Madden NFL Arcade announced

Electronic Arts announced today an all new way to play Madden NFL with Madden NFL Arcade - a pick-up-and-play, 5-on-5 football game from EA Tiburon. Madden NFL Arcade is for both casual and diehard NFL fans, featuring a unique art style, 32 NFL teams and distinctive home stadiums, and gameplay that consist of four downs to march 60 yards - no penalties or field goals allowed! The first team to 30 wins.

Madden NFL Arcade allows up to four players to play co-op on a single console. You can also take on other players online in head-to-head matches and track your performance via interactive leaderboards. Madden NFL Arcade will also provide a host of achievements and trophies to boost your gamer score.

Madden NFL Arcade will be available as a download on Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Store for 1200 MS Points and $14.99 respectively, just in time for the holidays in December.

Madden NFL 10 in stores

Electronic Arts has released Madden NFL 10 to retail stores across North America. The popular NFL football franchise is available for a variety of platforms including the Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, and even the PS2. Naturally, each platform offers different shades of the same expereince, like refined online play on Xbox 360 and PS3, Wii remote enhanced controls on the Wii, and a functional if not scaled back experience on the PS2.

Madden NFL 10 will also be available for feature mobile phones this month, and on the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch in September.

I could blather on about the new features in the game, but chances are many of you stood in last night to pick it up and called in sick this morning. For those that haven’t purchased Madden NFL 10, check out David Thomas’ review.

Madden NFL 10 Dated

Electronic Arts announced today that Madden NFL 10 will be available in North America on Friday, August 14. The game will be available for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, and is being developed by EA Tiburon. I’d like to list the features that EA sports is promising this year’s but i’m not a fan of blowing smoke. No PC, DS, or mobile versions announced at this time, but maybe there will be more on some other platforms later on down the road.

You can check out the game’s official web site for additional details.

Madden Outpaces Hollywood in August

Is it any shock that Madden NFL 09 might sell more copies than a big budget Hollywood movie? Not to anyone I know. According to internal sale data from EA, the latest Madden game has sold more than $133.5 million in retail sales for the month of August, beating out blockbuster movies like Tropic Thunder ($83.9 million), Mamma Mia! ($56.4 million), and Pineapple Express ($79.9 million) - according to data from BoxOfficeMojo.com.

EA also said that this year’s game has sold 6 percent more than last year’s release. Of course, the company doesn’t break down the numbers according to platform - the game is available on the PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, Wii, DS, and PSP. Peter Moore had this to say about the success of Madden:

“Expectations were very high, and Madden NFL 09 is the most innovative game in the 20 year history of the franchise,” said Peter Moore, President of EA SPORTS. “We’re seeing strong consumer momentum both at retail and online, where fans are connecting in record numbers to play Madden NFL 09. We expect more than 100 million games of Madden NFL 09 will be played online in the next year.”

EA Extends Exclusive NFL License

Electronic Arts has extended its exclusive licensing relationships with the National Football League and NFL Players. The agreements also provide EA access to both NFL Films and the NFL Network. The extended exclusive agreement gives the company the right to create videogames on all conceivable platforms including consoles, PC and mobile phones. The license will now expire in Feb. 2013, which marks the end of the 2012 season.

Some NFLvideo game fans weren”t as delighted about this news as EA is, because it effectively makes EA’’s franchises (Madden, NFL Tour, NFL Street) the only games in town outside of games that are fantasy-based, NFL-free titles. Playing a football game that isn”t based on the NFL is like buying Doctor Thunder from WalMart; it may taste like Dr. Pepper, but there’’s nothing like the real thing.