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| It's Official: The Madden NFL 09 Cover is a Tribute |
| April 25, 2008 at 11:05am |
Here's Brett Favre as he appears on
the cover.
As you probably learned on Letterman last
night, the recently retired Packer great Brett Favre was named as
Madden NFL 09's cover athlete. Although he will
probably spend more time in a deer blind in Mississippi than on a
football field, it's fitting that the 20th Anniversary of the Madden
game
pay tribute to someone who epitomizes the mental and physical
toughness it takes to have a successful NFL career.
We're a bit disappointed that Gus, the field-goal-kicking mule was
passed over once again, but we understand. Thank you for
sending in your predictions. Our readers suggested a number of
players, including Adrian Peterson, Randy Moss or those Manning
brothers. Delcio called for Adam Sandler, who
starred in both The Waterboy, and The Longest Yard,
writing, "How about that for talent?" A few of you accurately prognosticated
that Favre would get the nod. Ivan wrote, "If John Madden has anything to say about it,
I think Brett Favre is a shoe-in!"
And Dan offered, "Favre is an icon, legend, Hall-Of-Famer and a role model,
both on and off the field." And Tony suggested Favre on the
grounds that his retirement would spare him from the dreaded "Madden
curse."
So thanks again for your input, and please take a look at Brett Favre on our Madden NFL 09 pages, and don't forget to check back on Monday for
another GameStop-exclusive sneak-peek at Madden NFL 09 in our
ongoing "Madden Mondays" feature. |
| Opposites Attract: Two Good Reasons to Stay up Late |
| April 24, 2008 at 4:30pm |
Whether you choose Mario or Niko, you
can get your hands on them first at a Midnight Launch.
In a span of a just a few of days,
select GameStop stores will host Midnight Launch Events for two
games that couldn't be more opposite even if we used an electric opposing machine on Opposite Day.
At midnight on April 27, you can pick up a copy of
Mario Kart for
Wii at these select stores.
At midnight on April 29, these stores
will be offering Grand Theft Auto IV.
Although both games involve some sort of combustion-engine-powered
vehicular motion, the similarities end there. Mario Kart involves
innocently tossing Koopa shells at your opponents and other
"comic-mischief" types of shenanigans. And Grand Theft Auto IV
involves some, uh, different, types of shenanigans. So what does
your preference say about you? We wanted to hire a team of
scientists to do a study on that, but our budget just wouldn't allow
it. One thing we do know is that if you go to a Midnight Launch
Event, you are probably the kind of person who likes to get things
first. Also, if you purchase Mature-rated Grand Theft Auto IV, we
can assume you are at least 17 years old, but it didn't take a team
of scientists to figure that one out. And if you buy Mario Kart, we
hypothesize that you own a Wii or at least know someone who does,
but we haven't processed all of the data on that theory. Finally, if
you buy both, it's safe to say that we certainly appreciate your
business.
So, scientific analysis aside, whether you join the midnight fun for Mario Kart, Grand Theft
Auto IV, or both, your friendly, neighborhood GameStop associates
would love to see you there. If you do go to both midnight launch
events, make sure you take a nap later. We've certainly done our
research on naps. |
| Madden NFL 09 Cover Athlete to be
Announced Friday |
| April 23, 2008 at 11:05am |
Whom will it be? Stay tuned to find
out.
You may have noticed when you go to our
Madden NFL 2009 product pages, the box art features a grayed out
silhouette of a football player. Perhaps you thought Flozell Adams'
shadow was the cover athlete this year. Or if you are a bit sharper
than that, and we know you are, you probably knew that the cover
athlete for Madden NFL 09 has yet to be announced.
The shadowy veil of suspense is about to be lifted because EA SPORTS
will announce the official Madden NFL 09 cover athlete this Friday.
They have been very tight-lipped about this, but we have a couple of
guesses.
Our top choice would have to be Uncle Rico from Napoleon
Dynamite. We've heard he can throw a football over mountains, and if Coach had put him in
during that game back in '82, they'd have won state for sure. Dwayne
"The Rock" Johnson took the Boston Rebels all the way to the Championship in
The Game Plan. Bullwinkle the Moose was always a solid
starter for Whatsamatta U. Maybe he should get the nod. As long as
we're venturing into the animal kingdom, we have to consider Gus,
the field-goal-kicking mule, as well.
We'd like to hear your ideas, too. E-mail
editor@gamestop.com with
your suggestions and/or photos, along a short reason why you think
the athlete
you chose deserves it. We look
forward to seeing them. |
| Every Day is Earth Day at GameStop |
| April 22, 2008 at 12:24pm |
Every day is Earth Day here, but we
only wear the
T-shirts once a year because that would get old.
When we're not busy saving the virtual earth
in the video-game realm, we do our best to be kind to the real
thing. This year, we took a hard look at ways we could have a big
impact on the gaming world, yet leave a small footprint on our
world. One method we've recently incorporated is to partner with
Round2 Technologies to help us recover materials that would otherwise end up in
landfills or breakfast cereals.
