Please sign this petition to help stop Electronic Arts

[Rawker]

Click here to sign the petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/nfleacon/petition.html)

If you haven't already found out, Electronic Arts has bought the rights to be the only publisher of NFL football games meaning that no other company can use anything NFL or NFLPA. For more info visit IGN (http://www.ign.com).

I know alot more people play Madden then ESPN, Gameday, or Fever however we all know that without competition people become complacent. We all deserve the right to choose so please sign the petition and help keep Electronic Arts from monopolizing football gaming.

Also Electronic Arts is also trying to buy the rights to be the sole publisher or MLB, NBA, NCAA, etc so stop them now and set a president

[impronto]

lol i wonder why they arent going for the nhl rights? :D

[Amourek]

A petition would be meaningless. Business is business. And no, I don't think we should set a 'president.' :lol:

[sfu_lifer]

Signed. I hope this creates a backlash and they lose sales. They sat on Madden on the PS2 for 2 years until Sega got serious enough after their excellent DC titles and started putting it out on multiple consoles. Sega forced EA to improve and not just do their usual Roster update + 1 feature that they were known for in the 16-bit and 32-bit generation.

[Furkmyster]

I really dislike Madden, guess 2K5 is the last NFL football game I buy, oh well.

[Eternal Blue]

yeah the petition is pointless... it's agreed and on paper EA has the contract for 5yrs.... LOL now other game companies will have to start making up team names and using non licensed stadiums and players....

[mark_in_2k]

Not really that bothered about the North American leagues, coming from England.

At least it would be a lot harder for them to try to buy rights for FIFA as it's worldwide :)

[chdude3]

We all deserve the right to chooseYou have the right to choose an NFL game from any company licensed to make NFL games. The NFL decided to make that licensing exclusive, and EA was the high bidder.

so please sign the petition and help keep Electronic Arts from monopolizing football gaming.Again, I think you're confusing "monopoly" with "exclusive licensing agreement". EA is the only company now who can produce NFL licensed games. They don't have a monopoly on all football games. Anyone else is completely free to produce a football game. Hey, maybe they can make a CFL game! Keep it Canadian!

Suck it up, princess. :) Nothing you do is going to change the 5 year agreement.

[Degenerate]

Football sucks anyways :razz:

[akito925]

Football sucks anyways :razz:

hahahahaa I like this answer. lol.

[juvenile6586]

go madden!

[Rawker]

You have the right to choose an NFL game from any company licensed to make NFL games. The NFL decided to make that licensing exclusive, and EA was the high bidder.

Again, I think you're confusing "monopoly" with "exclusive licensing agreement". EA is the only company now who can produce NFL licensed games. They don't have a monopoly on all football games. Anyone else is completely free to produce a football game. Hey, maybe they can make a CFL game! Keep it Canadian!

Suck it up, princess. Nothing you do is going to change the 5 year agreement.

Actually it is a monopoly because every football game produced last year was a NFL football game, sure there was backyard football which sold maybe 20 copies but if you use that as an argument you need to check yourself. By EA being allowed to purchase the sole rights to publish NFL games they are going to go after the NCAA, NBA, NHL, MLB, etc rights so do yourself a favor and wake up. I don't have exact numbers but football videogames control about 10-15% of all videogame sales. We all know that videogames are the top grossing form of entertainment (something like 15+ billion) by a landslide and the market continues to grow by leaps and bounds every year (in the 10% range).

My guess is that you don't play videogame football and you really don't have a clue as to what EA has done in the past from jaded developer purchases only to stop the release of a specific game, to complacent development, to their sweat shop like work places.

Now the princess comment, you care enough to think (although only for a half second) about what is going to happen. Maybe your happy with it, but you need to understand the subject before you call me princess because you look like an idiot trying to prove what i have said as being wrong. The fact of the matter is that this will create a monopoly and possibly a monopoly that spans all of North American sports videogames.

[Headhunter]

lol i wonder why they arent going for the nhl rights? :D
Their hockey titles are so bad, I don't even know anyone willing to steal it anymore. That's never happened before with the people I know, who will download 5 year old 2D volleyball games. If that doesn't prove a point, don't know what will...

[RSD]

someone beat u with this news by 3 hours hehehe
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/showthread.php?t=123666

[chdude3]

Actually it is a monopoly because every football game produced last year was a NFL football gameSo maybe it's time the business got a shot in the arm. Anyone remember Tecmo Bowl? Not everything has to be licensed to be a good game. Nobody is forcing developers to make NFL licensed games - it's just the easy way out.

