EA Pays Jim Brown $600,000 to Settle Madden Lawsuit

In 2008, former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown filed a lawsuit alleging that EA used his likeness in their successful Madden franchise without his permission. That lawsuit is finally wrapping up, and Jim Brown is going to see a big payday as a result.

EA and Hagens Berman, the firm representing Brown, have finally reached a settlement. As part of the settlement, Jim Brown will take home $600,000, which ESPN says is a significant amount. As it turns out, your average Madden cover athlete allegedly only gets paid $500,000 for that gig.

The lawsuit came after EA asked to use Brown in Madden as part of a feature which would allow users to play with historical teams, including Brown’s team which won the title all the way back in 1964.

Brown alleged that EA created a character in the game that was similar to Brown in every aspect in order to get around the likeness issue. The goal for Brown seems to be to set a precedent rather than to seek compensation, as he said in a statement.

“I took a stand for all athletes and laid a framework for future plaintiffs with my great legal team,” Brown said in the statement. “Hopefully, this is a step forward in getting companies like Electronic Arts to recognize the value that athletes have in selling their products.”

Interestingly, Hagens Berman was also part of the team of lawyers that represented NCAA players in another likeness lawsuit that wrapped up earlier this year. It seems that 2016 has been a big year for likeness lawsuits in video games.

EA Pays Jim Brown $600,000 to Settle Madden Lawsuit

New Madden 17 Features Detailed

With the announcement of Rob Gronkowski as the Madden 17 cover player, EA sports also unveiled some of the key features in this year’s installment in the franchise. The first change EA noted was the new tiered system for a player’s skill. Their ability to perform certain moves is dictated by the corresponding attributes. One of the biggest criticisms in all sports games is big players being able to make quick, agile cuts with precision, while smaller players have the ability to power through defenders head on. This new system will correct that so big players bring the power while small players bring the speed. The next change on the list adds a new UI which helps novice players with the ball learn the skill moves available to them. EA has also added a feature which will perform skill moves for you; however, this is only activated on lower difficulty levels.

EA Sports is also working on making the defense more authentic. Rather than the repetitive, “one-dimensional” defense, players will have to build up a strategy when both facing and controlling the defense. Your AI teammates will adapt to whatever strategy you’re using. For example, when running gap defense, your players will put themselves in a position that allows them to defend the run better. AI players in zone coverage have also gotten a fix. They are now more aware and more likely to counter any audacious plays from the offense. This goes along with the addition of 8 new zone concepts.

Special teams also has a few changes, particularly on the kicking side of things. The kicking meter is supposed to add realism and authenticity to special teams. The defense will also benefit from icing the kicker as well as a new mechanic for blocking.

A new trailer offering a first look at the game has also debuted today, which you can take a look at up top.

This year, Madden 17 has promised a lot of changes to make this game feel like a real NFL game. Do you think EA Sports will deliver? Let us know in the comments.

New Madden 17 Features Detailed

Annual Video Games: Are They Worth It?

Whether you play FIFA, MLB, Madden, NHL, or 2K, chances are, you will be buying the next iteration this year. Annualized games are great if you want a shiny new box every year, but do developers really provide enough content every year to justify selling a new game? If you ever find yourself asking this question you should know that every game is different.

Games like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed usually have more to offer every year than any sports title. The main things they have are a new world and a new story to help you explore the world. Many sports games lack this artistic element. Every once in a while, developers will attempt to integrate a narrative where it doesn’t belong. This might be refreshing and new at first, but more often than not it removes some of the freedoms that sports games offer.

For example, NBA 2K16 wanted a gripping and compelling story, which is fine until it gets in the way of gameplay. It did, a lot. If you’re not familiar, the entire first season of your career is dictated by the story. Other than your limited choice of college and a few minor things, all of your decisions are made for you until the end of your rookie season.

Previous NBA 2K games have integrated very minimal narrative element, but they never got in the way. In fact, the story and gameplay worked with each other and put 2K above other sports games. But if this forced, controlling “movie” in their games is the way they’re headed, then they can count me out. That being said, it would be interesting to see other titles take a crack at this.

