GamesRadar - PS2 News

Madagascar holds no.1 (Madagascar)

Aug 9, 2005

Official ELSPA Entertainment Top 20 Software Chart (all prices) - week ending 6 August1 (2) Madagascar(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA, DS)2 (5) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(PS2, Xbox, PC)3 (1) Brian Lara International Cricket 2005(PS2, Xbox, PC)4 (3) Fantastic 4(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA)5 (6) Destroy All Humans(PS2, Xbox)6 (4) Medal of Honor European Assault(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)7 (7) Cricket 2005(PS2, Xbox, PC)8 (10) Lego Star Wars(PS2, Xbox, PC, GBA)9 (8) Juiced(PS2, Xbox, PC)10 (9) ...

Madagascar holds no.1 (Madagascar)

Jul 27, 2005

Official ELSPA Entertainment Top 20 Software Chart (all prices) - week ending 23 July1 (1) Madagascar(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA, DS)2 (NE) Brian Lara International Cricket 2005(PS2, Xbox, PC)3 (8) Fantastic 4(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC, GBA)4 (4) Medal of Honor European Assault(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)5 (2) Destroy All Humans(PS2, Xbox)6 (6) Cricket 2005(PS2, Xbox, PC)7 (3) Juiced(PS2, Xbox, PC)8 (7) Grand Theft Auto San Andreas(PS2, Xbox, PC)9 (9) Lego Star Wars(PS2, Xbox, PC, GBA)10 (5) God of ...

Madagascar migrates to the top (Madagascar)

Jul 19, 2005

Official ELSPA Entertainment Top 20 Software Chart (all prices) - week ending 16 July1 (6) Madagascar(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)2 (3) Destroy All Humans(PS2, Xbox)3 (1) Juiced(PS2, Xbox, PC)4 (2) Medal of Honor European Assault(PS2, Xbox, PC)5 (5) God Of War (PS2)6 (4) Cricket 2005(PS2, Xbox, PC)7 (7) Grand Theft Auto San Andreas(PS2, PC, Xbox)8 (NE) Fantastic 4(PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, GBA)9 (8) Lego Star Wars(PS2, Xbox, PC, GBA)10 (9) Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith (PS2, Xbox, PC, GBA, ...

'Voice of God' heir battles NFL Films over Madden program (Madden NFL 06)

Jun 9, 2008

If you're a football fan, you've surely heard the voice of the late John Facenda. Facenda, a beloved Philadelphia newscaster from 1948-1973, gained national recognition for his voice-over work with NFL Films in the latter part of his career.

However, a lawsuit filed by Facenda's son alleges that the NFL allowed Electronic Arts to use the announcer's voice to promote Madden 2006 in violation of a contract Facenda signed before his death.

Video Gamers Sue EA Over Exclusive Sports Games (Madden NFL 07)

Jun 16, 2008

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.

EA launches music label (Madden NFL 07)

Mar 27, 2007

Music has been a focal point of many of EA's titles for years, and now the publishing giant has gone a step further by forming its own music label. In a joint venture with Nettwerk One Music, the new LA-based Artwerk record label will sign both new and established artists, the first of which will be Junkie XL, who worked on music for Madden, SSX Blur and Need for Speed Carbon games. EA will use its games as a worldwide marketing tool to promote its artists. "For the past five years, EA has ...

Could EA buy 2k Sports? (Madden NFL 07)

Feb 19, 2007

Electronic Arts would be wise to buy 2K Sports, or so says industry analyst Michael Pachter for Wedbush Morgan Securities. The suggestion came amid the move from Wedbush downgrading Take-Two Interactive's stock from "hold" to "sell" Friday. Take-Two Interactive owns 2K Sports as a subsiderary.

"It is clear to us that Take-Two's sports business would have tremendous value to EA, as it would give EA a monopoly on football, basketball, baseball, and hockey," Pachter said. His analysis concluded that EA might purchase 2K Sports for as much as $200 million dollars, but he noted, "It is arguable that EA would benefit by as much as $1 billion if it were to obtain an exclusive; this does not mean that it is willing to pay $1 billion."

Latest Famitsu Review Scores (Madden NFL 07)

Dec 13, 2006

Here is the list of the latest review scores from Famitsu.

The complete list:

Motorstorm (PS3, Sony): 8 / 8 / 8 / 6 - (30/40)
Sonic The Hedgehog (PS3, Sega): 8 / 7 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Xbox 360, Capcom): 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 - (36/40)
Sonic The Hedgehog (Xbox 360, Sega): 8 / 7 / 7 / 8 - (30/40)
Seiken Densetsu 4 (PS2, Square Enix): 7 / 8 / 8 / 7 - (30/40)
Madden NFL 07 (PS2, EA): 7 / 8 / 7 / 5 - (27/40)
Monster 4X4: World Circuit (Wii, Ubisoft): 7 / 6 / 7 / 8 - (28/40)
A Ressha de Ikou HX (Xbox 360, Artdink): 7 / 6 / 7 / 7 - (27/40)
Metal Gear Portable Ops (PSP, Konami): 9 / 10 / 9 / 9 - (37/40)
Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology (PSP, Bandai Namco): 8 / 7 / 8 / 7 - (30/40)
Nounai Aesthe: IQ Suppli DS (NDS, Spike): 7 / 7 / 6 / 6 - (26/40)
Heisei Kyouiku Iinkai DS (NDS, Bandai Namco): 6 / 9 / 7 / 6 - (28/40)
Need for Speed Carbon (PS2, EA): 8 / 8 / 7 / 7 - (30/40)
Need for Speed Carbon (PS3/Xbox 360, EA): 9 / 9 / 8 / 8 - (34/40)
Need for Speed Carbon (Wii, EA): 8 / 7 / 6 / 7 - (28/40)
Need for Speed Carbon (PSP, EA): 8 / 8 / 7 / 8 - (31/40)
School Love! (PS2, Views): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 - (24/40)
Intelligent License 2 (PSP, Now Production): 7 / 9 / 7 / 8 - (31/40)
NBA Live 07 (PSP, EA): 7 / 8 / 7 / 7 - (29/40)
Hamster to Kurasou (NDS, Interchannel): 6 / 6 / 5 / 5 - (22/40)

Fan-fueled extras for Madden 07 (Madden NFL 07)

Jul 14, 2006

The lone NFL juggernaut Madden NFL 07 is stiff-arming its way into retail end-zones next month with a Hall of Fame edition for the PS2 and Xbox 360. This special version of gridiron legend John Madden's eponymous game will include a trove of exclusive ESPN footage. A career retrospective of his days at the helm of the Oakland Raiders will be included in addition to an extended highlight reel of his most famous calls from the broadcast booth. Exclusive to the PS2 Hall of Fame version, footage ...

EA Sports Predicts Super Bowl XLII Winner (Madden NFL 08)

Jan 31, 2008

Ripten's Chad Lakkis writes:

"We received a press release today from Electronic Arts, announcing their official prediction for this years Super Bowl, featuring the 18-0 New England Patriots and the New York Football Giants.

Lead by quarterback Eli Manning, the surging Giants aim to end the Patriots quest for a perfect 19-0 season, and take home the Lombardi Trophy in the process. However, Tom "Terrific" Brady and his talented squad of receivers see a different outcome."

Gameplay, EA line up for 'Madden' tournament TV series (Madden NFL 08)

Jan 16, 2008

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.

MSNBC announces the best video games of 2007 (Madden NFL 08)

Jan 2, 2008

Jan. 2, 2008 -- MSNBC tallied in their Game of the Year readers' votes between December 19 and 27. "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" garnered 33 percent of the over 17,000 votes and is MSNBC Readers' Game of the Year. The runner-up was "Bioshock" at 22 percent of the votes. The second runner-up was "Mass Effect" at 10 percent.

Here are MSNBC readers' picks for the best in each genre:

¿ Best sports game: Madden NFL '08
¿ Best racing game: Project Gotham Racing 4
¿ Best casual game: Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
¿ Best family game: LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
¿ Best music game: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
¿ Best handheld game: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
¿ Best role-playing game: Mass Effect
¿ Best action/adventure game: Bioshock
¿ Best shooter: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

View the full report for the runners-up in each category.

Xbox Officially Wins September (Madden NFL 08)

Nov 7, 2007

The official NPD numbers are in for September, and the Xbox 360 swept, even beating out the Nintendo Wii for that month.

We think it has something to do with Halo 3.

Here are the hard Numbers, from industry analysts at the NPD Group:

Hardware

Xbox 360: 527,800
Wii: 501,000
Nintendo DS: 495,800
PlayStation Portable: 284,500
PlayStation 2: 215,000
Playstation 3: 119,400
Game Boy Advance: 75,000

Microsoft Comments on August NPD (Madden NFL 08)

Sep 14, 2007

Following the thoroughly impressive August results from The NPD Group, Microsoft was the first of the big three console manufacturers to chime in on its performance for the month.

The main highlights were outlined by Microsoft as follows:

# Xbox 360 unit sales are up 63 percent, versus an 18 percent decline for PS3 and 5 percent decline for Wii month over month

# Xbox 360 outsells PS3 more than 2:1

# Xbox 360 software sales are more than PS3 and Wii software sales combined

# Madden NFL '08 on Xbox 360 outsold all other versions of the title, including the PS2 by more than 250,000 units, and PS3 by more than 560,000

Hit the link for more...

American Sales: BioShock 400k, PS3 43k, 360 64k, Wii 101k (Madden NFL 08)

Aug 31, 2007

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.

EA's Times Square Madden Launch Event (Madden NFL 08)

Aug 18, 2007

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.

Madden Dominates Amazon Best Seller List (Madden NFL 08)

Aug 14, 2007

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.

Merry Maddenoliday (Madden NFL 08)

Aug 13, 2007

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...

New releases for week ending August 17 (US and Europe) (Madden NFL 08)

Aug 13, 2007

What's on offer this week for those slumbering gamers now waking from their self-imposed summertime hibernation periods? Well, although GamerSquad would suggest that you've perhaps set your quality alarm a week too early, there are obviously vast sways of American Football fans who'll be wiping the sleep from their eyes and pulling on their favourite team jersey right about now. And why? Because EA's sporting granddaddy Madden NFL 08 hits the stores tomorrow.

However, beyond that single multi-platform highlight of the week ¿ which you should fully expect to reach the top of the gaming chart ¿ the remaining rundown for new releases on both sides of the Atlantic still leaves much to be desired.

Blockbuster Online members get $10 off Madden '08 (Madden NFL 08)

Aug 12, 2007

For many sports gamers, a yearly purchase of Madden '08 is a given. Saving $10 on any $60 game is nice (PS3 and Xbox 360), but this discount even works on the PSP and Wii/PS2 versions, bringing them down to $29.99 and $39.99 respectively. Nice.