PS3 Fanboy

Yeah, we all know the story -- Brett Favre pulling a fast one out of retirement and signing up with the Jets. While football fans may have been ecstatic over the news, it was a move that left Maddenites with an outdated cover for Madden NFL 09. However, not wanting fans to remain disappointed, EA has a backup play to counter Favre's surprise blitz.

If you head on over to EA's website, you can download a free, brand new cover for Madden 09 which features Favre sporting a Jets uniform. The covers are high quality PDFs, so you just have to make sure you have a good printer and some glossy paper to make the cover look legit. Might want to stop by Kinkos for that. Download the cover and replace it with the old one if you so desire.

[Thanks WhiteSpy!]

Madden NFL 09 is making its truly worldwide debut this week. If you're not a fan of American football then, sadly, you're out of luck. Unless you just love buying collector's editions for the sake of it. Yeah, we know you people exist. Here's the release list:

US Games

• Madden NFL 09 [amazon.com offers $10 gift card with purchase]
  
• Madden NFL 09 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition

EU Games

• Madden NFL 09

Asian Games

• Madden NFL 09

Release dates are constantly subject to change based on the whims of the gods. Check with your local retailer, just to make sure.

We know many of you were upset when you played Madden 08 on the PS3. It certainly had its issues, but don't let that put you off Madden 09. The Orlando Sentinel's Matthew Simantov spoke to the Senior Producer of the game, Phil Frazier, who told him that Madden NFL 09 will be identical on the PS3 and the 360. Not only that, but the QA team actually prefer playing on the PS3 version. The game comes out in under a week, but the demo is already on the PSN Store. From the sound of things, EA has learned from their previous mistakes. Is this enough to win back those of you who swore yourselves off the franchise after Madden 08? Check out the first part of the video for more inside talk about the game.

For those of you who are looking to buy Madden 09 on day 1, rather than wait till the game inadvertently drops to $20 around the same time next year, can save a little money with this deal. Pre-order the game by July 13th at NFLShop.com, apply the coupon code NFLEXTRA25 for 25% off, and get the game for $44.99 + $4.99 shipping = $49.98. The game will retail for $59.99 when it debuts, so you'll be saving $10 and potentially sales tax. Unfortunately, those in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania will have to pay sales tax. Take advantage of this deal here.

[Via SlickDeals]

Love it or hate it, the second issue of Qore hits the PLAYSTATION Network today. Here's what you can expect:

• Resistance 2 - The big cover story for this issue is Insomniac's upcoming PS3-exclusive FPS. Bonus! You get to see host Veronica Belmont don a mo-cap suit just for this game.
• Silent Hill: Homecoming - A look at Konami's upcoming horror game.
• Madden Twenty Year Retrospective
• Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm - Exclusive first playable demo.

Qore is available for $2.99 each episode, $24.99 for a 13-episode subscription. (Also, for those waiting for the SOCOM Confrontation beta, you'll need to keep Issue 1. We'll tell all of you when the beta will be available.) Do you think this second issue is worth it?

A fresh batch of Madden NFL 09 PS3 screenshots are here from us to you. The famous virtual football franchise will get another annual update when this Madden-baby hits the PS3, PSP, and other platforms this August 12. The game has now gone gold, which means there's nothing going to stop this gridiron game from sacking retailers.

The Madden series has been around for 20 years. Can you believe it? That's one game, every year, for the past 20 years. Whether you like sports based games or not, you have to admit that's some impressive stats right there. So, in addition to our PS3 shots of Madden NFL 09, we've also got a gallery of every past Madden cover (obviously including non-PlayStation ones). If you're a football fan, make sure you scan through both galleries.

EA has tweaked the company's Fantasy Football service with some much welcomed connectivity to home consoles such as the PlayStation 3. The biggest change comes in the ability to take a fantasy squad and import the team into the upcoming Madden NFL 09. Yeah, that's right, use your fantasy squad in the game -- even in online head-to-head matches.

