Madden NFL 06 Vs. NFL 2K6

[StrifeSnake13*]

IGN.com (http://www.ign.com) has an editorial (http://ps2.ign.com/articles/640/640466p1.html) about EA having exclusive right to the NFL, the article reminds us of what happened last year and asks us the question, are you still going to buy madden?
Before I end this editorial, I want to ask each one of you personally whether you complained last year about EA's move. I want to ask you if you were pissed off, and whether you told people you weren't going to buy the next Madden because you were so fed up. I want to know, when push comes to shove, now that EA has the only game in town, was it worth it? Did EA make the football genre better? Did EA's move forward the genre? Did the lack of competition give EA an edge, or did it simply eliminate choices? Would things have been different if Sega was still in the picture?

[Xerxes]

Can 2k5 upgrade the roster to the 2005 season...

[*Legion*]

Does Madden have built-in web-based leagues, better than what they cobbled together in response to ESPN last year?

Because people are on their forums asking about it. So I guess the answer's probably "no".

No fully featured online leagues would = definite "No Progress" from EA.

And even still, if they're still part of the "Premium Pass", then it's "no" again. Premium content is OK but ESPN made this a free and expected feature, and did so at a $20 price point. I expect it at $50.

[*Legion*]

Can 2k5 upgrade the roster to the 2005 season...

Nope. They don't have the license to do so, so it would be illegal.

[ldi222]

I really wish there was a 2K6. I would have been excited about that. I also really wish VC would have made a football title this year even without an official NFL license with an upgraded 2k5 engine.

[Kelegacy]

I hope the Blitz game will sell well...as well as any other football game that comes out. I want to see success even without that gay license. NFL suck my ass for giving them that contract. NCAA, too.

[Vega]

I'm probably one of the few, but I will not be purchasing Madden2006 and will instead be firing up another season of NFL2K5 to get me fired up for the new season. I'm typically not one to fall for these "boycott" movements but really, it was a sh*t move by EA and the NFL and if what I've read of the initial previews/reviews of Madden is even close to accurate, it's the right decision.

I'll gladly get even more gameplay out of my $20 purchase (granted without the new names.. uh, ya, who cares.. it's still the same teams and I can carry my game over multiple seasons) than plop down another $50 for a mediocre title, that just as predicted, doesn't push the game into new territory. You need competition to push innovation and gameplay.. if you're the only kid on the block (for the next 5 years) you just don't care as much as you do if there's somebody else out there beating you. This is the first year of the new EA "NFL era" and it's only down hill from here. I will 99.9% guarantee you that EA will add dynamic advertising to Madden2006 (out of the box? Not a chance.. the masses will complain) in a patch that will fix some major bugs also. Big halftime billboards hocking whatever the current high bidder demands. EA = big bugs + additional content if you want said bugs fixed. Mark this day and my words if you want...

If EA shocks the gaming community with proper support, fantastic gameplay, no advertising in-game.. then I will gladly purchase a copy of every Madden game during this 5 year span whether I actually play them or not. I will purchase the game in support of their cause and being so wrong about them. I make this vow.

Balls in your court EA... (ya, like me or anybody will make a difference.. they could care less.)

[zorper]

I'll be buying Midway's Blitz no matter how much it sucks.

[LilAbner]

I hope the Blitz game will sell well...as well as any other football game that comes out. I want to see success even without that gay license. NFL suck my ass for giving them that contract. NCAA, too.

Now this is what I call well-placed anger. Be mad at EA, but be more mad at the NFL and NCAA for selling their licenses to the highest bidder. You think Sega, Take-Two and the other guys weren't bidding for this shit? Think again.

[Jake]

It's about time there was some clarity on this subject, since it's just an instant knee jerk Hate EA subject and there's very little fact being bandied around.

Yes, EA has the exclusive licence. Did they persue it with the NFL? No. The NFL did. They were the ones who announced that they were making the licence exclusive. EA had nothing to do with that.

Now here's where it gets even more interesting. Was EA even the highest bidder? Actually, No. The NFL chose them because they had such a good history with EA and they felt they would 'do the brand the most justice". This is the NFL here - they can hand the licence to whomever they wanted to and they chose EA, even though EA was NOT the highest bidder for it. They evidently thought that EA was the best for this licence.

Now should EA not even have tried? It seems like lots of you would be happy if they handn't. But think about it. They are a large company who've had a crap load of success with the NFL licence. I'm not going to comment about NFL2k because a) I'm way too close and it wouldn't be appropriate and b) I don't play football games anyway.
Suffice to say that as a company dedicated to making football games hell yeah they were gonna try for it. What do you expect?

So before all the hate arrives for EA, look at what prompted this. It wasn't EA that made this happen.

