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University of Kansas wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe has had an amazing year, with 78 catches for a school record-breaking 1,206 yards and 12 touchdowns. His secret weapon? Madden NFL 09.
The weekend. 'Skins v Eagles. Washington are up 10-3, and in the final seconds of the game, Eagles receiver Reggie Brown takes what should be the game-winning catch...but is stuffed at the 1.
Background info: that sickeningly handsome young thing up there is Fernando Torres, Liverpool's star Spanish striker. At the moment, Torres is injured, and can't play. To pass the time, he's feeding his PlayStation addiction.
How good is Football Manager 2009's player database? Professional quality, apparently - at least that is the opinion of Everton Football Club, who plan to use it to scout for talented players.
England soccer/football hero Theo Walcott may seem like the consummate athlete, but according to the ever-reliable Daily Star he owes his success to the magic of videogames.
EA Sports' Fifa Soccer 09 will get an optional realism boost in the form of weekly stat updates to reflect player's real world performance.
The Adidas Live Season add-on will use a network of real-world fact finders and stat-grinders to compile performance reports on all the players in Britain's Barclay's Premier League, Spain's La Liga BBVA, France's Ligue 1, the German Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A and the Mexican Primera Division.
Phew. That's a lot of stats. EA's Andrew Wilson claims that
"The game will feel and play differently each week. With Adidas Live Season if Ronaldinho has a great match on the weekend you'll feel the difference when you pick up the controller as his in-game attributes increase."
Contrariwise, it might be a bit galling to be playing your favourite team only to find that real-world injuries rob you of your virtual dreams as well. So much for escapism.
Take a look at the full details after the jump.
Go!View is ushering in the new football season by offering downloadable highlights of the Barclays Premiership (the top level of competitive football/soccer in the UK) on their PSP video-on-demand service.
For a mere five English pounds (or 7 Euros - weirdly, there are no US Dollar prices. Can't think why) you can fill your PSP with 45 minute chunks of footy clips provided by Sky Sports as well as other sporting highlights in the Go!View Sports Pack.
Hit the jump for the full press release, with more details of what will be shown
Those of you planning to pick up your copy of Madden NFL 09 at your local Sam's Club may be in for a bit more value than the usual discounted prices. An official for the warehouse store dropped us a line this morning to let us know that Sam's Club locations with photo centres will print out a high-quality version of the updated packaging featuring Brett Favre in his dashing New York Jets uniform, which we revealed to you last night, right inside the store upon purchase of the game. Sure, you could head over to EA's Madden 09 site and download your own, but getting other people to do things for us is one of the principles that America was founded on.
We checked out Sam's prices for the games after receiving the news, and they do offer a nice little discount. The PS3 and Xbox 360 version are going for $US 55.55 ($US 83.22 for the collector's edition), with the PS2 and PSP versions marked at $US 36.33, the Wii version at $US 46.66, and the DS version a bargain at $US 26.66. All this plus a free cover replacement while you wait? None too shabby.
Update - Just got word from Walmart that they'll be printing covers on-site as well, though the games are regular price and you don't get a Walmart card with your picture on it - that's reserved for managers.
As we heard late last year, Midway is bringing Blitz back. Blitz: The League II will include a new story mode written by ESPN Playmakers writer Peter Egan and will feature player-controlled touchdown celebrations, an enhanced on-field Clash Mode, online multiplayer, precision-aim tackles and late hits. Lawrence Taylor will return as the game's cover athlete.
"Professional football has long sought to gloss over the often brutal realities that surround the game and its players", said Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing, Midway Home Entertainment. "Blitz: The League II embraces the most compelling storylines behind America's favourite sport and allows fans to experience them in a bold, interactive way".
The game is set to hit the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 this spring.
When I'm on the road, I don't just report — I scavenge.
Last week in L.A. I looked down at the ground and found a page torn out of an old Nintendo Power. On one side was an ad for Shadowrun. On the other side, I found advertorial for a 1993 Konami SNES game NFL Football.
And what an amazing feature this game had.
Well, if the eradication of bubonic plague and the extinction of sabre-toothed tigers didn't already make you happy about the year you were born, perhaps you can find relief knowing that your gaming years extended past the era when things like this were the big breakthroughs.
A full scan of the page follows...
