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.
» Read More

10 Jun 2009

Federal Judge: Madden Monopoly Suit May Proceed Against EA

360 News from N4G | Madden NFL 06

360 - Madden NFL 06 - Federal Judge: Madden Monopoly Suit May Proceed Against 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.
» Read More

20 Apr 2009

Report: Retired NFL Players Plan to Sue EA, Madden

360 News from N4G | Madden NFL 06

360 - Madden NFL 06 - Report: Retired NFL Players Plan to Sue EA, Madden

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.
» Read More

3 Aug 2007

EA chops online for 06 games

360 News | Madden NFL 06

If you never see the point of buying every yearly update of EA's sports titles, EA's about to give you one: from September 1 it will begin shutting down the online servers for most of its 2006-edition sports titles. As of that date, the online gameplay options on games like FIFA World Cup 2006, NBA Live 06, Madden 06 and Tiger Woods 06 will be rendered useless on all formats including PC. This means you'll have to purchase the newer editions of the games to continue the fight via the web, or ...
» Read More

15 Jul 2009

Economist: EA's Madden Monopoly Cost Gamers Up To $926 Million

360 News from N4G | Madden NFL 07

360 - Madden NFL 07 - Economist: EA's Madden Monopoly Cost Gamers Up To $926 Million

10 Jun 2009

Federal Judge: Madden Monopoly Suit May Proceed Against EA

360 News from N4G | Madden NFL 07

360 - Madden NFL 07 - Federal Judge: Madden Monopoly Suit May Proceed Against EA

20 Apr 2009

Report: Retired NFL Players Plan to Sue EA, Madden

360 News from N4G | Madden NFL 07

360 - Madden NFL 07 - Report: Retired NFL Players Plan to Sue EA, Madden

16 Jun 2008

Video Gamers Sue EA Over Exclusive Sports Games

360 News from N4G | Madden NFL 07

360 - Madden NFL 07 - Video Gamers Sue EA Over Exclusive Sports Games

Sports video games are a huge business -- and for many years, it was an extremely competitive space. I remember a few years back trying to wade through half a dozen different baseball video game titles to figure out which one was worth buying. However, a few years back, video game giant EA started signing "exclusive" deals with a variety of sporting leagues, including the NFL. These "exclusive" deals supposedly meant that only EA could produce games with the names and stats of real players -- a huge selling point among most fans. And, of course, in gaining exclusivity, EA has completely cashed in. However, a bunch of angry video gamers are now suing the company for anticompetitive conduct, noting that these exclusive deals killed off all the competition, allowing EA to drastically raise its prices.
» Read More

5 Jun 2008

GTA Rules NPD All-Time U.S. Top 10

360 News from N4G | Madden NFL 07

360 - Madden NFL 07 - GTA Rules NPD All-Time U.S. Top 10

Next-Gen.Biz writes: "The NPD Group has revealed the top 10 selling games of all time in the U.S. market.

Forbes reported earlier this week NPD Group's up-to-date top ten U.S. videogame sales figures by units, revealing a list dominated by the Grand Theft Auto and Madden NFL franchises.

As seen below, GTA: San Andreas from 2004 is the top-selling game in the U.S. with 9.43 million units sold. The franchise shows up on the top 10 three times, while Madden appears four times.

Activision had two 2007 titles already break the top 10 (Guitar Hero III and Call of Duty 4), while EA had one 2007 title on the list in the form of Madden NFL 08."
» Read More

22 Apr 2008

Madden NFL 09 LE not seeing a PAL release? - Dimorphic360

360 News from N4G | Madden NFL 07

360 - Madden NFL 07 - Madden NFL 09 LE not seeing a PAL release? - Dimorphic360

Dimorphic360 writes:

"It seems that Australia once again is getting shafted when it comes to limited edition releases of games. First Mass Effect and Devil May Cry 4 were given cut down limited edtion releases (in the case of Mass Effect we only got a small pre-order bonus) and the limited edition bundle of EA Sports Madden franchise looks like the next in line..."
» Read More