PWN or DIE simulated the NFC Championship game between the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles and came amazingly close to the final outcome of the actual game that was filled with highlights. Fast forward a couple of weeks to the Super Bowl this Sunday and the Arizona Cardinals will be playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. Given the success of the previous simulation, it was a no-brainer to do it for the "big game".

[Video Highlights Included]
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GameSpot writes: "When Electronic Arts announced it was laying off 1,000 employees--or 10 percent of its staff--many presumed its Tiburon studio would be untouched. Located in plush offices outside Orlando, Florida, the developer makes the Madden NFL and NCAA Football series, EA Sports' exclusive--and lucrative--professional and college football sims. It also crafts Tiger Woods PGA Tour, the popular and feature-laden pro golf series.

Unfortunately, according to the Orlando Sentinel, not even EA Tiburon has escaped its parents cost-cutting unscathed. This evening, EA government affairs chief Craig Hagen told the newspaper that a number of the studio's 650-700 employees had been laid off."
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Last week MTV Multiplayer reported that it could not yet be determined whether "Wii Play" or "Grand Theft Auto IV" was the best-selling game of 2008 in the U.S. But today they finally got the definitive Top 5 2008 list - and it knocks "GTA" to third place.

Today, NPD provided MTV Multiplayer with the numbers they needed and they can now present the definitive list of top 2008 games.

Top-Selling Games In The U.S. For 2008
(All versions combined. Units in millions)

1. Wii Play 5.28
2. Madden NFL '09 5.25
3. Grand Theft Auto IV 5.22
4. Mario Kart w/ Wheel 5.00
5. Call of Duty: World at War 4.63
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PWN or DIE took the time to use Madden NFL 09 to simulate the NFC Championship Game that was played on Sunday between the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles. They had no idea that our simulation would be so accurate, getting the Cardinals' final score right and only being off by 4 on the Eagles' final point tally. After further review, here are the top 10 things our madden simulation got right.
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Kotaku writes: "U.S. District Judge William Alsup upheld a decision to award retired NFL players $28.1 million in the group's lawsuit against the league's player union over allegations they were cheated by an unfavorable deal with EA.

A federal jury ruled in November that the former NFL players were due $7.1 million for the use of their likenesses and $20.9 million in punitive damages for uncredited appearances in EA Sports' Madden NFL games, an award that union lawyers said was "unjust," saying they were "confident it will be overturned." They also said "Hissss!!!", allegedly, when presented with crosses."
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Ripten writes:

"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Behind the scenes wheeling and dealing can generate tasty bargains, but sometimes those bargains come with a nasty aftertaste.

In this case, it appears that EA and the NFLPA along with Players Inc. struck a deal for retired NFL player rights that was significantly below fair market value. A class action lawsuit was filed by the players in question against Players Inc, but the fun didn't stop there. In a letter crafted by 51 year old former Buffalo Bills safety, Jeff Nixon, Madden was asked to come to the aid of his fellow Hall of Famers.

Jeff's "Dear John" letter to the former Raider's Head Coach is laced with incriminating quotes, the most shocking being that EA's total cost to produce Madden each year is apparently no more than $200,000!!"
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Edge writes: "Multiple analysts have reiterated their BUY rating for Electronic Arts stock as the company has announced that total Madden NFL 09 sales have greatly outpaced the game's flailing pre-order rate.

Pre-orders for the year's Madden were down 25% versus last year, but EA has announced that actual sales of the game were up 6%, generating $133.5 million (£75.74m) in retail dollars.

This strong performance was no surprise to analysts, who have predicting for some time that the low pre-order numbers would not accurately reflect final sales. Arvind Bhatia with Sterne Agee & Leach said in a financial note that this performance was "in line with our checks," and attributed the higher retail dollar count to sales of the $89.99 (£51) collector's edition, as well as a higher percentage of total sales being from the higher-priced Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, compared to last year."
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Edge writes: "Initial sales of EA Sports' Madden NFL 09 "appear better than expected," Stern Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said Tuesday.

