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EA Sports

EA Sports

EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on sports. Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports games, that tried to mimic real-life sports networks, calling themselves "EA Sports Network" (EASN) with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as Ron Barr and John Madden, soon grew up to become a sub-label on its own, releasing games such as FIFA, NHL, Madden NFL, and NCAA Football. EA Sports' early motto, If it's in the game, it's in the game reflects the aim of the early games to portrait reality as best as the technology would allow. Unlike other companies, EA Sports has no special ties to a single platform, all games are released for the best-selling active platforms, sometimes long after most other companies abandon them (FIFA 98 and NHL 98 were released for the Mega Drive and the Sega Genesis, respectively; and Madden NFL 2005 and FIFA 2005 still had PlayStation releases).

16 bit era

PlayStation After establishing with some highly regarded titles from 1987-1992, most notably Earl Weaver Baseball 1987, John Madden Football 1990 and NHL Hockey 1991, EA decided in 1992 to launch a sports-only label and EASN was born. ESPN took note of the similarities, and forced EA to come up with a new label to put their sports label under for the 1994 season. The first run of the 1994 season still donned the EASN brand, with a 'first run' logo on the lower right hand corner of the box (this was also done in 1993), while the rest of the production run was under the name EA Sports. With a new logo (whose design later would be also adopted by EA) and a uniform box design, all white with a live-action photo (example), the exception being the Madden games, which featured Madden himself. All boxes would remain this way until 1997, when individual players starred alone, and although the 99 titles featured one unusual dark blue case, the all-white boxes returned next year. The first titles were released for both Sega's 16-bit console, the Mega Drive/Sega Genesis, and Nintendo's SNES (among other platforms, but only regularly for these two). In fact, some attribute the success of Sega's console partly on the strength of the sports catalog provided by EA Sports. On the other hand, the lack of them on the next Sega console, the Saturn is believed to be one of the reasons it failed on the American market.

32 bit era to present

As the 16-bit era came to a close, and powerful 3D-capable consoles appeared, EA had to reinvent their franchises, and some of the earliest titles failed to live up to their 2D predecessors' reputation. However, in 1998 two games received very positive feedback - FIFA 98: Road to World Cup and NHL 98. Later that year, World Cup 98 broke the bad reputation of "official videogames" by receiving high marks almost unanimously. As fluidity in gameplay caught up with graphics, EA soon had to face another problem: the lack of improvement over previous titles, or as fans dubbed it, "sequelitis". The first years of the 21st Century were problematic, with many fans left wondering about why they should bother with the next release, when few new features are added, gameplay was not improved (it was more action-oriented than some of their newer competitors) and their long-asked requests were not answered. A new sublabel also appeared, dubbed EA Sports BIG, which specialized on extreme sports or unconventional takes on sports, such as Def Jam Vendetta, NFL Street, NBA Street, SSX, FIFA Street and Freekstyle.

Series and games

Most EA Sports games are distinguished by year, as most games are released on a yearly basis. However, as EA Sports is the leading purchaser of official licenses, it's not uncommon that in a short span several games of the same sport but with different licenses are released: FIFA 98 was shortly followed by World Cup 98 (as EA has the license for the FIFA World Cup and the European Football Championship, it happens regularly in two-year intervals) and college football or basketball games based on both NBA Live and Madden NFL. The earlier titles released until 1996 are referred by fans as the classic series.
- Madden NFL series, 1988 (games prior to 1993 did not have an NFL license)
- NCAA Football series, 1996 (prior to 1996 the name of the franchise was Bill Walsh College Football)
- NBA Live series, 1994 :preceded by The NBA Playoffs (1989-1993), and NBA Showdown (1993).
- Triple Play series, 1996, discontinued in 2002, giving place to the MVP Baseball series
- FIFA series, 1993 :EA Sports also released several other games, most notably the games with World Cup and European Championship licenses.
- NHL series, 1991 :Three Elitserien titles were also released in Sweden :Three SM-liiga titles were released in Finland
- PGA Tour series, 1990, renamed to Tiger Woods PGA Tour in 1999
- NASCAR Thunder series (later renamed to NASCAR: Chase for the Cup, however, beginning with the 2006 version, the game will be titled NASCAR: Total Team Control)
- NCAA March Madness series
- Knockout Kings series, which was composed of five titles (between 1998 and 2002) and then discontinued when Fight Night 2004 was released. In the past, Toughman Contest was also released.
- Total Club Manager :Preceded by FIFA Soccer Manager (1996) and the Premier League Manager series.
- Rugby League series :Australian Rugby League was released on Sega Mega Drive/Genisis as you play through the 1995 ARL season and the other ARL 96 was on PC depicting the 1996 ARL season.
- Rugby Union series :Started at Rugby World Cup 1995 on Sega Mega Drive/Genisis which went on to Rugby 2001 (A late version of Rugby World Cup 1999) PC only, Rugby, Rugby 2004 and Rugby 2005 all on Playstation 2 and XBOX as well as PC
- Arena Football :First version due out in February 2006
- Cricket Series :Cricket was a biannual series but is a annual series now. There are other series, including F1 Championship (discontinued after Sony acquired the exclusive license for the Formula 1 championship), Superbike and others with a limited distribution such as AFL.

Exclusivity deals

In 2003 EA purchased the license to NASCAR, ending competition from Papyrus and Infogrames. Many loyal fans of the NASCAR Racing Series games by Papyrus resent EA for that and currently boycott all EA games. More recently, after purchasing the license of the UEFA Champions League (previously owned by Eidos) in November 2004, a month later EA announced an exclusive deal (rumoured to be worth around US $1B) with the NFL and the NFL Players Association (Players Inc.) making them the sole provider of licensed NFL video games until 2010, which effectively removes the competition from the market, who will not be allowed to feature real NFL players or teams in their games. It is considered that one of the main reasons behind the deal is related with Take Two's aggressive pricing with their ESPN-licensed series, which were retailed at budget price, about half the price of a regular EA Sports game. It is believed that the same move was attempted in late 2004 on the NBA, but it was refused and afterwards EA executives denied making any offer to the basketball association. However, their "exclusive spree" continued on January 2005 when a deal with the Arena Football League (AFL) was announced, but with less impact on the market, as the license was previously vacant. A new deal was done just days after the AFL deal, when former SEGA/Take Two partners ESPN signed a 15-year deal with EA Sports. In 2005, EA also completed an exclusivity deal with the NCAA, allowing EA to produce the only officially licensed college football game. The only real loss of these deals was of the MLB series, which went for five years (starting in 2006) to Take Two Interactive.

