They will be limited initially. But I think they will eventually be able to break that mold and create a simulation game of their own.

The problem with Madden and EA is that they've honestly moved away from Franchise mode and they've placed a higher emphasis on essentially making fantasy football a virtual reality by adding the Ultimate Team series and pushing for these card buyouts through micro transactions and tournaments for more exposure.

They've really let a lot of the fun things about Franchise mode go to the wayside. The mini camp drills were fun, the ability to relocate and have a plethora of logos, designs and color schemes to make your own team were all stripped down to boring options. The presentation and commentary has been extremely watered down.

This is what made the 2K5 game stand out more than anything. The music. The overall presentations. The draft process. The Crib feature. The game play. The half time shows. 2K Sports was well ahead of it's time 15 years ago. And EA took the easy and cowardly way out.

Now that the NFL has grown up a bit and they're beginning to see the benefits of streaming and social networking and gaming in general. They probably realize now that limiting themselves to one company is not a good business practice when you have plenty of other game developers clamoring for access to their product and namesake to make even more products for the NFL to benefit from.

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