Controversy brewing over integrity of reviews

In a story that has quickly picked up steam as it could demonstrate the current state of video game journalism, Gamespot editor Jeff Gerstmann has been fired. The apparent reason is the score of 6.0 that he had recently given to Kane and Lynch. Advertising for K&L has been prominently featured all over the Gamespot website and Eidos, the publisher of the game, was not pleased and threatened to pull their campaign. The final decision would’ve been made by parent company CNET which handles the advertising and employment for the sites they own.

CNET controls several gaming websites in addition to Gamespot such as GameFAQs, SportsGamer, Game Rankings and Metacritic.

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March Madness 08 Q&A

About a week back I looked for some input for a March Madness producer Q&A. Along with some of the suggestions that were given I formed others mostly based off the demo and the reaction to it.

What I really appreciated about this was that every question was responded to and in a straight forward manner. Hopefully these responses help clarify some topics that have been discussed throughout the community. Continue on to check out the full Q&A.

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Madden patch #2 released

The second and more significant patch for Madden 08 has been pushed live by Microsoft. Those with the 360 version will be prompted to download the patch as the game loads up. The PS3 version is expected to receive the patch soon as well. When is dependent on Sony but it is in their hands.

As previously reported the patch addresses the following issues:

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The best sports games of 2007

With the year coming to a close and only one major sports title remaining (March Madness 08) I wanted to take a look back and pick out the best of the best from 2007.

This isn’t a recap of what games got the highest review scores. I couldn’t care less about that. These are the games that I got the most enjoyment out of.

The bottom line is how much fun and entertainment are you getting out of your purchase? For me the following games were the ones that provided the most.

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The latest update on the Madden patch

It appears that the long awaited second patch for Madden 08 is nearing clearance for release. There should be an EA producer blog coming very soon that will have more details on when it can be expected.

This is the patch that will address the main issues with the game such as the high rate of fumbles and franchise mode freezes.

It is possible but unlikely they’ll be providing a specific date so we may be looking at range. The impression I get is by the end of next week but there is no way to be certain. It could be any day now or it could be a longer wait. Regardless they wouldn’t be putting out the blog without a solid idea of its status and when it is likely to complete certification and get pushed out.

NBA Ballers: Chosen One announced

Midway today announced the return of the NBA Ballers franchise. “Chosen One” will be coming to the Xbox 360 and PS3 this coming spring.

It appears that along with its arcade style counterpart in NBA Street they will once again begin alternating years of release on the 360/PS3 as had previously been done on the PS2/Xbox.

I have added the four initial screenshots of the game to the gallery.

The fast-paced one-on-one and two-on-two action returns as players can select from more than 65 NBA superstars to be the next “Chosen One”.

“NBA Ballers: Chosen One will allow players to live the life of an NBA superstar,” said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. “Featuring new competitive combo and super-move systems, the NBA Ballers Franchise returns with the amazing realistic graphics for which the franchise is known as players take part in the ultimate challenge to become the next ‘Chosen One.”

Brand new NFL Tour screenshots

I have added 28 new screens from NFL Tour. You can find them in the screenshot gallery.

Also a reminder that anyone with questions about the game can leave them in the comments or send them to me via the contact form and I’ll try to turn around a list for the Tour team to answer. I’m looking to do that this week so make sure to get any ideas or suggestions to me soon.

Thoughts on College Hoops 2K8

I received my copy of College Hoops 2K8 on Friday and have been playing it quite a bit since. I have mixed emotions when it comes to laying out my impressions of 2K8. It really is an excellent game but there are certain aspects which are have caused me a great deal of frustration.

The majority of the time I’ve spent playing has come through online games so that is something to consider. I think some of those things may not be as much of an issue when playing the CPU, however I play the majority online so that is what I base my feelings off of.

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NFL Tour soundtrack

Here is the complete track listing from NFL Tour. You can now listen to a 30 second sample of each song on the game’s official website.

I’m not familiar with most of these artists but with EA’s track record in this area I’m sure the songs will fit the up-tempo style of the game.

Continue on to view the entire soundtrack.

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EA Jersey creator contest has a winner

After sorting through 30,000 submissions over the course of about six weeks EA has selected the winner of the jersey creator contest. The Golden State Warriors submission above was deemed to be the best. This jersey will be a free download in NBA Live 09.

I went through the jerseys labeled as “EA Favorites” and found some I liked a lot even more than the one that was chosen as the winner. I previously spotlighted a handful and I still am somewhat partial to the two Grizzlies entries. Click the thumbnails below to see some of the best ones that were made. Hopefully next year they take this idea another step and have the ability to create jerseys and share them in the Forza mold.