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fever dreams
Would Natal Enable User-Generated Mo-Cap?
Let's start the week with a million-dollar-idea, courtesy of Kotaku, offered for free. More » -
madden
Madden 10 Screens Go West, Life Is Peaceful There
EA Sports today released a ton of new Madden 10 screenshots, focusing on the teams from the NFC West. And here they are. More » -
ea
Madden Demo Only Available To People Who Preorder Madden [Update]
Madden is just about the biggest thing in gaming in the US (at least in terms of sales). So EA would want to get a demo for the game into the hands of everyone and anyone, right? WRONG. More » -
madden
More Madden 10 Screens Than You'll Know What To Do With
They say there are only two constants in life: death and taxes. Uh, no. There's three. Death, taxes and Madden. So for all the pigskin fans in the house, here's a ton of Madden 10 screens. More » -
madden
NFL Retirees, Union Finally Settle Madden Licensing Lawsuit
Saying it wanted to patch things up with its increasingly embittered and estranged retirees, the NFL Players' Association dropped its appeal of a multimillion-dollar judgment related to former players' uncompensated appearance in EA's Madden series. More » -
madden
Post-Lawsuit, Old Teams Absent From Next Maddens
Hall of Famers are playable in the next Madden, but the recent PlayStation 2 inclusion of legacy teams is gone — not because of legal action but in the interest of feature parity, says EA. More » -
pc
'Madden' PC Plans Remain Shrouded In Mystery
It's the eve of E3 - sort of - and EA still isn't talking about what will become of Madden football on our personal computers. More » -
motion control
Madden Wii Developers Re-Re-Think Motion Controls
EA's football developers may be ushering in a third era of Wii motion control game development — a better one. More » -
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madden
College Football Players Joining EA Madden Lawsuit Mob
A class action lawsuit filed against EA Tuesday alleges that National Collegiate Athletic Association allowed the company to use unpaid college athletes likenesses in Madden games unlawfully. More » -
ea sports
EA Shows Off Madden 10 For Wii's "Genre-Defining Art Style"
EA Sports is making the best of the Wii's graphical prowess by going with a stylized look for the Nintendo console-bound version of Madden NFL 10, which EA says is a "genre-defining art style." More » -
clips
First Madden 10 Trailers
Witness Peter Moore speaking for an eternity without actually saying anything in these debut Madden 10 trailers. More » -
ea sports
Half A Billion EA Sports Games Played Online In A Year
EA Sports marches the big numbers out onto the field, announcing that as of this week, more than 500 million online sports games have been played since the '09 line launched last June. More » -
madden
New Madden Screens Bring The Wildcat
Last year, the Dolphins shook things up a little by breaking out the "Wildcat", an offensive formation rarely used in the NFL. To sum up, it worked. So it'll be available in Madden 10! More » -
ea sports
Claim: NFL Retirees Now Intend to Sue Madden, EA
Fresh off a $28 million victory over their own union, a retired NFL player says his comrades are targeting John Madden and Electronic Arts for their roles in games using their likenesses without compensating them. More » -
madden
One Of These Men May Appear On The Cover Of Madden 2010
Many sports games make a fuss over their respective cover athletes, but really, the only one people give a damn about is the guy who turns up on the front cover of Madden. More » -
ea sports
First Peek At Madden NFL 10 Is Full Of Big Ben
EA Sports meister Peter Moore has a Madden challenge for you. What game improvements can you detect in the first screen shot from Madden NFL 10? If you don't know, the answer is forthcoming. More » -
ea
One Last Chance To Break EA's NFL Monopoly
EA's exclusivity deal with the NFL is bad news. Why? Competition is good for the consumer. FIFA only got better as a soccer game, for example, because of competition from Konami's Pro Evo. More » -
madden
EA Considered Booting Favre from Madden Cover
Seems only the fawning sports press has love for Brett Favre anymore. He's worn out his welcome in New York, and now comes word Electronic Arts considered pulling him from the Madden 09 cover. More » -
xbox 360
Xbox Live Catches Super Bowl Fever
Super Bowl's on this weekend. People are excited. Few as excited as Microsoft seem to be, as they've just announced that, all day Sunday, Xbox Live will be going bananas for all things football. More » -
madden
Retired NFL Players Shafted By Madden Deal *Will* Get Paid
Former NFL football players swindled out of royalties fees from EA Sports' Madden NFL video game series will get $28.1 million by the National Football League Players Association. A federal judge has upheld the decision. More » -
electronic arts
EA Still Partying At The Super Bowl, Despite Layoffs