[Babbster]

Whether EA is to blame, or the NFL, I won't touch Madden this year. I've been a happy NFL 2k player for too long. I just can't bring myself to reward anyone for the deal that killed off that series. Like others, I'll be playing some 2k5.

[Xerxes]

I wish MS would of just given the NFL a blank check... And pawned it off to 2k Games for $1... But anger EA, oooooo nooo....

NFL sucks for doing this, they could of just made both pay more money for lincenses this year if they was hurting for cash... MORE SO, I'm tired of EA... They make so very few good games and we suffer through the tons of sh*t they crank out... And the games the make cash on then become milked at retarded lengths...

[motor]

I hope the Blitz game will sell well...as well as any other football game that comes out. I want to see success even without that gay license. NFL suck my ass for giving them that contract. NCAA, too.

The blitz guys know they have a real opportunity here, this game is going to blow people away. It is going to piss off EA and the NFL so much that I hope a ton of people buy it.

[*Legion*]

Yes, EA has the exclusive licence. Did they persue it with the NFL? No. The NFL did. They were the ones who announced that they were making the licence exclusive. EA had nothing to do with that.

Except, of course, you're wrong (http://www.thinkequity.com/about/articles/wsj_071105.html).

From the article: The NFL and union told publishers they could bid for an exclusive license to make NFL games, for a nonexclusive license, and for a semi-exclusive deal that would leave the door open, as well, to the firms that build game consoles. The new approach pitted the game publishers against one another as never before.

Take-Two preferred a nonexclusive license. But EA, which had long wanted an exclusive deal with the league, made an aggressive bid for sole NFL rights. It won them with its $400-million-plus offer, a value that includes a commitment by EA to help market actual football games. Annualized, the contract brings the NFL and players' union roughly twice what they got in the past from multiple licensees, say people familiar with the matter.

So while the NFL did open for bids and made an exclusive deal an option, it IN NO WAY made an exclusive deal a requirement.

[Zagrash]

There is a way to update 2k5 with the 2k6 rosters and everything, but it requires an Action Replay to use. I haven't tried it myself, but I downloaded the save game file for my xbox, and have heard from several other people that it works pretty well. The way I figure, $20 for 2k5 plus $30 for an Action Replay is still a better deal than $50 for a madden game that still looks worse than 2k5 (gameplay aside, I haven't played it, just seen it). From what I've heard, the AR save has all the roster changes, including trades, rookies, stats, etc. If I end up getting an action replay and trying it out, I will keep everybody posted.

[StrifeSnake13*]

There is a way to update 2k5 with the 2k6 rosters and everything, but it requires an Action Replay to use. I haven't tried it myself, but I downloaded the save game file for my xbox, and have heard from several other people that it works pretty well. The way I figure, $20 for 2k5 plus $30 for an Action Replay is still a better deal than $50 for a madden game that still looks worse than 2k5 (gameplay aside, I haven't played it, just seen it). From what I've heard, the AR save has all the roster changes, including trades, rookies, stats, etc. If I end up getting an action replay and trying it out, I will keep everybody posted.
really? I have action replay, I'll have to check it out because I'm not buying madden this year and I still love 2k5.

[bapenguin]

Yup...No madden for me this year.....just gonna action replay the rosters. I MAY buy madden on the 360, but only will get it Pre-Owned.

[haujob]

It's times like these that I really miss the XFL.

[MSUStud911]

I picked up my copy of Madden yesterday. I, like many others, bought 2k5 last year and was blown away by it. I vowed to stick with that series from then on. Unfortunately the series is gone and I need my football fix for the year. Because I never played Madden '05, Madden '06 seems much improved to me (over '04, not 2k5). I really like the Vision & Precision passing and after a few more practice games I'm really looking forward to starting a Franchise and eventually Superstar mode.

Edit: I'm definitely getting Blitz this year as well, unless the reviews are just abysmal. I'm not getting it to spite EA or anything dumb like that either. I think the game looks awesome and is really bringing something fresh and interesting to the football videogame genre.

[TheHulk]

I bought the Action Replay last year mainly because they have the same feature for NCAA Football where you can download all the player names for all schools. The only problem is that the memory card that comes with the Action Replay rarely works and almost always requires you to buy an official Xbox memory card. It was still worth it to not have to enter all the names for the players. I'll have to try it for 2K5.

I haven't heard much about Blitz this year... What are they planning for the game?

[DucRam]

I have hated the idea of exclusive rights for any sports. No competition gives us gamers an inferior product in the long run. All it does is limit the new and creative ideas that are brought to next year's version. Yes, it gives EA an edge, and gamers only one choice.

I preferred NASCAR Heat (better graphics and system link!) on my XBOX over the EA NASCAR game.

