First off, I want to applaud EA for their decision to support such a worthwhile cause. The video game publisher has joined forces with Target, the national retail chain, to distribute a limited edition “Madden 09 Pink” edition cover throughout the month of October.

The pink ribbon is the hands down identifier for the fight against breast cancer, however Green Bay’s green and yellow is no longer associated with Brett Favre. Again, this is a great cause, and I totally support it, but it puzzles me as to why EA would update the cover to include a pink ribbon yet leave Favre wearing his Green Bay uniform.

Deanna Favre, Brett’s wife, overcame her battle with breast cancer, and now runs the Deanna Favre HOPE Foundation. EA will be contributing proceeds from the sale of this limited edition version of the game to Deanna’s foundation.

Those interested in purchasing the game will have two flavors to choose from, with the Wii version ringing in at $49.99, and the 360 version retailing at $59.99. A bit strange that the PS3 version is not being added to the list, but according to the press release, it won’t be joining the fight against breast cancer this time around.

Your local Target store is the only physical location you will be able to buy it from. If you prefer to shop online, you can head on over to www.target.com or www.nlshop.com to place your order.

The full press release is available after the jump. Read more…

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Behind the scenes wheeling and dealing can generate tasty bargains, but sometimes those bargains come with a nasty aftertaste.

In this case, it appears that EA and the NFLPA along with Players Inc. struck a deal for retired NFL player rights that was significantly below fair market value. A class action lawsuit was filed by the players in question against Players Inc, but the fun didn’t stop there. In a letter crafted by 51 year old former Buffalo Bills safety, Jeff Nixon, Madden was asked to come to the aid of his fellow Hall of Famers.

Jeff’s “Dear John” letter to the former Raider’s Head Coach is laced with incriminating quotes, the most shocking being that EA’s total cost to produce Madden each year is apparently no more than $200,000!! Read more…

Get your popcorn ready. EA Sports, in partnership with ESPN, has created a new technology called Virtual Playbook that merges real life ESPN analysts with virtual EA video game characters.

According to EA, in-studio cameras will be synchronized with in-game cameras, allowing both real and virtual people the ability to “move realistically around the studio set to demonstrate plays and scenarios.”

As a huge sports fan myself, I am interested in seeing how all of this comes together. On paper it definitely sounds like it has the potential to be a major addition to the sports broadcasting venue.

You can see EA Sports Virtual Playbook in action September 7th, on ESPN’s Sunday Countdown. The full press release is available after the jump. Read more…

The more I see, the more I believe. When I spoke to an EA/Tiburon employee at this years E3, he told me that the company was really trying to change the way they interact with their community. Well, it seems they are putting their money were their mouth is, and doing just that.

It wasn’t long ago that Levinator25, a Tiger Woods 2008 gamer, uploaded a glitch he had found in the game to Youtube. The bug allowed his virtual Tiger Woods to make a shot as he hovered over a body of water.

In a hilarious response from EA Sports, the following video claims that the “feature” was not a glitch, and calls on the real life Woods to prove it. Read more…

If ever you wanted proof that Brett Favre was considered a God in GreenBay, this has got to be it. What seemed like a lock to break the Madden cover curse, has turned into one of the ugliest aftermaths yet.

Sure Favre may not be suffering the effects of any on the field physical damage (at least not yet), but the pounding he has been taking from the GreenBay faithful hurts in its own right. The latest outcry comes courtesy of a Wisconsin based church.

The sign in front (shown above) compares the former Packers QB to God and reads “God Will Never Leave You For The Jets!” I had no idea God played pro football.

Source: ireport.com

If you are a hockey fan, and you own a PS3, you can boot up right now and download the EA Sports NHL 09 demo. Xbox 360 owners will looking to lace up will have to wait until early September to hit the virtual ice.

