Assuming with the discount you save $16 on DLC, you're paying $9 for early access to sports games. Now, I'm all for spending your money how you wish, I mean, it's your money and you'll speak with your wallet, but I'm asking you to reconsider the deal. It's been a while since I've played sports games as the good ones aren't on PC, but back when I did, they were essentially the same each year with a couple features added in, but nothing big. I have Madden 04 and Madden 07 and if I were to play them both, I'd have a difficult time telling the two apart. (even though I LOVE football games)

So I gotta ask, couldn't you just play the previous game for the 3 days and save the 9 bucks?

The games are not the same year after year. That's like saying why watch football this year, it's the same sport as it was last year...

By this logic, how is any demo or trial ever "limited" if you just buy the game and continue playing as soon as it expires?

What makes them so different they deserve $60 of your hard-earned money?

From what I've seen, you're paying full price for a glorified patch. At best the equivalent of an expansion pack.

I miss the days of shareware. I also miss the days when PC Gamer was a real magazine and came with a demo disk chock full of gaming goodness. I remember when their disks were 3.5" floppies.

Ooh, $25 to try five games for three days. Yeah, I can see how.....wait...no, it still doesn't make it OK.

If Bethesda was going to attempt it they'd more than likely lose me as a customer, if they said it was mandatory to get their games. Either way, I'd never sign up for it. I don't need to play a game that bad that I can't wait for release.

Yes, but you pay to see football on TV every year because the action is different each time.

Video games are different. The only thing that can change there is the gameplay, which at this point can only receive very very minor adjustments. How is that worth throwing $60 down when you can just play the last game in the series and get almost exactly the same experience?

It's the new season.

What makes MLB different this year compared to last for all the people (including myself) who subscribe to MLB.tv ($25 a month), or NFL Sunday Ticket ($40 a month). It's the new season.

What do you expect them to do, add new rules to the game every year? "Oh let's change all the stadiums and make them different". It's a simulation, of course it's going to be the same but a new season, that's why we love it.

I can really only think of two instances where this is true. Keep in mind that the ONLY sports games I've ever played are football and boxing.

I remember the 'truck stick' in Madden allowing you to throw your weight around. It was a huge advancement for the enjoyment of the game. Breaking through a defensive line is very satisfying.

And in boxing they started using the anologue sticks to throw punches. Very engaging and fluid. Made boxing games feel more like fighting and less like gaming, in my opinion.

Now, I could be terribly wrong here but, besides those, aren't they the same games?

So you're paying $60 for a roster update?

But what does that mean to a video game?

A- You can't play last year's game online.
B- You can't play with the current rosters
C- You look like a fool trying to play Madden 11 when 12's out.
D- There are tweaks to gameplay ever year (and Madden 2013 has been completely overhauled from 12).

Pretty much. EA hasn't added a new gameplay feature worth a [censored] in a decade.

Yes and we love it.

This makes sense. This is the reason to buy the game.

Do you find paying the 25 bucks for 3 day early access worth it? Will you be able to play it online in those 3 days? Will you have to stop playing the previous one in the 3 days?

A- Why's that? Do they lock you out? If they do, they're only doing so to force you to pay for a new game. They don't have to do that.
B- Then they should offer a free patch every year with updated rosters. It's just a bunch of numbers. Probably takes one worker the better part of a work day to type up.
C- So it's a peer pressure thing?
D- Significant enough tweaks to be worth $60? MMOs update with new mechanics and changes for free, if you ignore the monthly fees you'd pay for anyway.

What exactly do you expect them to add? You can't change the sport and the game has already been perfected. You don't fix what isn't broken.

Oh lawdy. Do you read what you type?

There's no real reason for that, though. EA just throws a switch and your games are bricked. Doesn't that kind of add a bit of weight to the opposite side of your economic calculations a bit? They're screwing you over, man!

But how important is that? You realize that for the purposes of the game, this essentially means nothing.

Hey, I'm proud that I still play the original Mario Baseball in 2012!

So you would also rebuy the Mona Lisa every time Leo added a few brush strokes?

Yes you can play online early, and second of all I've already stopped playing the old one (it's baseball season now...It's MLB 2k12 season.)

They could add a patch every year, but they're not going to and I'm fine with that. I enjoy going to the store and getting the new version, with the new cover athlete and the new menus, and new commentary, etc.

You're never going to convince me otherwise, so you can stop now.

M'kay.

Rosters mean everything. How can you play a simulation game if Peyton Manning is still on the Colts? That makes no sense at all.

Plus $25 minus 20%.

So, that's a one time fee of $25 + $60 x 5 + whatever the cost of the DLC (Jersey colors, player names, new rosters) x how many DLCs are released minus the 20%.

This is an incredible deal!

/sarcasm.

I feel like we're being trolled at this point.

The $300 Ravens jersey I'll be getting this year probably doesn't sound like a deal to you either. But like the games, you can't wear last year's jersey in the new season, you again will look like a fool.

I dunno, IMO there's still lots of fun to be had from games like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comanche_series even though that type of helicopter was decommissioned years ago...

... why not just wear a plain tee and a pair of blue jeans...?