It seems that working stiffs want their slice of the video game industry's multi-billion dollar pie, too.

Publishing monolith EA, of course, has already settled a pair of class-action law suits filed by over-crunched development staff. Activision is dealing with a similar claim.

Now, via Game Daily, comes word that massive retailer GameStop faces an angry mob of its own.

A half-dozen store managers in Louisiana have filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming that they should be eligible for overtime pay. The workers accuse GameStop of violating requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Along with that lawsuit, would you like to pre-order any upcoming games?
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Calling E3's sudden demise, "sad, really," a knowledgeable game industry source has spoken to GamePolitics about the cancellation of the show.

"The problem was systemic," said the source. "E3 grew from a retail buyer's show to an industry expo pretty rapidly... The situation started collapsing quickly. The third parties (publishers) started questioning the ever-expanding (cost)... I think EA has questioned the value proposition. They felt... with E3 it increasingly became about P.R."

So, how will the death of E3 affect the ESA? Doesn't the industry trade group derive significant operating revenue from E3?

"Huge. The most worrying aspect is legislative. (The legal) budget is already meager, compared with what they want and need."
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Those nice guys at EA Sports - always looking out for you, the consumer.

Concerned that the excess cash in your pocket might slow you down, they find new and creative ways to separate you from your money. Last year's innovation was to jack up the cost of Madden by $20 over the previous edition.

EA was able to raise Madden's price because they eliminated the competition (NFL2K series) by scarfing up an exclusive NFL licensing deal. That little maneuver reminds GP of another famous game.

Now comes word that EA Sports and ESPN are thoughtfully prepared to help you part with yet another Andrew Jackson. This time, it's by charging real money to watch one of those "behind the scenes" videos. Ummm, didn't they run something like that for free on MTV last year? And the year before that?

Well, along with the five-cent cigar, those days are gone. A corporate press release just received here at GP HQ announces Inside Madden NFL 07, a pay-per-view special scheduled to debut on August 4th. So what does your $20 buy you? Here's what EA says:

"In this special, available 18 days before the release of Madden NFL 07... fans will get an early look inside one of this year's most anticipated video game releases. EA game designers and some of the best Madden players will lead gamers on a guided tour through new changes and advances in all aspects of the game..."

There are also interviews with top Madden players as well as some NFL stars. Nice for hardcore Madden types, I guess, but a pay-per-view special? About a video game? Are ya kidding me?
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T.V. newsman John Facenda died in 1984, but his deep, resonant voice lives on, thanks mainly to its use by the National Football League and the league's video unit, NFL Films.

But according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Facenda's family has filed a federal lawsuit against the league and NFL Films over the use of Facenda's rich baritone in Making of Madden 2006, a promotional video for last year's edition of the long-running pro football game published by EA Sports. The game publisher has an exclusive deal with the league for pro football video games which use NFL logos and other licensing features.

Facenda vs. NFL Films was filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Monday. The Facenda family's attorney Paul Lauricella said that the broadcaster agreed to allow the NFL to use his voice for its football highlights, but not to promote other types of businesses. The amount of damages sought by the family remains unspecified.

The Associated Press spoke with Lauricella, who claimed that Facenda's voice opened the Making of Madden 2006 and was used later in the video, which the attorney called a "30-minute commercial for the Madden game."
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With the gaming industry growing at an exponential rate, many states and provinces are turning to government support through tax relief and grants to encourage game developers to stay local, and, of course, generate jobs & tax revenue. But how do you compete in a global marketplace when those same grants may require you to develop content that reflects local culture?

The Montreal Gazette recently reported the comments of Remi Racine (left), president of Artificial Mind and Movement, as he spoke at a business breakfast. Racine hoped to inform members of the city's business community about the need to provide digital-era support for the Canada's growing video game industry.

By way of example, Racine cited statistics showing that only 5% of the games developed in Montreal, by companies such as Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, are sold locally. The remainder are exported across the world, part of an industry that generates up to CDN $2 billion every year. But, still, some federal government business development grants take a parochial view, and are based on the degree of Canadian cultural portrayed in a game.

