[dobbles]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

As much as EA deserves to be crapped on for letting the NHL series get so long in the tooth from the tired front-end, to the resistance to implement their new gameplay engines until well after they've moved onto the next one, I have to give EA some credit.

I posted this sentiment on Reddit but it belongs here as well. I remember back when EA had a stranglehold on video game hockey (the first time) with the NHL series, coasting basically on $60+ dollar roster and Front End menu updates as they do today. Then 2K entered the fray and it was seen as a great thing for video game hockey, with 2K investing development resources into actual gameplay improvements, even if EA still had a visually superior product. Alas, 2K just couldn’t compete with EA and the 2K NHL games ceased, handing the video game hockey market back to EA by default.

But in the NBA world, EA got beaten by 2K and EA took a break from the NBA Live series. Since then, just look at what 2K has done when they are dominant. I bought NBA2K14 for the Xbox One when it was first released and I was astounded by all of the 'pay to win' garbage in the form of VC points or whatever. These days, it's even worse, down to 2K adding unskippable advertising in the game.

Say what you will about EA (I sure as hell will), but at least they aren't 2K.

To me the takeaway isn't that EA or 2K are inherently bad, but that monopolies are bad. Exclusive licensing deals that lock out competition are bad. Competition creates better quality products. And until there is actual competition, this is what consumers will get.