06 Games


- Madden 06
- NHL 06
- NASCAR

External link


- [http://www.easports.com/ EA Sports]
- [http://www.mobygames.com/game_group/sheet/gameGroupId,2070/ MobyGames EA Sports games' group]
- [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/news.php?aid=5928 news on the NFL exclusive]
- [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6064 news on the NBA rejection of the exclusivity proposal]
- [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=6210 news on the AFL exclusive]
- [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/news.php?aid=6320 news on the ESPN deal] Category:Electronic Arts

1993

1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003).

Events

January

Wikipedia:Categorization#Year categories.]]
- January 1 - Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of independent Slovakia and Czech Republic.
- January 3 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
- January 5 - Washington State executes Westley Allan Dodd by hanging (the first legal hanging in America since 1965)
- January 9 – Jean-Claude Romand kills his family and tries to burn himself with his home in France
- January 11 - First edition of WWF Monday Night RAW appears on the USA Network
- January 15 - Salvatore Riina, the Mafia boss known as 'The Beast', is arrested in Sicily after three-decades as a fugitive
- January 18 - For the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is officially observed in all 50 American states.
- January 19
  - IBM announces a $4.97 billion loss for 1992 which is the largest single-year corporate loss in United States history
  - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM inspectors to use its own aircraft to fly into Iraq, and begins military operations in the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait, and the northern No-Fly Zone. US forces fire approximately 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Baghdad factories linked to Iraq's illegal nuclear weapons program. Iraq then informs UNSCOM that it will be able to resume its flights
- January 20 - Bill Clinton succeeds George H. W. Bush as President of the United States of America
- January 25
  - Catherine Callbeck becomes Premier of Prince Edward Island, becoming the first female Premier to be elected in Canada. (Rita Johnston was Canada's first female Premier but was not elected)
  - Mir Aimal Kasi fires a rifle and kills two employees outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, USA
- January 26 - Václav Havel elected President of the Czech Republic

February


- February 8 - General Motors sues NBC after Dateline NBC allegedly rigged two crashes showing that some GM pickups can easily catch fire if hit in certain places. NBC settles the lawsuit the following day.
- February 11
  - Janet Reno is selected by President Clinton as US Attorney General.
- February 12 - 11-year-old boys Robert Thompson and John Venables kill 2-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool.
- February 17 - Ferry in Haiti sinks - 285 survivors of maybe 1500 passengers
- February 23 - Gary Coleman wins a $1,280,000 lawsuit against his parents.
- February 26 - World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a van bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center goes off, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand.
- February 28 - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest cult leader David Koresh on federal firearms violations. Four agents and five Davidians die in the raid and a 51-day standoff begins.

March


- March - First issue of Wired magazine.
- March 4 - Authorities announce the capture of suspected World Trade Center bombing conspirator Mohammad Salameh
- March 9 - Rodney King testifies at the federal trial of four Los Angeles, California police officers accused of violating King's civil rights when they beat him during an arrest
- March 11 - Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn-in the next day becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States
- March 12 - Several bombs explode in Bombay, India killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more. See Bombay bombings (1993)
- March 12 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea says that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites
- March 13 - The Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Québec
- March 16 - The blizzard is reported to have killed 184, including many surprised and stranded people along the Appalachian Trail
- March 20 - Warrington bomb attacks: IRA bomb explodes in Warrington Town Centre and kills two children, Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry
- March 27 - Jiang Zemin becomes President of the People's Republic of China.
- March 28 - Gaullists win legislative election in France and Édouard Balladur becomes prime minister of France.
- March 31 - A bug in a program written by Richard Depew sends an article to 200 newsgroups simultaneously. The term spamming is coined by Joel Furr to describe the incident.

April


- April - The Kuwaiti government claims to uncover an Iraqi assassination plot against former US President George H. W. Bush shortly after his visit to Kuwait. Two Iraqi nationals, caught with smuggled hashish and alcohol inside Kuwait, confess to driving a car-bomb into Kuwait on behalf of the Iraq Secret Service [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/content/?020930fr_archive02]
- April 6 - Russian nuclear accident at Tomsk 7
- April 6 - HMS Richmond launched for the Royal Navy
- April 7 - Attack submarine ex-Queenfish completes being recycled
- April 10 -ANC activist Chris Hani assassinated in South Africa
- April 22 - In Washington, DC, the Holocaust Memorial Museum is dedicated
- April 22 - Murder of Stephen Lawrence, London, UK
- April 23 - WHO declares tuberculosis a Global Emergency
- April 24 - Bishopsgate Bomb explodes in the City of London - 1 dead, 50 injured
- April 30 - The World Wide Web was born at CERN

May


- May 1 - Former prime minister of France Pierre Bérégovoy commits suicide
- May 1 - A Tamil Tigers suicide bomber assassinates President Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka
- May 24 - Eritrean independence
- May 27 - A car bomb in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence - 5 dead - Mafia suspected

June


- June 6 - Mongolia holds its first direct presidential elections
- June 8 - Assassination of Rene Bousquet, the Vichy France police chief, at his Paris home
- June 9 – Los Angeles Police Department raids the home of Hollywood Madame Heidi Fleiss
- June 9 - Montreal Canadiens win their 24th Stanley Cup
- June 14? - Tansu Ciller becomes prime minister of Turkey
- June 18 - Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq refuses to allow UNSCOM weapons inspectors to install remote-controlled monitoring cameras at two missile engine test stands.
- June 22 - Japan's New Party Sakigake breaks away from the Liberal Democratic Party.
- June 23 - Lorena Bobbitt cuts off the penis of her husband John Wayne Bobbitt.
- July 23 - Candelaria massacre - police shoot number of street kids in Candelaria Church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- June 8 - In Paris, Christian Didier breaks into the home of Rene Bousquet, banker and former Vichy France administrator and shoots him dead
- June 22 - Unabomber bomb injures Charles Epstein in Tiburon, California
- June 24 - Unabomber bomb injures computer scientist David Gelernter in Yale University
- June 25 - Kim Campbell becomes Canada's nineteenth and first female Prime Minister
- June 27 - US President Bill Clinton orders a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in the Al-Mansur District, Baghdad, in response to the attempted assassination of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush during his visit to Kuwait in mid-April
- June 27 - In Bad Kleinen, Germany, GSG-9 troopers arrest terrorists Birgit Hogefeld and Wolfgang Grams

