Madden 06 a Hot Seller

August 18, 2005, 3:00 pm EDT
Total comments: 18

Gee whiz, you think it has anything to do with that exclusive NFL license?

EA'S MADDEN NFL 06 HAS RECORD NUMBER OF FIRST WEEK FANS

EA SPORTS Gridiron Title Scores Big at Retail

Redwood City, Calif - August 18, 2005 -- Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced that, based on internal data, Madden NFL 06 scored big at retail in its first week in stores and sold-thru more than 1.7 million copies, making it the biggest week one launch of a Madden NFL Football game in the franchise's sixteen-year history.

"Gamers were demanding the best Madden NFL Football ever this year and the response at retail indicates that we delivered the game that everyone wanted," said EA Vice President of Marketing Todd Sitrin. "Consumers have voted with their dollars, and the vote is in - this is the best version of Madden NFL Football ever."

"EA ups its game for the best Madden yet," said Matthew Kato, Senior Editor of Game Informer magazine." They delivered substantial innovation to the Madden franchise, making Madden NFL 06 a must-have title of the year."

"You'd think the big news in the locker-room this week was the start of the preseason, but all everyone could talk about was the new Madden game," said Ahman Green, All Pro Running Back for the Green Bay Packers. "Everyone had to check out their new ratings and the new features in the game."

Based on internal tracking, EA estimates:

a.. Madden NFL 06 had the biggest week one launch in the history of the franchise, selling more than 1.7 million units.

b.. NCAA® Football 06 was the #1 selling video game on the PlayStation®2 computer system in July 2005.

c.. With double digit sales percentage increases this year, both Madden NFL 06 and NCAA Football 06 are tracking well ahead of last year's launch sales.

d.. Within a month of NCAA Football 06 shipping and with Madden NFL 06 on store shelves only a few days, EA SPORTST football fans have played more than 1.5 million games through the PlayStation 2 console and on Xbox Live® on the EA SPORTS Nation.

"The strong starts of NCAA Football 06 and Madden NFL 06 set the pace for a strong EA SPORTS lineup of titles this fall. Up next from EA are FIFA Soccer 06, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 06, NBA LIVE 06 and the rest of our EA SPORTS lineup," added Sitrin.

In its 16th year and with more than 45 million copies sold, Madden NFL Football continues to stand out as the most popular football videogame franchise of all time with a combination of innovative new features and the most authentic football gameplay. Developed in Orlando, FL by EA Tiburon Madden NFL 06 is now on the PlayStation 2 console, the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCubeT, Nintendo DST, Game Boy® Advance, and mobile. The PC version will be available August 17 and the PSPT (PlayStation®Portable) system launches later in September. Madden NFL 06 is rated "E" (Everyone) by the ESRB and has an MSRP of $49.99 for the PlayStation 2 console, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and PSP, $39.99 for PC, and Nintendo DS, $29.99 for Game Boy Advance and Madden NFL Football for Mobile will range from $3.99 to $9.99, depending on the handset and terms of usage. For more information check out www.madden06.com.

Talkback

FamicomAugust 18, 2005

And the Maddeness continues....

gallyAugust 18, 2005

And of course they jack up the price to $50, knowing there is no longer any competition. Having no competition, the only incentive to bother to make the game better is potential lack of sales if people begin to suspect that EA is getting lazy.

ESPN still had better graphics IMO.

WindyManSteven Rodriguez, Staff AlumnusAugust 18, 2005

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Originally posted by: gally
And of course they jack up the price to $50, knowing there is no longer any competition. Having no competition, the only incentive to bother to make the game better is potential lack of sales if people begin to suspect that EA is getting lazy..

Uh, "jack up the price"? Weren't all previous Madden games since the PSone $50?

gallyAugust 18, 2005

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Originally posted by: WindyManUh, "jack up the price"? Weren't all previous Madden games since the PSone $50?

I meant jack back up. I'd heard that Madden 2005 was $30 due to competition from ESPN (which was $20).

But I might be wrong.

raptorspikeAugust 18, 2005

Maybe the number for NCAA 06 would be higher has a GC version been made. If not that, a PC version

vuduAugust 18, 2005

Gally - you're right. Madden 2005 was $30.

But EA paid $400 million dollars for NFL exclusivity. They need to get that cash back somehow.

thepogaAugust 18, 2005

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Originally posted by: vudu
Gally - you're right. Madden 2005 was $30.

But EA paid $400 million dollars for NFL exclusivity. They need to get that cash back somehow.

Vudu, did you buy Madden 2005 for $30 (when it just came out), or did you just check the price now online?