An argument in favor of annualized games is the massive improvements each year. Games that rely so much on physics, reactions, and core mechanics need to be updated constantly because there are always going to be bugs.  Some may believe that an annualized game is a way for greedy publishers to make more money off of their customers.

If developers started releasing games every few years and then updated it for free every year, that could end up with them losing money. In my opinion, I believe that annualized games should be cheaper or offer a different way to pay such as a subscription that adds to a total of $60 USD every year. That way if you didn’t like that year’s title, you could cancel and not be at such a loss.

Like some sports, the gaming industry changes every year. This makes it important to have updated visuals, mechanics, and ideas to stay ahead of the competition. Things in sports such as rules, rosters, and where the teams play can change dramatically. Some of these things require a new game to integrate. For example, if the NHL decides to change how overtime games finish, you can expect to see that in the next NHL game.

EA is more than likely not going to update the current game when it is more beneficial to put it in the next. Some sports change all the time, and if you want to see immediate changes in your games, then they need to be annualized.

These are just some of key points that come up when talking about annualized games. There is always a lot that goes into these games every year. If you don’t know if you should buy a game every year, you just need to figure what is important to you. Do you want the new game with all the new features, or would you rather save the money and wait every couple years? The choice is yours.

What does it take for you to pick up a new sports game every year? Let us know in the comments.

Annual Video Games: Are They Worth It?

Madden NFL Top 10 Most Asked Questions Answered

We get a TON of questions each year regarding madden NFL and I thought it would be beneficial to our fans to answer some of the most asked ones to the best of my ability. Here at Sports Gamers Online we do our best to bridge the gap between the community and the developers so I am going to bust a few myths and answer your top 10 most asked questions about Madden NFL.

1. How come Bill Belichick and Sean Payton aren’t in the game?

Bill Belichick and Sean Payton are not in the NFL Coaches Association. Just like in Madden 2001, which was the first game to feature real coaches, with the exception of Belichick and Parcells, because neither of them were part of the NFL Coaches Association. Due to this, Madden has no rights to their likeness even though their playbooks are accurately depicted in the game.

2. Why doesn’t Madden have “real” physics?

There actually are physics in the game, but it’s not solely physics driven as that would ignore many of the ratings of the players. For example according to physics a 250lbs fullback with a head of steam would run over a 200 lbs strong safety regardless of his hit power or tackling ratings. I’m sure this would infuriate many players to see their All Pro Hard Hitting Safety get run over by a 60 OVR waiver wire fullback. So Madden has the challenge of find a balance between actual pure physics where momentum speed and weight are involved and some scripted animations that rely on a player’s ratings and also make the game look good. Madden continues to make strides forward in this category since they debuted the physics engine and should continue to improve.

3. Why don’t they have new or updated equipment?

Licensing is one part of it, another is feedback. While there are some VERY vocal fans who demand new and updated gear each year overall there not enough people who really care about it to warrant the resources dedicated to it. Nike is the official equipment provider of the NFL so that limits the amount of other equipment they are allowed to have on the players. Another factor is simply time and money. In game development you have a finite amount of resources in a limited amount of time to dedicate to tasks you must complete before your deadlines. The Madden development team has been focusing more on building a solid gameplay foundation and prioritizing that over polish items like equipment.

4. Why was TeamPlay removed?

EA has a VERY detailed user metrics. The development team monitors all data across each mode, setting, and gameplay used. Team Play just wasn’t very popular despite what the vocal minority might lead you to believe. It had a following, but ultimately did not make the cut as the developers chose to focus on other parts of the game. I do, however, think this feature will be improved and brought back eventually.

5. Why does EA remove features from previous games?

EA does not just remove features, but with each console generation features have to be rebuilt and put back in. The popular features, according to detailed metrics from the game, are included right away as they are played more frequently by a greater number of people. While many of the other features are put on a priority list to be redone and applied back in future iterations of the game or scrapped altogether.