July


- July 1 - Gian Luigi Ferry shoots 8 and injures 6 in "Pettit and Martin" law firm in San Francisco, then shoots himself
- July 5 - Iraq disarmament crisis: UN inspection teams leave Iraq. Iraq then agrees to UNSCOM demands and the inspection teams return
- July 12 - A magnitude 7.8 earthquake off Hokkaido, Japan launches a devastating tsunami, killing 202 on the small island of Okushiri, Hokkaido
- July 20 - White House deputy counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr commits suicide in Virginia
- July 23 - Candelaria Massacre ? Brazilian police officers kill 8 street kids in Rio de Janeiro
- July 29 - The Israeli Supreme Court acquits accused Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
- July 31 - Windows NT 3.1 has been released with the support of NTFS file system.

August


- August 4 - A federal judge sentences LAPD officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell to 30 months in prison for violating motorist Rodney King's civil rights
- August 6 - Louis Freeh is confirmed by the United States Senate to be the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
- August 9 - King Albert II of Belgium is sworn into office nine days after the death of his brother, King Baudouin
- August 21 - NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Observer orbiter three days before the spacecraft is scheduled to enter orbit around Mars

September

Mars and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, with US President, Bill Clinton.]]
- September 13 - PLO leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands in Washington D.C., after signing a peace accord.
- September 13 - Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993
- September 23 - The IOC selects Sydney, Australia to host the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- September 29 - An earthquake centred on Killari, Maharashtra, India kills nearly 10,000 people.

October


- Polly Klaas is kidnapped at knifepoint from her home in Petaluma, California. She was later strangled by Richard Allen Davis
- October 3 - Large scale battle between US forces and local militia in Mogadishu, Somalia
- October 13 - Andreas Papandreou begins his second term as Prime Minister of Greece.
- October 25 - Jean Chrétien and his Liberal Party defeat the governing Progressive Conservative Party in the Canadian federal election.
- October - Internal Revenue Service of the United States granted full religious recognition and tax exemption to all Scientology Churches, missions and social betterment groups[http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol1.htm].

November


- November 1 - The Maastricht Treaty activates, formally establishing the European Union
- November 4 - Jean Chrétien becomes Canada's twentieth Prime Minister.
- November 9 - The Stari Most, or Old Bridge of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is destroyed by tank fire in the fights between Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Muslim forces.
- November 18 - In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
- November 20 - Savings and Loan scandal: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
- November 24 - In the United Kingdom, 11-year-olds Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are convicted of the child murder of 2-year-old James Bulger of Liverpool (they were sentenced to "indefinite detention")
- November 28 - The Observer reveals a channel of communications has existed between the IRA and the British government, despite the government's persistent denials.
- November 30 - US President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law

December


- December 2 - Shuttle program: STS-61 - NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair an optical flaw in the Hubble Space Telescope.
- December 2 - War on Drugs: Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is gunned down in Medellín when the police try to arrest him
- December 7 - Colin Ferguson opened fire with his Ruger 9mm pistol on a Long Island Railroad train, killing six and injuring 19. The event was dubbed "The Long Island Railroad Massacre."
- December 12 - Earthquake hits Flores, Indonesia - 2200 dead
- December 15 - Downing Street Declaration - United Kingdom commits itself to the search for an answer to the problems of Northern Ireland
- December 30 - Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations

Unknown dates


- The second World Parliament of Religions is held in Chicago, Illinois
- US President Bill Clinton sends 6 American warships to Haiti to enforce United Nations trade sanctions against the military-led regime in that country
- The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers flood large portions of the American Midwest.
- The Late Show with David Letterman premieres on CBS.
- Dominos Pizza Abolishes the 30-minute gaurantee on Pizza Delivery

Births


- March 17 - Julia Winter, Swedish actress
- April 3 - Dakoda Dowd, American golfer
- August 16 - Cameron Monaghan, American actor
- December 6 - Elián González, Cuban refugee
- December 8 - AnnaSophia Robb, American actress

Deaths

February


- February 5 - Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American writer, producer, and director (b. 1909)
- February 5 - Tip Tipping, American actor and stuntman (parachuting accident) (b. 1958)
- February 6 - Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and activist (b. 1943)
- February 11 - Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1922)
- February 18 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (b. 1929)
- February 20 - Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1916)
- February 24 - Bobby Moore, English footballer (b. 1941)
- February 27 - Lillian Gish, American actress (b. 1893)
- February 28 - Ruby Keeler, Canadian actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1910)

March


- March 8 - Billy Eckstine, American musician (b. 1914)
- March 11 - Adolph "Dino Bravo" Bresciano, Italian-born professional wrestler (b. 1949)
- March 17 - Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
- March 20 - Polykarp Kusch, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- March 24 - John Hersey, American author (b. 1914)
- March 31 - Brandon Lee, American actor (b. 1965)

April


- April 1 - Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (b. 1954)
- April 3 - Pinky Lee, American children's television host (b. 1907)
- April 8 - Marian Anderson, American contralto (b. 1897)
- April 13 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (car accident) (b. 1909)

May


- May 1 - Pierre Bérégovoy, Prime Minister of France (b. 1925)
- May 8 - Avram Davidson, American writer (b. 1923)
- May 27 - Werner Stocker, German actor (b. 1955)

June


- June 7 - Drazen Petrovic, Croatian basketball player (b. 1964)
- June 9 - Alexis Smith, Canadian actress (b. 1921)
- June 13 - Deke Slayton, astronaut (b. 1924)
- June 15 - John Connally, Governor of Texas (b. 1917)
- June 19 - William Golding, English writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- June 24 - Archie Williams, American athlete (b. 1915)
- June 26 - William H. Riker, American political scientist (b. 1920)
- June 28 - Boris Christoff, Bulgarian opera singer (b. 1914)
- June 29 - Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican singer (b. 1946)
- June 30 - George "Spanky" McFarland, American actor (b. 1928)