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."
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Not that EA needed to send out an official press release that Madden NFL 09 is out today, but here it is none the less:

Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that Madden NFL 09 is available in retail stores across North America. Recently named Best Sports Game of E3 in the official "Game Critics Best of Show Awards", Madden NFL 09 celebrates the 20th anniversary of the best-selling franchise and is the First Sports Game That Adapts To You while introducing more than 85 new features and enhancements.
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It's Madden NFL 09 week. Be sure to check out the deals and midnight launch events from various retailers. The Madden NFL 09 PSP Entertainment Pack will be available this week, featuring the Metallic Blue PSP.
Here's the new videogame releases available this week.
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It's a new season, and the 20th Anniversary, of Madden NFL. Retailers have various offers and kickoff events for Madden NFL '09 taking place as early as Monday evening, before the August 12th midnight launch. Here's a breakdown of launch events and deals on Madden NFL 09.
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Welcome to New Releases for the Week!

The highlight this week is Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP).

Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of August 10, 2008 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC!
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News broke Thursday morning that Green Bay Packers mainstay (and now former NFL retiree) Brett Favre would be traded to the New York Jets.

Unfortunately for EA Sports, Madden NFL 09 is launching next week, and the cover is plastered with the image of Favre donning The Green and Gold.
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Orlando Sentinel Says: "For Madden fans, August is the most important month of the year. On August 12 the 20th edition of Madden will hit just about every device capable of playing video games - but the real stars of this release are the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. We took a trip to Orlando-area EA Tiburon to chat with Madden NFL 09 Senior Producer Phil Frazier about what to expect from this year's Madden."
"There's no doubt that Madden 08 had issues on the PS3, particularly when it came to the framerate. When asked about Madden 09 performance on the PlayStation 3 in part 2 of our interview, Frazier says that not only do the two play identically at 60 frames per second, but the quality assurance team actually prefers playing on the PS3. He didn't go into detail about that statement, but it looks like PS3 owners have nothing to fear this time around."
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The highly anticipated release of Madden NFL 09 is only one week away! This year's installment of the award winning Madden NFL franchise will be in stores nationwide on August 12, 2008. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the franchise, EA SPORTS sits down with legendary broadcast analyst and former NFL head coach John Madden to discuss the number one selling football video game in history - his namesake - Madden NFL Football.

In this video interview, Madden discusses his involvement with the game and his vision for the franchise.
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Electronic Arts has confirmed that Madden NFL 09 will be available on the Xbox. That is not a typo, EA Sports is actually releasing a game on the big, black brick called Xbox.
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Time to celebrate with the all new user celebration feature, just one of 85 new gameplay features included in first game that adapts to you, Madden NFL 09. The 20th Anniversary installment of the award winning Madden NFL franchise hits stores nationwide on August 12, 2008.
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With all the talk of Brett Favre coming back to the NFL for a different team, some questioned what would happen to the Madden cover. Well, EA has set the record straight, saying that "Brett Favre [would appear] in a GB jersey, no matter what."
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EA has dropped details on this year's celebration for the release of Madden NFL 09, annoyingly titled Maddenpalooza. Mentioned during Leigh's interview with Steve Schnur earlier this month, Maddenpalooza is a music festival featuring bands from current and past Madden soundtracks that will take place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on August 11th. Fans can snag tickets through local radio stations or at the Rose Bowl on event day, which entitle them to a day filled with music, NFL star signings, and various other bits of marketing, all leading up to 9PM when the stadium's pop-up Wal-Mart will sell the first copies of the game.

Artists scheduled to appear include headliners Good Charlotte, Busta Rhymes, Rev Theory, Airbourne, From First to Last and Young Dre The Truth. Sounds like a worthy successor to the traditional Maddenoliday, more than enough to hold us until they add the word Madden to the front of some new festive term.
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Electronic Arts Inc today unveiled the music track listing for Madden NFL 09, set to release August 12, 2008. The new soundtrack features 26 songs from a multi-genre roster of superstar acts and soon-to-breakthrough artists, including Franz Ferdinand, Good Charlotte, Airbourne, From First To Last, The All-American Rejects, Rev Theory, K'Naan, and Kidz In The Hall.
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