6. Why did EA buy NFL license exclusivity?

EA did not own rights to any NFL product until Madden ’94 where you saw the first actual teams and in Madden ’95 you saw the first real players. In 2005 EA and NFL and the NFL Players association signed an exclusive deal that extended until 2009 and has since been continued to be renewed. Despite the uproar over the lack of competition in the video game football market, it really has been a lucrative deal for both parties. Madden saw its highest ever sales between 2005 and 2009 where it sold upwards of 8-10 million copies each year. While the sales have recently not been as high, Madden 15 still amassed roughly 6 million copies sold. According to the NFL Players Associated top spokesman George Attahllah EA is one of their “best partners” so I really don’t see the licensing exclusivity deal ending anytime soon.

7. Why did they remove the coin toss?

They simply removed the coin toss to streamline the game. From a developer’s point of view, you want your clients in the game and playing it as fast and as smoothly as possible. Taking out an extra 10-15 second feature that can essentially be accomplished exactly the same in the menu was a no brainer. Outside of the playoffs how often do you even watch the coin toss in an NFL game?

8. Does EA only care about MUT?

I don’t believe so. Even though MUT is VERY lucrative for EA because of the additional revenue always brought in from it, they actually are given the same amount of resources as CFM. The total CFM community is larger but the MUT community is more active. Many CFM leagues tend to die down after the end of the NFL season but MUT is usually played up until the next Madden release. Over the past couple Madden’s CFM has taken huge strides forward from just the bare minimum “online franchise” which didn’t have any fair trades or any content past your basic schedule and roster, to your now fully fleshed out CFM experience with owners or coaches, draft stories, dynamic randomly generated draft classes, and so on and so forth.

9. Why doesn’t Madden have this NFL concept in the game? Example: RPO (run-pass option), exotic offensive & defensive formations, etc.

The development team has access to footage of every single snap taken in the NFL. They employ NFL caliber coaches so they are aware of the latest NFL schemes, packages, and plays. It is just a matter of being able to put it in the game and maintain a solid gameplay balance. When adding a new scheme or concept they must be aware of splash damage that can break other systems in the game or may be overpowered compared to other plays. Rest assured over time many new schemes and NFL concepts will introduced as they are able to successfully include them.

10. Why don’t they bring back NCAA Football!!!??

Player likeness and the billion dollar racket which is the NCAA of course! For more detail information on this one check out one of our many articles on the subject:

EA Sports NCAA Football Set to Make a Return?

EA Sports NCAA Football 17 Latest Details

EA Sports Reaches $60 Million NCAA Settlement

Hopefully this answered some of your burning questions you’ve had that we see in on social media, youtube and the site all the time. Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more Madden NFL.

Madden NFL Top 10 Most Asked Questions Answered

February NPD Sales Report: Madden Falls While NBA 2K16 Stays Strong

The NPD sales results have been released for February, and with such a busy month, it’s worth a look to see what did and didn’t impress financially. 2K’s basketball effort remains in the top 10 while it’s fellow sports game Madden NFL 16 drops out of the top 10 for the first time since release. According to the report, “February retail game sales are down 12% year over year. Hardware was down 23% year over year. Retail game sales were down 10% year over year.”

Software:

1. Far Cry: Primal (PS4, Xbox One)


2. Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)


3. Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)


4. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm (PS4, Xbox One)


5. NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)


6. Lego Marvel Avengers (PS4, 360, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, 3DS, Vita)


7. Street Fighter V (PS4)


8. Minecraft (360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3)


9. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright (3DS)


10. Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

According to the NPD’s observations, one of the real stars was Fire Emblem, which not only more than tripled the sales of Fire Emblem: Awakening‘s launch in 2013, but would have been third in rank if combined with its Conquest counterpart.

The PS4 is on the incline, selling more over time. Regarding the PS4’s success, Sony had this to say:

“We would like to thank our fans and partners for making PlayStation 4 the top-selling hardware platform and the software sales leader in February, according to NPD. We continued to see strong year-over-year sales growth for PS4 hardware and software and are truly humbled by the support and enthusiasm from gamers. We will continue to deliver amazing gaming experiences with the upcoming launches of Ratchet & Clank, MLB The Show 16 and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.”

Although things aren’t as good as they could be, this NPD data seems to show that everyone has a great reason to celebrate.

