In light of the controversy surrounding the ability to play as the Taliban in Electronic Arts’ upcoming Medal of Honor, Northern California’s Times-Herald solicited reader input on the title, in the form of letters to the editor, and listed them on their website.

The responses range from ambivalent to angry, and probably represent a decent enough cross-section of opinions. Samplings of the responses are shared below, led off with our personal favorite:

Aubrey Cosentino: I don't think they should have even made this game, let alone try and release it. I would never buy it. My brother is in the Navy and served over in Iraq. It's a slap in the face to Americans is what it is; first they want to build a temple, now this game, come on now ...

Linda Peterson: I would NOT buy it -- but I don't play or buy any war games at all. I think the Taliban option is in extremely bad taste. Offensive even. Read More

The flurry of actions between Edge Games, its CEO Tim Langdell and Electronic Arts continues with a new entry in the pair’s battle—EA has filed a countersuit against an action brought by Edge earlier this year, which involved the game Mirror’s Edge.

In June, Edge filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against EA, alleging “willful infringement and unfair competition” over the use of the Mirror’s Edge name. This action followed a Consolidated Petition for Cancellation filed by EA in September of 2009 against Edge trademarks, including “The Edge,” “Gamer’s Edge,” “Edge” and “Cutting Edge.”
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Expect sales of Electronic Arts’ Medal of Honor to do a little better in New Zealand after that country’s Defense Minister Wayne Mapp (pictured) joined his UK counterpart in condemning the title.

Mapp, who is also New Zealand’s Minister of Research, Science and Technology, spoke out against the game because, presumably, of its multiplayer component, where gamers will have the ability to fight as Taliban forces.

In comments carried by GamePlanet, Mapp stated that, “Terrorist acts have caused the deaths of several New Zealanders.” He continued, “This game undermines the values of our nation, and the dedicated service of our men and women in uniform.”
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EA is serious about retaining the authenticity in its upcoming mixed martial arts game, EA Sports MMA - to the point of not releasing it in regions that want to alter it in any way. One such place where it would have to be altered to have any such chance of a release is Scandinavia. According to Computer & Video Games, a Scandinavian law which prohibits any form of marketing for energy drinks (how odd is that?) is a serious concern for EA Sports.

Why? Because EA Sports MMA features energy drink-branded fighter shorts and environments that the company believes is an integral part of the game. Or is it because stripping those elements from the game would cost them money? Integrity or money aside, EA Sports won't publish the game in that region if it has to take the branding out.

So, sad to say, MMA game fans won't be playing EA Sports MMA because of some sports drink they have probably never heard of.

GamePolitics reader Dante pointed us towards a short Finnish recounting (translated) of an article from a Danish newspaper, which appeared to indicate that the Medal of Honor “scare” started by Fox News, and perpetuated by UK Defense Secretary Liam Fox, had spread to Denmark.

In a pair of articles published on the Danish website MetroXpress, while the game did come under some criticism—it was described as “disrespectful” to soldiers from that country who served in Afghanistan—reasoning that Medal of Honor is just a game took over after a tersely worded introduction.
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An excellent piece on the UK’s Telegraph website rips Defense Secretary Liam Fox for his prattle about EA’s upcoming Medal of Honor game, while also outlining the impact Fox’s comments will have on game sales and how such attacks by “outsiders” raise the cackles hackles of gamers.

Fox totally missed the boat in his condemnation of the game as he argued for its ban in the UK, claiming that the game was “un-British,” even though British forces do not factor into the game at all.

If Fox wanted to make a reasonable argument about the game, as Nick Cowen explains, he could have chosen a different tack: Read More

Electronic Arts is not backing down from criticism over letting gamers don the role of the Taliban in Medal of Honor multiplayer. In a recent interview with Develop, EA Games President Frank Gibeau, used "The Red Badge of Courage" and "The Hurt Locker" as examples of art imitating life - something the company contends it is doing with its new Medal of Honor game.

"At EA we passionately believe games are an artform, and I don't know why films and books set in Afghanistan don't get flack, yet [games] do," EA Games President Frank Gibeau told Develop Online. "Whether it's 'Red Badge of Courage' or 'The Hurt Locker,' the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. Games are becoming that platform." Read More

Upset over the ability to play as the Taliban in multiplayer modes of Electronic Arts’ upcoming Medal of Honor game, UK Defense Secretary Liam Fox has called for retailers in that country to forego selling the game.

Fox’s full rant appeared in yesterday’s Sunday Times, which is behind a pay wall, but fortunately CVG (thanks Cheater87) transcribed some of Fox’s thoughts on the game.

After calling the opportunity to play as the Taliban “disgusting,” Fox continued:

It's shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban.

I am disgusted and angry. It's hard to believe any citizen of our country would wish to buy such a thoroughly un-British game.

