OT: EA agrees to give up NCAA Football exclusivity
http://www.gamespot.com/news/ea-agrees-to-give-up-ncaa-football-exclusi…
Article above. Great news. Allows 2K to get back involved in the college games. Won't take effect until 2014, but it will force EA to have to fix all its bugs now that there's competition. Hopefully 2K makes a basketball game as well.
I love this news, maybe between the two of them the fans can get a good game.
How this wasn't a legal issue. I'm not a lawyer but "antitrust law" comes to mind.
The artcie says it was a legal issue, centering around antitrust. So you were right I guess
I meant previously. How they got away with it this long, I don't know.
Probably has something to do with the NCAA being a brand. there was nothing stopping someone from making a college football video game, just didn't have the rights to the brand that is the NCAA. Just like Sony or Microsoft can't make a mario game.
Also it looks like it's been in the courts since 2008, I guess these things take some time. Great news for the consumer though
And port them to the PC, for god sakes!
That's the part I am most excited about as well. I refuse to buy consoles, but the lack of a college football game for the PC has been really frustrating. 2K does a pretty good job with the NBA series on the PC. Really hope they will continue to support PC gaming.
Let me some it up.. Everyone can take a crack at it but no one will do it because ea is to big of a brand and they have years and years into the system generator. No company will be able to come in and come close what they have already from years and years of tweaks. Yes there is still problems but it could be a lot worse!
Just like the NBA 2K series?
/s
The talk on operation sports agrees with my previous statement. It's all about market share, money, and customers that would be willing to switch. Honestly it doesn't hold much water to compete with ea in the football world. Ala 2k dumping baseball next year because of the show.
I really liked what 2ksports did with NCAA basketball I see no reason why they couldn't make a game that could compete with EA. Hopefully EA will start to give a damn now.
at worst, it will cause EA to innovate a little more to keep fans interested in their product. The last 3 versions of this game are a perfect example of why competition is a good thing
woo hoo....time for the return of gambreaker!!
The now-defunct, 989 Sports made Gamebreaker.
2K (then Visual Concepts) made NCAA College Football 2K. Only released two games, 2K2 on the Dreamcast and 2K3 on the PS2. 2K3 was amazing.
2k3 was a damn fun game
Wow, NCAA Gamebreaker '98 for PS1 was the first video game I ever owned. All you had to was hold L2+R2 for a juke and nobody could tackle you! I had so many runs with Anthony Thomas where I'd just hold the juke until I got through the line of scrimmage, then just trot to the end zone with nobody in front of me.
My brother and I still quite Keith Jackson from that game:
"Deep down the sideline!... incomplete."
"Elephants in the game."
And every game was a barnburner.
Until they give up NFL exclusivity, nothing is going to change. NFL games are the real money makers, NCAA games are only made because it's much easier to do once you have an existing engine (see how NCAA football borrows most gameplay enhancements from Madden, only a year later). I cant see 2k trying to start from what is essentially scratch to make a NCAA game exclusively, they would need rights to the NFL to make a move.
AMAZING news for CFB fans that also enjoy videogames. Competition is key in forcing companies of all types to produce better goods. When one company has a monopoloy on a good (say, a college football videogame) it gives ZERO incentive to truly innovate or even fix basic issues. Why? Because you have to go to them for your product or go without.
This doesn't mean EA will lose it's spot at the top but it does mean people will now wait for reviews/demos before buying. I guarantee you EA gets their shit together or they get rolled within 3 years by 2K or another company. Just look what 2K did with their basketball games as far back as this gen's launch. MAJOR innovation and depth. Look what Sony does with MLB. Someone (maybe a few) will challenge EA and their days of releasing a roster update for $60 is over when their exclusivity is up. Amazing news.
IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! MUAHAHAHAHA!
it's about time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and no, this won't give a better game because of competition. it will give a better game because 2k isn't a bunch of bumbling idiots like ea.
Bought 13 and it freezes before even making it to the main menu. Apparently old xbox's can't run the newer games? Is there a way to update it without sending it to Microsoft and giving them $110?
Download to the hard drive... Boom problem fixed.
Well 2k would have 2 years to start working on their gameplay engine and other features if they decide to make a game. Im sure developers at 2k are giving this serious consideration. I know myself and thousands of other people are fed up with EAs NCAA football games. IMO, I think 2k should give this a shot and see what happens. I also wish someone would make a college hoops game. It baffles me that there hasnt been a good one in years since March Madness is one of the greatest sporting events.
2k has never matched up; however it migth be enough to force EA to step ot's game up.
Hopefully if 2k is smart they start developing now. A 1 1/2 year development cycle can make something that blows NCAA out of the water.
It doesn't work like that. That's like saying that since Ford releases new versions of it's cars every year, a startup will be able to design a car from the ground up in a year and a half. If they start now, it will be probably 3-5 years before we see a game from them. The first version will be very basic too, maybe with some DLC later on.
Bad analogy because 2k already has a base of All Pro 2k8. So they need to strip that down removing what didnt work. Then spend a year and half improving from that base model.
Be careful what you wish for. When EA and 2k were competing against each other in college football they were also competing for who got what rights for bowl games. 2k had the rose bowl and ea had the majority of the other big bowls. Theoretically if it's the same as last time that could put a damper on the new playoff system in the video games.
I hope Tecmo jumps in too and replaces Bo Jackson with Denard.
amazing
This is how you're supposed to break a game.
Absolutely speechless.
That's certainly good news
Had a good of football as EA going back to the beginning, same as baseball w The Show
I've always heard 2K does a much better job on other sports than EA ever did. I bet 2K will come up with better improvements than "Let's put Desmond Howard on Ohio State!!1"
I wont buy another ea game. The visuals on the game are incredible, the game play leaves alot to be desired. Lets hope competition brings out some awesome games
2K football with T.O on the cover was my life for a while in HS. That game still has a few things that are better than Madden to this day.
I'm still wishing they incorporate college hockey into the NHL games, which might I add is one sport 2K should stay away from. Get the Euro leagues out and throw in the college teams.
Will never happen for football. 2K is struggling as is and has eliminated every sports game except NBA. Don't see them trying to go head-to-head with EA in college football.
The issue is that the college football videogame market is not large enough to support two titles. There won't be enough people flocking to 2K to justify the cost unless they make an absolutely mindblowing game (unlikely) or they can conjure up new customers somehow. Don't get too excited.
It's the same issue that NCAA Basketball games had and why 2k dropped out of those as well.
I think the fact that we are having this discussion shows that alot of people would be willing to give 2K a try. I know I would, and everyone I know who plays the game would. In fact, if it's good enough, I think alot of people would turn their back on EA.
If NFL 2K5 is any indication, EAs going to have a problem... I have yet to see them produce a Madden thats better than NFL 2K5. I think NCAA 2K14 could easily give EA a run for their money
This is great news. Maybe one day my dream of having a college football version of Fooball Manager will exist in a modern cohesive and functional form.
baby!!!! 2k is finally back my prayers are answered!!!
Unless 2k puts out a nfl franchise, its useless.The hardcore fans will pickup EA because u can import rosters in Franchise mode. Stick to bassetball 2k, make a NCAA game u can upload to 2k.
Has anyone heard about the Lawsuit that was filled against EA by consumers? From what I saw they have settled on a 27 million settlment to be given back to the consumers, however I havn't seen how to go about getting the money back. Its 1.95 for every game bought on the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii after 2005 and 6.79 per game bought on gamecube, PS2, and xbox.
There are many articles that can be found by a google search but here is one.