Electronic Arts Inc. is close to resolving a customer lawsuit alleging the company's exclusive deals with the NFL drove up the price of its "Madden NFL" game, according to a court filing. The second-largest U.S. video-game publisher reached "a settlement in principle" and intends to negotiate a definitive agreement within 45 days, lawyers for EA and Madden buyers said in a filing today in federal court in San Francisco. An antitrust complaint filed on behalf of Madden buyers in 2008 alleged that EA made a series of unlawful agreements with the NFL and other entities for exclusive rights to market NFL-branded interactive football software. The deals drove out competitors, enabling EA to charge 70 percent more for its flagship football video game "Madden NFL," according to the complaint. The settlement amount wasn't disclosed in court filings. Source: Seattle Times
Uh. Every game for PS3 and 360 goes for $59.99. That isn't exactly charging 70% more when Madden goes for the same price. ??? And can't compare the ESPN pricing because all they were trying to do was penetrate the Madden market with the $19.99 price point. That said, this bullcrap needs to go away. I'm sick of Madden being the only option out there.
It's not an ideal win, but it's a win. Maybe some people forget that Madden also used to cost $19.99-$29.99 when there was competition. Once the competition was gone and Madden became a a video football monopoly, the price went up and the quality went down. Madden blows anymore and they have no incentive to care that it does. Screw EA.
I remember the year Ray Ray was on the cover and they made a ton of enhancements on the defensive side of the ball. The game was sick, and it was the last time I felt they made a significant attempt at making the game better.
This is the post you guys should be QFT. The fact is, NFL 2K was eating away at Madden's share of the market with every edition to the point that, IIRC, NFL 2K5 had outsold it. EA, instead of improving the game or reducing the price to match it's competitor, bought out exclusive licensing rights of the NFL, NFLPA and co. (Which those agreements as it is are ropey on legal grounds), killing all other competition and giving customers no alternatives (Considering EA also own NCAA exclusivity). If anything, I'm surprised they haven't been served for violating competition laws.
Correct. 2004 to 2005 was a massive jump in quality, once they bought exclusivity we got 2005.1 + passer cone. Like with anything, competition brings out the best in people, heck, FIFA got killed by Pro Evo on the last generation consoles, now they've upped their game and FIFA is outselling PES I believe 6:1.
