At one time EA thought they had enough big guns under their belt to try and take on Nintendo and Sega. They released the short lived console 3DO (which I owned btw) Problem was...They didnt have enough big names to keep em afloat, plus the price of the system itself was unheard of at the time so it collapsed. $500-$600 at a time when you could get a SNES for $150 or a Genesis for $125 was poor timing.
Now imagine a world where EA owns the top 20 titles that gross more than any of the competitors single big name titles, and they want to try their hand at the console world again. Think it cant happen? Thats what Nintendo and Sega said back before EA even had huge names. I think its a possibility and thats why they keep taking over companies. Agree or disagree you cant deny facts.
The chokehold they have on the football front was the first tell-tale signs of something bigger to come. Madden is the highest selling sports franchise in gaming history, and has enormous numbers every season. (Lets not forget Madden also appeared on 3DO) By signing an exclusive deal with the NFL they totally eliminated all competitors.
The Take Two deal might be more strategic positioning than one might think at first glance. Grand Theft Auto raised the bar and set a new standard in free roaming 3D gaming (and even coined the term "sandbox game") If EA could get their hands on the highest selling game of that genre they could be in a great position to bring it to a new console and leave competitors with empty hands.
Theoretically of course! Imagine if Microsoft bought Zelda from Nintendo, than took away Nintendos rights to publish anything Zelda. Anybody who buys Nintendo stuff just for Zelda based games would most likely be tempted to go with Microsoft next time around.
If a new console was coming out with graphics that meet and beat Sony, Microsoft, and well Nintendo. It cost around the same price, but also it was the only place you could play big names like Madden NFL football games, GTA, Half Life, Need for Speed, James Bond games, FIFA, Nascar, and so on and so fourth...I bet a large portion of gamers would jump ship and head the way of the new.
Dont leave me negative feedback, just leave me comments and tell me your feedback on the situation and my take on EA monopolizing gaming as we know it.
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