Electronic Arts... at it again. Nail in the coffin....

[LTM360]

EA Nabs College Football Exclusive

April 11, 2005 - Electronic Arts announced today it has entered a six-year exclusive agreement with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), which represents the NCAA, to create and publish college football games. The agreement covers all consoles and handheld systems.

EA now has exclusive use of college football teams, stadiums, and schools in videogames, and will inaugurate the new licensing deal with NCAA Football 2006, expected this summer.

"Our NCAA football franchise is a key element in our EA Sports brand lineup and we are pleased to have secured the NCAA license," said Jeff Karp at Electronic Arts. "There is an unrivaled loyalty our fans have for the game, and this agreement with CLC allows EA to continue to deliver to fans the best, most innovative college football experience now and for years to come."

"When we began our analysis of the videogame landscape, it became apparent that EA Sports was best positioned from a marketing and development perspective to maximize the sales opportunities for college football," said Pat Battle, CEO of The Collegiate Licensing Company.

The NCAA deal echoes EA’s long-term exclusive licensing arrangement with the NFL, which shocked competitors and gamers alike when the company announced it last year. While of late Electronic Arts has effectively been the only producer of NCAA football titles, the new exclusive does block competitors, such as Take-Two, from entering the college football market.

Check back for more on NCAA Football 2006 as details come in.

Nobody looks at XBA's homepage.
I hate EA.

[Variation-XBA]

Again, I'm glad I'm not a sports game fan or I'd be pretty upset.

[CrazyCougar]

There is nothing bad about this exclusive deal. EA makes the best college sports game to date year in and year out. So this keeps the crappy games, ala Take Two (Sega) off the shelf and allows people to pick up the quality game.

NCAA Football is in my opinion the BEST football game on the market. Yes, in my opinion, its better than the NFL titles out there especially that piece of dog crap title ESPN Football. As for basketball, well that sport is lame, so I dont really care...But, I know EA had a decent title and Sega had a decent 2K title as well. So that may be the only sport that this affects.

There is no college baseball or hockey titles (at the moment anyhow), so this really isnt that big of a deal. People just want to ***** because its EA. If it doesnt effect you, then you should probably shut your trap.

[Casper]

There is nothing bad about this exclusive deal. EA makes the best college sports game to date year in and year out. So this keeps the crappy games, ala Take Two (Sega) off the shelf and allows people to pick up the quality game.

NCAA Football is in my opinion the BEST football game on the market. Yes, in my opinion, its better than the NFL titles out there especially that piece of dog crap title ESPN Football. As for basketball, well that sport is lame, so I dont really care...But, I know EA had a decent title and Sega had a decent 2K title as well. So that may be the only sport that this affects.

There is no college baseball or hockey titles (at the moment anyhow), so this really isnt that big of a deal. People just want to ***** because its EA. If it doesnt effect you, then you should probably shut your trap.

So it's good for there to be the elimination of ANY possibility of competition for NFL, Nascar and college sports in gaming? I mean, I can see college, as Sega has removed themselves from that side of it - but there's no way that EA getting ANY exclusive deals with ANY sport is a good thing.

Competition = better games. Period.

[CharlieHustle]

Well, you said it just right, in your opinion.. I had the College game for like a month, better yet 2 and a half weeks. I just didnt like it after the first week. The Ai is shoddy,the online server, and.. well i can go on for a while about their game, but im not. The game is good but not great to me. And i like the NFL version of VC game better, but thats just me. I dont know why EA got an exclusive deal with college football because they are the only company thats has college football on lock. They have years invested in this game and any new company would have to compete directly with ea's ncaa game to make money, which is a loss, even if it is a good game. Ea is tryin to monopolize the sporting aspect of gaming and thats sad, very sad, competition is what made them make quality games from madden to live to college football, now with no competition, they dont have to be innovative for the next 5-6 years. They will do what they are known to do, which is: a graphical upgrade(where the players still look like cartoons, or high school studs), a new gimmicky feature(ala freestyle, hit stick) , and updated rosters. EA knew that if they spend x amount of dollars now on these exclusives(which is a pretty penny im sure) they will save because everyone will be forced to buy their products, and they will also not have to spend money on production of games because with no competition, you dont have to go back to the drawing board.

[CrazyCougar]

I disagree completely, Casper. (Like you knew thought I wouldnt..LOL!) I really dont think its a bad thing to be exclusive to certain sports. Now instead of worrying about what the competition is doing, they can invest all time and resources into making a quality game. It all boils down to the fact people dont like EA because they didnt jump onto Xbox Live right from the start. I for one prefer the EA football and baseball titles over the "competition". Unfortunately the baseball goes to Take Two, who has no clue how to make a good baseball game. They only know how to make it look pretty. The only area that EA really lacked in was hockey and hopefully that changes, IF there is ever an NHL again.

I just watch all these EA haters spout off, and its mostly bandwagon 10-15 year olds. EA has gotten sports gaming to where it is, and that is something not one of these youngsters can deny. The respect should be there, but its not because these kids feel important to have an issue they can stand behind with no basis.