With the economy in a rut, it's hard to justify fabulous Super Bowl bashes when companies are bleeding cash and slashing headcount. But Electronic Art's is proudly soldiering on with its festivities, Madden Bowl-style. More » -
red planet
EA Confirms Cuts At Madden Developer
What was rumor yesterday is now fact. Madden NFL, Tiger Woods and NCAA Football games developer EA Tiburon is home to the latest casualties at Electronic Arts, though numbers were not disclosed. More » -
disturbance in the workforce
Rumor: More EA Job Cuts, This Time At Madden's House
EA are cutting 1000 jobs, and they're cutting them from everywhere. We've already seen, or heard of job losses at Blackbox and Mythic, but are now hearing of more at Tiburon Studios. More » -
madden
Judge Upholds $28 Million Award To Retired NFL Players Over Madden Suit
U.S. District Judge William Alsup upheld a decision to award retired NFL players $28.1 million in the group's lawsuit against the league's player union over allegations they were cheated by an unfavorable deal with EA. More » -
ea sports
Peter Moore Talks EA's Wii Challenges
The one console that EA's Madden franchise doesn't sell huge on? The Nintendo Wii. Approximately 100,000 Madden NFL 09 Wii copies were sold this past August compared to the combined two million PS3/PS2/Xbox 360 copies sold during the same period. EA Sports exec Peter Moore sized up the situation: "The challenge we face is that that consumer gets Wii Sports right out of the box and that’s a sports experience that’s good enough for a lot of people. That is a challenge for us at times. Secondly, we’re doing very well with the core consumer, migrating them to the Xbox 360 and PS3 and, quite frankly, if they’re looking for that hardcore experience that’s where they’re buying that... We are seeing multiple copy purchases in the home. As you well know, I was the proponent of the Wii60 in the early days. I think there’s going to be a very strong multi-console ownership in homes. And I think that’s bearing out. We are starting to see, anecdotally, two copies of Madden — one for the 360 or PS3 — and another copy for the younger kids or even for the wife or girlfriend on the Wii." Moore is probably onto something. Sure, there are some Wii-only households, but there are also tons of Wii-plus-another-console households. More » -
madden
Did EA And The NFLPA Conspire To Lock 2K Out Of The Football Market?
It certainly looks that way. As part of a lawsuit involving retired NFL player rights, a 2007 e-mail from NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) executive Clay Walker to an NFLPA attorney was released. That email reads: More » -
madden
NFL Retirees Win $28M in Madden Lawsuit
Retired National Football League players have won a $28 million verdict against the NFL's players union, in a federal lawsuit alleging they were cheated by a sweetheart deal the union struck with Electronic Arts over the use of ex-players' images in the Madden franchise. Three quarters of that figure are punitive damages. The verdict will almost certainly be appealed. More » -
madden
So, How Much Did EA Spend Marketing Madden 09?
Contrary to popular belief, Madden does not sell itself. Some people need convincing it's an improvement over last year, some people need reminding it's time for a new Madden and some, like myself, need convincing it's any better than NFL2K5. In order to get the word out (the word being "BUY MADDEN"), then, EA need to spend money on advertising. And they spend a lot. For Madden 09, for example, they spent over $10 million on marketing. For one game. $5.5 million alone was spent on cable TV advertising. Guess an email just reminding everyone "hey, new Madden is out" can't get the job done. More » -
ea sports
Madden Cover Spot May Go To The Highest Bidder
Attention all professional athletes who use Kotaku as your primary news source: if you want to secure the coveted/cursed Madden NFL coverboy spot, you may have to open up those wallets. EA Sports head honcho Peter Moore says, according to a Bloomberg report, that the company is considering selling off the cover treatment to the highest bidder. Don't PayPal the cash yet — the matter is still under internal discussion. More » -
lawsuits
Lawsuit: Retired NFLers Cheated by EA, Union
A suit brought by retired NFL players not only alleges they're due money for Electronic Arts' use of their likenesses and career stats, but also that their own union brokered a below-market deal as a favor to EA, helping it secure exclusive NFL rights for its Madden franchise. More » -
madden
EA Sports Pays A Man To Watch Football All Week
If watching football for a living sounds like your "dream job" then EA Tiburon's Anthony White should be the target of your jealous rage. Of course, White has to watch every single NFL game every single week, so it might sound like utter torture. Regardless of your perspective, it sure beats digging ditches. More » -
ds
EA In Japan Is, Um, Different.
