28 June 2005
EA Sports - Challenge Nothing
Posted by Ryan Sarver under: Technology .
I used to love the EA Sports Franchises, but in the recent years they have really fallen behind the other studios and I really liked the ESPN franchise that came out last year. I went out and bought NHL, NBA and NFL (all $19.99 each) and fell in love with the online component and how they tied the leagues in with a personalized ESPN-like website for your league.
EA has gone around and swooped up a bunch of the leagues under “exclusive” licenses, meaning that the other studios are not allowed to produce games with players or teams from the NFL and other franchises. This is truly disturbing. They are eliminating any competition that they had, and even with the competition they were producing half-rate games… I can’t imagine what they will put out when they aren’t worried about the other studios. Shame on all of the leagues who agreed to the exclusive licenses. Now GameSpot is reporting that there is a rumor the NHL has entered an exclusive agreement. Please don’t let this be true. Be sure to read the update.
