Madden-09
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Madden 09 soundtrack headed to Rock Band
Looking to expand their already rich library, EA just announced some new Rock Band downloadable content that's headed our way as part of a partnership between them and Madden NFL 09. According to the press release, "'Rock Band' will feature music from the 'Madden 09' soundtrack in its weekly downloadable songs update, a handful at a time, over several weeks, with each song carrying the 'Madden' brand." Though, at what price, which tracks from the album and when they'll release are all question marks right now. That said, we do know every track that is on the soundtrack (conveniently listed after the break) and it's also interesting to note that some of the Madden 09 soundtrack songs are already available as Rock Band DLC including The Offspring's "Hammerhead" and Disturbed's "Inside the Fire". Whatever happens, we say keep the DLC coming.
Deal of the Day: Pre-order Madden 09 for $50
For those of you who are looking to buy Madden 09 on day 1, rather than wait till the game inadvertently drops to $20 around the same time next year, can save a little money with this deal. Pre-order the game by July 13th at NFLShop.com, apply the coupon code NFLEXTRA25 for 25% off, and get the game for $44.99 + $4.99 shipping = $49.98. The game will retail for $59.99 when it debuts, so you'll be saving $10 and potentially sales tax. Unfortunately, those in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania will have to pay sales tax. Take advantage of this deal here.[Via SlickDeals]
Madden 09 goes gold, here's a handful of new screens
Click for high-resolution image A fresh batch of Madden NFL 09 PS3 screenshots are here from us to you. The famous virtual football franchise will get another annual update when this Madden-baby hits the PS3, PSP, and other platforms this August 12. The game has now gone gold, which means there's nothing going to stop this gridiron game from sacking retailers.The Madden series has been around for 20 years. Can you believe it? That's one game, every year, for the past 20 years. Whether you like sports based games or not, you have to admit that's some impressive stats right there. So, in addition to our PS3 shots of Madden NFL 09, we've also got a gallery of every past Madden cover (obviously including non-PlayStation ones). If you're a football fan, make sure you scan through both galleries. %Gallery-26062%%Gallery-26063%
Are you ready for some Madden 09 achievements?
Our buddies over at 360Sync have already gotten into their Fall football mindset, exclusively releasing a list of Madden NFL 09's achievements. The complete list can be viewed after the jump, but we came across a few achievement highlights including the "Steal Their Thunder" achievement for stealing your opponent's celebration (nice use of T.O.'s mug) and "Midway Monster" where you have to create a legendary player from the past. We're also mildly offended by the "Slam Dunk All-Star" where it awards 30 Gamerscore to those who "dunk the ball over the goalpost (or at least attempt to) after a touchdown." Attempt? Psht, when we go for the goalpost dunk we don't attempt, we execute with flair.
Joystiq hands-on: EA Sports All-Play
"All-Play" is the new brand of Wii-exclusive EA Sports titles that takes the publisher's perennial franchises and simplifies them in ways that make the games accessible to, well ... all. It's the obvious direction to take, as the changes in the Wii versions of EA Sports' games continue to distinguish themselves from the linear advances of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. All-Play isn't groundbreaking, it just wants to fit. All-Play succeeds in its commitment to consistency. Whatever whip Riccitiello is cracking has got the herd moving together in the right direction. We recently spent time with four of the five featured All-Play titles (sorry NCAA Football!) and can report that each has been treated with a certain level of care above the usual year-to-year tweaks EA Sports has come to be criticized by. These treatments are most definitely shaping a more casual product, which gives EA an advantage at both ends of the current-gen playing field.
Joystiq hands-on: Madden NFL 09
Is the annual arrival of a new Madden game as unremarkable as a change in the seasons? We got some hands-on experience with the latest iteration last week at EA Studios, and it's definitely come a long way since Madden 08. How many yards? Read on!%Gallery-26126%
ESRB Watch: Swan Song Edition
Yeah we know the post title is a bit needlesssly grim. Let's face it, we're going to still be getting some information about releases from the ESRB. And hopefully some publishers simply won't much care about putting their games up there early. Others like Playful Entertainment, publishers of Ticket to Ride, seem to still want their ratings to go up at the last minute (TtR releases this week). However, if we're to believe that the publishers of the other two XBLA games on the list (Rocket Riot and Cribbage) also want their games to pop up at the last minute, we could be looking at the first hint of next week's releases. Or we could just be paranoid about this whole ESRB thing.
