While reading my morning sports news, I came across this article on ESPN.com about former Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller taking EA Sports and the NCAA to court. Keller is claiming that EA Sports wrongly uses the names and likenesses of collegiate athletes and that the NCAA allows this to happen. If you have ever played one of the NCAA games (basketball or football) you know that due to NCAA rules the makers of the game cannot use real names or pictures of the athletes. The rating of the players are true to life, but that’s about it. The lawsuit goes on to say that the games dodge this rule by allowing owners of the game to easily share files that contain entire rosters, including player names and bio information.

Now, some would not see the harm in this. But remember that NCAA athletes do not get paid (unless you count the scholarships which provides a free education for some). So the main contention in this lawsuit appears to be that EA Sports and the NCAA are profiting (and profiting greatly I might add) from these games, but the athletes get nothing and the games are built around the athletes.

So what are your thoughts on this lawsuit? And, do you think the athletes should get some kind of compensation?

Just saw this article on CNET about a new study that says playing action video games could help to improve your eyesight. The study found that playing action games can increase contrast sensitivity, help amblyopia (lazy eye), helping you see better at night and improve spatial resolution. So all that time playing Call of Duty was beneficial!

Amazon has now entered the video game trade-in market.  Yesterday the company announced the beta launch of Amazon Video Games Trade-In.  You can add games to your cart that you would like to trade in, and upon completing the the process you then print out a prepaid shipping label.  You then mail your games in and once Amazon verifies the game they will then deposit an Amazon gift card into your account for the amount, which you can spend on anything they sell. 

This market is currently dominated by GameStop, but Amazon could quickly become a major player as well.  The advantage Amazon has is that you can use your money from the trade-ins on products other than video games.  Given the current state of the economy this market should only grow.