February NPD Sales Report: Madden Falls While NBA 2K16 Stays Strong

Gaming"s Lost Features: Madden Mini-Camp Mode

Do you remember when Madden had Mini-Camp Drills?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E8IXbqeD7M

It was Madden 2003 that introduced Mini-Camp mode. Mini-Camp mode would put you in the shoes of an NFL player during Mini-camp, challenging you to complete training drills efficiently, aiming for a top score in order to unlock more drills. Some of the drills included Trench Fight, which would see you controlling a Defensive Lineman and demanded that you do all you could to get past the Offensive Lineman on your way to the Quarterback. Or how about my favorite: QB Pocket Presence, which would see you avoiding little, yellow dots as a QB while you stayed in the “pocket” and completed passes to one of three receivers.

The QB Pocket Drill helped work on passing and pocket awareness.

While these drills were fun and a nice change of pace, the thing most people enjoyed about the mode was seeing players in Training Camp gear. Seeing players in pads and shorts was a nice bit of immersion, and the training facilities were also something we hadn’t seen to that level before. Not only that, but Mini-Camp mode was a good way to practice the fundamental stick skills. Madden Mini-Camp was a nice new feature, but it was a fairly small part of Madden 2003. It wouldn’t be until the following year that Tiburon, the developers of the Madden franchise since the mid-90’s, would find an even more impactful use for their new mode.

For fans of Madden’s Franchise Mode, Madden 2004 was a large step forward. Not only did it introduce Owner Mode, with new features such as Team Relocation, but Tiburon took the Mini-Camp Mode they had debuted the year prior and found a use for it in Franchise Mode. During the off-season, you were given the option of running different players through all the Mini-Camp drills. The better you did in a certain drill, the more points you could assign to that player’s attributes. You were only allowed to do each drill once, forcing you to think about which players needed progression in that area the most. This was all on top of the well-balanced, natural progression and regression system that went on during the season.

Madden-Mini Camp offered a variety of drills to choose from.

One of the big features of Madden 2006 was an all-new Superstar Mode, where you would create an NFL Rookie and attempt to make your legend as an NFL player. In the mode, these mini-games were used to to evaluate your player’s talent level going into the NFL Draft. Superstar Mode was a fantastic feature, but we’ll save that for another time.

When Madden transitioned to the XBOX 360 and PS3, it seemed like Tiburon was not only keeping the Mini-Camp mini-games, but they were also improving and expanding on them. New drills were implemented, and the new and improved graphics showed off more detailed players in compression shirts. Things like weight benches and giant timing clocks accompanied the new drills like Bench Reps and the 40 Yard Dash. Despite the graphical overhaul, the drills were seen as much less fun than the drills seen in the previous generation of games. The mini-games continued in Madden for years, going largely untouched and never having the same influence on Franchise Mode as they once did. Finally, Tiburon ceased their inclusion in the game starting with Madden NFL 13, a game that was also controversial for re-branding Franchise Mode into Connected Careers.

 

Each position was covered by a different drill in Mini-Camp Mode.

If you look today, Madden NFL 16 gives you modes like Skills Trainer and The Gauntlet, both reminiscent of the ground-breaking Mini-Camp mode. However, Madden 16 could potentially benefit from the old model of Madden 2004.

One of the biggest complaints in current versions of Madden, as it pertains to Franchise Mode, has been the XP progression system. Starting with Madden NFL 13, the very game that removed mini-games, an XP reward system was put in place to allow you control over who progresses on your team and when. In Madden NFL 16, Drive Goals were introduced, which not only fundamentally changed how many played any given game in Franchise Mode, but also was a huge intrusion on the presentation, both in the game and in the menus.

The current system focuses too much on individual goals.

The issue I see with this system is that we’re focusing too much on individual performances. Instead, we should be focusing on how our team matches up with our upcoming opponents and developing a gameplan around that. In it’s current form, most players are spending time looking through their roster, figuring out when to spend XP and game-planning on how to get their Tight End three touchdowns next game, instead of focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the other team. XP and Drive Goals takes such a front seat during the regular season that most players can’t help but be drawn towards that. Sure, we can always decide to delegate XP to the CPU, but XP is so crucial to Tiburon’s design of Franchise Mode that the mode feels even more shallow without it; deciding to do that essentially gives you even less to do.