EA's Fantasy Football apps integrate with Madden 09
EA has tweaked the company's Fantasy Football service with some much welcomed connectivity to home consoles such as the PlayStation 3. The biggest change comes in the ability to take a fantasy squad and import the team into the upcoming Madden NFL 09. Yeah, that's right, use your fantasy squad in the game -- even in online head-to-head matches.The web-based service is free of charge; however, those who want to download the applications onto their PS3s will have to pay a currently undisclosed amount of cash. An interesting addition is that fantasy scores can be viewed in either "full screen mode" with complete rosters and details, or "picture-in-picture mode" which allows gamers to keep track of updates and watch live games at the same time. They've got some pretty neat stuff going on, so check out the Fantasy Football website for more details.[Via Press Release]
Import fantasy football teams into Madden 09
Continuing the Madden fantasy football tradition, EA Sports recently announced that fantasy.easports.com will again be fully functioning this year, with new website enhancements, a Live Draft Tracker, a new Live Score Tracker and added Xbox 360 functionality where you'll be able to import your fantasy sports team into Madden NFL 09. Details are light, but EA promises that you'll be able to take your fantasy team into any of Madden 09's gametypes including online versus, play now and franchise modes. Quite nifty. So, we have to ask, are you getting more impressed with this year's Madden offerings?[Via IGN]
EA Sports wants to make your fantasy (football) come true
Electronic Arts is dogpiling new features onto their Fantasy Football service in an effort to get people to migrate from the siren-like call of other fantasy football sites, including the ever-popular (and free) one at Yahoo. EA has created both a free fantasy football website as well as downloadable applications for both Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network that will be available for an as yet-unannounced fee. Both services will give you the ability to manage your fantasy teams and track stats through the extremely long-named EA SPORTS Fantasy Football Live Score Tracker application.However, what really caught our eye in the press release was this: "The fantasy scores can be viewed in two ways: full screen mode with complete rosters and details or picture-in-picture mode which allows gamers to keep an eye on scoring updates while watching live football action." Is EA magically adding live television to our consoles? If so, thank you, wonderful elves! We've contacted EA about this and will pass (get it?) an update once we have it. Oh, you'll also be able to import your fantasy team into Madden NFL 09 and pit them against other players. Finally, we'll have fantasy fantasy football.%Gallery-25266%
EA Sports shows how Madden 09 is actually different
If there's any criticism we've heard about EA's Madden NFL series time and time again, it's that since EA got the monopoly exclusive rights for the NFL license, the only thing that seems to change about the game year after year is the number at the end. Whether it's the doing of EA Sport's new head honcho Peter Moore, or some new vigor at EA Sports, the company is definitely looking to show that Madden NFL 09 is improved.Above you'll find EA showing off the differences between Madden 08 and 09. We've placed several other videos showcasing new features and animations in Madden 09 after the break.%Gallery-21786%[Via Evil Avatar]
Video: Madden 08 versus Madden 09 visuals
On a mission to prove that Madden NFL 09 is a ginormous step forward in the Madden franchise, EA released a new visual comparison video that pits the graphics of Madden 08 versus Madden 09. And, as you can see above, Madden 09 does actually look better, especially when it comes to weather effects and lighting. The bigger, more pressing question is whether or not we should praise EA for adding such improvements that are normally commonplace among game sequels. It's a step in the right direction, but we have a feeling Madden fans are demanding a lot more.
