sport
Culture
Where A Pro Wrestler Dresses Up As Marcus Fenix
4:00PM Luke Plunkett | Don’t know much about TNA Wrestling myself, but I’d imagine that the fanbases of TNA and Gears of War dovetail elegantly. Which explains the following, strange video.
Michael Phelps Says His Game Is ‘In Development’
5:20AM Stuart Houghton | Michael Phelps is both the winningest swimmer ever, and chummy enough with Activision to be given a box containing no copies of Call of Duty. Surely he should have his own game by now? More »
News
Video Game To Sponsor Pro Football Team
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | Games companies sponsoring sporting teams is nothing new. Sega (Arsenal), Nintendo (Fiorentina) and Microsoft (Seattle Sounders) have all tried their hand at it. But a game sponsoring a football team, that’s new. More »Rugby League 2: World Cup Edition Coming Soon
2:13PM Seamus Byrne | Sidhe Interactive has recently announced a World Cup update to Rugby League 2 for PS2, a content focused update rather than a new version of the game. Kudos to Sidhe for dropping this clear assertion in the FAQ — I couldn’t say it any better.
If you did not like Rugby League 2 then in all likelihood you will not like this version, and you should consider purchase carefully.
The title has been popular with League nuts, so a refreshed line up of teams (hello Titans fans), players, stadiums, and ‘Twilight NRL Grand Final Stadia’, plus a World Cup mode, should mean fans of the sport and the game will have fun playing their own version of the event. No release date yet, but the tournament begins end of next week so I would hope this things lands before the tournament passes by or they’ll certainly have missed the window of interest.
Rugby League 2 WCE site and FAQ in its forums. More » 
Football Manager Live Will Have Kick-about By Xmas, Full Launch Next Year
2:40PM Stuart Houghton | Sports Interactive is planning a ’soft launch’ of its online multiplayer twist on soccer management sim Football Manager 2009, with massively multiplayer footy to kick off properly early in 2009. More »
Level 5 Returning With Another DS Soccer RPG
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Japanese developer Level 5 is back with a sequel to its soccer RPG Inazuma Eleven for the Nintendo DS. While the previous title featured a more standard story, the sequel will feature an alien team. Mmmm, alien soccer RPG! The game is slated for 2009. Level-5 announces Inazuma Eleven 2 for the Nintendo DS [Gamekyo] More »This FIFA 09 Ad Is Absolutely Ridiculous
6:00PM Luke Plunkett | Most people reading this are Americans, so I’ll take it most are also oblivious as to just how goddamned big the FIFA franchise is outside your borders. Madden is one thing, but boy, you want to see EA go to town promoting a cornerstone franchise, see if you can sit through this. For context, this ran during a commercial break in the Chelsea v Man Utd. game on the weekend, which is one of the biggest games of the year, and it ran for the entire break. Uninterrupted. In terms of sheer marketing brute strength , I’ve never seen anything like it. More »
NBA 2K9 Introduces Living Rosters
3:40AM Mike Fahey | The internet-enabled console age has been very, very good to sports gamers. Take 2K Sports’ upcoming basketball title, NBA 2K9. They’ve just announced a Living Rosters feature for the title that will enable the game to download up-to-date statistics, player ratings, and player behaviours as the NBA season progresses. Nothing new, sure, but when you take into account the fact that they’ll be releasing special animations for key players who breakout during the season you get something extremely close to awesome. Just imagine your favourite player starts taking off, making a real name for themselves in the game. Kids on the playgrounds (they still have those, right?) start mimicking their moves, the team they’re in becomes a showcase for their talents. The Living Roster system will allow 2K to deliver their moves into the game, changing as often as the whims of the hardcore basketball crowd. Of course some of us won’t be satisfied until we get real-time facial hair growth, but it’s a good start. More »
FIFA Soccer 09 To Get Weekly Player Stat Updates
8:40AM Kotaku US Edition | 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. More »
