For four years now I have sat patiently waiting. Waiting for events that, due to rampant greed and uncontrolled monopolies, may never take place.

And I'm tired of waiting.

What I'm referring to are the deals between the NFL/ EA for exclusive football gaming rights through the 2013 Super Bowl and between the MLBPA/2k for exclusive baseball gaming rights through the 2012 season.

Back in 2004, EA won the bid from the NFL to be their exclusive provider of videogames through 2009, eliminating all competition for 5 years and creating a monopoly. 2k's football franchise was forced to take a hike, and EA was given free reins to do whatever the hell they wanted. This sickening trend continued in February of 2008, when Peter Moore ensured this deal would continue on through the 2012 football season, ending after the 2013 Super Bowl.

2k went on to make a statement saying, "We believe that the decisions of the National Football League and PLAYERS INC to grant an exclusive license for videogames do a tremendous disservice to the consumers and sports fans whose funds ultimately support the NFL, by limiting their choices, curbing creativity and almost certainly leading to higher game prices." Agreed.

EA retorted with crap that goes something like this, "The five-year agreements will usher NFL fans through the console technology transition with new ideas and innovative game play experiences."

Oh really? So by 'new ideas' and 'innovative game play experiences', you must mean releasing an almost identical product every year at full price point that could probably just be revamped for free with a roster update and DLC? Excellent work, EA!

When does it end? When has a monopoly EVER been good for the consumer?! Are we soon going to have an exclusive provider of first person shooters? RPGs? Are we going to see a U.S.S.R. banner draping over our heads? No competition means no need for innovation.

But oh, the irony.

Only a short time later 2k Sports made a landmark deal with the MLBPA for exclusive rights to making baseball videogames for 7 years, through the 2012 season. 7 freaking YEARS! To illustrate how saddening this is, I can say that my favorite baseball game that I enjoyed as a sophomore in high school (MVP Series) I will not even have the opportunity to enjoy until after I graduate from college. How depressing. All these years of waiting and putting up with a crappy 2k product and an uninspired EA game are what inspired me to finally put this article in motion.

I must say that these game companies, while evil, are not totally at fault here. It seems that NFL itself started this whole mess, putting up exclusive rights up for bid, saying, "We need money, come and get it!" And as much as I loathe 2k for taking away my favorite baseball franchise for (at least) 7 years, I can't blame them. If 2k had not snatched up the licensing from the MLBPA, EA probably would have. And although MVP baseball is my favorite baseball series of all time, it's still absolutely unfair if EA were to eliminate all competition from the field. What would happen to the people who like 2k's baseball games? One hell of a long wait. And I can tell you first hand, it's not a fun one.

What kind of crybabies are these companies now anyway? Madden was still the best-selling football franchise when 2k was around, as evidenced by 2k's statement released after EA's deal went down, "While sports games in general are an important part of Take-Two's product diversification strategy, the licensed NFL game we distributed on behalf of Sega this year was not a material contributor to our profitability to date, nor was it expected to be a meaningful contributor in the upcoming year". These companies try and improve their image by allowing first parties to create games for their systems, but Xbox doesn't make first party sports games…guess we're out of luck. This is only a loophole designed to save them should anyone with power accurately observe what it is – a monopoly.

Sickening.

In terms of baseball, PS3 owners are at least lucky enough to be able to enjoy The Show, which appears to be a decent baseball game. As a 360 owner, I have no alternative. And with no plans from Microsoft to revive their own baseball franchise, I will just have to play MVP Baseball '05 until the 2013 season. Adding even more insult to injury, I recently sold my original Xbox which, I recently learned, is the only way to play MVP '05. Yep, not even supported on 360. Yay Microsoft backwards compatibility!

But I digress…

Since 2005 I have not purchased a game from 2k's baseball franchise and while I made a purchase of Madden '07 used a couple months ago, I can take some consolation knowing that only GameStop made any money off that sale. I will not be purchasing another football/baseball game until these monopolies end. Boycott, plain and simple. Even though I'm not the head of a major gaming company I can make my voice heard through my wallet. Will me not buying sports games for the next few years have any effect on the profits of these gluttonous companies? Probably not. Will I end up purchasing some other product from EA or 2k in the future? Probably. Dead Space was great and I'm can't wait to play Bioshock 2. But as a gamer interested in the integrity and quality of the gaming industry, I ask my fellow gamers to at least consider what I have said here. If you agree with me, please express your disgust with monopolies with others and get the word out. The next time you go to purchase the next reiteration of Madden, at least pause for a couple seconds and think before you inevitably end up buying it. That's all I can ask. Gaming for gamers. Let us make decisions about what's good and what's not. No censorship is needed. Hear that EA and 2k?

…probably not.