EA have cracked the whip when it comes to licensing, and may have wounded and Take Two severely in so doing, announcing an exclusive deal with the and Players Inc. which sees every facet of American Football their's entirely for the next five years. Rumours of a gargantuan deal such as this have surfaced in the past, and it appears may have forked-out 'big style' for this level of exclusivity, which prevents rival offerings from Sega and Take Two from using real stadia, teams, names or likenesses in the rival offerings to and NFL Street.

Sega and Take Two's offerings had been gaining ground on EA thanks to an aggressively competitive pricing policy. Such titles could now be rendered almost redundant leaving EA's creations without true rivals, and therefore protecting their higher pricing. Take Two were vocally disappointed with the deal, which won't be good for gamers, "by limiting their choices, curbing creativity and almost certainly leading to higher game prices." More as we get it.

By Luke Guttridge