Madden, FIFA, NBA Live. Those are the types of games that immediately come to mind when someone says EA. And if not those, how about Medal of Honor, Spore and the upcoming Mirror's Edge. EA has a very strong brand identity. Well, in the West. In Japan, folks don't play Madden. More » -
madden
NFL's "Voice of God" Prevails in Madden Case
The estate of John Facenda, the "Voice of God" of highlight-reel narration famously misquoted as calling Lambeau Field "frozen tundra," has won yet another appellate victory against NFL Films for its unauthorized use of his voice in a promotional video for Electronic Arts' Madden football franchise. More » -
madden
The $100,000 Madden Bet
Once was a day rappers could settle their fueds with bullets. That or lyrics. But that would be asking a little too much of Bow Wow & The Game, who are instead settling their beef (prompted by The Game's boast he was the world's best Madden player) via a game of...Madden 09. A game of Madden 09 which will be thrown straight up on YouTube, and which will see the loser donate $100,000 to the winner's charity of choice. Charity? Good deeds? This rap game's changed, yo. More » -
madden 09
Go, Print Off Your New Madden Covers
Sam's Club? You don't need Sam's Club to print your Madden covers off. Or EA, for that matter, because we know you're lazy, and have trouble navigating the homepages of monolithic publishers. So we're giving you the option of getting them right here, with these watermark-free, printable copies of the new Packers-less, Jets-oriented box art. There's one for each version - 360, PS3, PSP and PS2 - and they should be big enough that, when printed, they'll look indistinguishable from the copies of Madden 08, Madden 07 and Madden 06 next to it on the shelf. Oh, except Wii owners, there's no cover for you. Don't take it as a sign EA don't think you care, take it as a sign EA know you don't care. More » -
madden nfl 09
GameStop Wants The Girls To Spend The Night With John Madden
It's Madden Day — and video game retailer GameStop is hoping to soak up some of those "pink ocean" dollars, tapping into what it think is a currently untapped market of women gamers who not only love the Wii, but also love NFL football. GameStop has launched the "Girls Night In" device, a site "designed to help educate wives, moms and girlfriends about the Madden phenomenon." It highlights the requisite activities all women love — cooking, dressing up, accessorizing, eating — meeting the thrill of playing virtual football, something you didn't know you adored until marketing said so. More » -
madden nfl 09
Madden 09 is Live: Do You Care?
Late last night people crowded into stores and at least one Rose Bowl to snatch up a copy of Madden NFL 09. This marking the 20th anniversary of the game, Madden has been getting even more hype than usual this year round with mainstream press pointing to the game's successes as proof that video gaming has gone mainstream. More »
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madden nfl 09
Madden 09 Gets Favre Focused Roster, Cover Update
Former Packers QB Brett Favre has returned to the NFL, announcing his retirement from retirement and throwing a wrench into EA's plans to have him as cover boy for Madden NFL 09. Favre, photographed in his Packers uniform, is now playing for the Jets, leading to a very important, last minute roster change. That change won't, however, affect his appearance on the cover of this year's Madden. More » -
madden 09
Favre Traded, But Madden's Cover Remains The Same
Hey, sports fans! We know you read Kotaku. Or, at least, some of you care about sports. Maybe even care about Madden. So you'll find this of interest: with the Packers QB being traded to the Jets today, it leaves EA in a pickle. They'd put him on the cover of Madden 09 in a Packers uniform, convinced - like everybody else - that he'd stay retired. So with Favre now due to suit up (or at least hold a clipboard) for NY this season, what are EA going to do with the cover? The game's not out yet, they can mock up a new, Jets-branded image, right? Nope. They're just going to leave it, a testament to a time when Brett Favre was going to be remembered as a future Hall of Fame QB, and not the meddling star of a modern-day sports soap opera. More » -
Blitz 2
Blitz II: Like Madden, But Doggy Style
Lawrence Taylor has quickly shot up my list of great people to interview. There was this Blitz: The League 2 launch party somewhere around Times Square tonight. Press people and whoever else got to play the game as well as take advantage of the open bar. The highlight of the night, however, was when I interviewed Lawrence Taylor -the football guy on the cover - in a round-table discussion. I didn't get a chance to ask a lot of questions, so when I did, I simply asked "Why should anyone buy Blitz 2 over Madden 09?" His response was, well, very...positional.
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