Madden NFL 15 - First Screenshot Released; Player Tattoos Added

[I OU a Beatn]

Hours after Colin Kaepernick signed a six-year, $110 million contract extension, EA SPORTS distributed the first Madden NFL 15 screenshot which featured the San Francisco quarterback. Most notable are his tattoos which indicates that Madden NFL 15 will feature them for the first time and also the scanned face of Kaepernick.

One media site (Stealthy Box) has indicated more in-game screens of players are in their possession but currently embargoed. One possible guess is that they may be released when the cover athlete is announced this weekend.

For comparison's sake, here is a real life picture of Kaepernick's well-paid tattoos:

[bdoughty]

Edit a better comparison, found at OS.






Looks much better. I could care less about tattoo's but the face model and the uniform look a ton better.

[Rudy]

I'll take any news at the moment.

[I OU a Beatn]

You can view the page at http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/for...-Tattoos-Added

[I OU a Beatn]

Somehow didn't notice this before, but tattoos are now apparently in the game.

[skipwondah33]

Yeah that looks so much better and more detailed than last version.

[CLW]

Woooo tattoos. I've been yelling for YEARS that was the one thing missing from the series. With wind socks and tattoos this game will surely be perfect.

[souljahbill]

Roster update

[skipwondah33]

Woooo tattoos. I've been yelling for YEARS that was the one thing missing from the series. With wind socks and tattoos this game will surely be perfect.

Don't know adding dreads and 150 uniforms seemed to please the NCAA crowd. May be working the same

Oh and stat overlays, people love stat overlays

I just want better gameplay

[JBHuskers]

The thing that stood out to me more than the tats was the jersey.

[skipwondah33]

The thing that stood out to me more than the tats was the jersey.

Yep, hugs and fits more

Similar to Madden 2005

[cdj]

Update: Only Kaepernick will have tattoos in the game. (Courtesy: Polygon)

In the screenshot, Kaepernick's arms are adorned with the same tattoos he has in real life. Seann Graddy, line producer for the Madden NFL series, confirmed to Polygon in a phone interview today that this is the first time any athlete has had tattoos in Madden since, at least, the series' transition to high-definition consoles with Madden NFL 06 in 2005. Prior to that, some individuals had generic tattoos, but because tattoos have been missing from the franchise for so long, Madden fans assumed the cause for their disappearance was a mandate from the NFL in its licensing contract with EA.

Not so, according to Graddy, who said that no such provision exists.

"It really comes down to a piece of art asset here that could be [copyrighted], frankly, as we've learned over time," Graddy explained. This problem came to light last year, when a tattoo artist sued EA and now-retired NFL running back Ricky Williams for copyright infringement. Williams had appeared on the cover of EA's 2004 title NFL Street with tattoos that the artist had inked, and the individual accused EA of using his work without his permission. (The artist later dropped the lawsuit.)

As it stands, EA can only use real tattoos if the athlete himself first goes out and secures the permission of the artists. That's exactly what Kaepernick did, because he "takes his tattoos as a personal self-expression that he wants represented in any product or marketing thing that he's a part of," said Graddy.

For now, Kaepernick is the only player who will appear in Madden 15 with his authentic tattoos, because he's the only one who has obtained the permissions from the artists involved. "We want to do this with every player, frankly, and we're hopeful that more players over time actually go out and secure the rights so that we can use their tattoos as well," said Graddy.

[skipwondah33]

Makes sense

Everything always can end in a lawsuit somehow

Similar to the one that had to do with Mike Tyson's tattoo in the Hangover 2.

[GatorfanStovy]

I was gonna say that the first picture of Colin looked real! But damn Madden 15 is gonna look sexy on the new consoles. Can't wait!

[CLW]

LMFAO so its a big "feature" to have tatoos on ONE player? Seriously EA has ZERO talent in pre-release salesmanship anymore.

[I OU a Beatn]

They simply released a screenshot via Twitter. No mention of tattoos were made by EA.

[skipwondah33]

Lol yeah this isn't the main focus

[jaymo76]

No surprise that only Colin K. has tattoos. The No Fun League would never be okay with anything less. This type of stuff makes me long for the good old days where football video games were actually allowed to be fun...

[skipwondah33]

No surprise that only Colin K. has tattoos. The No Fun League would never be okay with anything less. This type of stuff makes me long for the good old days where football video games were actually allowed to be fun...

Everything is all fun and games until someone files a lawsuit.

I never knew EA got sued for Ricky Williams tattoos.

If EA put them on every one who didn't sign a waiver...there would be a long line of tattoo artists I imagine waiting.

Just watched a group of players sue for their "likeness" being used in a game. Wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to sue because a play they created was in the game.

[CLW]

Everything is all fun and games until someone files a lawsuit.

I never knew EA got sued for Ricky Williams tattoos.

If EA put them on every one who didn't sign a waiver...there would be a long line of tattoo artists I imagine waiting.

Just watched a group of players sue for their "likeness" being used in a game. Wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to sue because a play they created was in the game.

Yep. It's a real shame this country doesn't provide protection for speech/art.