Madden NFL 08

Sports video games are a huge business -- and for many years, it was an extremely competitive space. I remember a few years back trying to wade through half a dozen different baseball video game titles to figure out which one was worth buying. However, a few years back, video game giant EA started signing exclusive deals with a variety of sporting leagues, including the NFL. These exclusive deals supposedly meant that only EA could produce games with the names and stats of real players -- a huge selling point among most fans. And, of course, in gaining exclusivity, EA has completely cashed in. However, a bunch of angry video gamers are now suing the company for anticompetitive conduct, noting that these exclusive deals killed off all the competition, allowing EA to drastically raise its prices.

The Hollywood Reporter, by Kimberly Nordyke on Jan 16, 2008: Gameplay HD, Rainbow Media's high-definition channel that focuses on video gaming, said Tuesday that it has teamed with Electronic Arts to create a new TV series featuring the 2007 EA Sports Madden Challenge, which took place Dec. 12-13 at Universal Studios. The six-part series -- which premieres Feb. 2, the day before the Super Bowl -- kicks off at 1 p.m. EST with an hourlong preshow introducing each of the 24 tournament finalists, including how they qualified with regional title wins playing Madden NFL 08. New half-hour episodes will continue to air at 1 p.m. EST Saturdays, covering the rounds of the tournament. Episodes also will feature gamer portraits, segments on the Madden video game culture and characters and the strategic plans of all the finalists as they prepare for competition. Gameplay HD, which is one of Rainbow's Voom HD Networks, also is producing a special hourlong episode focusing on the tournament's semifinal and final rounds. The winner of the single-elimination, bracket-style tournament takes home cash and prizes totaling $100,000.

Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey picks what he believes will be the biggest sellers of 2008.

The best selling games in units sold, across all platforms, for the year are as follows, with more year-to-date sales data available at the source. ¿ Halo 3 - 3,700,000 ¿ Madden NFL 08 - 3,200,000 ¿ Guitar Hero II - 2,800,00 ¿ Wii Play with Remote - 2,500,000 ¿ Pokemon Diamond - 2,100,000 ¿ Pokemon Pearl - 1,500,000 ¿ Spider-Man 3 - 1,400,000 ¿ Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock - 1,400,000

Analysts said Tuesday that Electronic Arts is cutting prices on sports games such as NBA Live 08, Madden NFL 08 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, which the analysts said is a bad sign going into the holiday season.

With a 400k debut, Bioshock has a pretty legitimate shot at 1,000,000 units long term. For a sense of scale though - even in week two Madden (across all platforms) - outsold the game. With the Americas data now in, it is time for the weekly look at Vgchartz sales data. For the week ending August 25, Xbox 360 saw the release of a key release - Bioshock. Additionally, numbers for Madden NFL 2008 in week two across all platforms were quite similar to the debut of Bioshock. That said, it is important to note that Xbox 360 hardware did not see a boost. For more on the current generation hardware sales (PS3,Wii, 360, DS, PSP) as compared to last week, check the chart.

The Wii, Xbox, GC and PSP versions of Madden 08 ¿ combined - accounted for fewer than 10% of the 1.6 million units sold while 360 version sold them most and 4 times the PS3 version. -- 8/18 ---- 8/11 ------ Net Change NDS 131,930 / 126,277 / +3% Wii 89,280 / 86,469 / +4% 360 59,118 / 52,484 / +13% PSP 53,206 / 55,160 / -4% PS3 47,928 / 41,499 / +15%

New York City, and more specifically Times Square, is the center for hundreds of launches, parties, and events a year. Tonight however, EA Sports delivered the largest video game launch that we've ever been a part of by buying up giant billboards, holding an Ozzy Osbourne concert above the Hard Rock Cafe, and essentially shutting down a piece of the busiest city in America for a bit of the night, all for the launch of the heralded Madden 08. Note: We've put together a more than 11 minute video of the event for you guys to check out. Click here for the goods. We mingled and interviewed Hall of Fame NFL players at the ESPN Zone, we pulled the Prince of ******* Darkness aside after his concert to ask him a few questions about Madden 08's soundtrack, and even went out and spoke with you guys - the fans - at Toys R Us who had started lining up for the midnight launch as early as 2:00 PM in order to have the first copy handed to them by the beloved Tiki Barber. We'll have tons of coverage from the event including photos, a lengthy video showcasing the aforementioned celebrity interviews, and a detailed article later in the week so keep it locked to IGN.com for all the goods.

Happy Maddenoliday! With today's release of Madden NFL 08, many gamers have called in sick with football-itis. It looks as if this years well received version has made an impression on the sales over at Amazon this morning. Currently, Madden has 4 of their versions (Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and the Nintendo Wii), on the top 25 best selling list over at Amazon! Interestingly enough, the PlayStation 2 is outselling the Playstation 3 version.

August 14, 2007... The annual event known to all armchair quarterbacks is here again! Maddenholiday Eve is upon us! Throw out your books and spreadsheets and grab on to a cold one and your controller boys! Tell your boss to shove it (or perhaps tell him that pesky summer cold has come back... sniffle.. sniffle...)... Its almost release day for Madden 2008 and nothing else in life matters! Come midnight, its just you and your franchise mode... building an early lead on gaining the required skills to take down any friend or virtual friend that gets in your way of world football domination...