Madden Curse Movie: CANCELED!?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - 2014 is ending very soon... and we got an answer!

Remember KoopaTV at the very beginning of January 2014? That seems so long ago now, but together we have now reached the end of 2014. Well, back then, I made a resolution:

"get to the bottom of the Madden Curse scandal."

We sent out an e-mail to Angela Souvanarra, the new Electronic Arts PR woman over half a year ago. Apparently, unlike Elizabeth Brett, she still works there!

Let's send another! This time, via direct e-mail, not the EA Press Contact Form. How do I know what EA's e-mail addresses look like? One day, I got an automatic reply from these people showing the format. First initial and then last name. (Click that to see the first "Madden Curse" movie article that started this all.) With this, I can e-mail anyone in the company. As I did with Pat O'Brien, head of EA Entertainment, on October 26, 2014.

Disclosure: I tried e-mailing Angela again with ASouvanarra@ea.com, but it failed. So maybe EA changed their e-mail system, or... she's dead and EA deleted her.

The Madden Curse Struck John Madden, RIP

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Plus, some questions for the future.

You may have heard that American football legend John Madden died on December 28, a couple of days ago, at the age of 85 years old. His actual coaching feats earlier in his life became eclipsed by his name being the name of the Electronic Arts-published best-selling game franchise, Madden NFL. As a result, you can get a quick summary of what kind of fellow John Madden was from his memorial tweet:

Thanks, Coach pic.twitter.com/jGx8aVdRPj

— Madden NFL 22 (@EAMaddenNFL) December 29, 2021

John Madden commentated in the Madden NFL games until Madden NFL 09, eventually being replaced by Cris Collinsworth. That was a while ago, but his name was still on the games, and he always seemed happy about being synonymous with football. Madden NFL extended the appeal of the sport to a vastly wider audience than what would've been without it, and he's a cultural icon that way.

Here's how the market responded to the last Madden NFL game released before his death, Madden NFL 22:

MADDEN CURSE: THE MOVIE!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Cursed to deal with EA's PR.

Back in December of 2010, buzz went around the Internet that EA Entertainment was releasing a Madden Curse movie directed by Pat O'Brien. Since then, we've had no idea what happened to the movie. (For more information about the Madden Curse, look it up yourself.) Being a paragon of exemplary journalism to answer the questions that we need to know, KoopaTV went through the mud to dredge up the latest information on this forgotten production.

...What happened after is extraordinary.

A New EA PR Person; Another Madden Curse Movie Inquiry

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - The first Madden Curse movie inquiry of 2014!

I vowed to get an answer to this question in 2014: "What has happened to EA's 'Madden Curse' movie?" EA has repeatedly refused to provide an answer to this. However, a new EA SPORTS PR rep has emerged, because Ritu Sidhu was not good enough. Her name is Angela Souvannara. Here's her Twitter. Unlike Elizabeth Brett, she seems to still be alive... despite attempts to change that.

I literally cannot breathe.
— Angela Souvannara (@angela__sou) January 7, 2014

Any Updates on Madden Curse?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Yeah, of course not. So more on why EA is the worst company in America.

KoopaTV wants to make sure we're giving our readers the freshest scoop of important news, such as, "What happened to the Madden Curse movie?" Previously,  Elizabeth Brett was fired and killed by Electronic Arts when we asked, and after that we were told that we could return and get a new copy of Madden NFL 25 before it even came out. EA Sports press contact Ritu Sidhu still has her job, so obviously she's doing well in not being dead. She never replied to our last attempt to contact her, however...

Ubisoft Motion Pictures! Screw EA Entertainment!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Not that I'd actually see any of these movies.

KoopaTV's relentless coverage of Electronic Arts and its disgusting history relating to the proposed Madden Curse movie is so impeccable, it's recognized on Wikipedia as a citation. However, as you should have already read on KoopaTV, EA Entertainment also snubbed the idea of a Dead Space movie and ruined the town of Columbus, Georgia for a Need to Speed movie.

