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EA Sued Over Madden 06 Feature
von_blapp writes "EA is being sued over the Super Star feature that is included in Madden '06. Pernell Harris, owner of Virtual Jam is suing EA over a confidentiality violation. Harris claims when he met with EA in '03 he discussed a game called Heart Of A Champion, in this game players take high school athletes from the schools to the pros insuring their grades are kept up and even picking their parents for the optimum gene pool. This is the same feature as in the current game released by EA."
I picked my parents and I'm no NFL football player.
Modesty is one of life's greatest attributes
Oh, and their games blow.
The part where you take your athlete through college is simulated in Madden's sister game, NCAA Football 06. You export your college character to Madden 06 if you decide to enter the draft (usually at the end of your senior year, but you can cut a year off if you win a Heisman). Not that anyone here cares, but I thought I'd point it out.
Rob
...Art is being sued by Life for imitation. Art is countersuing Life, also for imitation.
Voodoo Girl is the bomb!
This guy should lose. I'm tired of all these "OMG I was the one who thought they should use Mario in a tennis game!! I even posted it on a forum, so I have proof! Nintendo ripped my idea off, so I'm suing!" type of mentalities.
Just because somebody has a cool idea and shares it doesn't mean if anybody implements that idea they can sue.
Seriously, if you're not making it, and you're not fine with other people doing it, keep your damn ideas to yourself.
And, honestly, how original of an idea is it to simulate a rising star's upbringing and career?
Ideas for games are cheap. Everybody's got an idea for a game. Everybody's got hundreds of ideas for games. It's the implementation that counts, and getting that right is damn hard work.
I'm certainly not EA's biggest fan (especially as I work for a competitor!), but I find it difficult to believe that this case has any merit.
Just because somebody has a cool idea and shares it doesn't mean if anybody implements that idea they can sue.
He can (and should) file suit if EA signed documents saying that they wouldn't use this idea without licensing it from him first. The article alludes to a confidentiality agreement/contract but isn't specific, so there's no way to know what the deal is that they had.
Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
I know two people from college who had the exact same idea (seperately of each other) a couple years ago. I'm sure tens of thousands of people have had the same idea across the country. Did any of them do it? No. EA did. I'm all for "fuck corporations" as much as the next guy, but this is just ridiculous. Ideas are worthless until you actually implement them. I have some ideas that I'm convinced would make fantastic games, but I'm not in a position to make it happen right now. If someone beats me to the punch, I might be a little pissed that I didn't get to do it first, but it's stupid to sue over it.
Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
The Urban Hippie
Overheard in the EA Boardroom: "Ohhh, so THAT'S where we got that idea from. I told you guys it sounded familiar."
Copyright protection applies as soon as the work is set down in a fixed medium (written, recorded, drawn, whatever). If he wrote his ideas down prior to this meeting with EA, they're protected by copyright, and he may have a case that the game is a derivative work.
I don't see how patent would apply here.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood