TCW Podcast Episode 058 - EA Sports: It's in the Game!

We revisit EA with a deep dive into EA Sports.  Some information that was in our EA: The Teenage Years episode, but with more detail!  We start off with some of the early ventures into sports, and how EA evolved into the sports juggernaut it is today.  We cover the origins of the EA sports brand, how hats were a deciding factor in getting the name to be accepted by other developers, and how a trademark dispute with ESPN led to the mass market appeal of Madden Football.  We also cover the origin of EA Sports hockey, and FIFA.  Finally wrapping up with how the current head of EA being from the sports division is taking those concepts and trying to apply them to the rest of the industry. 

C64 one on one Dr. J VS Larry Bird: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URobcuTcBFU

John Madden Miller Lite Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD81-vYUt2E

John Madden Football Apple II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EbPghLpK6c

Gridiron Bethesda Softworks (Atari ST): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvzLpJkY5e0&t=18s

Amiga Earl Weaver Baseball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKp_fP06f0Q

Space Jam Website: http://spacejam.com

5 Version of Jordan VS Bird One on One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQS5VuUANJg

PC Lakers vs Celtics NBA Playoffs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHw9Xu89jEM

TV Sports Football: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvA0qlecPNI

Sega Joe Montana Football: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNYZuJ_Lblg

Sega John Madden Football: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaSTAGEGwB4

PGA Tour Golf (PC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAQDRc8H8Wg

Madden '92 Ambulance Montage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_138p6uzhUk

Genesis NHL Hockey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdwS6-TELIo

NHLPA '93: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4ZbynfAJFU

NHL '94: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLQ59_u_9TU

FIFA Soccer Genesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0uV9QWA8kM

New episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode -  Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download:http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode 

Outro Music: RolemMusic - Bacterial Love - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love 

Copyright: Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/