I would urge retailers to show their support for our armed forces and ban this tasteless product. Read More

Here's something you should never do before your AAA game title is released: say what it will score a "90" when reviewers get their greasy little hands on it! But that's just what EA Partners boss David DeMartini said to Eurogamer - no doubt inebriated by the frivolity and bright lights of Gamescom. DeMarttini is apparently very confident that the public and the critics will eat this game up like candy.

He also denied that the game was delayed from fall of this year to March of next year in order to avoid the Christmas rush. More likely, EA wants to bolster the quarter that follows after March with the sales it expects from this game on multiple platforms. Here's more of what he said regarding getting scores of 90 or more from critics: Read More

In a strange move, online retailers GameStop and Amazon have already instituted dramatic price reductions on Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 11, which has been out for barely over a week.

Michael Comeau, a columnist for Minyanville, noticed the price drops and dubbed the actions “worrisome” due to their timing—according to his recollection, while Amazon typically is a quick discounter, it didn’t adjust the price of last year’s Madden game until 20 days after release.

On Amazon, the 360 version of Madden NFL 11 is now $49.99, a $10 drop, while the Wii version had $3 knocked off to $46.99 and the PlayStation 2 entry received a $7 reduction to $32.99. The PlayStation 3 version is still full price ($59.99).

GameStop matched Amazon’s discounts on the 360, Wii and PlayStation 2 versions of Madden NFL 11 and went two better, knocking $10 off the PlayStation 3 game and $7 off the PSP version, which now sells for $32.99. (GameStop's discounted prices are applicable online only, not in-store) Read More

In litigation very similar to one brought previously by NFL Hall of Fame member Jim Brown, another ex-professional football player has filed a lawsuit against Electronic Arts, alleging that the game maker used the likenesses of retired NFL players illegally in its Madden NFL series of videogames.

The new suit, filed by Michael E. Davis (pictured in his playing days), aka Tony Davis, was filed in the United States District Court of the Northern District of California on July 29, and is of the class action variety, seeking damages on behalf of the “approximately 6,000 retired NFL players whose likenesses were included in the ‘historic teams’ in all versions and editions of Madden” sold between July 29, 2008 and the present.
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On Wednesday, surrounded by Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert and other state and local officials, Electronic Arts executives had a "grand opening" of its offices in Salt Lake City to much applause. The office has actually been running in Salt Lake for three months, but this grand celebration allowed the public to get a look inside EA's new operation. The 20,000-square-foot office serves as a base to develop and manufacture games featuring pet and Nerf guns toys for children and families as part of an agreement it signed with Hasbro.

But after the ceremonial "grand opening," EA took the opportunity to strongly urge Utah lawmakers to give the videogame industry more tax incentives on par with what it currently gives the film industry. EA government affairs director Craig Hagan led the charge, saying that in other parts of the country, like Texas and Florida, and in Canada's Vancouver and British Columbia, governments are offering rebates on corporate income taxes of up to 42 percent to companies like EA. Read More

It’s been a long year already for Tiger Woods and sales figures from his latest Electronic Arts videogame probably aren’t going to provide him much, if any, respite.

Venture Beat notes that, in its first month at retail, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 has sold only 32 percent of what the previous iteration of the game did one year earlier, causing Dean Takahashi to conclude:

The results apparently show that reputation matters in all sorts of businesses, including video games, and that gamers aren’t necessarily blindly devoted to buying certain kinds of games year in and year out.

An EA spokesperson blamed the soft sales on a “number of factors,” including the overall softness of the Wii game market.

Tiger is currently battling competitors at St. Andrews in the 2010 British Open Championship.

EA.com Editor-in-Chief Jeff Green took to his corporate blog to write about why gamers should care about Schwarzenegger v. EMA.

Agreeing with EA CEO John Riccitiello, who said that a Supreme Court decision upholding the California law would “screw us up in a real way,” Green argued:

… it could have a chilling effect on the gaming industry as a whole--both the makers and sellers of the games, who will have to seriously think twice about the kind of product they can and want to sell, out of fear of ending up in jail. And therein lies the bigger question at hand. Because if you substitute books or movies or music in the previous couple sentences, you can see just how wrong this is. Read More

Pro-football Hall of Famer Jim Brown has filed an appeal in his case against Electronic Arts over the inclusion of what he says is his likeness in the publisher’s Madden series of games.

Brown’s case was originally dismissed in September of last year by (now-deceased) U.S. District Court Judge Florence Marie-Cooper, who likened videogames to realistic paintings of athletes and “akin to an expressive painting that depicts celebrity athletes of past and present in a realistic sporting environment.”

The New York Times reports that Brown, in his filing, believes that he did not have a chance to demonstrate the facts of his case before Cooper’s ruling.