July


- July 3 - Don Drysdale, baseball player (b. 1936)
- July 13 - Davey Allison, American race car driver (helicopter crash) (b. 1961)
- July 28 - Reggie Lewis, American basketball player (heart ailment) (b. 1965)
- July 31 - King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)

August


- August 6 - Tex Hughson, baseball player (b. 1916)
- August 10 - Øystein Aarseth, Norwegian musician (Mayhem) (b. 1968)

September


- September 9 - Helen O'Connell, American singer (b. 1920)
- September 11 - Erich Leinsdorf, Austrian conductor (b. 1912)
- September 22 - Maurice Abravanel, Greek-born conductor (b. 1903)
- September 27 - Jimmy Doolittle, American general (b. 1896)

October


- October 11 - Jess Thomas, American tenor (b. 1927)
- October 12 - Tofik Bakhramov, Russian footballer (b. 1926)
- October 25 - Vincent Price, American actor (b. 1911)
- October 31 - Federico Fellini, Italian film director (b. 1911)
- October 31 - River Phoenix, American actor (drug overdose) (b. 1970)

November


- November 1 - Severo Ochoa, Spanish–born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1905)
- November 6 - Michael Vernon, Australian consumer activist (b.1932)
- November 12 - H. R. Haldeman, American Watergate scandal figure (b. 1926)
- November 21 - Bill Bixby, American actor (b. 1934)
- November 22 - Anthony Burgess, English author (b. 1917)

December


- December 1 - Ray Gillen, American singer (b. 1961)
- December 2 - Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (b. 1940)
- December 4 - Frank Zappa, American guitarist and composer (b. 1949)
- December 7 - Wolfgang Paul, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1913)
- December 13 - Vanessa Duriès, French novelist (b. 1972)
- December 31 - Zviad Gamsakhurdia, first President of Georgia (b. 1939)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Russell Alan Hulse, Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr.
- Chemistry - Kary Mullis, Michael Smith
- Physiology or Medicine - Richard J. Roberts, Philip Allen Sharp
- Literature - Toni Morrison
- Peace - Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk

Templeton Prize


- Charles Colson

Alternative


- Arna Mer-Khamis / Care and Learning, ORAP (The Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress) / Sithembiso Nyoni, Vandana Shiva, Mary and Carrie Dann
- als:1993 ko:1993년 ms:1993 ja:1993年 simple:1993 th:พ.ศ. 2536

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts (EA) () is a developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games. Established in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, and reincorporated under the laws of Delaware in 1991, EA reported a net revenue of $3.129 billion USD on its fiscal year March 31, 2005. [http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/712515/000089161805000406/0000891618-05-000406-index.htm]

History

In February 1982, Trip Hawkins arranged a meeting with Don Valentine of Sequoia Capital to discuss financing his new venture, Amazin' Software. Valentine encouraged Hawkins to leave Apple Computer, in which Hawkins served as Director of Product Marketing, and allowed Hawkins use of Sequoia Capital's spare office space to start the company. On May 28, 1982, Trip Hawkins established the company with a personal investment of an estimated $200,000 USD. Seven months later in December 1982, Hawkins secured $2 million USD of venture capital from Sequoia Capital, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, and Sevin Rosen Funds. For more than seven years, Hawkins had refined his Electronic Arts business plan. With aid from his first employee (who he worked in marketing with at Apple), Rich Melmon, the original plan was written on an Apple II in Sequoia Capital's office in August 1982. During that time, Hawkins also employed two of his former staff from Apple, Dave Evans and Pat Marriott, as producers. The business plan was again refined in September and reissued on October 8, 1982. Between September and November, eight more people were employed, including Bing Gordon. Having outgrown the office space provided by Sequoia Capital, the company relocated to a San Mateo office that overlooked the San Francisco Airport landing path. An additional eleven people were employed in 1983, including Don Daglow and Richard Hilleman. The Sales Department struggled early in the company's history, until the arrival of future CEO Larry Probst as VP of Sales in 1984. Teaming with Nancy Smith, Probst built the largest sales force of any American game publisher, and eliminated virtually all independent distributors from EA's retail network. This policy of dealing directly with retailers gave EA higher margins and better market awareness, key advantages the company would leverage to leapfrog its early competitors. The other early founders of the company universally disliked the Amazin' Software name. In October 1982 they held an off-site meeting to come up with a better name for the company. The business plan had suggested the name, "SoftArt," meant to imply that the company's software was a new kind of art. However, Hawkins and Melmon knew the founders of Software Arts, the creators of VisiCalc, and thought their permission should be obtained. But they did not want the name used because it sounded too similar to their own. However, the name concept was liked by all the attendees. Then Gordon proposed "Electronic Artists," in tribute to the film company United Artists. However, Steve Hayes opposed, saying, "We're not the artists, they are..." meaning that the developers whose games EA would publish were the artists. Finally Tim Mott proposed Electronic Arts, and the name was liked and approved by all. According to the 1982 business plan, EA's original business goals were to grow to a billion dollar company in about 6 years. Another goal was to "make software that makes a personal computer worth owning." At the time, Electronic Arts was the 136th game publisher in the US, but the first to reach the billion-dollar goal (although it actually took 12 years). A novel approach to giving credit to its developers was one of EA's trademarks in its early days. EA was the first video game publisher to treat its developers like rock stars in an industry where developers were more prone to be treated like nameless factory workers. This characterization was even further reinforced with EA's packaging of most of their games in the "album cover" format of the late 1980s-'90s. This format was pioneered by EA because Hawkins thought that a record album style would both save costs and convey an artistic feeling. EA routinely referred to their developers as "artists" and gave them photo credits in their games and numerous full-page magazine ads. EA also shared lavish profits with their developers, which added to their industry appeal. Because of this novel treatment, EA was able to easily attract the best developers. magazine The square "album cover" boxes were a popular packaging concept by Electronic Arts, which wanted to represent their developers as "rock stars." Many games of the era were released in the album covers of identical size and shape.]] In May of 1983 EA shipped:
- Hard Hat Mack for the Atari 800 and Apple II
- Archon for the Atari 800
- Pinball Construction Set for the Atari 800 and Apple II
- Worms? for the Atari 800
- M.U.L.E. for the Atari 800 Three of these five, Archon, Pinball Construction Set, and M.U.L.E., are still considered cornerstone products in the history of video games. Worms? is unrelated to the Worms series of turn-based artillery games; it is a computer toy in which the user trains worms—represented as lines—to move in patterns on a network of nodes. After a very successful run on home computers, Electronic Arts later branched out and produced console games as well. Eventually Trip Hawkins moved on to found the now defunct 3DO company. In 2003 he founded a new mobile phone software company, Digital Chocolate, that also began life in the Sequoia offices and had Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins as its lead investors. In 2004, EA made a multimillion dollar donation to fund the development of game production curriculum at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division. In addition to the funds, EA staff members have been active teaching and lecturing at the school. EA is now headquartered in Redwood City, California. Its current CEO is Larry Probst. Larry Probst by Bill Budge was quickly ported to other popular home systems of the era.]] Probst considers himself a man of principle and has refused to follow the M-rated example set by Take Two Interactive, whose violent Grand Theft Auto franchise became the dominant brand in many key demographics from 2000 through 2003. As a result, Probst has been heavily criticized by Wall Street analysts, who believe that because of this policy, EA's stock price is lower than it should be (though it has maintained a general upward trend in recent years). In late March 2005, Electronic Arts issued its first ever mid-quarter profit warning blaming hardware shortages and lower than expected fourth quarter sales [http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/21/technology/electronic_arts.reut/index.htm?section=money_latest]. Recently, EA's CEO has changed his stance on M rated games, and now EA has several titles that compete in the M rated, adult game market.

