There are rumors circulating on the net, all of them just rumors, thankfully; that troubled game publisher Take-Two Interactive may sell 2K Sports. The maker of "Grand Theft Auto" and "Bully" is in a serious slump and the sports developer, Visual Concepts, and sports brands it bought from Sega a few years back could go on the block. According to Michael Pachter, videogame analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities, Electronic Arts could buy the rival sports division and erase any and all competition.

As a sports fan and a gamer, nothing could be worse for the videogame industry. I just got back from the NBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas, where multiple competing NBA games like "NBA 2K7," "NBA Live 07," "NBA 07," "NBA Backyard Basketball," and "NBA Street Homecourt," were all on display. This type of competition is good for the consumer, as publishers are forced to innovate and compete against one another. It's the reason "NBA 2K7" is considered the best basketball game out there by the majority of press, as well as the NBA All-Stars I spoke with. Imagine if that game was erased and "NBA Live 07" was your only choice.

We're already dealing with that with "Madden NFL 07," which EA managed to steal away from 2K Sports, which had the much-beloved "NFL 2K" franchise, by signing a five-year exclusive with the NFL. 2K Sports is working on a new game, "All Pro Football 2K7" that will feature NFL legends, but not current players. Midway had some success with its non-NFL "Blitz: The League," but can't come out with games very often because of a lack of real players.

EA also has the exclusive on "FIFA," but ask any true soccer fan and they'll tell you Konami's "Winning Eleven Pro Soccer 2007" is a better game. Competition is good and EA Sports, while its a great brand, does not make the best sports games across the board. I do prefer the "NHL 07" game, with its innovative hit sticks, to "NHL 2K7." And I'm a big hockey fan. It's worth mentioning that this deal, if it ever happens, would give EA the remaining pieces to the sports world--mainly an MLB game exclusive--which 2K Sports signed to cut EA out of the game a couple years back. (EA still makes NCAA Baseball games.)

Choice is good for gamers. While we don't need six competing baseball games--and it wasn't that long ago that we had that many--we don't need just one. Even the MLB deal allows Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to make first-party games. One choice is all we have for the NFL, PGA Tour and NASCAR. Cutting out the competition for the rest of the sports out there wouldn't be good for anyone but EA.