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Midway Fine with NFL Split

Posted by Zonk on from the when-you've-got-lemons dept.

JoeyPea writes "As seen on the front page of The Futon Critic and mentioned in this IGN article, Midway Games is apparently fine with EA's exclusive rights contract with the NFL. The complaints on the last Blitz were that there wasn't enough unecessary roughness that the franchise was previously known for. But now it looks like there won't be any pansy hits because of the NFL's licensing rules. The Blitz: Playmakers write-up mentions drug use and off-the-field habits, so perhaps you can expect more realism from Midway without the NFL's license."

4 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Translation: by Jane_the_Great · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The NFL won't back out of this agreement. It's a clear cut case of the NFL choosing to make a business move and screw the fans - regardless of the spin Upshaw tries to put on it.

    And the average fan isn't going to raise a stink about it [boycotts of NFL products], they'll just plop down their cash for Madden and be on with it. I've always liked the Madden series better but this gives me serious pause to consider whether I will be buying any football game next year.

    It was also hinted that EA might be in negotiations to get a similar deal from MLB - which would be absolutely horrible because MVP Baseball is so bad, especially in comparison to Sega's much superior offering. Oh well, big business fucks over the little guy yet again...

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    THIS ACCOUNT IS OFFICIALLY RETIRED/RETARDED.
  2. Mutant League Football?! by Necromutant · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, not the original, it was a EA game if I remember correctly, but I would love to see a similar football game for the current systems... or a parody of the NFL as mentioned for that matter. The standard sports games have become pretty stale in my opinion so I would love some variation that just made fun of football stereotypes, had mutant player and let you design your own players! Go for it Sega/ESPN!

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    ~Necromutant
  3. Re:Translation: by McKinney83 · · Score: 2, Informative

    MVP worse than ESPN Baseball?

    Xbox: MVP Baseball 2004| Number of Reviews:69 Avg: 87.7%
    ESPN Major League Baseball| Number of Reviews: 57 Avg: 77.2%


    PS2:
    MVP Baseball 2004| Number of Reviews:68 Avg: 88.2%
    ESPN Major League Baseball| Number of Reviews: 46 Avg: 77.6%

    MVP's Avg : 87.95%
    ESPN's Avg: 77.4%


    This info is from gamerankings.com

    --
    Winner of The Second Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.
  4. Re:Translation: by numbski · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think we all need to agree that 'better' is a sujective term.

    The point is, EA is spending cash to snuff out it's competitors rather than simply outperforming them.

    I don't know that anti-trust law covers it, but I would call it unethical, but then ethics winds up being subjective too. :(

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    Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).