""EA is honored to team up with Deanna Favre and Target in the fight against breast cancer," says senior product manager, Anthony Stevenson. "Almost everyone has been affected by this disease in some way, so we're eager to give our passionate fans an opportunity to participate in finding a cure.""

"Before you guys get your say, I'd like to throw in my idea for the series. This is an idea that EA would no doubt be incredibly wary to adopt, but that I think is completely necessary for the survival of their brand:

Every console generation, EA should launch one, and ONLY one Madden disc. From that point forward, every other yearly update of Madden would work as an expansion pack to that original disc, updating the rosters and adding in bug fixes, slight graphical updates, and entirely ne..."

"The Madden series is the undisputed king of football video games. They're entertaining games but as with World of Warcraft, another well-entrenched franchise, occasionally you have to wonder if anyone has a shot of knocking them off their pedestal. Well, in the case of Madden, the solution is simple: Mutant League Football."

"It may surprise you to know that Electronic Arts is releasing Madden NFL 09 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in Japan on September 25. They've done this for a couple years, actually, along with their other main sports games, but Japan isn't exactly known for being a football hotbed -- outside of some informal college leagues, there isn't much of a scene at all among native Asians, crazy manga like Eyeshield 21 notwithstanding. So what does Weekly Famitsu, Japan's most respected game magazine, think a..."

Matt Matthews from Edge-Online has posted his analysis of the recently released August 2008 NPD.

In his analysis, he reviews the hardware and top ten software rankings released in the NPD's public report, and also outlining or taking note of possible trends that are emerging in the industry right now.

"What are the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe (UK) this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the most popular now.

Mario Kart Wii races back to the first place on the Wii chart. After a price drop to $20, Dead Rising “rises” to the top of the Xbox 360 chart. Grand Theft Auto IV remains on the top of the PS3 chart. Yakuza 2 debuts in first place on the PS2 charts. Spore debuts globally on #1 in the PC top 5. Mario Kart DS returns to first plac..."

The NPD Group has released their hardware and software numbers for the month of August, representing sales for the United States for the four week period of August 3rd to August 31st.

This month, there were two notables:

• Madden NFL 09 released this month, being the top seller that it usually is
• 360 barely outselling PS3

Hardware numbers:
NDS: 518.3k (129.6k per week)
WII: 453.0k (113.3k per week)
PSP: 253.0k (63.25k per week)
360: 195.2k (48.80k per week)
PS3: 185.4k (46.35k per wee...

Six new screenshots for Madden DS have come out. The graphics don't look all to great, but its the game quality that matters. Look below to see the pictures.

"When UGO heard that The Game has challenged fellow hip-hop artist, Bow Wow, to a $100,000 game of Madden ‘09 for charity, we knew we had to preview his skills in our offices. The Game has played the game a lot over the years. He credits Madden for being there during several of the key moments of his life. Even one time when he was shot! “I think Madden owes me.”

So because we knew we had a self-professed expert, we put our own expert, Games Channel Manager, Kareem Harper, up against the t..."

"It's hard to say if the last week of the Olympics gave Segas' Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games a boost, but that hasn't stopped the PlayStation 3 version of the game moving up four spots from the previous week, into sixth spot. The Xbox 360 version of Beijing 2008 also made it into the charts, though at the much lower position of number 10. Nintendo's Brain Training series are regular contenders in the charts, with Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brai..."

The NPD Group has released their hardware and software numbers for the month of July, representing sales for the United States for the four week period of July 6th to August 2nd

This month, there were three notables:

• 360's price drop has no effect
• Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 bump is gone; game has fell out of top ten
• Five new releases in the top five, in the form of three separate games

Hardware numbers:
NDS: 608k (152k per week)
WII: 555k (138.75k per week)
PS3: 225k (56.25k per week)
PS...

"If you’re a fan of the Madden NFL series, there is a slight chance that you already know about the Brett Favre trade this offseason. Aside from making every self-respecting NFL fan cringe at the sight of Favre in a Jets jersey with a roster update, the folks at EA Sports had to do some damage control with their Madden 09 packaging featuring Favre in his old Packers jersey. Currently, EA has a printable copy of the cover featuring the gunslinger in his new uniform available on their website."

