my anti-EA rants. If you read all three rants and you
don't agree with me try the following techniques:

1. Re-read them at a slower pace. Think them over at a slower pace.
Repeat until no longer necessary.

2. Ask someone else to read them and explain them to you.