Upcoming games published by EA


- December 2005
  - The Sims 2 (PSP)
- Q1 2006
  - Battle for Middle-Earth 2 (PC)

Notable games published by EA

Some of the most notable and popular games of video game history have been published by EA. Many of these are included in the list below. Though EA published these titles, they did not always develop them. Many were developed by independent game development studios.

Early era


- Pinball Construction Set (1982) by Bill Budge
- Archon (1983) by Free Fall Associates
- M.U.L.E. (1983), by Dani Bunten and Ozark Softscape
- One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird (1983) by Eric Hammond
- Music Construction Set (1984) by Will Harvey
- Archon II: Adept (1984) by Free Fall Associates
- The Seven Cities of Gold (1984), by Dani Bunten and Ozark Softscape
- Skyfox (1984) by Ray Tobey
- The Bard's Tale (1985), by Interplay Productions
- Mail Order Monsters (1985) by Paul Reiche III, Evan Robinson and Nicky Robinson
- Adventure Construction Set (1985) by Stuart Smith
- Racing Destruction Set (1985) by Rick Koenig
- Starflight (1986), by Binary Systems
- Heart of Africa (1987), by Dani Bunten and Ozark Softscape
- Skate or Die! (1987), EA's first internally-developed title
- Earl Weaver Baseball (1987) by Don Daglow and Eddie Dombrower
- Populous (1989), by Bullfrog which EA acquired in 1995
- Chuck Yeager's Air Combat (1991)

Contemporary era

1991, EA obtained the rights to publish the lucrative SimCity series and the spin-off game The Sims and its sequel The Sims 2. The Sims went on to become the best-selling computer game of all time.]]
- Madden NFL (1990-Current)
- FIFA (1994-Current)
- NBA Live (1994-Current)
- Need For Speed (1994-Current)
- Ultima Online (1997)
- Future Cop: LAPD (1998)
- Command & Conquer series (titles from 1999-Current), by Westwood Studios (earlier titles released by Virgin Interactive)
- SimCity series (titles from 1999-Current), by Maxis (earlier titles released by other publishers)
- Populous: The Beginning (1999), by Bullfrog
- Medal of Honor series (1999-Current)
- James Bond series (1999-Current)
- The Sims series (2000-Current)
- Clive Barker's Undying (2001)
- Black & White (2001) by Lionhead Studios
- Harry Potter series (2001-Current)
- Battlefield series (2002-Current)
- The Lord of the Rings series (2002-Current)
- Burnout series (titles from 2004-Current, earlier titles released by Acclaim Entertainment)
- Spore (2006)

Brand architecture

The brand architecture of Electronic Arts consists of the following brands:
- EA Games (all non-sports titles)
- EA Sports (realistic sports simulations)
- EA Sports Big (extreme sports titles)
- Pogo.com (online games site, with numerous EA brand tie-ins) EA also operates the games channel on AOL.

Studios

AOL

Current studios


- EA Redwood Shores in Redwood City, California, established 1998
- EA Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia - formerly Distinctive Software, acquired in 1991
- EA Montréal in Montréal, Québec - established August 2003
- EA Tiburon in Orlando, Florida - formerly Tiburon Entertainment, acquired in 1998
- EA Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California - formerly Dreamworks Interactive, acquired in 2000
- EA Black Box in Vancouver, British Columbia - formerly Black Box Games, acquired in 2002
- EA UK in Surrey, England
- EA Chicago in Hoffman Estates, Illinois - formerly NuFX, Inc, acquired in 2003

Former studios


- Original HQ in San Mateo, California - moved to Redwood City in 1998
- Origin Systems in Austin, Texas - acquired in 1992, closed in 2004
- Bullfrog Productions in Surrey, England - acquired in 1995
- EA Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland - established in 1996 as part of Origin, closed in 2000
- EA Seattle in Seattle, Washington - formerly Manley & Associates, acquired in 1996, closed in 2002
- Maxis in Walnut Creek, California - acquired in 1997, closed in 2004 (moved to Redwood City location)
- Westwood Studios in Las Vegas, Nevada - acquired in 1998, closed in 2003
- EA Pacific (known for a time as Westwood Pacific) in Irvine, California - formerly part of Virgin Interactive, acquired with Westwood in 1998, closed in 2003

Trivia

2003 EA's classic Square/Circle/Triangle corporate logo was devised by Barry Deutsch of Steinhilber Deutsch and Gard design firm. The three shapes were meant to stand for the "basic alphabet of graphic design." The shapes were rasterized to connote technology. Many customers mistook the square/circle/triangle logo for a stylized "EOA." Though they thought the "E" stood for "Electronic" and "A" for "Arts," they had no idea what the "O" could stand for, except perhaps the o in "Electronic." An early newsletter of EA, Farther, even jokingly discussed the topic in one issue, claiming that the square and triangle indeed stood for "E" and "A", but that the circle was merely "a Nerf ball that got stuck in a floppy drive and has been popping up on our splash screens ever since." This was, in part, true. In the early days at Electronic Arts, nerf balls in the square/circle/triangle shapes could be found floating around the office, in cubicles and elsewhere. Fong and Gordon came up with the idea to hide the three shapes on the game covers, borrowing the idea from the urban legends concerning the placement of the bunny symbols on the covers of Playboy magazine.

