Hef, Mini-Me at Madden VIP Launch Party

August 9, 2008 -

The Sporting News has coverage of a Madden VIP premiere party from Thursday night, complete with a cast of third-tier celebs like Verne (Mini-Me) Troyer, Tom Arnold and, oddly, Hugh Hefner (with bored-looking female companions in tow).

Madden 09 launches on Tuesday, of course. After the GTA IV launch, about which GamePolitics probably ran 25 stories, the Madden debut will be the second biggest game release of the year. Madden, fairly free of controversy, gets just this one.

GP: Personally, I'm way more interested in getting my mitts on Spore and Fallout 3, but the annual Madden launch is always an event, especially given that this year is the 20th anniversary of the series.

Via: Deadspin

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49 comments

Gamer Class-action Suit Filed Against EA Over Madden Monopoly

June 11, 2008 -

A pair of gamers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Electronic Arts over its exclusive licensing deal with the NFL.

Madden owners Geoffrey Pecover of Washington, D.C. and Jeffrey Lawrence of California are the named plaintiffs in the class-action, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Northern California.

The suit, which essentially follows a line of reasoning laid out by GP, describes how EA, faced with competition from Take-Two's excellent NFL 2K5, reduced the price of Madden from $49.99 to $29.99 in order to stay competitive with NFL 2K5, which was aggressively priced at $19.99. From the lawsuit:

By signing the exclusive agreement with the NFL, Electronic Arts immediately killed off Take Two's NFL 2K5 software, the only competing interactive football product of comparable quality to its Madden franchise...

Once again without a competitor Electronic Arts raised its prices dramatically... nearly seventy percent to $49.95

The suit also notes EA's ongoing campaign to acquire Take-Two:

A successful takeover of Take-Two Interactive by Electronic Arts would remove one of the few companies with the ability and expertise to compete in the market for interactive football software in the event that the Electronic Arts exclusive agreements were terminated or voided by a court.

Two law firms appear to be involved on the plaintiffs' side at this point: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and The Paynter Law Firm. Both are experienced in class action suits.

Read the complaint here...

Via: Gamespot

Posted in

64 comments

Shout box

prh99: Also there is no story in rational and respectful discussion (where you can find it).10/19/2014 - 10:44am

prh99: Well they are probably doing it on Twitter and probably the GG hashtag so any voice reason gets drowned out by idiocy. Also it's far easier to broad brush a group.10/19/2014 - 10:41am

Wonderkarp: dont fool yourself, Technogeek. Remember Mass Effect 3? How about the ferver against Phil Fish?10/19/2014 - 10:18am

MechaTama31: None of which is the fault or responsibility of the people who are not trolling, harassing, threatening, doxxing, etc. So why is their opinion hostage to the people who are?10/19/2014 - 10:06am

Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

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