"Speaking of wars, one of 2004's longest-running stories was the sports-franchise wars between EA Sports and ESPN Videogames. When EA responded with an across-the-board price cut in November, it seemed that the budget-price strategy of ESPN copublishers Sega and Take-Two had the mighty Madden maker running scared. But on December 13, EA flexed its vast financial muscle, announcing that it had secured exclusive game rights to all NFL players, teams, stadiums, and other assets for the next five years. The announcement dealt a dire blow to the critically acclaimed ESPN NFL series, since it will have to use either alternate leagues (arena football, CFL) or fictional teams (like the management sims Front Office Football 2004 or Total Pro Football)." - www.gamespot.com , after leaving micro$oft, then joining with SEGA, and being successful, the espn nfl series is bummed out vast monopoly, sad. :bang: Edit: Btw, i dont even play football games, but this is still dissapointing, anything good that happens to sega, is always good. long live sega!
I think this is a good deal for gamers who like NFL games. The Madden games were always better anyway, and now they can include just as much off-field content as ESPN did. I don't think the lack of competition will affect the quality or progression of the Madden series.
i also think that the madden games are good BUT i hate EA games, they are tyrants. rehashing the same old games year after year with slightly tweaked graphics, making massive profits and buying all the franchises :bang: EA games im coming for you :woo:
I don't really see this as the case. All sports games require some type of minor innovation every year to encourage new purchases. Otherwise, I'd still be playing my Madden 2001 with different teams rather than buying 2005 and beyond. I personally enjoy the little tweaks as well as the new/adjusted players that each new version brings. When they put out the same game year after year (a la ESPN) is when I stop really caring. This year's game has the best innovation yet (because everybody knows that defense is the best part of football). As for massive profits, I'm sure a ton of that goes back into R & D for the next game so they can make it even better--which is totally fine with me.
Believe it or not, you arent the only person in the world who plays football games, and many people did enjoy NFL 2k5 over madden 2005, for there own specific reasons.
It amazes me that some people are dumb enough to buy those games every year, too. I don't play "realistic" sports games. I'd rather play the real thing. =/ PL
I usually buy just the odd-numbered versions, mostly because some friend has already bought the other ones. For me, I get my money's worth (even if you think it's stupid) because I use every feature. It's just like people who upgrade their computer every year. They don't really have to spend the money, but they do because they're going to get some additional value (not monetary) out of it.
what a turd move by EA games, i've always hated them. I actually liked SEGA's series a lot better then Maddan. (now i have to listen to that fat POS for five more years...sigh...) It hurts everyone who likes football games cuz now instead of having the choice of buying Maddan (the seemingly fan favorite) for $50 or ESPN, which doesn't have maddan's anoying voice and even if you like Madden better you still got to admit that it's only slightly better. plus ESPN is $20, which i think was the way to go, you can't expect someone to pay $50 every year just cuz you put in a few different animations for a stiff arm. But i don't really care i'll buy ESPN 2k5, and that'll make me happy for the next five years as far as football goes, you only need one game to get your sports fix. Plus i personally only play one or two games before i get bored and turn it off. SEGA is still a better company. They don't have to buy movie rights to a popular jerk movie to move units, they make high quality original games.
Ach, the Deevil, burn it!! *agreement from mob of peasants* Yeah, EA suck. Like, what's the big difference between like Fifa '04 and Fifa '05? Oh yeah, it includes David Beckham's latest hairstyle, that certainly warrants a new game
ISS still do the best football game. EA might have narrowed the gap, but they still haven't caught up.
I've been trying to tell everyone how much EA suck. They're the mirco$oft of the console industy. They produce sequel after sequel, and nothing ever changes but the graphics. They charge rip of prices for their games, they allow games which are unfinished to be published. They're terrible.
No sports franchise is any different. The SEGA/ESPN games, in fact, have changed less over the past 5 years (mostly consmetic, the stuff everybody has been complaining that EA does) than the Madden games. That's the nature of pro sports games. On top of that, I can't figure out why everybody is saying that the 2kX games were cheaper. Up until this year they've been priced exactly the same. 2k5 came out with a $20 price tag in an attempt to lure Madden fans away from the franchise by appealing to their wallets (Madden games historically outsell them by more than 10 to 1).
The fifa series has changed, but for the worse. The skills and first touch systems are dire. Tony Hawks games keep getting better and better, they are probably the best games like this.
I haven't played every single version of the FIFA series, but the last one I played was certainly a big improvement on the last one I owned, which frequently allowed the ball to pass through the keeper's body. Ahem..!
