EA Sports Madden 2005 is the most successful football simulation across videogame platforms. It retails for 49.99. Just as I was about to call for mandatory unbundling and regulatory pricing of this high-priced, market dominant game, ESPN-Sega prices its rival NFL 2k5 at $19.99.
If none of this matters to you, you didn't just have a birthday party for your nine-year-old and eight of his friends. Based on an informal survey, the Sega/ESPN pricing strategy is making inroads among videogame buying parents.