EA + NFL = FU

And the 'U' stands for you - the gaming consumer. In case you haven't heard, EA announced it had secured exclusive video game publishing rights to the NFL, thanks to a 5-year deal struck between themselves, the NFL, and the NFL Players Association. That means lights out for the recently minted ESPN NFL offering from Sega and Take2 Interactive, as well as the beautiful $20 price point that accompanied it. Bend over and lube up, because the Steel-Shod EA Anti-Antitrust Machine is firing on all pistons.

EA is toxic to the gaming industry. They are the poster child for everything that is wrong with consolidated publishing. I almost said they were the prototypical example, but that ignominious distinction goes to Atari nee Infogrames, which is as insatiable as EA in its quest for total global game publishing hegemony, though arguably not as successful.

Combine the jihad that EA is waging against its competition with the inescapably stupid console hardware arms race being waged by Sony and Microsoft, and we've got the right ingredients for an environment that is hostile to both gamers and developers, enforcing high prices and risk-averse homogeneity.