Sports Games Released This Week: All-Madden Edition

Well it is finally here! Madden 09 is being released this week for every console and hand-held available (yes, even Xbox). Now that Brett Favre is officially a New York Jet, some of you may be wondering what will happen with the cover. According to EA, Favre will remain a Packer on the cover, but you will be able to download a version with him in a Jets jersey (as seen above). I would like to point out my previous post discussing the possiblilty of this coming about as a result of the supposed Madden curse. Let's hope for Brett's sake that is all the curse does to him.

• Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Xbox, DS, PSP)


• Madden NFL 09 All-Play (Wii)

Finally Hockey on the Wii

The first hockey game to be released on the Nintendo Wii will not be coming from EA, but instead 2K sports NHL 2K9. Gamespot has a Hands-On preview of the game and it sounds like it is on the right track.

"The big question with any sports game on the Wii is how the console's unique controllers are used, especially the Wii Remote. An overreliance on the Wii Remote's tilt and motion capabilities can result in unresponsive controls (as in NBA Live 08), whereas a lack of Wii-specific controls will have you wondering why you didn't just pick up the 360 version. NHL 2K9 addresses this issue by making only one control reliant on the swinging of the Wii Remote: shooting." - Gamespot

The game is also avoiding the dumbed down approach that EA has used in it's Wii Sports games. Instead virtually every feature available on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 will be in this game (minus online of course).

Sports Games Released This Week: Repeat Edition

Once again, nothing too exciting being released this week. The only real story I could pull out of this week was for some reason the PC version of Beijing 2008 was bumped from last week to this week. Is this version that bad that not only was it not released with the console versions, but it is being released so close to the start of the Olympics in hopes that people will be more interested in watching on TV of playing their game? Anyway, on to the list.

• Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games (PC)
• Summer Athletics (Wii)
• Little League World Series 2008 (Wii, DS)

NBA 2K9 Feature List

Sports Gamer has the feature list along with details of each for NBA 2K9. Will all of these features be enough to combat NBA Live 09's continually updated player attributes? Only time will tell if NBA Live can truly compete or if it will be another championship season for NBA 2K.

Madden 09 & Facebreaker Demos Released!

EA dropped two demos this week on Xbox Live and PSN (Playstation Network). Madden 09 and Facebreaker their new boxing game are available for you to test out. Weighing it at roughly 1GB each, be prepared to delete a few older demos or TV shows you have to play these. The Madden demo is a little skimpy, as most of the gameplay takes place determining your skill level. After that, you can play the Giants last drive in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. I would have prefered a 2 min quarter game like the NCAA Football 09 demo offered. Facebreaker on the other hand gives you more facebreaking gameplay with three characters to choose from along with the ability to customize your own.

Sports Games Released This Week: Olympics Edition

With the summer Olympics starting next week (08/08/08), an onslaught of Olympic related games are hitting the market. Well, more like afterthoughts than an onslaught maybe. Along with the official Olympic game from Sega on PC, there is also a non-licsensed Summer Athletics game coming to you from Crave. Let the button mashing begin.

• MLB Power-Pros (Wii, PS2)
• Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games (PC)
• Summer Athletics (Xbox 360, PS2)
• Hunting Unlimited 2009 (PC)
• Women's Volleyball Championship (PS2)

Free NCAA Football 09 Rosters

If you are planning to buy, or already have NCAA Football 09, you will want to know about freencaa09rosters.com. Instead of paying $30 plus shipping both ways for a memory card filled with rosters from eBay, download them here for free. This would have come in real handy when I was still in college. All of that potential beer money I wasted buying rosters ... but I digress. Get over there and download your free rosters today!