Criticism

EA is sometimes criticized for buying smaller development studios primarily for their intellectual property assets, and then make the developers produce run-of-the-mill games on these same franchises. For example, Origin produced Ultima VIII: Pagan and Ultima IX: Ascension under EA's ownership, and these two are considered among the worst of the series, obviously aimed at lowest common denominator audience. (Richard Garriott, the originator of the Ultima series, wasn't fond of EA at all, and previous Ultima games contained some subtle attacks on EA). Late productions generally have not been known for their originality; the latest Madden NFL title is a prime example. EA is also criticized for shutting down its acquired studios (and firing hundreds of employees) after a poorly performing game. Many see EA's control and direction as being primarily responsible for the game's failure rather than the studio. Magic Carpet 2 was rushed to completion over the objections of designer Peter Molyneux and it shipped during the holiday season with several major bugs. Studios such as Origin, Westwood Studios, and Bullfrog had previously produced games attracting a significant fanbase, and when they were closed down many top designers and programmers refused to stay with EA and formed rival studios. EA's online strategy is also criticized. Many EA sports games for the PC and PS2 are only supported by EA's servers for one year, forcing gamers to buy the next increment in the series (at full price) to continue playing online afterwards. The Battlefield 2 online demo was roundly condemned by the gaming commmunity since EA instituted a 10-15 time playtime limit (unheard of at the time) and shut down servers who ran mods on the demo version. EA also earned much ill-will for refusing to publish for the highly-touted Xbox Live online service, which is run through Microsoft's own servers and which charges a monthly flat fee, regardless of the number of titles. EA would not be able to retain use of its own servers for Xbox games and thus could not charge a monthly fee for every game as they could on the PS2. Ending up, EA capitulated in 2004 and started publishing for Xbox Live since their absence did not slow down the growth of Live as significantly as they had hoped. EA has also been criticized for other aggressive business methods like the acquisition of 19.9 percent of shares of their competitor Ubisoft in what was called a hostile act by Ubisoft. Electronic Arts has from time to time been criticized for its employment policy of requiring employees to work extraordinarily long hours—up to 85 hours per week—as a general rule and not just at "crunch" times leading up to the scheduled releases of products. "The current mandatory hours are 9am to 10pm—seven days a week—with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behavior (at 6:30pm)"[http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/]. The company has since settled a class action suit brought by game artists to compensate for "unpaid overtime" EA management demanded of its employees[http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/11/news_6112998.html]. The class was awarded $15M. A similar suit brought by engineers is still pending as of late 2005. They have also received harsh fire from labor groups for their dismissals of large groups of employees (during the closure of a studio) if a certain title doesn't succeed. Such was the case with GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. Lastly, they dislike fan-made patches and mods, and have shut down popular fan-made game modifications, resulting in criticism that they could transform the gaming industry into one that is hostile towards fan modifications.

External links


- [http://www.ea.com/ Electronic Arts' official website]
- [http://www.maxis.com/ Maxis' official web site]
- [http://www.tiburon.com/ Tiburon's official web site]
- [http://www.eacanada.com/ EA Canada's official web site]
- [http://www.eaplay.com/ EA Play - EA Australia/New Zealand/South Africa's official web site]
- [http://www.emuunlim.com/doteaters/play4sta4.htm "Player 4 Stage 4: But is it Arts?"] a history of the early Electronic Arts
- [http://games.ign.com/objects/025/025025.html "IGN: Electronic Arts] IGN.com's list of every EA Game published.

Articles


- [http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/274.html Original "EA_spouse" blog on workers of EA]
- [http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/ Aftermath of "EA_spouse" blog]
- [http://news.com.com/Game+makers+see+workplace+changes/2100-1043_3-5604624.html?tag=nefd.top "Game makers see workplace changes"] from News.com ja:エレクトロニック・アーツ

John Madden (football)

John Earl Madden (born April 10, 1936 in Austin, Minnesota) is a former American football coach for the Oakland Raiders who later became a TV football announcer, author and commercial pitchman for various products and retail stores.

Early Life

Madden grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and played college football at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. He was later drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League, but suffered a knee injury in training camp and never played.

Career As Coach

Madden became an assistant football coach for the Oakland Raiders in 1967. As the Raiders' head coach from 1969-1979, he won a Super Bowl in the 1976-1977 season. Madden guided the Raiders to 103 victories and only 32 losses (and 3 ties) in ten seasons, establishing the "Silver & Black" as an NFL power, and setting the highest regular season winning percentage for a coach in NFL history. When playoff games are included, Madden drops to second in winning percentage, behind only Vince Lombardi.

Career As Broadcaster

Since 1980, Madden has worked as a color commentator on network television broadcasts of NFL games. For more than 20 years he worked alongside Pat Summerall, first at CBS, and then at the Fox Network. The pair's last game was Super Bowl XXXVI, after which Madden became co-host of ABC's Monday Night Football in the autumn of 2002 with longtime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels. Madden took a pay cut to take this position, in which he reportedly makes $5 million a year compared to the $8 million that he would have made had he stayed with Fox [http://money.cnn.com/2002/02/28/companies/fox_madden/]. Some have speculated that the increased exposure of Monday Night Football ensures that additional endorsement deals will make up the difference. Madden's lively and insightful football commentary has won him critical acclaim and fourteen Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Event Analyst. His announcing style is punctuated with interjections like "Boom!" and his use of the 'telestrator', a device which allows him to draw a diagram of the play over top of the footage. Madden's use of the telestrator helped to popularize the technology, which has become a staple of television coverage of all sports. In 2002 Madden received the Pete Rozelle Radio and Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 2005, Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports, announced that Madden would do color commentary for NBC's Sunday night NFL games beginning with the 2006 season. Madden thus will become the first sportcaster to have worked for all of the "Big Four" U.S. broadcast television networks. The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored Madden with its Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2002. In August 2005 the Hall's Veterans' Committee selected Madden and Rayfield Wright as candidates for entry into the Hall in 2006.

