EA Sports...It's in the toilet.

**Chewchilla** · 11-09-2004, 11:59 AM

This should make Shane's day.

EA slashes prices on sports games
Heavy competition from ESPN forces cuts; analyst says move "clearly not a sign of strength."
November 9, 2004: 9:29 AM EST
Starting Tuesday, EA's (Research) "Madden NFL 2005," "NBA Live 2005" and "NHL 2005" will sell for $29.95. "NCAA Football 2005" will sell for $39.95. "Madden," "NCAA" and "NHL" had been $49.99, and "NBA Live" was $39.99.

The cuts bring EA's prices closer to those of the ESPN line of sports titles from Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (Research), which sell for $19.99 each.
"Obviously EA's needing to be defensive and so I guess they're showing their willingness to defend their position in the category," said Stewart Halpern, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "(It's) clearly not a sign of strength."

EA said "Madden" had already sold 4 million copies, "NBA Live" had sold more than 2 million copies and "NCAA Football" had sold just under 2 million units.

Analysts estimate the ESPN franchises together have sold more than 2 million units.

Copyright 2004 Reuters All rights reserved.

**WorknMan** · 11-09-2004, 12:59 PM

Competition is good

**Darksol** · 11-09-2004, 01:27 PM

Sega is now going for EA in the nuts and I like it in the sports game arena! I would like to root for the US company here but EA has made some decisions that have made me turn against them ( Destroying Westwood and Origin Studios was a good start )

**Shane R. Monroe** · 11-09-2004, 03:52 PM

These games need to be more like $19.95. That's what a 'data disc' technically should cost.

Microsoft/Xbox has NO business charging full price for "2Kx" titles - they have a hard drive. You should be buying "John Madden Football" and then each year, paying $20 or less for the "2Kx" extra 'data disc' with the MINOR changes these titles provide every year.

**DigitalDaredevil** · 11-19-2004, 09:37 PM

I was sad to see Origin disappear also. I loved the two "Crusader" games. Still have them just can't play them on XP.

I like Madden, but I agree that all you are buying is a patch/update of the original product. But as long as we consumers keep shelling out the cash, EA is going to take it from us.

**jamcat** · 11-23-2004, 09:21 AM

Hahaha... I wonder if EA will put in a player fan brawl mode in their next basketball game. It's no wonder why I hate sports... The players are idiots, and the fans are idiots.

**Demolition Man** · 11-23-2004, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by DigitalDaredevil

I was sad to see Origin disappear also. I loved the two "Crusader" games. Still have them just can't play them on XP.

I miss the "Wing Commander" series myself... but I seem to be in the minority about that.

**patman** · 11-23-2004, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by jamcat

Hahaha... I wonder if EA will put in a player fan brawl mode in their next basketball game. It's no wonder why I hate sports... The players are idiots, and the fans are idiots.

Yeah, but you'll be locked out of the game for a year if you go in the stands

Hey, I like sports

I really enjoy watching baseball and football and I enjoy the ups and downs of rooting for my team season in and season out.

They're are some idiots on the field/court (I thought Ron Artest was one before this happened) and more than a few in the stands. Please don't characterize all sports fans as idiots though, despite whatever you may think of me

I picked up a secondhand copy of Madden '04 last weekend. Good grief, there's a lot of depth to the controls - it's mind boggling. Give me back my Tecmo Bowl! And you can't even master one year's game before they want you to buy the next one.

Yearly updated roster expansion packs with a truly overhauled game engine every 2 or 3 years would seem to be more reasonable for everyone involved, both consumers and developers.

**jamcat** · 11-23-2004, 12:40 PM

Well, the idiot fans I'm talking about are the ones who make asses of themselves when they are drunk, or take whatever sport they are into seriously like it's life & death. It's just a frickin stupid game.

As for the players, it's sad that these idiots get paid mega bucks to play a stupid game. If it were up to me, players in any sport would be paid minimum wage. It's just screwed up when some steroid sucking prima donna jock is making $$$ while teachers for example are making squat.

Sports just bore me in general. Baseball is dull. Football is mindless. Wow, a bunch of men in spandex fighting for control of a ball. Zzzzzz. One time a friend invited me to a basketball game with him because he had a extra ticket. I had more fun watching the half-time shows, and the shows at time-outs, than I did watching the game.

Besides that, all teams here in Chicago suck ass big time. The Cubs & Bulls are a joke.

**patman** · 11-23-2004, 12:59 PM

It's just entertainment - no better or worse than movie or TV stars making obscene amounts of money

I do agree that it's screwed up that they make millions for basically playing a game while teachers (my wife's a teacher) , and policemen, and fire fighters, and etc. struggle to make ends meet. But, that's human nature. We'll pay for whatever entertains us, but we don't want to pay for the boring stuff.

If you're bored by sports, that's cool - doesn't bother me