[mattgame]

Then it is up to us the consumer to make sure they make good games. If they keep going by their name alone don't buy it. If they actually make quality products buy it. We still have the power. Without us there is no EA.

[StudioAlex]

Cougar. You're wrong.

[CrazyCougar]

Thats all you can say? No basis or facts or even opinon in your statement? I'll just disregard you even posted until you give something valuable to the conversation.

[CRAYMAN]

Thats all you can say? No basis or facts or even opinon in your statement? I'll just disregard you even posted until you give something valuable to the conversation.

Why even post facts, when everything you just posted has NO basis in fact.

To say that since there will be no competition, EA will make better games is foolish.
Do you think that EA would've dropped the price of Madden if not for VC's $20 price tag??? If you want to promote exceptionalism, you MUST promote competition. Whether it's in sports or business, competition brings out the best.

[CrazyCougar]

Did i say any of it was fact? No, I STATED specifically IN MY OPINION. I swear people cant read.

[CrazyCougar]

To say that since there will be no competition, EA will make better games is foolish.
Do you think that EA would've dropped the price of Madden if not for VC's $20 price tag??? If you want to promote exceptionalism, you MUST promote competition. Whether it's in sports or business, competition brings out the best.

Is that fact??? NO. Its an opinion. Show me where this is published as a fact and we'll leave it at that.

[CRAYMAN]

Is what a fact???

Do you live in AMERICA??? C'mon man. Stop being contrary.

I have one word for you...CAPITALISM.

Did i say any of it was fact? No, I STATED specifically IN MY OPINION. I swear people cant read.

You just finished criticizing studioAlex for not posting information without basis in fact. Get the connection now.

[CrazyCougar]

Isnt a forum for opinion as well as fact? I posted my opinions and in no way did it have any basis in fact. When you responded, you posted an opinion as well which I can accept more than someone posting a one liner "You are wrong." Thats what I was referring too.

[StudioAlex]

I was being silly before, but here's what's going to happen. EA sports games will go up in price to to around 60 to 65. Why? Because, you'll have no other choice if you want to play sports games. The quality won't improve at the rate it does, and after about three years the franchise is likely to start slipping in quality. Competition not only keeps prices down, put keeps quality up. You can't tell me the advent of the NFL 2k series didn't up the ante on football in a huge way.

This isn't based on my opinion of who currently makes better games. It based on my knowledge of economics and consumer mindsets.

[CrazyCougar]

The unfortunate thing in this whole situation is that ALL games will be going up to $60 or $65 with Xbox 2 in the near future. I understand the exact concerns that everyone displays about the no competition aspect, but at the same time I think that EA could really make some big improvements in their games not having to look over their shoulder at the other guy. That always seems to cause companies to put gimmicks in their games more than make the game better.

My apology to you Studio for taking your post on the serious side.

[CRAYMAN]

The unfortunate thing in this whole situation is that ALL games will be going up to $60 or $65 with Xbox 2 in the near future. I understand the exact concerns that everyone displays about the no competition aspect, but at the same time I think that EA could really make some big improvements in their games not having to look over their shoulder at the other guy. That always seems to cause companies to put gimmicks in their games more than make the game better.

My apology to you Studio for taking your post on the serious side.

What you say makes perfect sense in theory, but in practice something else happens. It's why socialism doesn't work and it's why American car makers made such crummy autos in the 70's during the tariffs/embargos on auto imports.

[Cryogenic Pyro]

What you say makes perfect sense in theory, but in practice something else happens. It's why socialism doesn't work and it's why American car makers made such crummy autos in the 70's during the tariffs/embargos on auto imports.

I didn't realize Canada doesn't work. Canada is socialist, and in my opinion, we are a damn fine country. I moreso agree with your point of view than Cougar's though. Competition promotes increased quality.

I know for a fact if I was EA (which I would NEVER become. I loathe EA) I wouldn't give a **** about the quality of my games anymore, with all the exclusivity deals, because I know people would buy my games. Why? Because if they want to play a specific themed sports game, it's the only game they can buy. However, if I had competition that offered something better, I'd have to get my ass in gear for people to buy my game.

[Ninjermy]

Right on Cryo. EA is smart. Unfortunately we will probably loose from all this. But hey mabye they will make some sweet games. It's not like all there games are crap.

[CharlieHustle]

You know what cougar i thought you had sumthin until you said some crap about ea will invest more on their gaming w/o the competition. W/o the competition, ea dont have to be innovative, at all. Has the college football game been inovative in the last 3 years? Also you think they will also invest more money into making better games when they just spent a ton of money on this exclusive? No EA major priority is to make money, however it may be. So will price go up on their games to 60-65 dollars? Probably so, but only because they will have the only game out(football, college football), and they still have to break even from the price tags of those exclusives. But the other developers games will not be 60-65 dollars because they still must sell games, and the best selling price will be 50 dollars. Look at the DC PS1 Ps2 the only company who tried us with outrageous game prices was the n64. Also VC only knows how to make games look pretty.. Thats pretty funny. As i recall, they make games realistic, and as realistic as possible. Read the reviews if you may. Most of us "consumers" just buy the best game, not the best gimmick and we are all not 10-15 yr old haters of ea. They are just not my cup of tea right now.