It's a well-intentioned throwback to the days when government sought to assist local media companies locked in tough competition with well-funded American counterparts.
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Are first-person shooters teaching kids to kill?

Islamist kids, that is...

Reuters reports that modified video games have become part of a "global propaganda campaign" in which jihadists encourage Muslim youth to make war against the United States.

As this week's controversial re-rerating of Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion has reminded us, video games - especially PC games - are relatively easy to modify, or "mod." That fact has not escaped notice of al Qaeda and other militant Islamist organizations, which have modded games like EA's popular modern combat game, Battlefield 2.

An official from the U.S. Deparment of Defense told Congress that the mods can be downloaded from jihadist websites.

"What we have seen is that any video game that comes out... they'll modify it and change the game for their needs," said Dan Devlin, a public diplomacy specialist with the DoD, who testified before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Also testifying were consultants from Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), a Defense contractor based in San Diego which is under contract to monitor militant websites for the U.S. government.

In the BF2 mod, the game's original video trailer has been altered to show a jihadist carrying an automatic weapon into battle with U.S. forces.

"I was just a boy when the infidels came to my village in Blackhawk helicopters," the narrator says. Onscreen images in the trailer show video of firefights, helicopter assaults and President Bush calling the war on terrorism a "crusade" in a speech given shortly after September 11th.

EA spokesman Jeff Brown acknowledged that mods are increasingly common, with little game-makers can do about the issue.

"Millions of people create mods on games around the world," Brown said. "We have absolutely no control over them. It's like drawing a mustache on a picture."

GP: A shout-out to numerous GP readers who forwarded this story!

Want to talk about it? You can discuss this story via the "comments" feature (click below), or in the new GamePolitics Forums...

GamePolitics is no bastion of socialism, but these numbers stink.

By way of Gamasutra we take note of a Forbes article on Fortune 500 CEO compensation. The business mag's examination reveals that EA CEO Larry Probst made $12.6 million last year, including stock. Over the past five years Probst has taken home $82 million.

No other gameco's are in the Fortune 500, so Probst was the only game executive whose compensation was mentioned. Forbes notes that Probst ranks well on its measure of CEO pay vs. performance.

Guess what?

GP doesn't care. We're still simply outraged that EA killed the competition for Madden, forcing Joe Sixpack to shell out an extra twenty bucks for Madden. 2K Sports, of course, returned the favor with its MLB 2K6 baseball game, and we don't like that any better.

Would you like to create video games but find yourself daunted by the fact that displaying a simple message in Windows can take hundreds of lines of code? Perhaps Alice can help.

Who?

Alice is a program developed by the Stage 3 Research Group at Carnegie Mellon Univeristy. The innovative program offers novice coders a 3D graphics development environment that allows them to concentrate on learning and experimenting with programming concepts instead of suffering through proper syntax and complicated code structure. Details can be gleaned from this 12 minute demo. However the basic appeal for students is that instead of typing this:

if(((GetAsyncKeyState(VK_UP) & 0x8000) ? 0: 1) && (ball_ptr->radius<MAX_RADIUS))ball_ptr->radius ;

Alice users create much more intuitive statements such as:

If [the user presses the up arrow key] and [the ball's radius is less than the
maximum] then [increase the radius of the ball by 1].

Much easier to read, isn't it? The program, free to anyone who wants it, has thus far used rudimentary and, to be blunt, unattractive 3D models created in 3D Studio Max. A recent collaboration with Electronic Arts will guarantee that Alice has the looks to go with her personality because version 3 will be incorporating art assets from the Sims (read the press release here).

"Getting the chance to use the characters and animations from The Sims is like teaching at an art school and having Disney give you Mickey Mouse," said comp sci prof Randy Pausch, director of the Alice Project. "The Sims is EA's crown jewel, and the fact that they are willing to use it for education shows a kind of long-term vision one rarely sees from large corporations."
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Talk about upsets!

