Even Tecmo Bowl had competition! (NFL Football)
Annually, the release of Madden signals the beginning of the fall season for video games and an onslaught of new titles. Madden definitely deserves to be called one of the “big” titles - many people own next-gen consoles for this game alone, and the game has been around in various forms for 20 years. The game is so big, many people (including me) believe that every football player to grace the cover will suffer the “Madden jinx” and have a horrible season in any given year (yet I still drafted Larry Fitzgerald…why!?).
By all accounts, this year’s Madden is as good as ever, with a metacritic score of 86 and IGN calling it “the best pure football video game experience in history” (hyperbole much?). So why am I refusing to pick this game up?
To sum it up: Where’s the competition? Ever since 2005, Madden has had a monopoly on the NFL, nobody can produce a football game using real NFL players except for EA. This resulted in two inevitable consequences: 1) There was no more choice in the market which led to 2) EA being able to keep prices for Madden high as long as they wanted to. There’s also no alternative for me to buy, and for my money, ESPN 2k5 was the better football game that year (the last year it was allowed). I think it’s ridiculous that Madden CAN’T have any competition, and I hate the concept and protest by not buying the game at all.
You can choose between Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. You can choose between NBA Live and NBA 2k10. You can choose between PES and FIFA. So why are you forced to buy Madden if you want to play football? Frankly, it disgusts me. Unfortunately, I know that one of these years, who knows when, I’ll end up caving and buying a Madden or football game again because I love football and because I am weak. It’ll probably coincide with whenever the Jets get good again – wait, actually, that means I’ll never buy Madden.
Anyway, I know I’m not the only one out there who feels this way, though we are the minority. PLEASE, NFL, let go of the exclusivity contract! Let freedom reign!