Other Activities

Rayfield Wright In recent years he has appeared in a variety of radio and television commercials including Ace Hardware (interestingly, Madden's partner Summerall was the spokesperson for True Value, Ace's main business rival), Outback Steakhouse (the current corporate sponsor of the Maddencruiser--see below), Verizon Wireless, Rent-a-Center, Miller Lite, Sirius Satellite Radio and Tinactin. In particular, the Miller beer advertisements cemented Madden's image in the public eye as a bumbling but loveable personality. He had a brief movie role playing himself in the 1994 youth football film Little Giants. Madden is the author/co-author of several football-related books, including One Knee Equals Two Feet and Everything Else You Need to Know About Football (1987); The First Book of Football (1993); All Madden: Hey, I'm Talking Pro Football! (with Dave Anderson, 1996); John Madden's Ultimate Tailgating (with Peter Kaminsky, 1998) and the best-selling memoir Hey, Wait a Minute! I Wrote a Book! (1985). In addition to his real-world exploits, John Madden lends his voice, personality and name to the Madden NFL series of football video games published by Electronic Arts. Madden NFL is created at Electronic Arts Tiburon Studios in Orlando, Florida and consistently is one of the top selling games in North America every year. For listeners of KCBS-AM radio in San Francisco, Madden does 15 minute on-air chat with an anchor person every weekday morning at 8:15am with recorded repeats throughout the day. Madden has aired sports commentaries in syndication on the Westwood One radio network in the United States. He has also recorded radio and television public service announcements for a number of causes, including the Pacific Vascular Research Foundation of San Francisco (based on the health experiences of his wife, Virginia Madden). Madden sometimes ends up the butt of jokes as occasionally his commentary borders on the rhetorical and blatantly obvious. It's not uncommon for someone to rib on Madden and his Maddenisms by saying something like "The only way for the Raiders to win this game is to simply just to score more points than the Patriots..." He is also noted for his fear of flying. He travels around the country in a luxurious customized bus, which he has dubbed the Maddencruiser. When not on the road, he and his wife Virginia reside in a historic restored adobe in Pleasanton, California, an upscale community east of San Francisco. He also maintains an apartment in the Dakota Apartments in New York City as an East Coast base during the NFL season.

Quotes


- "The only yardstick for success our society has is being a champion. No one remembers anything else."
- "The best way to win the game, is to score more points than the other team. The best way to do this is to score a touchdown, which is done by getting into your opponent's end zone."
- "Boom!"
- "To get more yards, it's best to move the ball from the line of scrimmage down the field."
- "You can drive a Mack Truck through it!"

See also


- Super Bowl XI
- Immaculate Reception
- Oakland Raiders
- Frank Caliendo - the MADtv comedian is noted for his humourous impersonations of Madden.
- Turducken

References


- [http://money.cnn.com/2002/02/28/companies/fox_madden/ CNN Money article on Madden salary]

External links


- [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/madden/story?id=1556374 Madden's daily show on KCBS radio]
- [http://www.allmadden.com/ Madden's website] Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football) Madden, John (football)

Madden NFL

Madden NFL is an American football video game developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon (EA) for EA Sports. The Madden NFL series consistently is one of the top selling video games in North America every year. The first version of the game was released in 1989 for the PC, as John Madden Football. The first console version (and the version that made it a top-selling franchise) for the Sega Genesis followed in 1990 with a Super Nintendo version available a year later. EA Sports has released annual updates for all versions since 1991's John Madden Football '92. The series gained full NFL licensing and became known as Madden NFL with 1993's Madden NFL '94; NFL players licenses came two years later. The game is currently available for Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance,PlayStation Portable, Palm OS, and the Xbox 360

History

Xbox 360 Xbox 360 Xbox 360 Xbox 360 The game is named after John Madden, a well-known football commentator and formerly a successful Super Bowl winning professional football coach during the 1970s with the Oakland Raiders. Madden insisted that he would only give his endorsement to a game that was as close to real life football as possible. The game has grown, refined and matured over the years, adding many new features. Among these is voice commentary, allowing players or watchers to hear the game being called as if it were a real game on TV. The commentary is by John Madden teamed with his regular broadcast partner, which meant Pat Summerall until he retired; the role is now filled by Al Michaels, John's regular broadcast partner on Monday Night Football. The original version of the game was commissioned by EA founder Trip Hawkins in 1984, and originally ran on an Apple II. EA had just shipped the hit Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One and would soon begin work on Earl Weaver Baseball and World Tour Golf, which together were the foundation for the EA Sports line of video games. The Apple II was not fast enough to show all the players running in real formations on the field. Madden personally rejected the initial proposed build because there were only seven players on each team. After several years of unsuccessful experiments the game finally shipped in the late 1980s and did not sell well. When the Sega Genesis gained popularity in the early 1990s, EA tried again. Producer Richard Hilleman brought in veteran sports game designer Scott Orr, who had founded 1980s Commodore 64 game publisher GameStar and had led the design of their best-selling sports games. The team of Orr and Hilleman designed and led the development of what is today still recognizable as the modern Madden Football, the highest revenue-generating video game series in North America in game history. Early versions of Madden were created by outside studios (including Park Place Productions and Stormfront Studios) but by the late 1990s development was centralized internally at EA Tiburon in Orlando, Florida. There are multiple modes of play, from a quick head-to-head game to running a team for a whole season or even multiple seasons. Online play, which was a new feature for Madden NFL 2003 was only available for users of the PlayStation 2 console or a Microsoft Windows PC until earlier this year. At E3 2004, Microsoft and EA Sports released a press statement announcing that games made from July on will now be Xbox Live-enabled. In August of 2004, EA Sports released Madden NFL 2005 and thus became a fierce competitor in the Xbox Live Community. Also, starting with Madden 2004, EA Sports created the new "Play Maker" tool, using the right analog joystick found on many controllers. This allows the players to make pre-snap route adjustments, as well as defensive alignment adjustments. In Madden 2005, EA Sports further utilized the right analog joystick by creating the "Hit Stick", and option on defense that allows the controlled player to make big hits that can cause fumbles. In the most recent edition to the Madden series, Madden 06, the truck stick was introduced. This feature allows the offensive player to lower his shoulder and break a tackle, or back juke to avoid one. Another new feature is the 'Superstar Mode', which allows the player to take control of a Rookie, and progress through their career. This includes an IQ test, the NFL draft, hiring an agent, and other aspects of a superstar's life. On December 13, 2004, EA Sports announced it had secured exclusive rights to the NFL for the subsequent five years, precluding any other game company from selling a football game using NFL players, teams, stadiums or other licenses.

