In 'Madden 17' the LA Coliseum has one tiny problem
Recreate stadium? Check. California weather? Check. Sun? Sets in the east.
A legacy fan of the Madden sports game franchise made a disturbing discovery: In its latest version, Madden NFL 17, the evening sun is in the east, the absolute wrong side for it to set anywhere on planet Earth. It only happens during games set in Los Angeles at the Memorial Coliseum, which is the Rams' home stadium once again. Thus, the case is either an isolated aberration or a sly dig at how upside-down crazy it is that the team came back to Southern California after leaving it for St. Louis, Missouri 21 years ago.
Only a dedicated fan familiar with where the Los Angeles stadium is situated in the real world could tell that the sun is on the wrong side of the sky. But since the game's interactive tutorial sets the player up in the Coliseum to learn the ropes, every player paying that close of attention could notice. The error could be due to the game's development team rushing to re-situate the Rams back in LA after they filed to relocate in early January 2016. Yet the tipster also provided Kotaku with screenshots suggesting that the sun could be misplaced in the Cowboys' and Chiefs' stadiums, too.
What will Madden's studio EA do about it? Probably nothing. The issue doesn't affect gameplay, only the reputation for a series with such attention to detail that it animates trash talk. A spokesperson confirmed to Kotaku that they will fix it in next year's edition of the franchise, but implied it wasn't really a priority to address:
"It's a testament to our fans that they know everything about their favorite teams, including where the sun sets in their stadium," an EA spoksperson told Kotaku. "Our art team is investigating the issue, and working on correcting it for future editions of Madden NFL. In the meantime, we hope players enjoy this sneak peek into what the world might look like if the Earth rotated in the opposite direction."
