Madden NFL 08

After the last year debut on the Nintendo Wii and becoming one of console’s top sellers, the expectations were high for the ’08 edition and fortunately this latest edition does not fall short of them. Like other EA Sport games in the series, the Wii version is suitable for longtime fans and the newcomers alike. Cleverly, EA -like what it had done in other sports games released for the Wii- has built the advanced controls schemes (with Nunchuck and Wii remote) for hardcore players and Family mode (playing with just the Wii remote) for the rookie players along with Wii players’ favorite special mini games for some party fun.

Madden ’08 compared to the last year’s version has some improved graphics. 07′ edition was simply looked to be a game port of other consoles equipped with some Wii motion-sensing features. This year otherwise, on graphics comparison, madden is much better than before, with good field grass, great light reflections on helmets and jerseys and better animations , it’s a whole new story in the visual side. Playing with the game has also been improved, there are some new and simplified controls which are easier to remember and perform and subsequently give you a better and true to the real thing experience. Actually, Madden on the Wii is the most near reality sports simulation released on a game system to date. Because you have to perform some of those moves the real players do, and unlike the Wii’s FIFA game which you have to just throw balls in the pitch by doing the exact over the head gesture with your remotes, here by the nature of playing this kind of football with hands (as Americans love to call it that way) you have to imitate so many of the moves by your Wii remote and Nunchuck and leave the runs to the Nunchuck’s analog stick in Advanced mode or the auto-run feature of the simple family friendly mode. This infers that controls and gestures are the most significant parts of this game make it a completely new experience to those who have played the same edition on different platforms.

Like most of the other games released on the Wii console, Party mode is a big center of attention. Wii is becoming famous for all the fun it can bring to the groups of friends with different gaming experiences. In Madden ’08′s party mode, there are three options available. You can have an instant play with your friends and have a human instead of the console to oppose you in a regular session, you can play in more than 20 mini games and for the most hardcore fans of NFL competitions, you and your friends can even participate in a trivia match to show off your knowledge of the game.

The single player game is not limited to exhibition matches. In the Superstar: Hall of fame mode, you can have a completely new player and live a life as a rising star of the NFL competition. This is not a new feature, but the mechanism is a little bit different this time. Unlike the last year’s mandatory stats assignment, now you can freely select any aspect of your player and tweak different combinations to give yourself the player of your dreams. The famous Franchise mode is also present in this year’s edition, filling the gap of the old beloved season mode.

Along with all roster updates, new party games, improved graphics and more Wii gesture based controls, is the most noticeable addition of this year’s version which is the online multiplayer mode. Last year’s madden was a noteworthy debut of the series in a new console, but the lack of online multiplayer was a major drawback. This time around, EA has carried out what has been left out due to the rush to make Madden ’07 a Wii’s release line-up title. But here we are having one of the most complete online multiplayer enabled games in the Wii’s archive. This online mode is handled with EA’s proprietary EA Nation online system. For a two player exhibition game, you can easily log into EA Nations system through your game interface and find someone and start the game. Even you can choose to play a ranked or an unranked match. With the addition of leaderboards and EA’s Messenger to chat with your online buddies, live scoreboards of every weeks NFL’s games and so much more, you will have an experiment close to what you may find in an Xbox360 with its better established online environment. Here the focus of EA is to give you the robust and solid playtime on the first online version of this game on Wii. I have to mention that, the mini games are just local multiplayer only, and as I said before, the online multiplayer is limited to exhibition matches, but there is always another edition in the works and there is always a next year to put so many new features into the game in order to make the fans empty their wallets. Although that is the image we see in the other side of the globe. In this side, the gridiron fans will not make a top seller out of this game, because the majority prefers to play football with their feet.

Madden NFL 08

Many people didn’t even know that Madden NFL comes out for the DS every year. Well I did, but due to the dreadful reviews they seem to get all the time I didn’t bother to check any of them out before. I truly believe that every sport game needs a powerful graphics engine for it to look exciting and capture the experience of the real time game. It’s no secret that games on the DS have a limit when it comes to the graphics performance. So it was not a surprise when I found out that Madden 08 didn’t look like the console versions or even close for that matter. Will using the touch screen make up for the loss of some key features from the console version including the undisputed graphical attractiveness? Let’s hope so.

I am sure all football fans that only own a DS already bought this game, because it’s the only true NFL game out there for the system after all. This year though other then improved graphics EA sports promises an all new gameplay engine and a functioning online mode.

Yup, finally and starting with Madden 08 every EA sport game released this year will feature an online mode. Playing online with your DS has to be the most hustle free online gaming experience ever. Online you will be able to invite friends or just play anyone at any time of the day. The thing I loved the most about the DS Madden 08 is the multiplayer options on hand. Other then the online mode, you have the options to play with other DS owners around you that have Madden 08 and those that don’t too.