Could Minicamp be a fix to Madden’s Connected Franchise Mode EXP woes?

However, if Tiburon were to shine the focus of player progression on Mini-Camps and Training Camp just before the season, we could all focus on game-planning and what is going on around our league during the regular season. It’s a matter of immersion, and Mini-Camp mini-games could not only be a fun break from practice and games, but could also take the ham-fisted nature of XP and Drive Goals and turn controllable progression into a digestible system. You don’t have to necessarily copy Madden’s of the past, either. You could add a risk/reward system in Training Camps where the more you train any given player, the higher chance they have for injury. If replicating real world football is the ultimate goal, which has been stated by Madden Creative Director Rex Dickson, then this system should be looked at

seriously.

Mini-Camp Mode is a feature that is often forgotten, and with the way it was implemented in Madden over the past 5 years it was included in the game, it’s easy to see why. However, in a game that has a yearly release and having one of it’s biggest complaints be the staleness of the product, looking at features like this (a different way to play that uses the same core gameplay as regular games, but has an impact on career modes) is definitely worth discussing.

Gaming"s Lost Features: Madden Mini-Camp Mode

Jason Pierre-Paul Can No Longer Madden After Fireworks Incident

After an accident with fireworks on the 4th of July earlier this year, New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was able to continue his career on the field despite the loss of one of his fingers. While he might have been lucky enough to stay in the game, the same can’t be said about his game in Madden, as he joked in an interview with TMZ.

During the brief interview, Jason Pierre-Paul talks about how his injury isn’t affecting his outlook on life or the sport, and the interviewer even commends him for his tenacity and ability to keep on playing despite the setback. When the subject of Madden came up, however, Jason Pierre-Paul was quick to joke that he can no longer play the game.

Despite everything, he remains undeterred, and it looks like he’s really just happy to be able to play the game again. Sadly, however, the same can’t be said of Madden. Props to Jason Pierre-Paul for having such a great outlook!

Jason Pierre-Paul Can No Longer Madden After Fireworks Incident

Peter Moore to Lead Competitive Gaming Division at EA

EA is looking to double down on competitive gaming, as the publishing giant has announced their latest venture, which is a brand new division of the company dedicated to competitive gaming led by the man himself Peter Moore. The goal of this new Competitive Gaming Divsion — or CGD, as it’s referred to in the latest blog post on EA’s website — is to “enable global eSports competitions” on some of their biggest titles, including FIFA, MaddenNFL, and non-sports games like Battlefield. 

The Competitive Gaming Division will focus on creating more competitive experiences for EA titles, and develop live events while also growing the competitive community. With eSports becoming a big business of their own, it’s a smart move on EA’s part, albeit a little behind. Still, it’s never too late to embrace a growing aspect of business, and it seems with this move that EA are fully committed to getting the most out of the competitive aspect of their games.

Joining Peter Moore on the new competitive gaming division is Todd Sitrin, who will take on the role of Senior Vice President and GM for the division. Over at IGN, Moore spoke about his new role at the company moving from COO to Executive Vice President and Chief Competition Officer, offering a bit of insight as to what’s in store for the future.

“We’re already very engaged with our development teams around the world to make sure our games have got modes that lend themselves very well to competitive gaming, built-in from the get-go. Not as something that’s put in as an add-on mode or a last-minute afterthought.”

Presumably that means we’ll see more game modes tailored to competitive gaming and eSports, though what that means for existing franchises is anyone’s guess. Moore did seem interested in the idea of creating titles from the ground up with eSports and competitive gaming in mind, however.

“I think there is a huge opportunity to build a game from the ground up that says, ‘this game is gonna have five modes, like capture the flag and tower defense.’ I don’t know, things that people love, we’ll figure all that out.”

Regardless of whether or not you think that eSports are comparable to sports as I wrote in my editorial on the subject published earlier today, they’re certainly taking the world by storm. What do you think of this move by EA? Are you looking forward to the future possibilities? Let us know in the comments.

Peter Moore to Lead Competitive Gaming Division at EA