Our very own Emily Balistrieri had a chance to check out the game at the EA Studio Showcase a few days ago, and had this to say:

Dave McCarthy gave us the lowdown on what’s new this year for NHL 09. They’ve made further improvements even since last year’s award-gilded installment, adding the EA Sports Hockey League mode. Players can create their own character, level up, and play on fully human teams–six on six–with other hockey fans online.

The career tracking is pretty in-depth, and you can be scouted by other players or scout for new talent for your own team. During the game, you get feedback on how well you’re keeping position (also shown in real time as an arrow, if you’re not quite in the right spot), as well as various other attributes, so you’ll know what to work on to become a better team member. NHL 09 will be available September 9th.

Sounds like the game is worth a download, but if it’s as short as the Madden demo was, XBL owners won’t be missing out on much.

EA Sports has announced the 42-song soundtrack to FIFA Soccer 09 this morning. Featuring songs from 21 countries and a number of genres, the soundtrack follows the style of their previous sports games with a mix of both established and new music acts. Some of the artists include The Ting Tings, Kasabian, The Kooks, Foals, and Duffy. Read more…

Weighing in at just over 1GB, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 demo just hit Xbox Live today and is packed with three holes on the new course, Gary Player Country Club in South Africa. Read more…

The EA Sports Madden 09 cover update we mentioned would be happening a few days ago appears to be complete — as you can see above. The site which first came into possession of the box art, is also claiming that Walmart will be updating the cover in their stores as early as noon tomorrow.

The in-store update by retailers was never mentioned in the previous press release issued by EA Sports, and if true, all I can say is “thank God I got mine before the cover change was forcefully put into effect by retailers.” In his New York press conference, Brett stated that he would always be a Green Bay Packer, and I couldn’t agree more.

The Madden Curse has struck again, and this time it hit a man thought untouchable.

Every year since Madden 2000, the athlete featured on the game’s cover has fallen from grace, usually due to injury. It happened to Faulk, Vick, and Culpepper. It laid low Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb and Shaun Alexander. It even gave Vince Young his first career game missed due to injury. It’s called the Madden Curse.

Perhaps it’s all superstition, or perhaps the super-stars who make the cover are just unable to maintain the level of greatness that got them on the cover. Either way you look at it, the Madden Curse is a disturbing trend.

It looked like the curse would be put to rest in an ingenious way in 2009. Put a retired guy on the cover. But the fabled quarterback Brett Favre just couldn’t stay retired. And, now that he’s playing for the Jets, will he suffer the same fate? Will his glorious resurrection be heralded as a Phoenix rising? Or will he merely burn out like so many superstars who can’t give up the game?

Or has the curse already been cast? Hit the jump for some superstition speculation. Read more…

Sure, the blogging community makes its share of mistakes, but as you can see above (and previously here), so do the “real journalists”, even the ones “real” enough to work for big publications like The Washington Post.

Now, I’m not saying that incorporating features from a 1970s German film about mining wouldn’t make a nice addition to the well known EA franchise, I’m just not sure that I fully understand how it would mesh with the traditional American football aspect “Madden” is best known for. But hey, that’s for the real journalists to figure out, and we’ll be sure to blog about it when they do.

Source: Teh Washeengton Powst

The 7-Eleven chain of min-marts have begun busting out marketing collateral for their “Sack Madden Meal” deal.

I haven’t personally stepped foot into a 7-Eleven in years, but according to Joystiq, the $5.97 deal buys you a “Madden sub” (turkey and cheese is the mini mart equivalent to a turducken sandwich), your choice of Doritos, the chain’s signature BIG GULP drink, and most importantly, the Madden 09 demo.

The 7-Eleven version of the demo includes some additional treats you won’t find in your 1.1 GB download. In addition to the virtual trainer and 2 minute gameplay drill found in the downloadable demo, you’ll get several highlights from the NFL Films collection.

And, apparently sine Madden has often been quoted saying “chuck the ball down field”, the team putting together the DVD thought it would be appropriate to toss in a few highlights from NBC’s “Chuck”. Yeah, I’m sure that’s why they did it.

