You know it's going to be a long month when it starts out with 6,000 (former) professional athletes suing you. That's the reality that Electronic Arts is now facing from a group of disgruntled retired NFL players who aren't getting the recognition they feel they deserve...
A new lawsuit against EA contends that the publisher knowingly and intentionally used NFL players likenesses in such a way that they would avoid having to pay licensing fees. Plaintiff Tony Davis, a former NFL running back, believes that EA misappropriated the retired players by using stats and positions, without using the names and uniform numbers of specific players. This matters little, as the game allows players to manually change the names of these historic players.
EA has announced they will be removing many servers for their sports title coming just 1 month away on February 2nd, 2010 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and the PC.
A lawsuit between John Big Dawg Thompson, the dog mask-wearing, bone-wielding Browns fan, and Electronic Arts, Inc., maker of the Madden NFL video game series, is likely to be resolved, a lawyer for the fan said on Friday. A case management conference scheduled last Friday was cancelled because the case is being dismissed, said Alan Parker, a lawyer representing Thompson. Parker said the dismissal terms are confidential. Thompson, of Cleveland, was happy the case is over, said Parker, who wouldn't comment further on the super-fan's reaction to the outcome.
The high-profile court case against EA Sport's monopoly in the NFL market took an interesting turn this week, with an economist brought in to show how much the demise of 2K's competing NFL franchise has cost sports gamers. Despite admitting his report is based on incomplete data, University of Michigan economics professor Dr. Jeffrey Mackie-Mason has told the the U.S. District Court in San Francisco that EA's domination of the NFL video games market has cost gamers between $701 million and $926 million since 2K's NFL2K series was blocked from competing with EA.
EA had previously requested that Judge Vaughn Walker dismiss claims by Geoffrey Pecover and Jeffrey Lawrence. The two Madden buyers, serving as named plaintiffs in the class-action suit, alleged that by eliminating competition for NFL-licensed games EA had acted in a monopolistic fashion and unjustly enriched itself at the expense of consumers. On Friday Judge Walker issued a ruling denying EA's motion. The Judge did, however, rule that only claims in California and Washington, D.C. would go forward since that is where the two named plaintiffs in the case reside.
His days of calling NFL games on T.V. may be over, but John Madden's retirement might not be as idyllic as he had hoped. According to a report on former Oakland Raiders lineman Dave Pear's Blog, NFL retirees are planning to go after Madden and Electronic Arts, publisher of the best-selling pro football game which bears the former coach's name.
Last week, EA simulated the Super Bowl XLIII match-up between the Steelers and Cardinals with Madden NFL 09. The Super Bowl is now over and not only did the simulation predict the winner, but it also got the margin of victory right and even came close to the real game's final score.
PWN or DIE simulated the NFC Championship game between the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles and came amazingly close to the final outcome of the actual game that was filled with highlights. Fast forward a couple of weeks to the Super Bowl this Sunday and the Arizona Cardinals will be playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. Given the success of the previous simulation, it was a no-brainer to do it for the big game. [Video Highlights Included]
Kotaku Writes: Despite the onset of some troubled economic times, EA will still be spending big at this year's Super Bowl. Part of those festivities will be the 15th Madden Bowl. So who's playing? Seven current NFL players will be picking up the controllers and vying for digital bragging rights, including a player each from the competing Super Bowl teams and, for the first time, college players. USC's Mark Sanchez and Georgia's Matthew Stanford will play first, and the winner of their stoush will take their place among the final eight participants.
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