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We just previewed Madden 10 and it seems like the team has been hard at work scrapping elements that haven’t worked for the series and creating new features in order to produce the most realistic feeling hard-nosed Sunday football game to date.  Let’s blitz through the top ten changes Madden 10 makes to famed Madden formula.

1.  Madden 10 lets players “Feel The Pressure” in the pocket and avoid It.  Since the beginning of time, Madden players have played passing offense the same way:  Running 20 yards or more into the backfield, away from the pocket, and firing a huge bomb to a downfield receiver.  They either complete that miracle pass or they’re sacked for an absurd loss.  Real NFL quarterbacks don’t do this, by the way, they stay protected in the pocket created by the offensive line.  The developers of Madden 10 found that when players were looking downfield for a receiver, the pocket didn’t feel safe because they couldn’t sense when the defense was rushing them, hence the running into the backfield.

One of Madden 10’s goals is to make the pocket feel safe again.  When looking downfield for a receiver to pass to, the controller will rumble when the quarterback is under pressure.  A quick flick of the right stick lets the quarterback execute an avoidance move to shrug away a potential sack and give the player an extra moment to complete a pass.  The avoidance moves will work better with elusive quaterbacks, like Big Ben, but even then they won’t work all the time.

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I don’t really like Japanese RPGs. I think they show an amazing stubbornness towards evolution of the genre, with recycled story arcs and male characters that are more androgynous than a Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie.

I thought living in Japan might help me become more tolerant, but the inverse proved true and my disdain has only grown stronger. So, if I can’t stand Japanese RPGs then why did I put Cloud Strife’s sword into the Top 10? Read more…

The golden era of videogames is a hot topic among gamers, mainly because many game enthusiasts don’t agree when the gaming utopia took place. Read more…

Here at Ripten, we’re nothing if not festive. As the weather turns cold and the pumpkins light up, we take a look at some games that are sure to scare the crap out of you this holiday season. Read on… if you dare! Muwahahaha! Read more…

To think of LucasArts (formerly Lucasfilm Games) is to think of George Lucas, the man who created it all. The pompadour sporting and flannel wearing visionary gave us Star Wars and Indiana Jones, for which he should be canonized. Some would be happy evolving just one form of media, but it appears that forever changing the face of cinema and inventing the Wookie wasn’t enough for Mr. Lucas. He still had to revitalize another form of entertainment– video games. Read more…

Some developers draw inspiration from a particular genre. Electronic Arts built up some of the most successful franchises in the sports world, Id Software concentrated mainly on first person shooters like DOOM and Wolfenstein, and Lucasarts grew its fan base by creating excellent adventure games. Square Enix falls into this category as well. Their area of expertise is the RPG. Read more…

I handle my lists a little differently than many websites/magazines. I call the lists “THE X LIST”, X as in Ten, giving you a list comprised of nine hits (with Spidey as the main character or at least a featured player), and One ENORMOUS miss.

Even though Spidey may be a hero in the funny-pages and in our hearts, only a handful of his games have become full-on classics. However, if you attended high-school during the 90’s, much of this list will have a special place in your web-entangled hearts.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, in celebration of Activision’s Friend or Foe, is Spider-Man’s nine greatest video gaming hits, and unfortunately, his one biggest miss! Read more…

Every gamer knows that the summer time is hands down the worst season to play games. Generally we get stuck with summer movie blockbusters turned in to poorly rated games and have to search for a mediocre game that will tie us over till fall’s big hits. Hopefully here at ripten.com we’ll make that search a little easier. So we bring you the “Top Ten Summer games that will be good.”

The rules are simple. It must come out between May 22 and July 31 and while it can be a port from a last generation game, it can’t be a port from this generation. Example: XBOX 360 to the PS3 does not count, but XBOX to XBOX 360 counts.” Now without further ado, let’s get to the list! Read more…