The web-based service is free of charge; however, those who want to download the applications onto their PS3s will have to pay a currently undisclosed amount of cash. An interesting addition is that fantasy scores can be viewed in either "full screen mode" with complete rosters and details, or "picture-in-picture mode" which allows gamers to keep track of updates and watch live games at the same time. They've got some pretty neat stuff going on, so check out the Fantasy Football website for more details.

[Via Press Release]

EA Sports is serious about earning cred PS3 gamers. Their upcoming press event for the 20th Anniversary of Madden is an exclusively PlayStation affair. The final playable versions of this year's Madden will be present, and only the PS3 and PSP versions will be shown -- no love for the Xbox 360 or Wii.

This is an interesting change for the sports company, whose games ran at a slower framerate on PS3 than Xbox 360 last year. However, ever since former Microsoft-exec Peter Moore took over EA Sports, we've been seeing more emphasis on the PS3 versions of sports games. For example, the PS3 was the system of choice when demonstrating NCAA Football at a media event last month.

Just in time for the start of the first Sunday of NFL action, EA SPORTS has released a roster update for Madden 08 on next gen consoles, which includes the PS3. The update includes the latest rosters as well as ratings adjustments for some players.

The guys over at X360 Fanboy also note that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has been removed from the game. We'll spare you from the over-used dog fighting jokes, but instead we will give you a nice gameplay tip. Vick's departure makes cover boy Vince Young the fastest QB in the league, making him your best choice for running the "bootleg every down and hope to catch the defense sleeping" offense.

[via Game Stooge]

Is Madden's 30 fps performance on PS3 hurting Sony? Two analysts have very differing opinions on how EA's football game might be affecting public view of the PS3. UBS analyst Ben Schachter noted that: "given Madden's popularity and the volume of this debate, we think this is a more meaningful negative for Sony than investors might realize, as it gives gamers just one more reason not to buy a PS3 this year following the slip of GTA IV. It is a positive for MSFT."

However, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter disagrees. In a statement to GameDaily BIZ, he comments: "There are obviously PS3 games that look fantastic (have you played Resistance, Motorstorm, or seen Call of Duty 4?). It's not an issue with the PS3 ... Eventually (as in next year), EA will figure it out, and nobody will care."

Microsoft has been heavily promoting Madden 2008 for Xbox 360, hoping it becomes the console of choice for what is a yearly bestseller. However, Pachter is frustrated that media that calls attention to the Madden debacle hasn't focused on something he thinks is a far bigger concern: "One would think that stupid analysts would be writing about the 360 warranty issue, and how people will avoid that box until they can be assured that they won't see the 'three red rings of death.'" Those are fighting words!

So we hear that there's this game coming out this week. "Madden" we think it's called. It's supposed to be a pretty big deal. It better be, as it's the only game we're going to see released until the end of this month. Full release list is as follows:

• Madden NFL 08

• No new releases

• No new releases

Phil Harrison can't seem to get through an interview without receiving the first degree on Home and LittleBigPlanet. We bet when he sleeps at night, he might just be plagued with dreams about answering questions on those two titles. Not that it's a bad thing, but we're sure it's taking its toll on him. Anyway, in a recent 1UP interview, Phil answered some of the questions we've been wondering about for a while.

• About Madden on PS3 running at 30fps: "It would concern me if the platform was incapable of doing it, but we've proven the platform is capable of doing it, so it's not a PlayStation 3 issue. I'm trying to be polite." He talks about the Edge dev kit and how Sony's own titles are running at full 1080p with 60fps, basically dodging the more obvious answer: EA Sports are lazy.
• When asked if Home were going to be shipped with completed features and basically everything that Home could possibly have upon launch, Harrison replied: "There will be features that get added over time, it's not going to be everything that we've ever talked about at the beginning of the service. I'm being very clear we never intended for that to be the case, either, but we have a clear road map of where and how and when we're going to be adding functions and features."

As far as Home itself, it's progressing well and is still due out this Fall. Development kits were sent out on July 10th to developers to start prepping titles to be Home-ready and the beta is going well. We can't wait to get our trophies for playing games in Home, or our fun little T-shirts letting people know that we really, really dig Virtua Fighter 5. Or whatever else we dig at that point.
[via N4G]