MTV news writes: "Bow Wow ever has a rap beef, he can always call on his "big brother" the Game for some assistance. But the next time the two MCs meet in person, it might not be all love - at least for four quarters. The two are apparently going to face off in a game of "Madden NFL 09."

On Tuesday, Bow released a video on DimeWars.com challenging his friend to a $100,000 video game showdown.

"I seen you do your thing in 'Madden,' " Bow said. "I want to let you know I will bust your ass in that 'Madden.' We can get it poppin'."

*Caution Video has some M-rated language.*
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Endsights writes:

"The online is lag-free, the graphics are updated and look good, and the gameplay, while unchanged, still plays great. But fundamentally, can the new additions justify purchasing the new edition of Madden? As a causal football and Madden fan, no, they're not. The new elements to the game were high in concept and poor in execution, leaving you with a game that is without a purpose for existing. (Besides a huge paycheck) Hardcore Madden fans can justify purchasing it with the inclusion of online leagues–but for the rest of you that don't care about that, stick with Madden NFL 08."
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Kotaku writes: "'Brett' is easy to spell. B-r-e-t-t. "Favre", not so easily. But to review: F-a-v-r-e-. Not "Farve". If you're a football fan, you should know that. And if you're EA, you damn well should know that - especially because he's the coverboy! Reader Devon points out that Brett Favre's name is mispelled in the collector's edition menu in Madden 09. That's a pic of it right up there. Well, at least EA didn't put 'Brett Favor.'"
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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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Destructoid writes: "If you're a fan of the Madden NFL Football series, there is a slight chance that you already know about the Brett Favre trade this offseason. Aside from making every self-respecting NFL fan cringe at the sight of Favre in a Jets jersey with a roster update, the folks at EA Sports had to do some damage control with their Madden 2009 packaging featuring Favre in his old Packers jersey. Currently, EA Sports has a printable copy of the cover featuring the gunslinger in his new uniform available on their website.

For those with less-than-stellar printers, there is another option available. Sam's Club will print out the optional cover with each purchase of Madden 2009. That means no hassle with PDFs for you, and professional quality printing as well. Sam's Club is also offering the game $55.55, which is a decent discount. I really wish I knew about this last night, because I'm currently having sizing problems with EA's downloadable version of the artwork. Either way, it's good to know that there are some options available for the perfectionists out there."
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Madden 09 is now available in stores and as EA promised you can now download alternate packaging featuring Bret Favre in a NY Jets uniform. you can download the alternate packaging for your system of choice after the jump.
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Pictures of the Rose Bowl's current setup have been posted online. If this setup stays the same, TV viewers will be hard-pressed to not see Madden 09 plastered somewhere.
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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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To celebrate the 20th anniversary of EA Sports' Madden NFL Football, the most beloved sports video game franchise of all time, former NFL great Warren Sapp will step back onto the playing field to challenge fans in Madden NFL 08® on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. As part of the latest Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network Game with Fame session, Warren will be gaming live from 'Maddenpalooza;' the all-day music, sports, and gaming festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.

Additionally, EA Sports is providing the Pro vs. G.I. Joe organization the opportunity to have Los Angeles-area troops play Madden NFL 09 with their colleagues stationed in Kuwait via Xbox LIVE. Warren Sapp will also play against the troops overseas as part of his Game with Fame.
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EA does launch parties right. Forget stuffy ballrooms, EA brought out humongous sports simulation games, lots of great BBQ worthy of Madden himself and, though they had nothing to do with it, weather to make it all perfect.
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Complete list of changes for the first roster update for Madden 09. It is expected to be out on release day of the game, August 12th.
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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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This is all the Madden NFL 2009 Rosters and the Team Playbooks.
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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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Stephen Totilo reports:

"Quarterback Brett Favre will be available to play as a New York Jet on the day "Madden NFL '09" is released next week. We just got word from EA that the game will still ship with Favre on the cover in his old Green Bay Packers uniform, but the following updates will make him a Jet.

Fast work on EA's part, given that the Favre deal only made the news several hours ago.

Here are the details we got from EA, in the words of a company spokesperson..."
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Edge Online writes: "Pre-orders for EA Sports' Madden NFL 09 have been showing improvement following sluggish recent performance, Stern Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said in an investor note on Thursday.

Stern Agee's retail checks showed that Madden pre-orders are still down, but by 20 percent, compared to being down 30 percent a month ago.

Bhatia called the improvement "meaningful," adding, '...We believe pre orders in the most recent week were up double-digits year-over-year for the one week period.'"
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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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Specifics on patches and downloadable content for Madden NFL 09. A first patch may be released next week with a second patch and free downloadable content to follow.
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