The Line Drive
by 
With so much focus going towards the new releases of Madden and Head Coach 09 it was easy to overlook news on other games and even some that were related to Madden. Here I recap items that may be of interest from the last couple days but didn’t make the cut for a full posting.
- Jon Robinson, formerly of Gametap and IGN and now with ESPN, played 24 hours straight of Madden. He recalls the events of the night here. There is no way I would have been able to pull that off.
- Shawn @ 5WG has written his thoughts from Maddenpalooza. The event took place on Monday at the Rose Bowl.
- Das Gamer has a bunch of interviews up including former Madden cover athletes Daunte Culpepper and Ray Lewis as well as EA’s Chris Erb and Ryan Ferwerda
- The Signature Play Calling in NBA Live 09 is detailed at IGN through an interview and video. I was especially fond of the quick play call option which uses the DNA of the team on the floor to select a play for you.
- NBA 09: The Inside has revealed the cover of the game. It features not one cover athlete, but six of them. Click here to view.
- There are a handful of new items for NHL 09. A preview and video of the MMO-style EA Sports Hockey League, and two new videos showing gameplay which can be watched here and here.
- NHL 2K9 has released its first gameplay trailer.
- Blitz the League II will include Frank Caliendo and Jay Mohr. Caliendo will play several parts including a color commentator, which could be interesting considering he is renowned for his John Madden impression.
- The unrevealed EA Sports original IP that Peter Moore has reference over the past several months is probably the Celebrity Sports Showdown for the Wii. It’s one thing to throw in B-List celebrities as extra characters in Facebreaker, but here they’ve gone and built an entire game around them.
August 13, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Frank Caliendo would be a nice change of pace for commentator, but Jay Mohr is just annoying.
August 13, 2008 at 7:16 pm
[quote comment="32140"]Frank Caliendo would be a nice change of pace for commentator, but Jay Mohr is just annoying.[/quote]
Depends on the role hes playing. He was good in Jerry Maguire. So taking on a role as the agent in this game seems like a natural fit.
August 13, 2008 at 7:56 pm
that was a nice writeup by riobinson a whole season in a day though is tough i know what he went through.. i got the game at midnigght and i played from then on till 5 AM on the 13th…. reason is i had to leave the next day for vacation which is where i am now
August 13, 2008 at 8:25 pm
4th
August 14, 2008 at 4:04 am
The sad thing about ‘Celebrity Sports Showdown’ is not that they thought it was a good idea, then followed up on it; But that it’ll sell like hotcakes.
August 14, 2008 at 4:40 am
Surprisingly, I’m looking forward to that Celebrity Sports Showdown on the Wii. I have the EA Playground game and the dodgeball is damn fun. I think this game will be very similar to that from what I’ve read.
August 14, 2008 at 5:50 am
Saw the NBA Live 2009 video, one thing I didn’t like was how easy it was for Kobe to get to the basket on the wing. Hopefully that was on Rookie mode to show case the offense. Otherwise the signature play calling, and pick and roll were a thing of beauty.
August 14, 2008 at 7:37 am
PS3 NCAA 09 patch is out just letting you know pasta so you can post it or something
August 14, 2008 at 7:42 am
[quote comment="32180"]Surprisingly, I’m looking forward to that Celebrity Sports Showdown on the Wii. I have the EA Playground game and the dodgeball is damn fun. I think this game will be very similar to that from what I’ve read.[/quote]
Yeah I don’t mind that part of it, I just wish the roster of “celebrities” was better. I can’t really get excited about controlling Fergie.
August 14, 2008 at 7:51 am
If you are going to have Fergie as a celeb, this game should definitely feature Johnny Drama.
August 14, 2008 at 8:54 am
as 2 Live where’s yhe D I mean KOBE is that DUDE but that was 2 easy
August 14, 2008 at 9:33 am
That had to be on Rookie mode, because you can’t get to the basket like that in NBA Live 2008 on Superstar mode. But hey, sometimes it is that easy int he NBA.
August 14, 2008 at 9:39 am
I hope Live is alot harder than what I just saw becauase there would be some serious exploits which would ruin the game if it’s that easy
August 14, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Jon Robinson’s article was excellent. His days of playing the Sega Genesis brought back awesome memories, especially his details regarding Lakers vs. Celtics. I used the Suns all the time and Chambers triple-pump dunk from the three-point line was unstoppable.
I also enjoyed the information he provided during his 24 hours of Madden. I don’t have the stamina to do that anymore. When I was in college, I used to stay up playing Sega and PlayStation until the next morning on many occasions. I used to blow through a season in a few days. Now, it takes me a good week or two depending on my free time…..
August 14, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I think I know the Rome game from EA that Robinson was talking about. Centurion. I still have a copy of that!