Let's Hope There's No Madden Movie About The Jacksonville Shooting

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Let's also hope there's not another Jacksonville shooting that happens in the future that makes this article title ambiguous.

You probably have heard through any news outlet out there that there was a Madden NFL 19 tournament last weekend that got interrupted by an idiot competitor who shot the place, killing two people and himself, after losing in the winners and losers brackets. It was the Southeastern Qualifier for the Madden NFL 19 Classic tournament taking place at the GLHF Game Bar in Jacksonville, Florida — the winner of this 100+-man tournament would get $250 and qualify for the finals taking place in Las Vegas in October, for a prize pool of $165,000. The winner would get $25,000. Big stuff.

The competitor-turned-murderer, entered in the tournament as david_katz, competed against other names such as Young_Kiv (who we saw on-stage at the Electronic Arts E3 2018 press conference, as the winner of the Madden NFL 18 tournament), and the two deceased victims of the shooting, Trueboy and spotmeplzzz. (There is a gofundme for the victims here you can donate to.) A few handfuls of other people were wounded but are expected to recover.

After losing, he went outside, got his semiautomatic gun, came back to the tournament venue, and started shooting at people. Not necessarily at the people who beat him.

While I said david_katz lost the tournament, Florida investigators don't have a motive yet. The investigation is on-going. As such, KoopaTV will not ascribe a motive to the shooter's actions. Speculation here is dangerous. So let me talk about how this affects you.

Evil Assholes at EA

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Exposing Actual Employee Abuse.

It was only a matter of time before we at KoopaTV would have to talk about the EA Spouse story. After all, we ARE on a crusade here, and this story got legitimate publicity when it was told almost a decade ago.

In short, the story is about how the author (Erin Hoffman), the wife of an EA programmer Leander Hasty, is having a distressed broken marriage because of EA's scheduled 90-hour work weeks far in advance of when game development "crunch time" should begin. In return for these horrible hours, EA paid no overtime or compensation time. This is ripping apart the very soul of these programmers. Later, in 2006, class-action lawsuits against EA by EA Spouse's forces were successful.

KoopaTV's Live Reactions to EA's E3 2013 Press Conference

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - That conference retread old ground. And then tread it again over Elizabeth Brett's dead body.

Here are KoopaTV's live thoughts on EA's E3 conference, as it happened! I'm Nintendork 13 13, YoshiRider is masteryoshirider, Rawk is RawkHawk2010, and Kamek is Ultralink1000.

Madden NFL 19: Colin Kaepernick? No big deal. Nintendo Switch? Real controversy

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Real talk about the real issue.

There was a minor uproar among the gaming and sports media about a song licensed for Electronic Arts's Madden NFL 19, which is available for Origin Access (and/or also for EA Access — why does EA have multiple of these programs?) right now, though the full game will be released next week on August 10.

The song was Big Bank by the rap artist YG. You can listen to it here, but it's quite explicit and also terrible listening. I don't recommend it. In any case, somehow people who listened to the song while playing the game managed to actually sit through and not mute their audio long enough to hear that the verse in the song that name-drops failed American football player Colin Kaepernick was brushed out and replaced with silence. (Around 2:12 in the song.)

EA has since apologised and will update their early access before-the-game-is-actually-launched build of the game once the weekend is over. Their explanation is basically that their content team didn't fully understand their legal team's instructions regarding licensed material, and they thought they didn't have the license to have Kaepernick's name in the song because they didn't have the license for him to appear in the game.

That explanation is very likely what actually happened (if you don't think that's the case, you probably haven't worked for a large company with a legal department — you tend to be on the safe side when working with licensed stuff), marking this one of the only times that, in all likelihood, Electronic Arts has told the truth in a statement.

