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I love video games. But not so much that I'd consider changing my name over them. However, Chris Kluwe from the Minnesota Vikings wants to ensure he'll have the highest selling NFL jersey.
The weekend. 'Skins v Eagles. Washington are up 10-3, and in the final seconds of the game, Eagles receiver Reggie Brown takes what should be the game-winning catch...but is stuffed at the 1.
Retired National Football League players have won a $US28 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.
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.
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.
Being a punter, Minnesota Vikings specialist Chris Kluwe has a lot of spare time on his hands. Sure, he could spend that time practising extra hard, or going over his playbook, but that's boring. Instead, Kluwe plays Guitar Hero. A lot of Guitar Hero. To the point where he "estimates that he is one of the top 100 Guitar Hero players in the world", a feat he backs up with claims of victory over the "Guinness World Record holder" in a versus match. And while some of his burlier teammates are prone to give him a little shit over his obsession, he gets nothing but praise from Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell. Kluwe is Longwell's holder, and the kicker says:
He works hard at it, that's for sure. He never lets a moment pass where he's not either thinking about it or working on it. I think it actually helps his holding (on field-goal and point-after attempts) because his hand-eye coordination's got to be phenomenal to do that on expert level.
Professional football player, expert GH player, million dollar smile...truly, a renaissance man.
Punt Rocker: Vikings punter Kluwe is a Guitar Hero [TwinCities, thanks Tom!]
Electronic Arts plans to reup their licensing deal with the National Football League in 2013 when their current deal expires, EA Sports president Peter Moore told attendee's of Ziif Davis' annual Electronic Gaming Summit.
Moore was quick to point out that it wasn't Electronic Arts that asked for the exclusive deal, but rather the NFL which was seeking a single licensee. He said that EA feels that licensing remains an important part of adding realism to their sports titles and that he can't imagine a time when they wouldn't seek them.
Hear that? That's the sound of hearts breaking.
Yesterday I posted more of a plea than a story, asking Tecmo not to F-up their return to the beloved football franchise Tecmo Bowl and it seems that most of you were with me. Heck, I even received a private email with assurances that things would remain F-up free. And for the most part, it seems that that is the case.
But Stephen Totilo IMed me this morning to point out what he's found out about the upcoming game, most of which sounds great, some of which... OK one of which, is not so much.
Electronic Arts sent out the official release this afternoon confirming that they have extended their exclusive license with the NFL and NFL Players Association through the 2012 season, which ends in Feb. 2013. Not a whole lot new here from my interview with Peter Moore about the deal.
There are these two lovely quotes from the two organisations:
"This is all about bringing authenticity and realism to NFL videogames," said Eric Grubman, President of NFL Ventures. "EA SPORTS continually works to maintain the cutting edge for NFL products across a variety of gaming platforms. We like the fact that they never rest."No mention of the cost to EA for the deal, something Moore also declined to tell me in our talk last night. I'm still confused about why the NFL would seek an exclusive deal instead of selling the rights to a number of publishers. Maybe they want to keep a better handle on how their license is used? Full release on the jump with more Mooreisms."This is great news and it means we can continue to produce the best interactive experience possible. It also allows NFL PLAYERS, the NFL and EA to continue to build our brands," said Gene Upshaw, Chairman of NFL PLAYERS and Executive Director of the National Football League Players Association. "We offer a very unique experience. "
Electronic Arts today announced that they've extended their exclusive agreement with the NFL and the Players Association for another three years, meaning the publisher has the only agreement in place with the league for creating licensed football games through the 2012/2013 season.
"We've just completed a period of renegotiations with the NFL for a three year extension of our current deal," Peter Moore said in an interview with Kotaku. He added that Electronic Arts plans to expand that license to include games beyond Madden, including, potentially, a fantasy football title.
Moore said had they not locked down the NFL license soon the publisher would have had to start making decisions about "redeploying" the team who would have been starting work on Madden 2010 in eight months or so.
Moore declined to comment directly on rumours that Electronic Arts has been in talks with the NBA to land a similar exclusive deal, but he did say it wasn't the way EA operates.
