Crispy Gamer News

Electronic Arts announced today that Skate 2 will hit retailers in North America on January 21st, 2009 and worldwide on January 23rd, 2009. Skate 2 brings gamers to New San Vanelona, a city that’s been rebuilt after an unspeakable disaster five years ago. Equipped with double the bag of tricks, players are tasked with rebuilding their careers and reviving the skate scene - we guess for the sake of community morale or something. Now with the ability to get off-board and move objects around, gamers can create their own spots and challenges which can then be uploaded, shared and experienced by others around the world.

Skate 2 also promises new tricks that allow players to skate on and off the board. Skate 2 is developed by Black Box, and will be made available on PS3 and Xbox 360. Skate It is available on Wii and the Nintendo DS now.

The wait is over as the classic Tecmo football game is reborn as a DS exclusive. Tecmo has released Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff for Nintendo DS. Based on the popular cult classic Tecmo Super Bowl , Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff adapts that game’s old-school style and revitalizes it for a newer generation of gamers. The classic, over-the-top, all-American football game enables players of all levels to engage in a fun filled, fast paced, arcade style of football - and it does it without the need for an NFL license. Take that, Madden.

Tecmo Bowl Kickoff lets players customize their team with team colors, emblems, player names, team cities and abilities; offers Wi-Fi and Wireless multiplayer a choice of 32 different teams, tactical use of the abilities, stylus control, a customizable playbook to fool around with, and a unique soundtrack to crack skulls to.

Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff is rated “E” by the ESRB and carries a suggested retail price of US $29.99.

Sega announced that Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 is now available via STEAM. The latest game in the popular soccer club management game features a brand new 3D Match Engine, which can now be viewed in full 3D - you’ll be able to view players from multiple camera angles on the pitch and rewind or fast-forward to key plays.

With this customizable view you can also choose the information you would like to see during the match, be it the latest scores or player performance stats for the match. The game has been updated for the new 2008/09 soccer season with all the latest league, club and player data, as well. Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 features over 5,000 playable clubs from over 50 countries, and around 350,000 players and staff from around the world, drawn from the Sports Interactive database.

Head on over to steampowered.com for more details.

GamesCampus has signed an online interactive licensing agreement with MLB Advanced Media, the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, granting it the right to incorporate official Major League Baseball league and club marks and logos, MLB ballpark images and more in its upcoming micro-transaction based online baseball game, MLB Dugout Heroes. It will be a free PC-based baseball game, to be made available in North America in time for the 2009 baseball season.

The multi-year agreement gives GamesCampus the rights to all current and historical Major League teams, ballparks, All-Star teams and jewel events such as the home run derby. GamesCampus will also have rights to the official 2009 Major League Baseball regular season game schedule, enabling fans to simulate real seasons through actual game and series matchups.

Those wishing to follow what GameCampus is creating can visit gamescampus.com.

Shaun White Snowboarding has gone gold and will be released on multiple platforms Nov. 16, according to publisher Ubisoft. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Shaun White’s latest game use the Assassin’s Creed engine to provide the right balance of slick visuals and physics necessary to deliver a next-generation action sports game. Whether or not this game delivers such an experience is another matter. The new Shaun White Wii game, Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip, was developed from the ground up for the Wii, offering support for the Wii Balance Board to provide gamers with a more interactive snowboarding experience.

The rest of the new Shaun White games (DS, PSP, PS2) are pretty straightforward action sports offerings that don’t rely too much on technology or gimmicky peripherals… Shaun White Snowboarding for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, and the PlayStation 2 will be available on Nov 16.

EA Mobile has released a slate of new sports titles for mobile phones based on many of its most popular sports franchises. EA Mobile plans to roll out Madden NFL 09, NCAA Football 09, and EA SPORTS NASCAR 09. Madden NFL 09, NCAA Football 09 and EA SPORTS NASCAR 09 are currently available for purchase in North America. Check with your local mobile phone provider for availability.

I wish this story was a little more exciting, but sadly it is not.

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.”