I haven't bought a Madden game since the Saturn. I have been a big NFL2K fan since the series started on the Dreamcast and have not bought anything else. I have played a few of the Maddens over the years on a friends PS2 but I always preferred the 2Ks. Right now, I do not plan on buying Madden06. I will check it out on someone else's console though. I am really interested in Midway's Blitz: The League. I hope it comes off like the Playmakers TV show.

[drakkarim]

never bought/played/ripped/stole a copy of any sports game (aside from tennis on the nintendo) in my 18 or so years of gaming.

people need to get their lazy assess off the couches and play the real sport.

[benson]

I picked up my copy of Madden yesterday. I, like many others, bought 2k5 last year and was blown away by it. I vowed to stick with that series from then on. Unfortunately the series is gone and I need my football fix for the year. Because I never played Madden '05, Madden '06 seems much improved to me (over '04, not 2k5). I really like the Vision & Precision passing and after a few more practice games I'm really looking forward to starting a Franchise and eventually Superstar mode.
I picked up my copy of Madden yesterday as well. I've always gone back and forth with the 2k series and Madden. One year, one was great, the next was the other. Well, I have to say this year's Madden is quite fun. I practiced the passing vision a little to get used to it, then started a superstar. I don't see what everyone was complaining about with the passing vision system, it's actually pretty easy to use. Sure I've taken a few more sacks than usual while looking for open receivers, but you can also look off the db's much more effectively now.

One of the funny things I found is that Madden finally introduced "Precision Passing" which is basically "Maximum Passing" from the 2k series except a little easier to use.

Madden 06 is a good game, and I want to go home to play it some more. I am upset with the exclusive deal; I feel the competition was good for football. But like I said, I went back and forth between the two series anyway, and I usually bought both of them.

I just hope Take 2 and VC come back with a great game after the exclusive deal is done in 5 years.

[IndependentGMR]

I bought Madden 06, and then returned it the next day. The interception glitch kind of ruined it for me. I'm a stats nut. Plus, other than the QB vision gimmick, they practically changed nothing. The game was a near copy of 2005. Good job EA!

[oneway23]

EA transplanted the franchise from 05 directly into 06...they put a miner's hat on your qb and had the audacity to release it as a new game...What of Superstar mode, you might ask? It's pretty much arbitrary...nothing you do affects the outcome in any serious way, and the disparity between what reactions you have and what actually occurs is SO unbelievably random that once you realize this, it becomes insanely tedious to navigate through text based scenarios that don't amount to much...just my quick 2 cents...and yes, i returned mine as well

There is a website called nfl2k5forever whereby if you register, you can access the forum and download what they promise will be constant roster updates...the 1st one is up, and is accurate as of 7/16, i believe...As an added bonus for my friends today, may I direct your attention to gamefaqs.com, where you can DL an AR save with ALL of the Historic teams intact, complete with actual rosters!! How's that for some added mileage?

[ldi222]

What surprised me (and maybe I missed this) was that I thought VC was still going to come out with something this year but apparently not. Does anyone know if they are going to release anything football related without the license?

This really sucks because I would have been so excited to pick up 2K6 but have decided Im definitely boycotting madden. What surprised me was after MLB this summer even some of my madden friend fanboys were looking to pick up the 2k series this year...

[oneway23]

2k took the year off from football in order to regroup, and subsequently moved their NFL development team over to this years NBA franchise to help out. As for next year, who's to say? Needless to say, I'm looking forward to Blitz...Looks like a much needed burst of innovation and creativety

[samhackney]

There is no doubt that EA was and is better than madden. Great news is that , if you have NFL 2k5, you can get NFL 2k6. On 09/09/2006 you can indeed buy an upgrade memory card will all updates for approximately the same cost as a new game. This update will come out shortly after the supplemental draft, and when camps narrow down their rosters and get all current jerseys assigned. For questions you can E-mail sam@samhackney.com

[samhackney]

on 09/09/2006, you can get a memory upgrade with all updated rosters, jersey #'s etc for less than the price of the game. E-mail sam@samhackney.com

[samhackney]

Dude, if you like the NFL 2k5..wait until 09/09/2006 and you can buy the upgrade for NFL 2k 6..simply upload all the 2006 rosters onto the current NFL NFL 2k 5...you can order on 09/09/2006..Its simple and cheap...contact sam@samhackney.com if you are indeed interested.

[samhackney]

Can you imagine playing with Reggie Bush, or Vince Young on NFL 2K? Guess what? You can...On 09/09/2006 you can contact sam@samhackney.com and order your new memory card upgrade with current rosters, current jersey numbers and current free agent pool. Play 2K format for less than Madden (we all know Madden is a joke!) Welcome back 2K...