While 
football is a pretty family-friendly sport, it’s not always benign in the videogame world.
The NFL has been a part of the landscape for about as long as videogames have been around — and anything with such longevity tends to ruffle some feathers among both players and publishers.
While the 
videogame industry courts its share of controversy, you might expect sports games to generally avoid ruffling feathers. Uh-uh.
Some of the industry’s biggest controversies have involved football videogames.
While they have fallen short of the furor that surrounded the hidden sex in the “Hot Coffee” minigame in “Grand Theft Auto,” football games have had their share of head-scratching moments for investors and fans over the years.
Long 
before “Call of Duty” was dominating the video-game sales charts, there was football.
Though shooters might be the hottest games around these days, sports games are still big sellers — and the virtual gridiron is a perennial favorite. And, more importantly to console makers, it’s a genre that helps sales.
There aren’t 
many video games upon which the mass market consumer and core gamer can agree, but when it comes to football, there’s plenty of love on both sides.
Madden (based on legendary coach and broadcaster John Madden) is the undisputed king of the video game football hill, but there are plenty of other titles that have captivated players throughout the years. Most of them are no longer around, due to industry consolidation, licensing deals or pure bad luck. But each of them can still bring a smile to the face of virtual gridiron fans.
The NFL 
has blitzed Blitz.
Late hits, one of the signature features of the bone-jarring arcade football franchise, won’t be a part of its next iteration. The league has asked EA to remove them from the game.
Super Bowl XLVI may 
look an awful lot like Super Bowl XLV, if the prognostication skills of EA’s Madden series are on target this year.
The football gaming franchise predicts both the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers will once again capture their divisions. And while he might be one of the league’s most controversial players, Eagles QB Michael Vick will take home the MVP trophy.
Madden 12 won’t be 
the only football being played on the PlayStation 3 this fall.
Sony and DirectTV have teamed up to bring the satellite company’s hit NFL Sunday Ticket service to the game console, marking the first time people who don’t subscribe to DirecTV will be able to get access to the subscription service.
DirectTV’s Sunday Ticket is 
adding something new to its playbook.
The company and Sony have partnered to bring the popular NFL subscription service to the PlayStation 3 – letting subscribers watch the game through their console and giving people who don’t subscribe to the satellite company the chance to subscribe without having to hook a dish to their roof.
It’s too early to know whether the infamous Madden 
Curse will hit this year’s cover athlete, but if the wave of recent troubles related to the football franchise is any indication, the hex might be working its mojo on Electronic Arts itself.
Already concerned with how the seemingly unavoidable lockout of the real NFL season will affect sales of the upcoming Madden 12, the company has seen a number of key personnel depart Madden maker EA Tiburon in the past few days, which raises some questions about what fans can expect in 2013.
If you’ve bought a copy of Madden or NCAA 
Football in the past six years, you might have found an interesting email in your in-box over the last few days.
A pair of disgruntled gamers have filed a class action suit against Electronic Arts over the games, accusing the publisher of overcharging customers and stifling competition, via its exclusivity agreement with the NFL, NFL Players Association and other leagues.
Chris Morris: Journalist 