Sony announces metallic blue Madden NFL 09 PSP bundle
It looks like Sony is aiming to put ColorWare out of business with all the new, brightly-colored PSP models it's introduced as of late, a streak that continues with the company's just-announced metallic blue model. This one is available exclusively in a new Madden NFL 09 bundle, which includes said game, along with a 1GB Memory Stick, the NFL: In Just One Play video on UMD, and a PSN voucher that'll let you download the Beats rhythm game free of charge. Look for it land on August 12th with the usual bundle price tag of $199.99.[Via Joystiq]
Fix your mistake, rewind added to Madden 09
Being added to Madden NFL 09's ever growing list of new additions comes the announcement of an "interesting" feature which is being called "EA Sports Rewind". How it's explained, this new feature will allow players to go back in time, take a down back and re-do what just occurred if one wasn't happy with the previous outcome. In it's simplest form, it's a do-over. The rewind ability can also be used defensively against your opponent, thus negating any progress or scoring they did the play before. Also, just in case you were wondering, before the game starts players will be able to specify the number of rewinds each team gets per game.It's an interesting feature add, but we can't help but wonder how much it'll actually be used between multiplayer foes or how annoying it'll end up being.
Video: Man tackle with Madden NFL 09
Put down Viva Pinata (game save first) and your too pink controller, because it's time to man up with some football roughness. EA just released a new Madden NFL 09 "Tackle Animations Trailer" that showcases this year's new tackling engine and a bunch of ... well, tackles. The game's tackling animations aren't bad at all and are some of the best Madden tackling animations to date. But we think the problem lies in with the fact that they are animations. Where's the oh so enjoyable ragdoll physics? Give us Euphoria-style goodness in Madden and we may actually support this new fangled "football" thing.
Madden 09 adds ability to return missed field goals
It's Gamestop's Madden Monday and that means we get treated to yet another interesting Madden NFL 09 feature reveal, and this week we learn about the ability to return missed field goals. This feature should be pretty self-explanatory, when a field goal is attempted and missed, your opponent can return it for a possible score. Group breaking feature add, no? In all honestly though, the ability to return missed field goals is a no-brainer and should've been in Madden ever since Hester was first conceived. Returnable missed field goals, user-controlled celebrations and a heaping helping of Favre ... Madden 09 is going to be a-maz-ing!
Favre: Some young players better at Madden than the real thing
Recently announced Madden NFL 09 coverboy, and retiree, Brett Favre was vocal on his future and video game honor in an interview with the Associated Press last Friday. The three-time NFL MVP discussed his future off the field along with his legacy and was very candid when the Madden honor was mentioned. "I'm not savvy enough to play this game," Favre said. "Most of the younger generation has no idea [John Madden] coached."Favre ended the Madden discussion by taking a quick shot at the younger generation of NFL Pros. "Some of our guys play Madden better than they play on Sundays. And they spend more time talking about playing Madden." Well, based on Green Bay's 2007-2008 playoff record, the team clearly didn't spending time talking about beating the New York Giants. Ba-zing!
Moore knows people are 'pissed' about no PC Madden '09
EA Sports President Peter Moore recently talked to GameDaily about his decision to not release Madden NFL 09 on PC. He acknowledges the move "pissed off a lot of people," but it was a business decision based on sports games in the PC market.He stands by previous statements he made, when he was still with Microsoft, that there'll be a PC gaming renaissance, but he says sports games aren't going to play a "huge role." He says that whether people agree with it or not, EA Sports is designing its games to be played ten feet away from a high-definition screen with groups of people playing online or in the same room. The full interview is actually quite deep, with Moore discussing a lot more about EA Sports' design philosophy, its targeted consumer and the issue of PC piracy.
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%
EA spikes Madden NFL 09 details
Aside from knowing who would grace the cover of Madden NFL 09 we could only confirm that the latest entry in the franchise was in fact based on the sport of American football. However, thanks to an in depth interview with gamer designer Phil Frazier by GameTap, there are new details regarding the 09 season.New additions to the popular football franchise include: Real Football Intelligence: tracks your skill as a player and provides helpful feedback EA Sports Backtrack: Think instant replays meets tutorials in real time Online leagues are in for up to 32 players including full stats and, trading Player Weapons return! Total Animation System: Brand new animation system, go figure! New holographic training center Induction of Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth as the new play-by-play and color commentators Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions run at 60FPS Brett Farve is in the game but not on the Packers roster Along with these details, Frazier claims the 09 season will be the biggest graphical leap in the series history. We'll have to wait and see on that one! Madden NFL 09 hits on August 12.[via Joystiq]