The real controversy, to me, is that, once again and really, as usual, Electronic Arts is snubbing Nintendo. Madden NFL is still not on a Nintendo console since Madden NFL 13, after EA lied on their website about the popularity of the Wii U. Somehow, even FIFA 18 is on the Nintendo Switch (even if the only reason to buy a FIFA game, Alex Hunter, is not), but Madden? Nope.


Why does EA Sports (and Electronic Arts as a whole) despise Nintendo? Do you despise EA back? Which do you think is a bigger story: An honest mistake by EA about their legal rights around Colin Kaepernick, or the relationship between EA and Nintendo? Also, do you think that Big Bank song is horrible, and would you want to play American football to that sorry excuse for music?


Colin Kaepernick is famous for kneeling during the national anthem while he was still signed to a team, a move that KoopaTV approves of.
Ludwig notes what's happening with the Madden NFL series because KoopaTV is infamous for doing ground-breaking journalism efforts around the Madden Curse movie, from start-to-finish.
Ludwig doesn't have a particular hatred for rap songs sung by black people. He has a guilty pleasure for 50 Cent's song, Money.
FIFA 19 is on the Nintendo Switch, too. Still without Alex Hunter.
There is much, much more significant and non-filler news with Madden NFL 19 later in the month.

EA at E3 and Dudebro Catering

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - KoopaTV can handle multiple movements at the same time!

You probably aren't wondering this (you should be), but now that KoopaTV has declared war on Electronic Arts past a mere boycott, we have two movements to juggle: This one and the Enlightenment Movement. Luckily, the two are absolutely compatible with one another and do not interfere in operations! 

EA's Chance To Defend Their FIFA 15 Actions

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - What is wrong with this company?

KoopaTV is not a fair and balanced website. We strive hard to achieve the integrity of Fox News Channel, but we're just not there yet.

Still, in the spirit of getting both sides of the story, we reached out to Electronic Arts about their continuous snub of Nintendo.

KoopaTV's 2013 GOTY Nominations!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - And other categories.

These were decided and talked about in our [Koopa Keep] AOL Instant Messenger Blast. Behold!

KoopaTV's EA E3 2014 LIVE REACTIONS!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - We decided it sucked in REAL-TIME! Like the promotions.

Continuing our coverage of EA, KoopaTV brings you our staff's live reactions to Electronic Arts and their terrible E3 2014 press conference. I'm Nintendork 13 13, Kamek is Ultralink1000, Rawk is himself, and Koopa Keep friend Mariosun90 makes a guest appearance as Ryudragon29.

The type of dude who might enjoy this conference. Two more screencaps at the end.

KoopaTV's August 2018 Review Newsletter

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I wonder if school's gonna ruin things.

August has ended. Today is Labor Day in the United States, the unofficial end of the summer season. Didn't feel like summer over here. All we did was work. (Also, Koopa Kingdom is hot all year round, so the notion of seasons doesn't apply here.)

You're probably just interested in this newsletter having interesting stuff to talk about, so, sure, we have that. Check them out:

Top 5 Recommended Articles of August 2018

I don't have any complaints about our article content in August. Everything on KoopaTV is worth reading. You shouldn't have any complaints either, with a best-of line-up like this (chronologically-ordered) one:

1. Super Smash Bros. at EVO 2018: A Mysterious Destiny — What happened at EVO 2018, how people responded to it, and Ludwig's thoughts. And, yes, it's mostly about Bayonetta and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U.
2. Ashley has granted kids to Hell... What about Sakurai? — When you sit down and think about it, examining all the evidence... Ashley hasn't actually been confirmed to be an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. We wonder why...
3. Which utensil is more useful? Fork VS. Spoon Splatfest! — The August 2018 Splatfest asks which is the more useful utensil: Fork or Spoon? Ludwig has a favourite in spoon, but his own research indicates that fork is factually the better answer. What does he do?
4. Fixed One-Time Cost vs. Microtransactions/Loot Boxes vs. Subscription Fee — Shigeru Miyamoto wants the game industry to embrace a subscription fee model more than it does right now. Let's analyse the payment models.
5. Let's Hope There's No Madden Movie About The Jacksonville Shooting — KoopaTV is the site that did investigative journalism about the fate of the Madden Curse movie... and now we ask that there isn't one about the shooting at the Madden NFL tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.

