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NFL adds Google+ Hangouts to fantasy football leagues for extra-personal trash talking
So your fantasy football team just clinched its spot in the virtual Super Bowl. There's now a better way to rub it in everyone's noses than snarky message board posts: Google has just teamed with the NFL to integrate Google+ Hangouts across the league's fantasy football pages. The multi-person video chat is now just a step away, whether you're trading players or checking the latest results. Google is even bending the rules slightly to allow for a full league's dozen players in one session, instead of the usual 10, and will help host talks between commentators and league participants. Hangouts at the NFL pages are already up and running -- that gives us just enough weeks to hem and haw over linebacker choices before the real NFL's schedule gets going.
NFL mulling microchips in footballs for those life-or-death goal line rulings
The NFL is serious business. So serious, in fact, that the idea of refs getting decisions wrong sends chills up and down Roger Goodell's spine. Yeah, we all know they do it habitually, but the League seems to be considering improving accuracy just a little bit with the help of some tech. Cairos Technologies, a German outfit that's been trying to sell its goal line technology to football (as in soccer) bigwigs for a while, has told Reuters that it's in discussions with the NFL about bringing its magnetic field hocus pocus to the gridiron. The idea would be for the ref to be alerted, via a message to his watch, any time the ball does something notable like crossing the goal line or first down marker. It should be a great aid for making difficult calls like whether a touchdown has happened at the bottom of a scrum, and might even help cut down on the number of frightfully dull replay challenges. Win-win, no? [Original image courtesy of NFL.com]
Backbreaker video shows off team customization options
The Euphoria-powered football game, Backbreaker, shows off team customization tools in its latest trailer. Sure, you could use the robust editing suite to manufacture a pretty sweet team logo and end zone design ... but we know most people won't. When it launches on June 1st, could you at least promise us to keep your creations clean and devoid of objectionable genitalia for, like, the first day? How about you be a bit more mature and go with something like the Sioux City Slammers or, dare we suggest, the Jasper Joystiqs? No no, not the Joy Sticks. What is wrong with you people?
Breakfast Topic: Are You Ready for Some Football?
It was sort of lost in the shuffle between Love Is in the Air and the fact that we're technically not a sports blog, but this weekend featured one of the biggest events in American sporting, the Super Bowl. Believe it or not, even some of us uber geeks here at WoW.com's world headquarters like sports. Some of us even watched the Super Bowl. Some of us even watched it for a reason other than the commercials. (And honestly, the commercials sucked this year. Except the Google one. That made me melt and go all gooey and squeal with warm fuzzies.) Anyhow, it was a good game, if not the best Super Bowl I've seen in years. But what it really got me thinking of was Warcraft football. Believe it or not, football in Warcraft is totally canon. If you don't believe me, you should watch the end credits for Warcraft III. With that in mind, I got to thinking about what an Azerothian football league might look like, what cities and villages would field teams, and who'd win the superbowl.
New Backbreaker trailer promises 'next-level' football
We haven't heard much about Backbreaker in a good year and a half, but the Euphoria Engine-powered football title (thinkThe Force Unleashed, with all of those Stormtroopers flying around) is still hitting first downs. It's now set for a release in spring of 2010 (ah, spring, when everyone's mind turns to football -- oh wait), and 505 Games has screenshots and a brand new trailer to share. The game will boast both online and split-screen multiplayer, Arcade and Pro modes (the tougher one will have AI and visual assists switched off) and full team customization options, including a full logo editor. But of course the real star quarterback here is the physics engine -- while the video hints at some great dynamic tackling and movement, we'll have to wait and see if the gameplay provides some real innovation in the football genre. %Gallery-82057%
Nintendo KIRFs Nerf with soft football patent attempt
Ready for your daily dose of absurdity? Nintendo has filed for patent protection of yet another inflatable idea, this time throwing up a spongy football accoutrement for your Wiimote. The "ball" has a strap to keep you from actually throwing it, and in-game trajectories are calculated on the basis of the angle and force of your pseudo-throwing motion. If you're thinking the Wiimote can do all this even without a plush attachment, you'd be right, but then you'd just look silly jumping and juking in front of your TV without a proper accessory in hand. [Via Joystiq]
Man charged $28,000 for using data card, Slingbox to watch football game
While waiting for a Caribbean cruise liner to set sail from the Port of Miami last November, a Chicago native with an AT&T wireless card and Slingbox decided to catch the Bears vs. Lions football game on his laptop. The end result? A $28,067.31 bill from for international data charges, despite the ship never leaving the harbor. Apparently the card was picking up a signal it shouldn't have, and while the bill was eventually dropped to $290.65 after a considerable number of calls to customer service, let that be a warning to mobile users traveling on the fringe of international roaming areas -- and in case you were wondering, the Bears ended up winning 27 to 23.[Via The Register]
Madden NFL 09 sticking the boot in with new trailers
Are all football players blockheads? That's what EA might be trying to say with those giant bobblehead players in the above trailer for Madden NFL 09. Here's an idea -- grab a copy of the game and head down to the local arena. Find a group of guys and taunt them with your nerdish ways, saying EA are right to parody player intelligence and the meaning of life is 42. It's a foolproof plan.If you're an NFL fan or not, Madden has been an acclaimed addition to the Wii library in the past and this year's entry looks to be no different. The bobblehead players are taken from the arcade-style 5-on-5 mode, but simulation fans can still duke it out with the traditional, realistic style. Head past the break for another, correctly-proportioned video of a full stadium experience.
Tecmo Bowl making a comeback on DS this fall
We've known for almost a year that Tecmo would be reviving the much-loved Tecmo Bowl franchise, though the company has remained tight-lipped on the intended platform. Until ... now. IGN just revealed that Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff would be hitting our DS screens this fall, complete with stylus control, fully customizable teams, players, and emblems, and both local wireless and internet play over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.Apart from the logo above, there's no media for this one yet, but we're already chomping at the bit for some pigskin action. We recommend you warm up by grabbing the original from the Virtual Console. Hut hut!
New Madden 09 pics show triumph, failure and mustaches
Electronic Arts has unveiled an assortment of reportedly in-game Madden 09 screenshots. The snapshots include almost catching the ball, almost avoiding a tackle, almost making a tackle and other-in process moments that will make you ... what's this? Wow, we've lost our train of thought staring at this gorgeous mustache in front of our eyes. We offer no explanation for our fixation. Check out the gallery.%Gallery-21786%
Madden 08 pulls out its weaponry
One of the new features of Electronic Arts' Madden 08 is the use of weapons -- special medals associated with certain players to signify their strengths. These aren't real weapons, mind you, but O, how we long for the days of Mutant League Football. These are more like situation-specific special moves. A player with the Big Foot Kicker weapon, for example, can kick the ball "farther than anyone in the game."IGN is outlining the 24 weapons featured in the game, so that enthusiasts can start planning and dreaming up their weapon combinations. Cannon Arm QB with a Quick Receiver? Let's hope one of their defenders doesn't have the Speed weapon.%Gallery-4322%
2K Sports announces classic All-Pro Football roster
Licenses? Who needs licenses? Not 2K Sports, who today announced a massive lineup of classic football stars would grace All-Pro Football 2K8. While EA holds the exclusive rights to use NFL trademarks and current player likenesses, 2K has lined up practically every retired player you've ever heard of, and probably a few you haven't, for the roster of their re-entry into the football simulation market.The list of players is presented on the game page is in a super-annoying Flash format, but intrepid Joystiq tipster Mugginns has compiled them all in an easy to scan text list, organized by position and alphabetical order. Check it out after the jump.