As of last month, we've recovered more than 1,550,000 pounds of scrap plastic, metal and electronic-based materials from our warehouse
in Grapevine, Texas, and all of this has been processed for recycling. For every ton of steel GameStop recycles, 2500 pounds of iron ore, 1000 pounds of coal and 40 pounds of limestone is preserved.
We'll keep a close eye on our efforts in the coming months to
ensure we're doing our part.
We're also making an effort here in our cubicle world to reduce our
collective footprint. To remind ourselves to be part of the
solution, we're all wearing Earth Day T-shirts today and discussing
ways we can conserve resources. Of course, we could really conserve
by wearing the Earth Day T-shirts every day, but they'd get pretty
ripe after a while.
One of the ways we try to conserve around here is to minimize our
paper usage and recycle the paper we do use. Did you know that the
average office goes through 10,000 pounds worth of copy paper per
year? And half of that is from copies of people's buttocks at the
annual holiday party. We're reminding each other to really think
about it before we hit the "print" or "copy" button. We're also
keeping the location of our holiday party secret from certain people
in the office. Other efforts include encouraging people to carpool
(they get to park up front), to monitor our use of lighting and to
use our own coffee mugs instead of using those indestructible foam
cups. In the long run, these small changes make a big difference.
You can do your part to celebrate Earth Day. To reduce
carbon-dioxide emissions, try only inhaling and not exhaling today.
Or walk down to your local GameStop and recycle some of your old
games and get credit toward your next one. We can't think of a more
entertaining way to recycle. |
| Snow Day! Madden Mondays Week 2: "Movie" Weather |
| April 21, 2008 at 10:18am |
Here's a frame from a Madden NFL 09 snow game.
Click the photo for the embiggened version.
Compare that to this frame from Madden NFL 08.
Click the photo for the unsmallified version.
Although some games are played in domes,
football remains one of the sports in which weather can be a factor.
Some of the most memorable football moments come when teams battle
the elements and each other. Who can forget last year's
blizzard-like Seahawks vs. Packers playoff game, or the 1967 "Ice
Bowl?"
For our continuing Madden Mondays series, EA SPORTS has given us another
exclusive sneak peek at one of the features of Madden NFL 09,
shipping out August 12, as well as the 20th Anniversary
Collector's Edition of Madden NFL 09 for Xbox 360
and PS3. In their efforts to enhance the
drama and emotion of a real football game, they've taken on the
weather.
To give Mother Nature the respect she deserves, they've
overhauled everything from Madden NFL 08 to give you a movie-like
experience. One of these overhauls is fog, and lots of it. It gives
a greater sense of depth and scale and makes the stadiums seem huge.
We've heard that no two snowflakes are alike, and although we
haven't seen every flake in Madden NFL 09, we can tell you the snow is
more realistic than ever. You'll see deeper snow on the fields, with
dramatic accumulation and realistic wear from play. Player's
footsteps will leave imprints, snow will be piled on the sidelines
and the yardage lines will be shoveled, just like in a real game. We
probably won't see a snowplow clearing off a space for a field goal
since the NFL banned their use after the infamous 1982 "Snowplow
Game." But you never know.
Improved color correction and stadium light bloom mean that you'll see the steam of a player's breath on a frosty night,
as well as splashes of water when his feet hit the rain-covered
turf. And the 3-dimensional interaction that snow and rain particles
have with the wind may tempt you to bundle up when you play. You'll
see it all at a movie-quality 60 FPS rate on the Xbox 360 and PS3.
All of these subtle differences add up to give you an immersive NFL
experience.
Remember, these exclusive peeks aren't necessarily the main new
features. They're just the tip of the iceberg, no pun intended. EA SPORTS is keeping
the rest of the iceberg top secret for now. But we will continue to
chip away at the iceberg with another exclusive every Monday for the
next six weeks. |
Previous Blog Entries
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April 14 - April 18, 2008
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April 7 - April 11, 2008
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March 31 - April 4, 2008
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March 24 - March 28, 2008
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March 17 - March 21, 2008
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March 10 - March 14, 2008
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March 3 - March 7, 2008
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February 25 - March 01, 2008
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February 18 - February 22, 2008
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February 11 - February 15, 2008
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February 4 - February 8, 2008
Blog
January 28 - February 2, 2008
Blog
January 21 - January 25, 2008
Blog
January 14 - January 18, 2008
Blog
January 7 - January 11, 2008
Blog
December 31, 2007 - January 4, 2008
Blog
December 24 - December
28, 2007
Blog
December 17 - December
21, 2007
Blog
December 10 - December
14, 2007
Blog
December 3 - December
7, 2007
Blog November 26 - November
30, 2007
Blog November 19 - November
23, 2007
Blog November 12 - November 16, 2007
Blog November
5 - November 9, 2007
Blog October 29 - November 2, 2007
Blog October 24 - October 26, 2007 |
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