Colin Kaepernick Will Be the Only Player in Madden NFL 15 with Tattoos

[RipCityAndy]

@VTHokie525

Three options:

1. Yes, for all original tattoos.
2. No, and the players either a) already have permission from their tattoo artists or b) own the IP themselves (see my previous post).
3. No, and they are liable for damages to the Copyright owner (see my previous post).

[Iceman87GT]

I don't get the all or nothing argument for tattoos... You know what's more awkward than 1 player having tattoos and everyone else not? When a player with full sleeves like Kaepernick doesn't have any tattoos.

I can name 2 players who have tattoos that throw me off when I see them in Madden without them: Kaepernick, and Tom Crabtree (currently a Free Agent).

I am perfectly fine with Kaepernick being the only guy with Tattoos this year, and I don't think it will take me out of the moment if I were to see his represented and then everyone else with bare arms (because again I couldn't tell you what any other players' tattoos look like, or which players on the 9ers that have tattoos). I couldn't tell you who on my favorite team (the Packers) has tattoos, I know plenty of players do, but I couldn't single them out, or tell you what they look like (we haven't had a guy with sleeves since we opted not to re-sign Crabtree), nor could I tell you who on the Falcons does(local team, which means its who I watch whenever the Packers aren't playing in the same time-slot).

I hope they have generic tattoos for other players until they can secure the actual tattoo rights, but even if they don't I could care less.

I don't get why people are getting mad at EA/Madden for including the only player they have rights to. I mean Kaepernick spent the money to secure the rights for this express purpose and now you are advocating that EA ignore that because you think it would look awkward if he was properly represented in the game?

Lighten up! EA has actually stepper their game up (at least in the graphics department, hopefully in the gameplay as well), and you are getting angry about it?! They just can't win with some people.

[SmashMan]

The (lack of?) reading comprehension is amazing to me. NBA2K has nothing to do with this. Neither does EA UFC, WWE, or any other sport with video game tattoos because we don't know how their specific companies and/or player unions have contracts structured.

We now know that the NFLPA has told the players to get their tattoo artists to sign off on having the tattoos reproduced before they will be in video games. That's it. It's on the player to get this issue taken care of if they choose to.

Maybe the Players Association needs to be more informative with the players about this, but in the meantime maybe people should tweet at their favorite players to ask if they can talk to their artists?

[JKSportsGamer1984]

Quote: Originally Posted by IndyColts2

Y'all are really bit**ing about why they only have one players tattoos? Honestly? The fact that we now know they actually WANT to bring AUTHENTIC tattoos back should make everyone frickin scream and shout in excitement. This is why EA debs left this site lmao. @djordan ... just stop. 1. This isn't one of EA's halfassed efforts for once in our lifetime.. It isn't possible for it to be one, for the fact that Kaep is the ONLY person who cared to get this done in time for the game. And it also obviously isn't halfassed because they got every one of his tattoos that are visible during a game in..... 2. Why in the world would you rather wait another season for something like tattoos to be put in? Its not like its a new physics system that they built and midway said "ya know what? we can save this for next season" and stopped.. Tattoos are basically like new equipment being added in.. Did you complain when they added in only 4 DNA helmets or were you happy that you had new helmets to choose from?? GROW. UP.

Says the guy who says "we're all bit**ing"? So someone who doesn't share the same opinion as you is bit**ing but we're the ones who need to grow up? Gotcha.....

[RipCityAndy]

Quote: Originally Posted by SmashMan

The (lack of?) reading comprehension is amazing to me. NBA2K has nothing to do with this. Neither does EA UFC, WWE, or any other sport with video game tattoos because we don't know how their specific companies and/or player unions have contracts structured. We now know that the NFLPA has told the players to get their tattoo artists to sign off on having the tattoos reproduced before they will be in video games. That's it. It's on the player to get this issue taken care of if they choose to. Maybe the Players Association needs to be more informative with the players about this, but in the meantime maybe people should tweet at their favorite players to ask if they can talk to their artists?

Hey SmashMan. You're correct. We don't know anything about any of the other companies/unions (other than the NFLPA). The whole "tattoo as a copyright" issue is, however, still governed by the Copyright Act.

Your point is well taken - the direction the different games chose to proceed is based on business judgment.

[DeuceDouglas]

Quote: Originally Posted by Iceman87GT

I don't get the all or nothing argument for tattoos... You know what's more awkward than 1 player having tattoos and everyone else not? When a player with full sleeves like Kaepernick doesn't have any tattoos.

Or having like 100 players with tattoos so virtually every game has one or two guys with tattoos and the rest without. I mean, we're talking about almost 3000 players in the NFL. Who knows exactly how many are tatted, not to mention the amount of individual artists for any given player. I think we'll definitely see more next year but it all depends on how many players actually even care about their in-game likeness. While I do hope they have some generic tattoos in-game, I'm not expecting and nor would I really care if they did or didn't.

They obviously don't want to be sued again. An ESPN article also mentions that Warner Bros. was sued by Mike Tyson's tattoo artist because they used it in the Hangover 2. When I play my Chiefs franchise, I'll probably see Kaepernick once, maybe twice over the entirety of it so virtually nothing will be different.

[SmashMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by RipCityAndy

Hey SmashMan. You're correct. We don't know anything about any of the other companies/unions (other than the NFLPA). The whole "tattoo as a copyright" issue is, however, still governed by the Copyright Act.

No doubt. Didn't want to imply that others were just ignoring that, but they may be more prepared or keep their players more informed than it appears the NFLPA has been.

[MAGboyswifT27]

Disappointing news..