Mustering the Remasters

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - High Definition or Definitely High?

It's a trend in the industry: HD Remastering is everywhere, and it's about time KoopaTV talks about it. What separates a remaster from a remake? A rehash from a port? Sure, I'll break it down for you because you'll need to be armed for when the arguments you have with other people break down to semantics. You should discontinue the argument at that point anyway, but you're probably immature to keep arguing if you're the type of person who reads KoopaTV to begin with.

KoopaTV 2013 GOTY Awards!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Game of THAT Year and other awards here!

To know what the nominations were, click here. We had our KoopaTV roundtable in our AIM Blast, and we decided the winners of all the categories. So... read more to find out what they are! These are all over 2013.

Obama Attacks KoopaTV

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Twice in a row.

Barack Hussein Obama needs to stop making the news on KoopaTV. We have videogames to write about, but when the president of the United States tries to bring the world against someone (like he did with George Zimmerman), we'll write about it. 'cause it shouldn't be done. Anyway, after our article yesterday and subsequent e-mail to the White House (he hasn't replied yet, but when he does, we'll have an article on it), Obama has made a public statement attacking bloggers. See the Best of Cain counterpart article to this article for the exact quote and video.

The President Replies to KoopaTV!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Took him a long time.

Readers may recall that I vowed to send President Barack Hussein Obama a link to Jessie Go Jr. Remedial Algebra during the US federal government shutdown. I did that over two months ago. One month ago I disclosed what the contents of my message was, and that President Barack Hussein Obama never replied. I said,

"In the meantime, Barack Hussein Obama definitely never responded. So much for the most transparent presidency in the history of America."

Turns out he might've seen that and decided to reply. Take it away, President.

FIFA 19 Releases; Box-Art Athlete Cristiano Ronaldo Accused of Rape

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Electronic Arts isn't in a good position, so they better hope it really is FAKE NEWS.

Last week, FIFA 19 released, to critical anticipation for people who enjoy playing Electronic Arts's sports games, which happens to be tens of millions of people. Personally, I don't care for soccer (or association football). In fact, I dislike it, as you'll find out if you click that hyperlink.

Anyway, a Portuguese guy named Cristiano Ronaldo is on the front cover of FIFA 19's box art, and he's a central focus of EA's marketing of the game (besides Alex Hunter — but for Nintendo Switch buyers, it's just Cristiano Ronaldo). He's among the top two soccer players in the world, next to Lionel Messi. As far as I can tell, Cristiano Ronaldo is the only reason why people around the world even know that Portugal exists.

Let's get my Nintendo Switch victimhood out of the way for this article:
Why is the “Nintendo Switch Edition” considered an alien?
Why isn't it on the Compare Products table?
Anyway, victimhood aside, the point is that Ronaldo is on the cover, and there's a “loan” benefit about him if you pay more money.

Unfortunately for Electronic Arts and their box art, Cristiano Ronaldo has been accused of rape by an American woman named Kathryn Mayorga, reported in the German paper Der Spiegel one day after FIFA 19 released. Kind of bad timing. It turns out that the rape accusation, which depicts the act as occurring in 2009, existed to the public as of last year, but there wasn't a name of the accuser until now. Between 2017 and a week ago, it was just an anonymous rumour.

To make things unfortunate for Ronaldo's credibility, he reportedly doesn't deny the sex took place... but that it was consensual. Therefore, he denies the rape allegation and has called it “fake news.” Ronaldo and Mayorga already had an out-of-court settlement in 2010 for hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for her silence (thus no one knowing about a rape until 2017), but now she's breaking the terms of the settlement so she can ask for more money.