Via: Joystiq

EA’s latest addition to its ongoing soccer franchise, FIFA 09, has finally been slapped with a release date, with the game to hit all major console on October 9.

With the ongoing battle with Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer to see which is the best soccer game on the market, FIFA 09 is said to be even better than last year’s iteration and is expected to prove once and for all that it’s the number one soccer game.

“We’ve made over 250 improvements from last year and we wanted to give the team the time they needed to make the best FIFA game possible,” said the game’s senior product manager Trevor Uzice. “We’re continuing to build on the solid foundation from last year which saw us create the most successful FIFA both in terms of sales and quality.”

Some of the game improvements include a 20-player online mode, more responsive controls, more realistic player AI and improved dribbling.

Look out for FIFA 09 when it hits the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, PS2, DS, PSP and moblie platforms on October 9.

Source: mcvuk.com

Playable demos for Madden NFL 09 and Facebreaker have hit Xbox Live and the Playstation Network today.

Madden NFL 09 is due to hit stores on August 12 and Facebreaker just a few weeks later on September 5.

Check out our hands-on previews of Madden NFL 09 and Facebreaker from E3 to see how impressed we were by both EA Sport Titles.

Source: Majornelson.com and Playstation.Blog

If you were ever a fan of the arcade boxing game that first hit the Dreamcast back in 2000, Ready to Rumble, you’ll want to check out EA Sport’s newest IP in five years, FaceBreaker. Created by EA Canada, the same team that developed Fight Night Round 3, FaceBreaker is an arcade boxing game with eye-popping graphics, extremely in-depth gameplay, and a fun presentation overall.

When I first got my hands on FaceBreaker, it didn’t take me too long to realize that this is a real boxing game. Don’t be fooled by its looks, because there is a lot of strategy to mastering the gameplay mechanics. Read more…

Last year at E3, we were able to unearth information about a yet to be released NFL Head Coach game which ended up being confirmed several months later. This year’s conference has its share of surprises as well.

It has been confirmed to me that the chain gang and on field referees will in fact be making a return to Madden banded NFL football in the 2010 installment of the game. That’s all the information I have at this time, but be sure to check back often for updates.

Could this be the year Madden shuts up critics, and takes it to the house?

Those who have been following Ripten since its inception just over a year ago, know that I have not been the biggest EA Sports/Madden supporter. I have compared their in-game animations and player control features to “constipation”, and openly bashed their seemingly lax approach to churning out the Madden franchise year in and year out.

Their in-game commentary made me want to vomit, and their so called attention to detail “in the game” was laughable at times. I even went as far as to compare EA’s NFL license extension to the on-field suicide of the fictional football player in The Last Boy Scout. In other words, I had completely given up on Madden, and the notion of ever being satisfied playing video game NFL branded football ever again.

I went to E3 with no knowledge of the Madden 09 game, and even jokingly worked the line “WIll Madden have field goal nets” into the crystal ball animation on our E3 predictions post shortly before the event kicked off. For those who are unaware, Madden has not had field goal nets, on field refs, or a chain gang since they launched their next gen version several years ago.

As I wrapped up an interview with a Sony Home rep, a writer of mine approached me on the E3 show floor. He uttered one simple comment that changed everything. “Hey Chad, they have field goal nets.” Armed with this knowledge, I felt compelled to walk over to their booth and, at the very least, take a look. Read more…

Justin Blankenship, a former FTC lawyer, expresses concern regarding the potential EA and Take-Two merger. Specifically, he believes that the merger may violate antitrust laws due to the hold the company would have on the videogame sports sector. Read more…

The news out of Redwood, CA is in, and it doesn’t look good for fans of NFL branded videogame football. The contract end date that many of us had been counting down to, has been extended through the 2012 season. Read more…

I’m no longer alone in this world.

A new free downloadable feature for NBA Live called “Online Team Play” enables ten different players on ten different consoles to play against each other — completely eliminating game A.I. from the equation. Read more…