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 favour 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.

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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]

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]

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 $US 100,000 to the winner's charity of choice. Charity? Good deeds? This rap game's changed, yo.

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

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-orientated 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.

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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.

And of course, Electronic Arts is quick to point out that this Madden is a keeper.

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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.

That said, fanatical football fans with a desire for accuracy will be able to download a Jets uniformed Favre next week, according to MTV Multiplayer. It's due to hit EAsports.com sometime next week, just begging to be printed and inserted into a clear plastic sleeve. Ready the inkjets!

Welcome Back Brett [Peter Moore blog]
EA Will Produce Brett Favre 'Madden' Cover Featuring Jets Uniform, Updating Roster On Monday [MTV Multiplayer]

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.

Brett Favre Traded To Jets [IGN]

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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Jim Brown is mad. The former Browns RB and occasional movie star is suing both EA and Sony for "unspecified damages for trademark infringement, unauthorised use of his likeness, trademark dilution and unfair business practices and competition". Those are big claims! So what's his complaint? That the classic/vintage "All-Browns" team in Madden has a black RB with the number 32. Jim Brown, remembering he was also a black RB for the Browns who wore #32, is upset by this, and wants not only the aforementioned damages, but wants his "likeness" removed from the game as well. Never mind the Madden player is not called Jim Brown, nor does it carry his likeness in any way. Neither EA nor Sony are yet to respond to the lawsuit, presumably because they're too busy wondering how stupid Brown's lawyers really are.
Sony Sued by Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown Over Video Game [Bloomberg]

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