• 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.

    EA Sports’ Peter Moore On The Struggle Of Selling Sports Games To Wii Owners [Multiplayer] [Pic]

    1:00 AM on Tue Nov 25 2008
    By Brian Ashcraft
    1,688 views, 44 comments

    Most discussed ViolenceMan: Okay either Moore is a small dude or the gentleman to the left is freakin HUGE 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:
    I was able to forge this deal with the [Pro Football Hall of Fame] that provides them with 400K per year (which is significantly below market rate) in exchange for the HOF player rights. EA owes me a huge favor because of that threat was enough to persuade Take Two to back off its plans, leaving EA as the only professional football videogame manufacturer out there.
    More »

    3:00 AM on Tue Nov 18 2008
    By Luke Plunkett
    6,213 views, 88 comments

    Most discussed lopey: i never really understood the obsession with 2k football. the last game was absurdly easy. i played on the hardest 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 »

    2:00 PM on Tue Nov 11 2008
    By Owen Good
    3,230 views, 48 comments

    Most discussed animexplorer: great stuff. i am happy for those players. i hope EA would loose more money. EA is a behemoth that 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.

    One Nation Under Madden [Nielsen, via GameDaily] [Image]

    6:20 AM on Thu Oct 30 2008
    By Luke Plunkett
    1,440 views, 21 comments

    Most discussed DTM_Returns: No madden has been better than NFL 2k5. KingMe, please tell me specifically what you thought was better? 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.

    Before you throw that yellow flag and foul EA for unsportsmanlike greed, keep in mind that the NFL exclusive licensee is planning on donating proceeds from the cover spot sale to the United Way, the NFL's charity of choice.

    Moore says that Madden fans don't seem to care whose mug floats over the Madden logo, that EA doesn't see “a huge up-tick or down-tick depending on who's on the cover.” Hmph. We want more Madden covers with Madden himself on the cover. Who will pony up the cash?

    Electronic Arts May Auction `Madden' Game Cover, President Says [Bloomberg]

    5:40 PM on Mon Oct 27 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    1,574 views, 65 comments

    Most discussed zanzibarlegend: Eli Manning should be on the cover, point blank. - SB Ring - SB MVP - lost no games on the road in 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.

    Via Ars Technica and GamePolitics, former Buffalo Bills defensive back Jeff Nixon has written an open letter to John Madden (also a Hall of Famer and former Oakland Raiders coach) which details some documents discovered in this suit. Nixon alleges the plaintiffs have communication between the a union official and an EA developer cc'd to another union official, in which everyone agreed to scramble retired players' likenesses to keep from paying them, beginning with Madden NFL 2002. The players may not be identifiable visually, or by number, but they still have the same height, weight, years of service and performance characteristics, making them wink-and-nod identifiable.

    The reason for the scrambling? Take-Two apparently was going after retired players' image permissions for a game that never got off the ground. Nixon alleges EA and the NFLPA's marketing unit, NFL Players Inc., rushed to lock down a contract that secured the most valuable retired players' rights for below-market payments, and says he has an email (jump) admitting this. More »

    9:00 AM on Sat Oct 4 2008
    By Owen Good
    4,846 views, 81 comments

    Most discussed captainapplesauce: Aw... poor mistreated football players. Yeah, they're all hurting for the money. 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.

    Why does EA pay White to watch every NFL game in existence? To keep Madden NFL up-to-date and accurate and, probably most of all, to keep virtual football obsessive types — like White, who got the job with a little help from his Madden strategy web site — happy with its recreation of the sport. White's weekly three-day watch-a-thon helps him design plays for each year's iteration.

    This may not be the gaming gig people hear about often, but having to watch NFL football maniacally is something people do for free. Yes, it's quite a little scam.

    Dream job: Orlando-area man gets paid to watch football [Orlando Sentinel]

    6:20 PM on Mon Sep 29 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    2,026 views, 35 comments

    Most discussed AvidAbey: I'd certainly love to watch even half of the NFL games on each week. The awesome shit I miss out 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.

    So take Electronic Arts published DS title Hachikoi. Due out next spring in Japan, the adventure title is developed by Osaka's Neuron-Age and features things like sun tanning — complete with touch pen action. Is this how EA attempts to cater to local tastes?

    EAについにギャルゲー！ [はちま起稿]

    3:00 AM on Mon Sep 29 2008
    By Brian Ashcraft
    15,675 views, 58 comments

    Most discussed icepick314: you're supposed to untie the strings or you'll have that bikini tan line.... 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.

    It would help if right now you read the remainder of this post in Facenda's authoritative baritone, full of gratuitous enunciation and inflection, and pauses that begin, unstressed, before rolling to a conclusion that still remains exciting — even if bereft ... of all suspense. More »

    3:00 PM on Sat Sep 13 2008
    By Owen Good
    3,765 views, 19 comments

    Most discussed Thassodar: "It's fourth and long" That's what SHE said. 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.

    BOW WOW AND THE GAME GAMBLE $100,000 IN HEAD-TO-HEAD [contactmusic, via GameArena]

    11:30 PM on Tue Aug 26 2008
    By Luke Plunkett
    5,436 views, 117 comments

    Most discussed Silenthillnight: @dmcshinobi: What's your definition of good music, Panic at the Disco? At least they're doing something constructive with their more »