"Some analysts and investors were concerned over lower pre-order numbers for Madden NFL 09, released this week, but first night retail checks conducted by Stern Agee showed that sell-through for the game is up "low single digits" over last year.

"If this trend holds in the near to medium term, we believe investors will view it as a positive," he said.

Bhatia said that his firm expects year-on-year sales of Madden to be down 10 percent, but he said sell-through could actually end up "flat..."

"When John Madden Football was released in 1988, no one had any idea that it was the beginning of one of the best-selling series of all time. But after 20 years, tens of millions of copies sold, countless tournaments, and even a TV show, Madden is a global phenomenon. When you purchase a Madden game, you know you're going to be the beneficiary of 20 years of experience. Fine-tuned gameplay, top-notch player animation, extraordinarily detailed playbooks, and competitive multiplayer are all seri..."

"Madden 09 will keep the hardcore fans happy, but yet the casual player can get in on the action also, and not feel too intimidated"

"PC
Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon, Silent Hunter Wolves of the Pacific Gold Edition, Sinking Island, Space Siege

PS2
Madden NFL 09

PS3
Madden NFL 09, Madden NFL 09 Collector's Edition

Xbox 360
Madden NFL 09, Madden NFL 09 Collector's Edition

Wii
Madden NFL 09 All-Play

DS
Bangai-O Spirits, Imagine Teacher, Madden NFL 09

PSP
Madden NFL 09, Madden NFL 09 PSP Entertainment Pack"

"There's a new PSP color coming soon: Metallic Blue. And it'll be available in the upcoming Madden 09 Entertainment Pack, which includes the system, the game, a NFL documentary and a code to download beats off the PS Store. According to amazon.com, the system will be available on August 12th.

Spencer from Siliconera snapped a few shots of the system in action over at San Diego Comic-Con for us (thanks!). Just like every other PSP, it has the uncanny ability to pick up fingerprints. Will you..."

"One of the complaints that gamers have regarding the Madden franchise, whether they're fans of it or not, is that the game "...is just a roster update" and never has any new features. Whether that's true or not is another debate that's largely semantic, but something that we can look at and actually analyze is how successful the features implemented in each year's version of Madden actually are. Do the new features introduced in Madden actually stick around? How often do they get retooled? By..."

"My name is Cedric Carty and I am a designer on Madden 09. I am writing this blog to give you an insight into what went into tuning the game to produce realistic statistics.

I know that one the top issues with the hardcore Madden fans has been the stats that the simulation engine generates. I was tasked to tune the stats engine on this year's product, let me tell you it was no easy task. I looked back at stats from the past 10 NFL seasons to get an idea of what looked good in the NFL. I ..."

Here are 8 new screenshots for EA's NFL game: Madden NFL 09. The graphics of the game are not too shabby. Madden NFL 09 will be releasing on August 12th, 2008. You can find the rest of the screenshots in the source.

"The Madden NFL 09 PSP Entertainment Pack will include a limited-edition “Metallic Blue” PSP system, the highly anticipated Madden NFL 09 game, “NFL: In Just One Play” on UMD Video, a PLAYSTATION Network voucher to download Beats from PLAYSTATION Store, and a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo. That’s a pretty good deal for $199.99 (MSRP).

Our friends at EA will be pulling out all the stops with this year’s edition of Madden NFL, so it’s an ideal game to sport on your shiny new Metallic Blue PSP to m..."

"To begin, notice that faces have been enhanced to fit NFL counterparts better, as well as jersey and arm muscles have been modified to look more realistic. Improved stadium and player self-shadow casting has been added, in addition to better field effects such as fuller precipitation, footprints in the snow, and better looking field grass.

Other improvements that would need to be seen in motion include more animations, now in 60fps for PS3, and better camera presentation."

"According to the Facebook page for Madden NFL 09, the cover athlete is expected to be announced on April 25. Moreover, a quick check of the CBS schedule for Late Show with David Letterman shows that Favre is going to appear as one of Dave's guests tonight (April 24). For the past few years, EA has used late-night shows to announce the Madden cover. Last year Jimmy Kimmel's show was used to announce Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young for Madden 08."