Could EA's choke hold on NFL-licensed video games be in jeopardy just one season into the odious five-year deal signed with the league and the player's union (NFLPA)?

Citing an article in GamersReports, Joystiq points out that current problems in resolving a new collective bargaining agreement could spell trouble for EA's flagship sports franchise, Madden NFL.

"The players either will be on strike or the owners will lock out players in 2008... the union likely will de-certify, and antitrust rules will apply."

Federal anti-trust regulations could void EA's exclusive contract which has turned Madden from a game into a monopoly.

Although we're long time Madden fans, in GP's mind, EA deserves to get whacked with the anti-trust stick. We've been calling for a Justice Department monopoly investigation since the deal was announced last year.

Although GP took a fair amount of heat on this issue, we think events proved our point. Madden 2006 sold for $49.99 or $59.99 (Xbox 360 version) last season, the first under the monopoly setup. The previous year, thanks to hot competition from 2K Sports' excellent NFL2K5, Madden cost only $29.99. In addition, the pricey Xbox 360 version of Madden pretty much sucked.

According to an EA press release, the French postal service, La Poste, has commemorated The Sims franchise with an official stamp.

Published in a limited edition, Les Sims is one of 10 stamps in the Heroes of Videogames collection. The set will retail for 2.65 euros (approximately $3.09 USD) and is available now in French post offices and through La Poste's website.

According to EA, The Sims games are so popular in France that they the number eight entertainment product, just behind The Da Vinci Code.

"From fashion to food, history to heraldry, the French have always been cultural tastemakers," said EA's Chief Creative Officer Bing Gordon. "We thank them not only for commemorating The Sims with an official postage stamp, but also for making it one of the top ten most celebrated entertainment products in France -- Merci!"

GP: Very cool indeed to see not only The Sims, but other video game franchises so honored. Les Sims stamp, by the way, is in the lower right corner of the set.

As reported on GameSpot and elsewhere, Electronic Arts has settled the Kirshenbaum class-action suit for a reported $15.6 million (that's a lot of copies of Madden, even at the monopoly price). GamePolitics detailed the case in report back on June 8th.

A second case, the Hasty class-action, is not included in the settlement. Of course, it was the now-famous EA Spouse blog that first brought to the public's attention the long hours without compensation that EA's development talent was subjected to.

Madden NFL 2006 from EA Sports was released this week, and gamers lined up to get their copies. It's a great game, in GP's opinion. There's a lot to love about it.

Love the new vision passing system. Love the ability to precisely locate your passes so that only your receiver can reach them. Love the new Superstar mode and all of the other cool things that already made Madden great.

But there's a dark side, too, none of which has to do with the game play. There are things you can hate.

Hate the fact that EA, the NFL, and the NFLPA got together to screw over football fans by limiting their choices to a single licensed game.

Hate the fact that the NFL2K series was forced into extinction by the lack of available NFL licensing. It was a great sports game franchise, better than Madden in the eyes of many gamers.

Hate the fact that EA Sports and developer Tiburon will have zero pressure to innovate since there can be no competition. Although GP enjoyed Madden, some reviewers, like GameSpot ("solid, if predictable") and Kotaku ("Madden = More of the same"), complained that Madden 06 is just a so-so product.

Hate the fact that Madden, without competition this year, will set you back $49.99. Last year it cost just $29.99, and the now-defunct NFL2K5 cost only $19.99. Of Madden's monopolistic sins, this is the most egregious, and probably the most interesting to government investigators, should they choose to come calling. If the franchise sells 10 million copies, that's $200 million leaving your collective pockets and making its way into EA's swelling coffers.

And folks, that is what happens to consumers in a monopoly market. You have no choices. You have no leverage. And that's why the Justice Department needs to investigate EA for anti-trust violations.

If you're having a sense of deja vu, it's because this isn't the first time GamePolitics has harped on the Madden Monopoly, and probably won't be the last. Check out our previous coverage: Reebok Case Has Implications for EA NFL Monopoly; GamePolitics Renews Call for Justice Dept. Probe