@Dissentioncc @TomMcShea To save everyone else a bunch of searching, I decided to pull the ratings from 2000 (calendar year 1999) to today (calendar year 2013).

2000 - 9.3, 2001 - 9.3, 2002 - 9.2, 2003 - 9.2, 2004 - 8.8, 2005 - 9.0 (last competitive year), 2006 - 8.2 (first monopoly year), 2007 - 7.9, 2008 - 8.5, 2009 - 8.0, 2010 - 7.5, 2011 - 8.0, 2012 - 7.5, 2013 - 7.5, Madden 25 - 6.0.

Average score before monopoly is 9.13, while average score during monopoly is 7.67. Anybody else see the pattern?

@TomMcShea @dem5000 But as you indicated, that's by choice. 2K Sports keeps the product good because they know EA or another developer could come along and develop a new NBA title, as they appear to be this year. EA doesn't have that fear when it comes to the NFL, so they program accordingly.

This is what happens when you don't have competition in the marketplace. Ever since EA got in bed with the NFL and blocked competitor titles such as the exceptional 2K series, EA has phoned it in each and every year. They know full well they're the only NFL game in town, and all those fans will buy the game regardless. They can't do that with NBA, NHL or soccer, because there are other competing titles. Even baseball has multiple titles (if you're on a Sony console, thanks to their top notch MLB games).

If EA wants to save Madden, they need to let the exclusivity agreement expire and allow competitor games to keep their developers on their toes. The last Madden vs. 2K year (2005) saw Madden getting a 9.1. In this banner year, it only manages a 6.0. Don't ya just love monopolies?

@DaneGamer Good deed, really? Sales pitch to establish bias, more likely. Optics, my friend, optics.

@Revl8n It's all about optics. The perception will be these managers will be promoting PlayStation 4 over Xbox One and Wii U, and it will be a well-earned perception.

@Xbox1SinceDay1 Quite right ... Sony's last three systems were technologically superior to their competitors, yet still got out-sold in the marketplace. PSP got beat by the weaker Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3 got beat by both Wii and Xbox 360 and PlayStation Vita got beat by Nintendo 3DS.

@MrMojoRisin70 That's always been my dilemma with all the fanboyism. If Microsoft is so terrible, why has Sony invested so much time mimicking Microsoft? Achievements/Trophies, Kinect/Move, paid online multiplayer? As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (and yes, that goes both ways).

@MrMojoRisin70 If you're referring to Sony's reversal on including PlayStation Eye in the base package and on free online multiplayer, I'd say not sore at all.

@frozenux Most likely they're enjoying their next-gen consoles while Sony fans, who've heard remarkably few additional details out of their camp, can only come out when GameSpot trolls for them with another article devoted to Xbox One. It's not like they're playing online multiplayer on their current gen consoles or anything ...

@Xbox1SinceDay1 This is one of the better points ... there has been remarkably little PS4 news out since E3. Just about every next-gen article here on this site has been in regards to Xbox One. The Sony fans have to talk about something, don't they?