EA's CFB franchise dealt another blow: SEC won't participate
While this is not necessarily a total death blow (user customized conferences could hypothetically "fix" it), I'd have to imagine this makes another EA college football game even less likely, considering the already poor financial state of the franchise and the momentum against it.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^
It's only the SEC logo and things like that. They still have a three year contract with the CLC to make a game. The SEC teams will still be in there
August 14th, 2013 at 2:00 PM ^
Will schools/conferences be unwilling to be left out of a product that a key market demographic passionately consumes? Seems unwise to do so unless the plaintiffs of the O'Bannon case can now sue the schools directly instead or in addition to the governing body. It seems like the conference decisions are coming down to trying to avoid lawsuits.
In the end, I expect EA's next college football game be shipped with most of the schools included but without any likeness of players (in appearance or ability). It will be left up to the fans out there not to just edit names of players, but also appearance and ability going forward. Of course, fans are biased, so there will be many more variations of roster files.
The best solution is to overhaul the entire system so that EA can include all aspects of college football (including player names) while compensating those who are included in the game (conference,schools, and players) , but that kind of overhaul is a pipe dream.
I'm now going to pick up a copy of NCAA 14. It may be the most authentic version of college football for a while.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^
but: doesn't this just mean that basically you won't have a conference called the SEC but you will still have all the schools involved?
/apologize if I teh dumb.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:56 PM ^
You wont have the "SEC" or the SEC Logo, but you'll still have all the same teams in a conference/divisions.
Just like how Denard Robinson was NOT in last year's game, but Michigan had a QB #16 who had all of his attributes. The conference names will be customizable and now when you download a roster with all the player names/info conference names will come with it. It's all to get in front of lawerly types
August 14th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^
August 14th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^
August 14th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^
Ed Obannon? Meh.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:32 PM ^
He's only satisfying after a few drinks and then he turns into a real asshole.
I could take him or leave him.
August 14th, 2013 at 2:43 PM ^
who the fuck is Ed O'Bannon?
/s
August 14th, 2013 at 3:52 PM ^
Wasn't he the douchebag from Dazed and Confused?
August 14th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^
As long as the schools continue to license out their brand to EA sports, college football video games will exist. Conferences, the NCAA and bowl/award sponsors are completely irrelevant and easily replaceable aspects of the game.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:28 PM ^
We went through this when the NCAA dropped its support of the game. You won't have a conference called the "SEC," or their logos on uniforms or the field. But the teams are free to license themselves to the game and presumably will. I wouldn't be surprised if other conferences, including ours, followed suit.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^
If conferences can have their own TV networks, what's stopping them from selling their own video games?
August 14th, 2013 at 12:37 PM ^
EVERY PLAYER IS RATED 99 OR BETTER
EVERY TEAM IS RATED 99 OR BETTER (except for Missouri because no one cares)
EVERY COACH IS THE BEST TACTITIAN
MIKE SLIVE'S HAIR IS BETTER THAN EVERYONES
AND OUR CHEERLEADERS AND MASCOTS ARE BETTER TOO
August 14th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
Yes, but they would only have the rights to include teams from their own conference... and who the heck wants to limit themselves to playing teams from their own conference when there's still a game that has all of the teams included?!?
What's more likely to happen is that all of the conferences and/or each individual school will eventually remove themselves from the game and you'll have to download user created rosters and such... which will eventually motivate the schools and conferences to patent their own downloadable packages and we'll have to pay for each school and/or conference package a la carte.. :-(
August 14th, 2013 at 1:15 PM ^
"Yes, but they would only have the rights to include teams from their own conference... and who the heck wants to limit themselves to playing teams from their own conference when there's still a game that has all of the teams included?!?"
Who wants to limit themselves to playing teams from their own conference? SEC fans and SEC teams, obviously. Remember the whole LSU-Alabama rematch thing? They are perfectly happy pretending that the rest of the college football world doesn't exist.
August 14th, 2013 at 4:01 PM ^
Or the SEC could make generic teams. Like Generic Team A from Michigan that wears Blue, and Generic Team B, also from Michigan that wears green, or Generic Team C from Indiana that wears gold helmets. All of those Generic teams would, of course, be awful and would be totally beatable by Vandy.
Or the they could just play other SEC teams.
My point is that if the SEC came out with SEC Football, the fans in the south would go out and buy every copy possible. Come to think of it, the SEC is stupid if it doesn't do this.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^
nothing really, other than a few clauses (im assuming the NCAA has in place) that couldn't be renegotiated to allow the conferences to make their own games/profits from said games
August 14th, 2013 at 12:36 PM ^
I am guessing that the SEC won't participate because SEC teams actually lose on the computer when they play quality teams from other conferences on the road. It damages the myth of the superior and unstoppable SEC.
August 14th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
August 14th, 2013 at 1:00 PM ^
August 14th, 2013 at 1:41 PM ^
August 14th, 2013 at 1:11 PM ^
Lawyas
August 14th, 2013 at 1:15 PM ^
This is still a pretty big blow. if the SEC doesn't participate, then that means that there is no "SEC conference", and no SEC championship game.
August 14th, 2013 at 1:18 PM ^
They'll probably have a "Generic Southern Conference" with a "GSC Championship Game" played at a generic dome in Atlanta. Then all the fans will chant "GEEEE ESSSSS SEEEEE" and the announcers will hammer home the superiority of "GSC Speed."
August 14th, 2013 at 1:55 PM ^
The article linked at the top has been updated to include the Big Ten.
And if the conferences aren't you can bet the individual schools won't assume the risk.
August 14th, 2013 at 2:00 PM ^
simply permit their logos and uniforms (and stadiums) to be used in the game. That's all they do.
August 14th, 2013 at 3:03 PM ^
If there even is a game we're headed back to the Michigan University Bobcats wearing pink and green in generic stadiums. Because no individual school is going to open themselves up to a lawsuit their conference doesn't even want to shoulder.
August 14th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
I was hoping they would have to use different names for SEC teams, that could get pretty funny.
Games like NCAA football are fun for the guys coming up in high school and college. You saw the reaction of guys on the team when 2014 was released, they love it. Even with the "fact" it's not "them" in the games, they know it's them. Eventually not being a part of the college football video games would impact recruiting at least slightly.
August 14th, 2013 at 3:06 PM ^
August 14th, 2013 at 5:10 PM ^
Less money for the McDonald's of gaming.
August 14th, 2013 at 5:20 PM ^
This is an improvement, in fact. They can't call our conference the Big 10 anymore? Perfect. Call it the Big 14 and make it numerically accurate. They can't call the SEC by that name anymore? Great! Call it the Southern Pride conference. That's basically what's going on, anyway. It's the only conference where fans of a team's arch rival will root for them in a bowl game. After all, if a team from the south beats a team from the north, it cancels out the Civil War.