My guess is that you don't play videogame footballI still bust out NFL 2k2 on the Dreamcast from time to time. I'm certainly not an afficionado, but I enjoy playing it.

and you really don't have a clue as to what EA has done in the past from jaded developer purchases only to stop the release of a specific game, to complacent development, to their sweat shop like work places.No, I'm well aware. I don't much like EA for what they've done to and with most games they've released - from butcherings of decent games, to "Expansion Patches" a la Sim City 4. Most development houses are sweat shops, however, come crunch time. You could almost say that about the software department here where I work.

Maybe your happy with it, but you need to understand the subject before you call me princess because you look like an idiot trying to prove what i have said as being wrong. The fact of the matter is that this will create a monopoly and possibly a monopoly that spans all of North American sports videogames.I do apologize for that, it was perhaps a bit harsh - I'll put a smiley in there next time. :) But I think I understand the situation pretty well. EA has the money to buy exclusive rights deals, we can't change that. They also attempt to rest on their rusting laurels - I'm hoping that the silver lining here is that more people will realize how much EA sucks donkey nuts, and boycott their crap. Think - if EA is the only licensed game in town, but another developer comes out with a sweet game that's got everything but player names on the back of the uniforms, which would you buy? Again, not every sports game has to be licensed - if the gameplay is there, people will buy it. And come on - you don't think that developers will allow you to customize team or player names in non-licensed games? It wouldn't be long until someone had the latest season data ready for import into that great non-licensed game.

Dude, don't worry, I understand. I get annoyed when the video game industry pulls bonehead moves such as this - but bottom line is that the sun is still going to come up tomorrow. Why don't you come over, we'll play a pickup game of some snow football. :)

[crimsona]

Actually it is a monopoly because every football game produced last year was a NFL football game, sure there was backyard football which sold maybe 20 copies but if you use that as an argument you need to check yourself. By EA being allowed to purchase the sole rights to publish NFL games they are going to go after the NCAA, NBA, NHL, MLB, etc rights so do yourself a favor and wake up. I don't have exact numbers but football videogames control about 10-15% of all videogame sales. We all know that videogames are the top grossing form of entertainment (something like 15+ billion) by a landslide and the market continues to grow by leaps and bounds every year (in the 10% range).
.

Man you are using some twisted figures to back up your argument.

The Japanese market is 4.14 billion, and falling (all of 03 figures)
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/06/28/news_6101475.html

US market was 10.3 billion, and rising (02 figures, good luck finding detailed 03 figures that you don't need to pay for from research firms)
http://retailindustry.about.com/od/seg_toys/a/bl_npd012703.htm
Although this site claims it is 11 billion in 03, which sounds about right
http://tinyurl.com/3u6e9

Using those figures from the NDP group's paper, as well as the report on CNN that shows how many NFL-licensed games were sold (7 million).

http://money.cnn.com/2003/12/12/commentary/column_sportsbiz/sportsbiz/

Total US software sales: 10.3 billion - 3.5 billion (hardware) = 6.8 billion = 6,800 million
Total Japan software sales: 4.14 - 1.3 (hardware) = 2.84 billion = 2,840 million
Total value, NFL licensed games sold, definately overstated (CNN): 7 million * 50 (MSRP at release, although ESPN titles for 20 each) = 350 million

% marketshare NFL of all software sales: 3.63%

If I could find the ratio of ESPN @$20 and Madden @$50, that 3.63% is going to be even less.

O wait, the press release regarding the deal has a rough figure:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/13/technology/electronic_arts.reut/

approx 1.5 to 1 madden to espn. So using new figures,
7 million * (50*(1.5/2.5) + 20*(1/2.5)) = 266 million
=2.76% marketshare (approx)

Frankly, this deal is not going to affect most of the video game industry nearly as much as you'd claimed, and the other sports have to offer an exclusive license first before EA can get a hold of it.

EA already has exclusive rights to PGA and NASCAR, yet you don't see many complaints at all about that. In fact, couple years down the road, those new-fangled graphics will help most of America forget about those old games.

[CodecX81]

Hey, maybe they can make a CFL game! Keep it Canadian!

or XFL (http://www.officialxfl.com/)? YA last updated 2000 boiiiii

lol

:edit: nobody cares but you, Rawker.

[heartofgold]

A petition would be meaningless. Business is business. And no, I don't think we should set a 'president.' :lol:

You are so obviously wrong that your brain isn't working numbskull. There's a switch at the back, turn it on. Only apathy is pointless. I hate NFL games, never liked them, never play them, too intellectual for me, I prefer that for other regions of life. However, I will be signing this petition for obvious reasons, as stated above, and more.

[webdoctors]

Y do ppl play football games on PC/consoles? its a sport, its meant to be played outside...