The "Super Secret" project can now be revealed...

[MR.RANDOM]

can i create my whole entire roster from scratch online? all 70 players or so?

[jeetaa6]

I just peed myself a bit. Be right back to watch the TeamBuilder video again. Carry on without me for a few minutes while I change pants.

THAT....WAS...AWESOME!!!

[CzecHitYou]

Quote: Originally Posted by jeetaa6

I just peed myself a bit. Be right back to watch the TeamBuilder video again. Carry on without me for a few minutes while I change pants. THAT....WAS...AWESOME!!!

"Really jeetaa6? Did you, really pee on yourself? Or are you just looking at things and saying that you love them...'

"I peed my pants.."

lol

[johnnywhiplash]

Example of publisher sued for customization as trademark violation:

Quote:

Marvel sues two companies over role-playing game By Alex Veiga, Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Marvel Enterprises is suing two firms behind a computer superhero role-playing game it claims allows players to make virtual characters that are too similar to "The Hulk," "X-Men" and other heroes in the comic book company's stable. The lawsuit claims South Korea-based NCSoft and San Jose-based Cryptic Studios violated Marvel's trademark characters in their game City of Heroes. Marvel seeks unspecified damages and an injunction against the two companies to stop using its characters. The personal computer game enables players to design superheroes' look and abilities and then battle against other players' characters in a virtual city. Like similar so-called massively multiplayer role-playing games where thousands of players can be playing simultaneously at any given time, City of Heroes claims to offer a myriad of combinations so that no two players' characters are exactly the same. But in its lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Marvel argues that the game's character creation engine easily allows players to design characters that are virtual copies of its own superheros, including "The Incredible Hulk." The company singles out a game feature for creating "a gigantic, green, 'science-based tanker'-type hero that moves and behaves nearly identically" to the "Hulk." Players can also create a "mutant-based" hero powers and a costume nearly identical to Marvel's "Wolverine," according to the suit. The New York-based company also took issue with the ability of players to go so far as to name their superhero creations after Marvel comic book characters. Marvel claims the firms' are responsible because the game is played on servers operated by the companies, raising the question of whether a company is responsible for their customers' actions on its computer server. Marvel also claims the companies have disrupted its "existing and future" business prospects for licensing its characters in video games similar to City of Heroes. An e-mail sent to NCSoft seeking comment was not immediately returned after-hours Thursday. No number was listed for Cryptic Studios. The Marvel lawsuit appears to be the first to raise this question in the scope of an online game. But early copyright infringement lawsuits brought by recording companies against pioneer file-sharing service Napster successfully argued Napster was liable for its customers' sharing of music online because they could do so only by accessing the company's computer system. The argument can still be made that City of Heroes is only empowering users to the same degree that an establishment like Kinkos enables customers to make paper copies of copyrighted material, said Fred von Lohmann, senior intellectual property attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Is it a violation of copyright to make up a character in the virtual world or is that fair use?" von Lohmann said. "This is really untested ground in the courts."

[HealyMonster]

Team builder= the first time since all star baseball 2004 that I have been "count the days" excited for a game release. with the state of sports gaming and my boycott against MLB games (xbox360 owner) I have to say that this innovation alone gets me pumped.

this is what I mean when I say presentation and good features will take the microscope off the on field gameplay flaws. ncaa 10 will be graded based on its innovation now and not "just the bugs and glitches". awesome idea Ian, congrats to you.

[Nza]

Quote: Originally Posted by dave374

Pro Evolution Soccer does not have the reach, sales or publicity of an EA Sports game. I guarantee they will eventually run into legal issues when some down on his luck soccer/football player notices his name in a game. In fact, APF2k8 was getting heat from EA just for a little customizability ... that Mike Vick thing.

Not sure about sales, but it has the publicity for sure, globally.

If the EPL, FIFA and EA - combined a mammoth monster of money, power and probably a couple of lawyers - can't stop Konami allowing users entire reign over their game, then it's never going to happen. And that's just to name a few - La Liga, Serie A, MLS, Nike, Adidas, Reebok etc etc are all stakeholders too; they're all having their copyrights and trademarks used in user downloads with PES. A sizeable portion of the entire western world's economy could have a beef with PES. Hell, some download packs even include unlicensed menu music - if the out of touch music industry can't sue Konami for that, forget about it, and you know they'd want to.

Whether a game company doesn't want the concern is one thing, but if it's prepared to back its actions in a legal court, I see no remotely possible way any court would ever rule against them. If a game company can be sued for simply allowing users to do what they want when creating teams and players, the precedent would impact like an atom bomb across more than just the gaming industry. Paper companies would be sued for selling notepads - after all, a customer could draw a registered trademark on it.

It goes without saying that EA and the NFL are pretty tight. EA don't want to ruffle any feathers - they have the US's biggest sports league under exclusive license for videogames. Losing such a license could break EA, literally demolish it as the premier sports game maker, so what the NFL says goes. Besides, customization for the user is not going to benefit EA fundamentally - as a concept it allows for a game's life span to be extended into the next release's. Why push for it.

[masochist]

Quote: Originally Posted by dave374

This article (http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo...n_sues_el.html) posted earlier in this thread is an example.

Good reply, and nice find. That's what im saying.. why doesnt EA just give generic #'. thats what they did for the OLD GEN MADDEN historic teams.. freakin' Walter Payton was #48 but YOU KNOW it was him. You see what im saying?

[lite_speed]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

I hope so. I love the feature (obviously)...it would be great to have in Madden...but there are a lot of legal hurdles that make it not such a great fit (retired players, historic teams, etc). Time will tell...but at least everyone can enjoy it in NCAA 10 this year.

Well if you made NCAA '10 for PAL..THEN everybody could enjoy it :P

I would love to buy NCAA but it's only NTSC and I prefer 360 to PS3.