The DS exclusive content included in this release is pretty interesting. One is the ability to use both screens while playing, which turns out to be a pretty valuable asset eventually. On the bottom screen you have the 3D action going on. At the top is a 2D illustration of what’s going on in the game at that moment too. The top screen is very important due to the unclear vision up field at times. Not being able to see the whole field clearly is ordinary considering the size of the screen on hand. So if you are going for a very long pass, accurately figuring out which player to target is nearly impossible on the bottom display, so you need to take a look at the top screen and see which player to aim for and BUM! Touchdown scored.

The bottom display on the DS can also be used to adjust a play based on what other team is trying to do. A feature related to the top screen too is the ability to see the special weapons on hand for the other team. Just like the console version, some players will be marked with a specific indicator that points out there special strengths allowing you to adjust your playing style and route based on the other team’s powerful tackler position for example.

Gameplay wise the game did improve over older versions of Madden for the DS. One thing I enjoyed the most is the availability of most of the controls we are used to on the console

Madden 08. Overall the game is pretty fluid even with many things going on in the background. The controls are pretty responsive and the AI does react well to everything you throw at it. One thing you have to adjust to this year however is the increased difficulty of the passing game. For some reason rushing for extra yards is the easier route in this year’s Madden. Both you and the AI will be intercepting and killing plays off left and right in a way too easy fashion. This kind of limits the offence of both teams in the game resulting in a low overall final score in many games.

Damaged internet cable causes problems

SNAP!.. went both yesterday; the cable and the frustrated gamers. For an unkown reason, an internet cable in the Mediterranean Sea connecting between Egypt and Italy had snapped yesterday causing lots of global connection problems but mainly in the Middle East. About 60% of the Gulf’s connection was out yesterday, and 70% of Egypt’s. Egypt said they have "dispatched" a service operator cable submarine to fix it in about a week or two. The incident has caused lots of loss of connections in online games and on the internet. Luckily us xbox live gamers are currently suffering no problems. But no worries gamers for lots of the telecommunication companies are trying to connect with Europe through other connections. So hopefully by today or tomorrow they should have established a connection with them so that World of Warcraft players can get back to playing.

First Battlefield: Heroes screenshots appear

Battlefield: Heroes is the free game currently being developed by DICE is set to release this summer. The first ever screenshots of this game have been capped from a German TV station, 3Sat. Feast your eyes upon these gorgeous……screen caps!

Microsoft Says Alan Wake Info False

Microsoft today in a comment revealed that the fake Bach interview that was posted on the Sith Gamer’s blog is entirely fictional.

"…we’re saving a lot of stuff for GDC, which is where we plan on showing off some big titles such as Halo Wars and Alan Wake," reads the fake interview.

Alan Wake, the highly anticipated game for the XBOX360 and PC might not after all be showcased at GDC this year. Why else would Microsoft deny such claims?

Microsoft Says Alan Wake Info False

Microsoft today in a comment revealed that the fake Bach interview that was posted on the Sith Gamer’s blog is entirely fictional.

"…we’re saving a lot of stuff for GDC, which is where we plan on showing off some big titles such as Halo Wars and Alan Wake," reads the fake interview.

Alan Wake, the highly anticipated game for the XBOX360 and PC might not after all be showcased at GDC this year. Why else would Microsoft deny such claims?

New Uncharted/Rachet PS3 Starter Pack

A new PS3 starter pack may well hit the lands of Europe tomorrow. The pack comes with a bundled copy of "Ratchet & Crank Future: Tools of Destruction", "Uncharted: Drakes Fortune" and two controllers. Spanish website meristation.com reports that the pack will ship tomorrow for a suggested retail price of €499.99/-

More here.

Battlefield Heroes Will Be Available Worldwide

In a rumor squashing comment, the makers of Battlefield Heroes today announced that their free cartoonish game will be available worldwide when it releases this summer. They had this to say:

"A few news sites seem to be reporting that Battlefield Heroes™ will not be available in Australia. This is most certainly not the case. Battlefield Heroes™ is available as a free download from the web, and as such would probably be available even if you connect to the internet via a satellite dish from a small unheated hut on the steppes of Uzbekistan."

This game is certainly something to look forward to.

Father Kills Daughter Over XBOX Console

Tyrone Spellman, who played video games for long hours killed his 17 month old daughter when she pulled out his XBOX console. The father had allegedly pummeled Alayiah Turman’s head several times cracking her skull while her pregnant mother slept in another room. The killer has been found guilty of 3rd degree murder and a 47-year jail sentence.

Click here to read the full news coverage.

Eight new Street Fighter 4 screenshots

Capcom has released a new set of screenshots of its upcoming brawler Street Fighter 4. All we can say is, it sucks to be Ken.

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