Semi-realistic painting of Jim Brown from Larry E Shelton

Tim Tebow’s eye greasepaint, which often featured religious messages during his playing days at the University of Florida, will be plain black for the cover of NCAA Football 11.

The Chalkboard noticed the toned down eye paint in a Facebook posting for the game from Electronic Arts. The blog’s author has been posting similar stories wondering, and asking readers, if a statue of the ex-Heisman Trophy winner to be installed on campus should contain the religious messages or not. The majority of commenters seem okay with the messages being included.

The Chalkboard also notes that in April, the NCAA banned the further inclusion of messages in eye black, a trend that Reggie Bush helped make popular during his USC days.
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Tim Langdell and Edge Games are at it again, launching another lawsuit, this time claiming trademark infringement against videogame giant Electronic Arts.

The lawsuit revolves around what Edge terms “willful infringement and unfair competition” in regards to EA’s Mirror’s Edge franchise. The suit seeks a court injunction against EA’s “continued infringement” and includes claims for treble damages.

From a press release announcing the lawsuit:

…Edge Games sent a cease-and-desist letter in July 2007 after learning of EA’s intentions to launch Mirror’s Edge. Rather than responding to the letter, the lawsuit states, EA instead filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in an attempt to register the Mirror’s Edge name. The USPTO denied the application in early 2008, stating that EA’s planned use of Mirror’s Edge would likely cause confusion with several registered trademarks maintained by Edge Games. Read More

Yesterday EA announced the Gun Club, a rewards program that will give fans of its shooter games special perks like early access to betas, news, inside information from game developers, in-game content unlocks, and early access to demos. The program launched yesterday and begins with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and the Medal of Honor game.

EA says that this new rewards program shows appreciation to fans for their loyalty and adds value to the "entertainment experience."

At first glance you might think this whole program is free, and it is value-added if you buy EA's games new, but if you buy them new it will be a lot like BioWare's Cerberus Network. In short, if you want access to it from a used copy of EA's upcoming shooters it will cost you extra.

Here are the details from the "terms and conditions" section of the Gun Club FAQ: Read More

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello recently spoke to Industry Gamers and took some time to defend the company’s Online Pass initiative.

Online Pass, of course, ties multiplayer access for certain games to a one time use code included with a new, shrink wrapped title. If the game is traded in, the person purchasing the game used will need to spend $10 in order to receive a new code to unlock multiplayer abilities.

EA has stated that Online Pass was not designed to address used game sales, but was more about providing more value and entertainment to online users. Riccitiello was asked whether he thought this statement was disingenuous on EA’s part.

He replied: Read More

EA Sports Active is about to sweat in court. A company called Active Network Inc. has filed a lawsuit in the Southern California District Court against EA for the use of "active" in its popular Wii exercise title. According to court documents, Active Network Inc. has said the name used by EA infringes on the company's "Active" trademark and the name of the game "closely resembles" the Active Network's products that it is likely to cause confusion.

Active Network claims that it has held the rights to the word "Active" since 1999, and registered the trademark in mid- 2008. But the real problem has more to do with just the use of the word "active" in the game: The company says that "EA's use of marks containing the word 'active' applied to online personal fitness programs and services has and will continue to damage Active Network." Read More

Update: Instead of writing a whole new story on what is essentially the same thing, I thought it apropos to add comments from EA UK General Manager Keith Ramsdale who also sat down for an interview with MCV (the company is in full force showing off some new titles in the area). In the interview, found here, Ramsdale is adamant that the motivation behind Online Pass and the move is purely positive: "It’s all about the customer, about improving their experience. It’s not a defensive measure against pre-owned or piracy." Read the whole interview at MCV. Thanks Joystiq.

Original Story: Peter Moore thinks that Online Pass is great value for the money, according to an interview with MCV. The EA Sports president talked about why "Online Pass," the EA Sports initiative that charges used game purchasers $10 to connect to multiplayer features per title, is important to the company's ability to create better content and support millions of online players. Read More

While you (and I) were enjoying the Memorial Day weekend, the owner of an independent videogame store in Columbus, Ohio recorded and uploaded a new YouTube video in which he further assails the  Online Pass initiative of Electronic Arts.

EA’s measure, for the uninitiated, would tie online gameplay to codes that come with select new titles, meaning that purchasers of used games, which feature Online Pass, would need to shell out $10.00 for a new code in order to play online. Read More

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled against the Nation Football League (NFL) in terms of specific antitrust language, which emerged from a lawsuit brought against the sports entity by apparel manufacturer American Needle.

American Needle had charged that the NFL’s exclusive apparel agreement with Reebok limited competition, violated the Sherman Act and led to higher prices for consumers. American Needle further charged that an agreement between NFL Properties (NFLP) and Reebok did not allow the company to negotiate apparel agreements with individual teams.

