It's odd to talk about EA Sports' Madden franchise, with the features it's touting in the 09 release, now making itself more of a social gaming experience. For the better part of two decades it's been one of the top titles to play with friends, offline or, lately, online. But the pattern of features that were added, upgraded or unchanged from last year points to a major push that'll expand the game's social appeal, especially to demographics well outside the paunchy, balding thirtysomething. In other words, EA is going where the growth is, and its marketing of this game absolutely tips that hand.

So E3 came and went, and we still don't have a hard and fast date for Home yet. Sure, we've got a "spring" dating for the Home Beta, but still, people have been waiting. And people kinda wish that Sony would hurry it up! According to Kaz Hirai, Sony's trying to make it right so that first time users have a positive Home experience. Fair enough! Says Hirai, "...we don't want to prematurely launch it and then be dinged for having a bad service... this is a platform initiative which means that we need to be extra careful that we've crossed all the 't's and dotted all the 'i's". And hey, Sony is in it for the long haul. No need to rush. Just listen to Hirai chime in about that 10-year-life-cycle and keeping the last hardware generation alive:

You may recall that earlier in May, Nintendo was pinched to the tune of $AU 21.87 million in a patent infringement suit brought by Texas-based Anascape. Upon further review, the play stands -- a U.S. District Court judge denied Ninty's pretty-please to cut that $AU 21.87 mil to a less lottoriffic number. So unless they want to take this up the ladder to a U.S. federal appeals court, they'll be cutting a check for that number.

Anascape sued back in 2006 and went for the kitchen sink, claiming Nintendo and Microsoft both infringed on controller designs they had patented. Microsoft settled with Anascape. The original suit against Nintendo covered everything from the Gamecube forward -- the Wavebird and the Classic, plus the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The case decided in May found infringements only on the former two not the motion-sensing controls in the Wii. Still, $AU 21.87 million is not pocket change.

Nintendo's Appeal on Reduced $21M Verdict Denied [QJ.net]

Earlier this month, Nintendo of America was on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Hollywood production company Morgan Creek Productions, which alleged copyright infringement over the use of music from the movie True Romance in a TV spot for GameCube game Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

The suit was quickly withdrawn by Morgan Creek... mysteriously!

It's really not that mysterious. According to a statement from Nintendo, the whole thing has been settled, with ad agency Leo Burnett reminding Morgan Creek that it had already entered into a music licensing agreement with the production company. Looks like all that was required was a "Sorry 'bout that!" The full statement follows.

Look, I don't get what's going on here either—and, yes, this is clearly not news—but apparently singer and controlled substance enthusiast Amy Winehouse will autograph whatever is handed to her when someone visits her London residence. A perfect example is that someone, a boy named Laurence we're told, knocked on Ms. Winehouse's door, offered up a copy of Donkey Konga for the Gamecube and a set of bongo controllers, upon which she scrawled something. I assume she then went off to pick fresh scabs while googly-eyed.

It's notable for being one of the few good uses for Donkey Konga bongo controllers and perfect as a response to confusing internet situations. You're welcome to make a copy with text that reads "I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a picture of Amy Winehouse with bongo controllers."

Image via Bauer-Griffin.

Ah, Eternal Darkness. Never really got into it myself, but I can still see why people dig it, and I appreciate that. There weren't many games like it last generation, and there definitely weren't many games like it on the GameCube. So what do Silicon Knights think about returning to the series, should they ever actually get the Too Human "trilogy" out the door? Surprisingly, SK boss Dennis Dyack sounds keen as beans:

There is a chance; we love all the games we work on. We don't want to be pigeon-holed [into a genre], we want to be known for strong content...There's a strong chance we'll return to it, but there's no announcements yet.

Dyack: Strong Chance Of Eternal Darkness Return News [TVG]

Japan-only Wii version of Resident Evil Zero has been dated for, well, Japan. The GameCube port will hit The Land of the Rising Sun July 10th and will retail ¥4,190 (US $TK). You know, one good thing about these Wii ports is that they're pretty cheap. Even though it's Japan-only at the moment, if it sells, you can bet your arse Capcom will release it elsewhere. Maybe in your town, too!
Biohazard Zero Dated [Famitsu]

Gorgeous. Nintendo are releasing sometime later this month a new, white GameCube controller, no doubt to satisfy the growing throngs of not only Smash Bros (and soon to be Mario Kart) players, but Wii-white console colour fetishists as well. It'll retail for a suggested price of ¥2000 (around $US 20), comes with the requisite 3m cable and, as you've probably figured from that squiggly thing in front of the 2000, is at least for the moment Japan-only.
Controllers [Nintendo, via Go Nintendo]

Nintendo Hate [Games Radar Thanks, Roxeraz!]

Best thing about the Wii: It has a GameCube in it! So players who busied themselves with the PlayStation 2 or the Xbox, have a chance to catch up and get to know the little Nintendo cube. Sure, the GC didn't sell so well in its run, but that doesn't mean the console didn't have its fair share of strong titles. Over at blog Infendo, they have a nice round-up of GameCube exclusives you might've missed. Or hey, you might've totally not missed them! They are: