The music contained in the latest installment of EA's popular football franchise features no less than 27 songs from artists as diverse as MIMS, Queens of the Stone Age Sum 41, Timbaland, and Daddy Yankee as well as newcomers Airbourne, Datarock, Operator and Enter Shikari.
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The high-profile court case against EA Sport's "monopoly" in the NFL market took an interesting turn this week, with an economist brought in to show how much the demise of 2K's competing NFL franchise has cost sports gamers.

Despite admitting his report is based on incomplete data, University of Michigan economics professor Dr. Jeffrey Mackie-Mason has told the the U.S. District Court in San Francisco that EA's domination of the NFL video games market has cost gamers between $701 million and $926 million since 2K's NFL2K series was blocked from competing with EA.
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EA had previously requested that Judge Vaughn Walker dismiss claims by Geoffrey Pecover and Jeffrey Lawrence. The two Madden buyers, serving as named plaintiffs in the class-action suit, alleged that by eliminating competition for NFL-licensed games EA had acted in a monopolistic fashion and unjustly enriched itself at the expense of consumers. On Friday Judge Walker issued a ruling denying EA's motion. The Judge did, however, rule that only claims in California and Washington, D.C. would go forward since that is where the two named plaintiffs in the case reside.
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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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Gamedaily.Biz writes: "According to a new article from Nielsen Games on the growth of the Madden NFL franchise, EA Sports has spent many, many millions on advertising for Madden in the last year and a half. One might think that EA's Madden games sell themselves – and to some degree that's probably true (it's also the only official NFL video game) – but it would be foolish to ignore the marketing muscle that EA throws behind its football juggernaut with each release.

Nielsen said that EA spent the majority of its marketing dollars on television, with roughly $3 million going to network TV and about $5.5 million to cable TV. Another $1 million or so was spent on web ads, such as ESPN.com, and the publisher also made sure to target Spanish-language television to help promote a Spanish-speaking version of the game. All told, Nielsen said the latest campaign included nearly two dozen television spots and more than 50 web vignettes."
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The cover of the Madden games used to be a place to showcase the league's top players and curse them to a horrible season. Now, it seems that EA might let money determine who graces the cover of the next installment in the football series. Specifically, the players' money.
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