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View Full Version : EA Sued Over Superstar Mode

FriskyTanuki
12-04-2005, 08:34 PM
http://www1.gamespot.com/news/6140734.html

Electronics Arts, the world's largest game publisher, is finding itself in a legal battle over one of the features of its popular Madden NFL 06 game. Pernell Harris, owner of Virtual Jam, has sued the game maker over breach of contract and confidentiality violation.

According to Harris, he met with EA in 2003 to discuss some ideas he had concerning a football game titled Heart of a Champion. In the game, players take a high school athlete from the preps to the pros, making sure they get passing grades and even picking their parents to assure an optimum gene pool.

Legal papers flew when Harris noticed some of these features were included in this year's edition of Madden NFL 2006. Harris is seeking unspecified damages, restitution, and lawyer's fees.

EA doesn't seem bothered by the allegations. A company spokesperson told Reuters, "We have read the complaint and the allegations are completely without merit."

I wonder why it took him 4+ months to find out about this. :lol:
xxxafibenderxxx
12-04-2005, 08:50 PM
wow haha interesting!
62t
12-04-2005, 09:15 PM
and people wonder why companies never accept outside ideas.
Brak
12-04-2005, 09:41 PM
EA is "The Man" of video games.
Scorch
12-04-2005, 09:42 PM
EA is "The Man" of video games.

..well, yeah.
Duo_Maxwell
12-04-2005, 10:19 PM
pffftt... hard to say from what little info we have but seems like his case is on pretty weak ground.
irrossistable
12-05-2005, 12:42 AM
I like TechDirts (http://techdirt.com/articles/20051202/1425222_F.shtml) position on this.
Graystone
12-05-2005, 05:14 AM
That's what EA gets for making me spend 50 mins hitting the button to try find the parents like mine. I never did find them though. So I picked the in shape parents...it's all the lie.
uzumaki_star
12-05-2005, 11:16 AM
This is too funny to me because they do things like this all the time and unless the dude can provide proof he is wasting his time even if they stole his idea.
Puffa469
12-05-2005, 02:32 PM
its not exactly like a career mode is an original idea. If he can prove that very specific features, unique to him, were copied by EA, then they may settle out of court. But if EA is feeling litigous (is that a word?) they may sick their army of lawyers on the guy and crush him with legal fees.


btw: you can pick your parents to improve your genes? Isnt that borderline racist? Trying to create the 'master' athelete?
electrictroy
12-05-2005, 04:18 PM
You never heard of Gattaca? "There is no gene for the human spirit."
javeryh
12-05-2005, 04:25 PM
You never heard of Gattaca? "There is no gene for the human spirit."

I thought the human spirit was already mapped to gene no. 17...