Madden 2005 wasn't $30 when it was new. I think ESPN NFL 2K5 was $20 dollars either from the beginning or it became that cheap very quickly, forcing EA to lower the price eventually. But now that there's not other competition, I expect the price to lower a bit before next year's version.

Darc RequiemAugust 18, 2005

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Originally posted by: thepoga
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Originally posted by: vudu
Gally - you're right. Madden 2005 was $30.

But EA paid $400 million dollars for NFL exclusivity. They need to get that cash back somehow.

Vudu, did you buy Madden 2005 for $30 (when it just came out), or did you just check the price now online?

Madden 2005 wasn't $30 when it was new. I think ESPN NFL 2K5 was $20 dollars either from the beginning or it became that cheap very quickly, forcing EA to lower the price eventually. But now that there's not other competition, I expect the price to lower a bit before next year's version.

Madden was $50 initially but not for long. ESPN 2K5 was selling so well that EA quickly dropped Madden's price. F**k Madden, I didn't like it last year 2K5 was better and still is. Now that I have no option, I'm not buying a football game for the first time since.....well 94 or 95. Good EA. Thank you NFL for royally F**king me and the rest of the NFL fans that saw Madden for what it really was.

The OmenAugust 18, 2005

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Gally - you're right. Madden 2005 was $30.

But EA paid $400 million dollars for NFL exclusivity. They need to get that cash back somehow.{/Q]

Um, Madden 05 was $50 when released. And they get their money back with or without exclusiveness. Some of you need to go back to business school....

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Madden was $50 initially but not for long. ESPN 2K5 was selling so well that EA quickly dropped Madden's price. F**k Madden, I didn't like it last year 2K5 was better and still is. Now that I have no option, I'm not buying a football game for the first time since.....well 94 or 95. Good EA. Thank you NFL for royally F**king me and the rest of the NFL fans that saw Madden for what it really was.

Okay, lets all get this straight. You get angry because a company {i}drops a price to be more competitive? Good Lord, there are so many anti-EA fanboys, it really is embarrassing. Just what was Madden, really, DR? I owned both 2K4 and Madden 04, and guess what? Madden was more realistic AND more fun to play multi-player. There were so many stat bugs in ESPN, I returned it. If you want an arcade football game, I contend that Blitz is more to your liking than either Sega or EA. But for realism, Madden wins, hands down.

Fast forward to present, -EA releases a game for the same price it's been for TEN years, and people cry. YOU don't have to buy it, right? And if you really want to split hairs, dropping a price on a product only to sabotage a competitor is not fair business practice. Sure, they can get away with it, because technicallly, they can state they're making a profit on it. But seriously, how about making the game just plain better? Sega couldn't, so they dropped the price 30 dollars. And still, they couldn't compete. That's the real insult.

GoldenPhoenixAugust 18, 2005

Well NFL 2k5 must have been some competition or EA wouldn't have dropped their price to 30$! I don't even need to know the sales numbers just the price drop when it comes to judging how well each series did. Obviously EA felt the 20$ was a threat and thus dropped their price.

gallyAugust 18, 2005

He was probably saying that Madden wasn't as good a game to begin with, and he preferred Sega's game series. And is, like many of us, upset that EA decided to kill all chance Sega had of competing.

thepogaAugust 18, 2005

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Madden was $50 initially but not for long. ESPN 2K5 was selling so well that EA quickly dropped Madden's price. F**k Madden, I didn't like it last year 2K5 was better and still is. Now that I have no option, I'm not buying a football game for the first time since.....well 94 or 95. Good EA. Thank you NFL for royally F**king me and the rest of the NFL fans that saw Madden for what it really was.

Okay, lets all get this straight. You get angry because a company {i}drops a price to be more competitive? Good Lord, there are so many anti-EA fanboys, it really is embarrassing. Just what was Madden, really, DR? I owned both 2K4 and Madden 04, and guess what? Madden was more realistic AND more fun to play multi-player. There were so many stat bugs in ESPN, I returned it. If you want an arcade football game, I contend that Blitz is more to your liking than either Sega or EA. But for realism, Madden wins, hands down.

Fast forward to present, -EA releases a game for the same price it's been for TEN years, and people cry. YOU don't have to buy it, right? And if you really want to split hairs, dropping a price on a product only to sabotage a competitor is not fair business practice. Sure, they can get away with it, because technicallly, they can state they're making a profit on it. But seriously, how about making the game just plain better? Sega couldn't, so they dropped the price 30 dollars. And still, they couldn't compete. That's the real insult.

