Written by Tyler Menssen
About ten years ago I played my first ever game of Madden on my Gameboy. The game didn't have player names or stadium names. Number twenty for the Lions represented Barry Sanders. Many times the rosters weren't even correct number wise. The game on the Gameboy wasn't in color. The grass on the field was not green but gray, and the players looked more similar to stick men on the field than actual living and breathing men. Yet with all of these flaws and seemingly ancient era graphics I played the game endlessly. I played it because it was the only way I could relive the game of football besides playing it in my back yard or watching it on television. Even today you could send me on a cross-country trip in a car and I would be content to spend that cross-country trip playing my Gameboy with Madden in the drive.
EA Sports had to have had that in mind when making their latest blockbuster deal.
There is not a game of football that you could put in front of me that I would not play. Like when I was a child I don't care about graphics, simulation, or complete accuracy. I just care that the game I play resembles football. I bought Madden ten years ago not because I looked over every other game on the market and decided it was the best, but because I just wanted to play the game and Madden looked like the best alternative. Most gamers are not very picky. They play the game because they find it fun. Most don't come to online communities and most don't read reviews of games before they buy them. They go to the store and head to the gaming section. They browse the shelves and look at the games that they feel are interesting and buy them. Next year when they go to the gaming section they will see only one football game on the shelves. That game will be Madden.
Most people have criticized the
EA/NFL move. It ruins competition. It could possibly put other game producers out of business. Yet will it affect sales all that much? There is a petition going around on the Internet someplace complaining about the deal and I'm sure many people have placed virtual signatures on that list. Will that petition matter? The answer to both of those questions is no. Ninety percent of all gamers care very little that there is only one football game on the market. Most hardcore gamers tend to forget that many gamers are too young to even buy their own games. They ask for them for Christmas or for their birthday. These gamers don't care about how many football games are on the market. They just care that there is one. Many adults don't care. They just want one, and only one, game that looks like football. If that one game is Madden most people will go to the store and buy Madden forgetting that ESPN ever existed.
Electronic Arts' deal with the NFL is brilliant. I don't like it. Most people on Internet forums don't like it, but it is a brilliant move for
EA. Whether it crossed their mind in negotiating the deal or not, everyone must realize that most people buy football games because of their love of football. Most people do not care who makes the game or even how good the game is. Just as long as it is not so bad as to misrepresent the game we all love.
EA now can put out one game without any competition. Now when those parents of children who wanted a game go to the stores they won't need to make the tough decision between ESPN and Madden. The decision has been made for them. Madden is now the one game on shelves people will see. Madden is now the game everyone will buy.
EA now gets to reap the profits of the gaming world. For the next half-decade they will be the lone ranger in recreating America's most popular sports in one of America's most popular gaming genres.
However if this contract is not renewed this won't be the end of gaming competition. I've heard many people complain that even when the contract ends there will not be any competition for Madden. I disagree. A little over five years ago there wasn't any competition for Madden either. Along came the Sega and the 2k series. Yes it took awhile for that series to gain popularity but in a relatively short time the series started to threaten Madden supremacy. Six or seven years is a long time to wait, but the NFL will not be forever in the hands of
EA. Some brave developer and publisher will step up to challenge
EA. Who it will be I do not know, but don't be surprised when that happens. Don't be surprised if that happens even before the contract ends. A lot can change in just a few years. Just because
EA controls the show now does not mean it will do so for all eternity. Until then, however,
EA has hit the jackpot.
Madden will continue to improve. To think it won't is to be cynical. Developers I would hope have the pride to keep trying to improve their product even when they have no competition. Madden still has to compete with the college games out there, and it has to compete with the overall market. Take a look at all of the games out there that have no similar rivals. The Civilization series comes to mind and yet it is still one of the greatest series to ever brace the shelves. No competition does not mean that Madden will start to become horrible and mismanaged. It will continue to be the game most of us love and it will continue to get better. We just no longer have an alternative choice, but for most of us that lack of an alternative choice just eases our minds. Most don't care whether there is one NFL game or ten. They just want one.
EA is about to realize that although they may get a few angry e-mails and letters, they will get a lot more positive feedback in the profits they gain.
