Recently, EA Sports released NCAA 2006, the first of their football games with multi-year exclusive contracts. This writer refused to purchase the NCAA game this year after last year’s fiasco, so Blockbuster will have to settle for my rental dollars.

For those who don’t remember last year, EA released NCAA 2005 for $49.99 and then offered a deal about a month later where you would get Madden 2005 for $20 less when you returned NCAA 2005 to stores like Gamestop, Toys "R" Us and EB (which has now been acquired by Gamestop). When all was said and done with this deal, the consumer was actually paying $70 for a product that was no way near the product Visual Concepts put out last year with NFL 2K5.

Madden fanboys/gals will argue to their graves that last year’s Madden was at the top of the heap, but for someone like me who has been playing Madden and the 2K series since their introductions, the NFL 2K5 game destroyed Madden in game play and in-game options. The customization of stadium music alone was the icing on the cake to name a few things that made the $19.99 price that much more a bargain.

People will argue that the $19.99 price was a gimmick that was no threat to EA, but weeks after the release of NFL 2k5, and a solid buzz of good game play forced EA to drop the price of Madden, and by the time Christmas rolled around you could buy a copy of Madden for $19.99

It was around this time, EA announced their deal with the NFL locking them in for a five-year exclusive contract. A deal that the NFL had put out to bid, and EA won by bidding millions of dollars that they are going to have to come up with to keep the rights, which means you may see the same type of product placements as you do in EA's "Need for Speed" series. And, don't even think about custom soundtracks for your stadium since bands, rappers and other performers will be paying big money to have their new music featured in the game.

Now... August 9th is the release date for Madden 2006, and for some reason QB Donovan McNabb will be the cover boy this year. I guess the reasoning for this is because EA is boasting a revamped offensive system that will depend on how well you ball with your QB’s strengths and weaknesses so having a QB on the cover solidifies their commitment.

EA is offering a "false" freebee for those who purchase Madden 2006. Every person who purchases this year's Madden gets free commissioner service for their fantasy football site. This deal is a win-win-win situation for EA. For every person who takes advantage of this deal, they are only helping to promote a fantasy league that EA never had last year.

So the question of the day is will this writer purchase Madden 2006 on August 9th? Well, I'm torn for two main reasons.. I need a football sim in my life, and no matter how much I will miss the 2K series (Visual Concepts is rumored to be making a Hall of Famers game) I will probably buy the Madden on it's release date, but if the buzz keeps building about their Madden 2006 "next-gen" game due out for the XBox 360 release, I may wait the four months before giving EA my money.

Comments? Hit me up: Sinista1@msn.com