Madden NFL 10

From Gaming Target: The Saints went marching down the field and EA Sports' annual Madden NFL simulation went six for seven in predicting the Super Bowl winner.

Examiner: During their conference call regarding the first-half fiscal period of 2010, Electronic Arts revealed that Madden NFL 10 has sold 3.9 million copies as of the end of September.

A few weeks ago, EA CEO John Riccitiello talked about the weaker sales for Madden NFL 2010, and he noted that EA's hopeful sales would pick up as consumers head to stores to purchase new consoles, following the price drops. Sales for Madden were tracking behind by about 19% in terms of units, and investors reacted causing a 25% dip in the publisher's stock price. According to the latest channel checks from Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, it appears Riccitiello's optimism was warranted. Sales are faring better now, thanks in part to the increased store traffic from the console price cuts. We believe sales of ERTS's Madden NFL 2010 have rebounded meaningfully in the month of September. Combining August and September, we believe sales of Madden are now down an estimated 5% to 10% after being down 19% in August, said Bhatia.

Edge writes: In an internal email sent to Electronic Arts staff, company CEO John Riccitiello has revealed his disappointment over early Madden NFL 10 sales, but he still believes that EA is on track to achieve success this fall and holiday season. This week, market research for August will show that year-over-year, the industry was down in North America – and that August sales of Madden NFL 10 are down with that trend. It is discouraging that one of our highest-rated and best-marketed Madden titles in years is facing strong headwinds, Riccitiello said in a memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal...

Ahead of what industry-watchers hope will be the last month for negative trends in NPD numbers, many analysts are unsure whether 2009 will close with a positive year-over-year result. Some analysts have expressed concerns about how sales of major titles like Madden NFL 10 have been trending; with that title predicted to top August software sales when the NPD releases its results later today, a deflated Madden could be the strongest signal yet of a deflated industry. An internal memo from Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello to company employees obtained by Gamasutra shows that indeed, sales of this year's iteration of the football blockbuster are not on their customary track.

PlayStation LifeStyle writes: This week there are no surprises as to who has gone home the winner in sales. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3) has bested all others. Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP) retains its top placement for an astounding 37th week. Madden (PS2) retains the still in first after three weeks.

GamerDeals.net writes: The annual event known to all armchair quarterbacks is here again! Maddenholiday 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...)...

NextGen Player writes: Thinking about picking up Madden NFL 10 today? Well, before you go hop, skip and jump to your local retailer consider this: Sports Illustrated is giving the game away free with a paid subscription.

Video game retailer celebrates highly-anticipated release with free special savings books and chance to win autographed football jersey.

411mania talks about this week's game releases. Highlights include Phantom Brave, C.O.R.E, Fossil Fighters, and Madden. On Phantom Brave, 411mania writes: We Meet Again is an update to the original Phantom Brave for the PS2. As it was the game that immediately followed Disgaea, it had a lot to live up to when it was first released back in 2004. Though the SRPG contained many similarities to its predecessor, many fans felt that it strayed a little too much from what made Disgaea a hit. Detractors cite the more serious story as well as the various gameplay changes as their main complaints. However, those who actually gave the game a chance found a lot of the changes to their liking. The absence of the grid system, for example, allowed for more freedom when positioning characters. In addition, the Confine system, whereby the souls of the playable characters must be confined to objects on the field in order to take physical form, forced players to put more thought into when and where to use each character. It's not an exact clone of Disgaea, but in this case, that isn't such a bad thing.