The "Madden Curse"

Prior to 2000, all of the Madden NFL game box covers prominently featured John Madden only. When EA started to have NFL players on the cover of the Madden NFL games, some people speculate there was a "Madden curse" after noticing a pattern when Atlanta Falcons' star player, Michael Vick was injured during the 2003 preseason after appearing on the cover of Madden 2004. Some of the people that believed in the curse stated that the player featured on the box would get injured or simply have a weak season. The first NFL player to be on a Madden NFL cover was Barry Sanders in 1999, on the 2000 version of the game. He shared the cover with the customary picture of John Madden. However, a week before training camp began in 1999, he abruptly retired, ending his career and leaving the Detroit Lions without their star running back of the previous 10 years. Sanders' part in the curse is debated because he is not solely pictured on the box. Eddie George of the Tennessee Titans, who graced the 2001 box, was the second cursed player. He was cursed by bobbling a pass in the playoffs, which was then picked by Ray Lewis, who returned the ball for a touchdown. He was also injured the following year. George, who regularly averaged nearly 4 yards per carry in his first five seasons, averaged only 3 yards per carry in the 2001 season, and hasn't broken 3.5 yards since. In 2002, it was Daunte Culpepper of the Minnesota Vikings who had a lackluster year and feuded with his star receiver Randy Moss. In the two years that followed, the usually efficient Culpepper threw for 18 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams, who was on the 2003 box suffered an injury and had a bad season overall. He has yet to break 1,000 yards rushing since. The aforementioned Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons suffered a broken fibula in a pre-season game against Baltimore. Coincidentally, this happened the day after Madden 2004 was released. The injury resulted in a painful 5-11 year for a suffering Atlanta Falcons team. Madden 2005 featured Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens. He had an injury that kept him out of the last game of the regular season against the Miami Dolphins. The Ravens won, but missed the playoffs altogether. It was also Lewis' first season without a single interception, even after posting a career-high (6) the previous year. The following year, he suffered an injury that ended his season. EA officials point out that Ray Lewis and former Tennessee Titan Eddie George appeared on the covers of the 2005 and 2001 versions, correspondingly, and had successful seasons without injury. The Philadelphia Eagles' star quarterback Donovan McNabb is on the cover of the current version, Madden NFL 06. Prior to the beginning of the 2005 season, McNabb began having a feud with fellow teammate, Terrell Owens. In the first game of the regular season, McNabb took a hit to the chest from the helmet of Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Chad Lavalais. After the game, it was revealed that McNabb had a sports hernia, that needed surgery and has had him in discomfort and pain throughout the season. Later in the tenth game of the season, McNabb re-injured his groin while attempting to tackle Dallas Cowboys defensive back Roy Williams, who was returning an interception for the eventual game-winning touchdown. On November 21, 2005, McNabb, on the advice of his doctors, opted to have season-ending surgery for his sports hernia.

Criticism

The Madden NFL series each year is given annual updates that are generally small, sometimes a new feature or two, and updating the graphics slightly, all for the same $50 price as the previous years' title (now $60 on next-gen consoles). Still the game sells well each year because of player movement in the NFL as well as being the only NFL game. The new added features however are key to the Madden attraction as they take another step into bringing the player into the game. Each year, Madden removes features from previous editons only to make returns in future versions of games. The Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 06 removed many features and the ability to challenge plays. However, since Madden now owns the exclusive rights to use NFL players, stadiums, teams, etc., video game/football fans are left with few alternatives.

Madden Bowl

Madden Bowl is a Madden Tournament held since 1995 among NFL players and celebrities two days before the Super Bowl.

Madden Bowl Winners


- 1995 - Reggie Brooks
- 1996 - Reggie Brooks
- 1997 - Jimmy Spencer
- 1998 - Morris Chestnut
- 1999 - Ray Mickens
- 2000 - Terry Jackson
- 2001 - Jacquez Green
- 2002 - Jacquez Green
- 2003 - Dwight Freeney
- 2004 - Dwight Freeney
- 2005 - Michael Lewis

References

# #

See also


- NFL Blitz
- NFL Street
- NFL 2K

External links


- [http://www.easports.com/ Official EA Sports website]
- [http://www.tiburon.com/ Official EA Tiburon website]
- [http://www.mobygames.com/game_group/sheet/gameGroupId,344/ Madden NFL Series] at MobyGames
- [http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/07/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/ CNN/Money article on the "Madden Curse"] Category:American football computer games Category:Curses Category:Electronic Arts games Category:Game Gear games Category:GameCube games Category:Nintendo DS games Category:PlayStation 2 games Madden NFL (PC Versions)

Motto

A motto is a phrase or a short list of words meant to formally describe the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. Many countries, cities, universities, and other institutions have mottos, as do families with coats of arms. Mottos are traditionally written in Latin or Romance languages, as well as in English or German. There are many exceptions, particularly in modern heraldry: for examples, the mottos of the State of Hawai‘i and the University of Hawai‘i are in Hawaiian, and the motto of Nunavut is in Inuktitut, while in England the motto of the County of Somerset is written in Anglo-Saxon. A canting motto is one that contains wordplay. For example, the motto of the Earl of Onslow is Festina lente, punningly interpreting on-slow. In heraldry, a motto is often depicted in a coat of arms, typically on a scroll under the arms, or else above it as in Scots heraldry. In musical usage, a motto is a melodic section larger than a motif and may appear at the beginning and often just before the end of a musical composition. Motto may also refer to a short quotation, joke, or an anecdotal message printed on a piece of paper inside a Christmas cracker. Ships and subs in the Royal Na