In its decision (PDF), authored by retiring Justice Stevens, SCOTUS unanimously reversed a lower court’s ruling, and, according to SCOTUS Blog, “cleared the way Monday for trial of a lawsuit against the joint marketing of the right to use the teams’ logos and trademarks on consumer goods.”
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While GameStop might be on board with it, the owner of a Columbus, Ohio independent videogame store (Level One Games) is “completely appalled” at Electronic Arts’ Online Pass and claims the introduction of the measure is “about destroying the buy, sell, trade business.”

EA's initiative will see new games come with one-time use codes for online play. Anyone who purchases a used game that features Online Pass will need to pony up $10 in order to access online features.

The owner outlines his take on how EA’s Online Pass will affect his business and consumers, saying “I have to assume that most businesses, knowing that you’re going to have to pay an extra $10 to buy an Online Pass for that game, are going to give less in trade and sell the games for less used. At least that’s the way I would do it.”
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And so it begins. French publisher Ubisoft said during its Tuesday earnings call that it is closely watching EA's "$10 solution" to monetize used games. Ubisoft Chief Financial Officer Alain Martinez told conference call participants that Ubisoft "will probably follow that line at sometime in the future." He added that most of the games that the company plans to release next year will "have downloadable content available from the start."

EA's initiative to monetize used game sales is called "Project $10" and the basic idea is to get consumers who buy a used copy of a game at places like Gamestop to spend extra money one a $10 one-time code to get additional content that is basically free to those who buy that same game new.

But EA is even more aggressive when it comes to its sports titles; the company announced "Online Pass," which would charge used game buyers $10 purchase a one-time code and unlock online play in sports titles like Madden, Tiger Woods, NCAA Football, and more. Again, those who purchase a new game will be able to use a code that comes with the game. Read More

One member of the gaming press recently attended an Electronic Arts media briefing for the next entry in the Medal of Honor series and came away with a lot of questions.

NoAddedSugar’s Mark Cullinane attended the event in London last week, which included a question and answer session with the game’s Executive Producer Greg Goodrich. As Cullinane sat watching the admittedly impressive visuals of the game, he found himself feeling uncomfortable due to, “the simple fact that one nation’s moment of misery was being turned into an entertainment experience. And there were we, eating our danishes and supping our cranberry juice, discussing the finer points of dismembering Afghanis.”
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Things have been quite on the Tim Langdell and Edge Games front following a litigious end to 2009.

Langdell and Edge Games have been furiously, some say overzealously, battling against alleged trademark infringements involving the term “Edge,” targeting Mobigame’s iPhone game entitled Edge (now named Edgy).

Meanwhile, Electronic Arts also entered the fray last September, filing a Consolidated Petition for Cancellation against a series of Edge Games trademarks, including “The Edge,” Gamer’s Edge,” “Edge” and “Cutting Edge.” EA claimed that Edge Games did not actually use trademarks like “The Edge” in commerce. EA also said that Edge Games had continually threatened to sue it over the EA Dice-developed game Mirror’s Edge.
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If downloadable content released on a game’s launch day gets under your skin, what would you say to paid DLC issued before a boxed game hits the market place.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter was the recipient of some inside news from Visceral Games (an Electronic Arts studio) Senior VP and Group General Manager Nick Earl, and he spilled to GamesIndustry.biz about the plans, which would involve the monetization of “very long game demos,” like EA's 2009 release Battlefield 1943. The $10 or $15 “long demo” would then be followed at some point by the full packaged game.

Pachter offered a further explanation:

Think about Battlefield 1943 as the prototype, so a full (but short) game experience for a reasonable price. At the same time, an expanded version of the game will be under development for release as a packaged product. Read More

EA's popular squad-based shooter Battlefield: Bad Company 2 recently received a patch to remove the much-maligned SecuROM DRM.

Sounds great right? Well, hold off on the celebration, because there's a bit of a caveat. The patch, which comes with a number of bug fixes and interface changes, will only remove SecuROM for Steam users. Retail owners of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are still out of luck, at least for the time being.  Steam users will find themselves using Valve's internal DRM, which is a significant improvement.
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While political attack ads are common place, in the U.S. anyway, it’s still a bit out of the norm when publishers take each other in their marketing programs and today we offer two such examples for your perusal.

Remember the ill-received F.A.G.S. video designed to tout Modern Warfare 2? It decried grenade-spam in the game and featured Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. Well, EA has created a spoof of the F.A.G.S. video designed to highlight its new release Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Sponsored by F.R.A.G.S. (Friends Really Against Grenade Spam), the spot has its own MLB hurler—New York Yankee CC Sabathia—and takes dead aim against MW2.

Sabathia offers that, “In Battlefield: Bad Company 2 grenade spam isn’t going to prove quite as effective as one might find in competing games of this particular genre, not with destructible buildings, adrenaline pumping weapons and more vehicles than you can count.” Read More