Read what he said. He was clarifying the whole price thing. And THEN he went into a different topic. Maybe he should've made a new paragraph, but at least he didn't misread what someone was saying.

One thing I don't get is why some people hate Madden so much. I've never actually bought the game, but according to reviews (of the unbiased sort) there really isn't THAT big of a gap in quality. Madden is the better game, but I've heard that the 2K series was quickly catching up, and really turned people's heads to the question of which one was better.

That's another thing. Madden did have a decade or so to perfect itself, and it practically had a monopoly on the football scene. The 2K series did really well actually. So well, that EA itself took notice and got the exclusive NFL licence.

The OmenAugust 18, 2005

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That's another thing. Madden did have a decade or so to perfect itself, and it practically had a monopoly on the football scene. The 2K series did really well actually. So well, that EA itself took notice and got the exclusive NFL licence.

And what if Sega, in all their infinite wisdom, purchased the rights? I wonder if everyone would still have their panties in a bunch then>? Doubt it. As far as I can tell, it was yet another stupid decision by Sega. They could have acted, but didn't.

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Read what he said. He was clarifying the whole price thing. And THEN he went into a different topic. Maybe he should've made a new paragraph, but at least he didn't misread what someone was saying.

Yeah, I did read and interpret it perfectly fine. Where is my response off base?

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One thing I don't get is why some people hate Madden so much. I've never actually bought the game, but according to reviews (of the unbiased sort) there really isn't THAT big of a gap in quality. Madden is the better game, but I've heard that the 2K series was quickly catching up, and really turned people's heads to the question of which one was better.

The reason is that people hate Madden, especially younger people, is because they have a tendency to revolt against any extremely successful company that they feel attempts to monopolize a specific market. Unfortunately, most don't know what monopoly means, they just regurgitate the word ad-nauseum. It's just juvenile fanboy fodder. Others complain that the games offer only minimal updates, which is always funny to me. If you don't buy it, then what does it matter? It satisfies hardcore NFL fans, and that's what they shoot for. I have every Madden game since 93, and I can tell you it changes enough every season for me to buy it. Just look at 2000 compared to 2005. Two totally different games. And it changed each year in between to get there.

DasmosAugust 18, 2005

Hmmm maybe The Omen has a bit of a biased opinion. I mean if I remember correctly you work for EA right?

I don't think Madden changes that much to warrant a purcahse every year. I guess what your saying about the difference between 2000 and 2005 being evident and that would warrant a purcahse, but as said before I would not buy 04 then 05. Unless the gameplay has changed significantly enough, then maybe I would consider it.

Although seeing as basketball is my sport and I follow the game pretty religiously I buy NBA Live every year....but it is only AU$30 so it is not really the same.....

couchmonkeyAugust 19, 2005

If Sega purchased exclusive rights to the NFL (and every other major American football league) yes I would be ticked off. Not as much as I am with EA, but that's because Sega hasn't been using money to outbid other companies for hot franchises (TimeSplitters, Burnout) and to buy up big chunks of other major gaming companies (Maxis, Ubisoft). EA is very anti-competitive and spends more time taking control of products that are already popular in the market than adding worthwhile new products to the market.

In spite of that, I agree that there's a bias against EA that isn't totally fair, but that's the price of being on top. I also agree Madden may be better than ESPN, but I wouldn't know as I don't play football games much.

uwvarkAugust 19, 2005

Man how can anyone fall for that? Of course it's the best selling ever, no one is able to hold off to wait for a different NFL game because there won't be one. What a crock!! I doubt selling 100K more than last year covers the extreme price they had to pay for the license (or for how many people they pi55ed off by sinking every other developers NFL game).

*Waiting for a roster update for ESPN 2K5.*

hudsonhawkAugust 19, 2005

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Originally posted by: uwvark

*Waiting for a roster update for ESPN 2K5.*

Voilá, wait no longer.*

*Unless you have a PS2, in which case you'll have to wait longer.

Edit: since the last time I checked that site they now have PS2 rosters as well. Shows what I know!

Vrgin X1August 19, 2005

Meh....

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Another year, another Madden game. Another big year of Sales for Electronic Arts. And I don't give a rat's a55.

An open letter to the mainstream jacka55es:

Instead of buying Madden 2006, Go buy another game on your PS2/Xbox that isn't a sports game, a shooter, a hyped up pile of dog dookie, or trying to rip-off the seccess of "Grand Theft Auto". Your helping and hurting the industry in one fatel swoop by ignoring a lot of great games that are just rotting on the shelves waiting to get played. Thanks alot.

Thank you for reading my console fanboy rant of the day.