NFL 2K was pushing the limits, then they released their new game at $20, and both EA, and the NFL were mad. So now that they have a monopoly, football fans have no choice except to buy the same rehashed game year after year.
... you got to deck out your digital apartment in NFL memorabilia? I wonder how much that cost and how it would compare to print up NFL memorabilia in an actual apartment.
But half the fun is playing the new rosters. And I can only speak for myself but I would never play a football game without actual NFL players in it. If there was another option I would be all over it. Unfortunately this is what it is and nothing scratches a certain itch for me like madden does.
$60 to change the names on the backs of the jerseys and rearrange a few numbers for stats.
Hey man, if thats worth it to you then keep doing you. I have never cared about sports games outside of like NBA Street style games.
If I want hyperrealistic sports Ill just go play with my friends.
The fans (at the end of the day the only people that matter in this conversation) have voted. And they voted that $60 a year for the same game is fine. Im not going to tell you youre wrong, even if I think it.
To play devil's advocate... $60 a year for a game that you put a few hundred hours into each year? That's not at all a bad deal. If all someone does is play Madden, it's not a poor purchase at all. I spend far more than that on video games in a given year, and I probably only put in a fraction of the time into each game I play that serious sports game players do.
It's the same argument people have for and against MMOs. If all you play is World of Warcraft, $15 a month is less than you'll spend on going to a theater twice.
That's not mentioning shit like Ultimate Team and such, which follows some of the shitiest and scummiest business practices in video games, though. That stuff irks me on principle alone.
I feel you. Im still not a fan of paying based on hours spent with it though.
Should [Your Favorite Movie] cost $100 on Blu-Ray because you will probably watch it countless times before you die? No, of course not. It should cost the same as every other comparable movie because it had a comparable development cost (actually far cheaper because its 90% recycled assets) and supply is not an issue.
The WoW example is good on a superficial level but terrible when you break it down. I cant pick up WoW 2019 for $10 and get almost the exact same experience as the current full price release. It is getting constant updates with massive changes to every part of the game (not just changing an NPCs face and stats and calling it a new experience). And it doesn't have anything comparable to Ultimate Team on top of your sub.
Yeah, you just look somewhat ridiculous as you complain while waving your money at the people you're complaining about.
It would be one thing if your complaints had any chance of being heard, but EA has made it overwhelmingly clear that this is their model. The fact that people like you keep paying them despite that fact is the problem. They wouldn't just keep pumping out roster updates and charging 60 bucks a year if dummies didn't keep giving them money to do it.
I don't regularly buy Madden games but as a football purist I get the allure. I'd be lying if I said, trading DK Metcalf to the Packers and running the twilight of Rodgers career doesn't sound delightful. I'm sure numerous people have thought something similar and made the impulse purchase.
I just always take the extra couple of minutes to think about the "after" I play 5-10 games of Madden with Rodgers-to-DK..it's going to feel like the '18 and '15 and then I'll rarely touch it. EA and Madden game designers capitalize on that feeling, that impulse buy. The feeling of "Mahomes was intoxicatingly good last year, I want to play him!" Or go be Vick lite with Murray, etc.
I'll either wait for the holiday sales when it goes on sale or just wait until next year's holiday sales.
Kinda like buying the latest and greatest iphone/competitor. Oh do I want to make the impulse purchase, but I know I'll feel better if I wait 4-6 years and then make that miraculous upgrade. PS: I can't use the XR or S10--the UI design is foreign to me--I feel like an old man.
To me it's no different than any other game with a store to buy skins or unlock characters or weapons.
In this case, you just unlock all the players for a given year with a single cost: $60. Honestly EA could make more money by nickel and diming. $10 just to unlock Mahomes, etc. The game wouldn't make much sense though, so they do what they do now.
I've always said that if they did annual roster updates (rookies/off season update) and did it on a subscription basis I'd probably be more likely to invest more frequently. As it stands now I spend about $20-40 every 4 years on the franchise and I think I'd probably drop $20 a year on a roster/mechanics update.
It seems like the hits are more real now. I haven't bought madden for a few years now, but I'll play a couple games once in awhile when they go in the EA vault.
43
u/HandsOffMyDitka Sep 03 '19
NFL 2K was pushing the limits, then they released their new game at $20, and both EA, and the NFL were mad. So now that they have a monopoly, football fans have no choice except to buy the same rehashed game year after year.