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There have been five bazillion news stories about this presidential campaign, but none of them have really given you the fair and balanced views of the candidates. Enter us with our presidential video game primer. Make sure to hit the link to check out the rest of the article.
THE ENVIRONMENT
 John McCain: NASCAR 09
While the Great Right Hope has touted a plan to cut greenhouse emissions 60 percent by 2050, his zero rating for 2007
by the League of Conservation Voters on environmental issues should
serve as a caution flag for any tree hugger. Couple that with delegate
chants of "Drill, baby, drill" at the Republican National Convention
and you've got a record as green as the tarmac at Talladega. Punch it! |
 Barack Obama: Flower
If you're down with flowers and nature and shit, you're probably leaning Democrat this year. With an 82 percent voting record on pro-environmental issues the last two years, Obama may be best represented by Flower,
a game in which you play as... wait for it... THE WIND! Push spores
around, make windmills turn, create ocean waves—really, where does the
fun end? (Or begin.) |
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With rumors swirling about a Batman movie tie-in game getting a Gotham City womb knifing due to inadequate gameplay, Eidos and their Rocksteady Studios dev team have begun their own efforts to bring the caped crusader to a console near you. Batman Arkham Asylum has been in the works for some tme now and the group have released-then-unreleased a boatload of screenshots on their Web site. But because we all live on the Internet, we know that once something goes into the wild, it stays there forever, which is why we got our hands on them before they went mysteriously missing. More on the game from their site:
"Based on the core BATMAN license, experience a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that will take you to the depths of ARKHAM ASYLUM. Move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst your enemies and confront The Joker and GOTHAM CITY's most notorious villains who have taken over
the asylum. Use a wide range of Batman gadgets and abilities as you
become the invisible predator and attempt to foil the Joker's demented
scheme."
For more screenshots, click the Batman:
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 Assistant designer Jonathan Crankshaw lets you in on all the searing Excel spreadsheet action.
Let's get right down to it—who puts the Madden ratings together?
It's me, I have the final say. Before a game comes out, I assemble a group of media experts, around 10 people or so, and a bunch of college athletes, and I show them where I think I'm going as far as ratings go.
How do you make the numerical transition from how athletes perform on the field to how they perform in the game?
I look at a couple of things. First is public perception—everyone knows a certain player can do one thing, so he has to be rated as such. Second is what he did last year and what I think he can do this year. We now do roster updates every two to three weeks, so at home I have several TVs along with my laptop documenting everything players do. Some guys are in better situations for stats than others, so you have to watch that. For example, the Patriots' Laurence Maroney got very few rushing attempts last year because Tom Brady passed all the time. But when Maroney did get attempts, he ran real hard. Same thing with a guy like Steve Smith compared to Terrell Owens. T.O. was in a prolific offense that put up 35 points a game while Smith's team was juggling quarterbacks all season, so it was hard for him to get going. You have to read between the lines sometimes.
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Another day brings another rumored song list, this time for Konami's upcoming rhythm game/Rock Band wannabe, Rock Revolution. With both Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2 boasting over double the amount of songs in the latest to attempt to cash in on faux guitar strumming, our extensive calculations show that the list has to be more than double in the "Rock Our Socks" category to make up for it. But, alas, one look at the rumored songs included with the game yielded an overwhelming "Meh" from the Maxim consortium, including a puzzled look from one of our editors over the most played song on Last.fm, Killswitch Engage's "The End of Heartache." For more crappy-bands-mixed-with-good-bands, check the jump!
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It's almost September which means EA Sports is ready to unleash it's avalanche of 09 sports games, including the forthcoming NHL 09. EA released a new developer walkthrough detailing the new features of this year's iteration including the addition of the defensive skill stick, flip dumps, one-handed dekes, protect the puck. There is also a new mode called "Be A Pro" which puts you into the minor leagues of the NHL—the AHL—and you have to climb your way into a professional league. Kinda nifty for those who follow hockey, at least that's what our hockey nut editor meant by his "Holy shit. This is great!" comment when he saw the video. Now get to it and watch.
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