Not necessarily pit-worthy, but…
I was at a friend’s last night and we were paying Madden 08 on the PC. He then showed me something interesting. He put in Madden 07 and we started playing that. Other than some roster changes and some inconsequential graphics changes, they’re the same damn game. How does EA get away with this? I know if I shelled out $50 a piece for these games, I’d be pretty unhappy.
You could debate for weeks whether the Madden games are the same game every year with just a roster update.
Some will say that the new features EA puts into the game every year do make each yearly edition a new game. Others will say the new features are just tweaks of last year’s features to make the feature set different on the back of the box. Still others will say that if it is just a roster update, EA shouldn’t charge $60 a year.
But then you can’t ignore the fact that every year the Madden games top the sales charts. EA can “get away with it” because gamers vote with their wallets, the debate is purely academic.
Wow, none of this ever occurred to me. :rolleyes:
You asked how EA “got away with it,” I told you. If you just want to muse about the unfairness of the world (or the idiocy of your friend, who bought Madden 07 and Madden 08 at full price and then whined about it), get a blog.
From what I have heard about EA sports
Madden 04= Fixed some of the bugs and glitches in Madden 03. New bugs and glitches added. Total number of bugs and glitches remains constant.
Madden 05= Fixed some of the bugs and glitches in Madden 04. New bugs and glitches added. Total number of bugs and glitches remains constant.
Madden 06= Fixed some of the bugs and glitches in Madden 05. New bugs and glitches added. Total number of bugs and glitches remains constant.
Madden 07= Fixed some of the bugs and glitches in Madden 06. New bugs and glitches added. Total number of bugs and glitches remains constant.
Madden 08 = Fixed some of the bugs and glitches in Madden 07. New bugs and glitches added. Total number of bugs and glitches remains constant.
Does the term lather, rinse, repeat come to mind?
Anybody want to take a guess on what will be in Madden 09?
They can get away with it because most people will buy it no matter how much of a rip it is.
Most people will buy it no matter how much of a rip it is because EA paid the NFL a metric buttload of money for exclusive rights.
The ESPN NFL Live series was so much better than Madden they made Madden look like the CFL. Since EA couldn’t produce a better product, they simply paid for dominance.
Anyway, I’ve been picking up my copies of the annual Madden a few weeks after the season. By then, I miss football, and people are selling their used copies for ten bucks.
EA gets away with it because they have an exclusive contract with the NFL for using the NFL teams, the NFL players, and the name “NFL” and other related trademarks. Anyone who wants to play a football video game using real football celebrities has to go to EA. As such, EA has zero incentive to improve their franchise. The public is already locked into it, and doesn’t have any real options about buying a different product.