In the next season of Madden, Electronic Arts promises surprises that will substantially improve the American football experience. The first step, announcing retired Brett Favre as cover athlete of Madden NFL 09 (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PSP, Nintendo Wii, DS), was already taken. Now, a couple of designers talk about the most interesting features this year.

First up, the sought after Online League will finally be introduced in Madden NFL 09. Up to 32 players can choose teams then go online and endure an entire season. It may sound difficult to put together, but Ryan Ferwerda and Daniel Castorani from the Madden Design Team explained how to orchestrate these dream leagues.

Devs stated that AI won’t be employed to replace actual players. Online League was intended to offer one-on-one experiences, so it’s only possible to begin a league other humans. To make sure you won’t be stuck staring at the online lobby when looking for matches for too long, there’s the Flex system.

Here’s how Ferwerda and Castorani explained Flex:

Flex scheduling is cool for a multitude of reasons. First off, flex scheduling is what we refer to as an ‘open schedule’ with no set order. What this means is that if you log online and ten members of your twenty member league are online, you can play any of your opponents that you have remaining games with.

The nice thing about this is that it doesn’t allow for leagues to get stale or held up waiting for others to play. If the stars align, and you have all of your opponents online, you can, in theory, knock out your entire league in one day.

The next big addition is the Virtual Training Center. For newcomers, it holds drills and other training exercises. Madden NFL 09 devs did clarify, however, that the hardcore can enjoy this facet with the inclusion of Hard difficulty. “I definitely don’t think anyone will be complaining about the Hard levels being too easy,” said one of the devs.

Not overwhelming enough? EA also unleashed the first gameplay video of Madden NFL 09, and you can find it below. You’ll find the interview by following the via link.

Buy: [ Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360), (PlayStation 3), (Wii) ]
Buy: [ Madden NFL 09 (PSP), (DS) ]

Did the rumor about the Halo Wars alpha which we reported a few weeks back get you stoked? Ensemble Studios has just checked back again with its April Halo Wars update, bringing news that an Alpha for the real-time strategy game does exist.

However, the devs from Ensemble Studios were mum on details, only relaying the fact that Microsoft people were in on the Alpha.

The devs also confirmed that their planned internal April Madness Halo Wars Tournament of Destruction is currently on hold. They want to postpone it until the “game’s full arsenal” is already available. We hope it’s worth the wait.

Though there is no new gameplay updates, the Ensemble devs did share a thing or two about their practice rounds. Scorpion tanks are proving to be a popular choice, however they can be countered with a contingent of Marines. Likewise, air units are also exceptionally effective with their hit-and-run capabilities that the devs have decided to tone it down a bit.

For more of the Ensemble devs practice round discussions, head over the via link where an interview with the Halo Wars Music and Sound Director also awaits you. More updates as QJ.NET gets them.

Funcom has announced full details of subscription fees for its upcoming MMORPG, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Should you be eager to jump into the lands of Hyboria when the game gets officially released on PC and Microsoft Xbox 360, you’ll have to pay prices similar to World of Warcraft.

Europe, North America, and Oceania territories have access to 60-day time cards that go for US 30 or 30 Euros. Other than that, North American barbarians can pay US 15 per month, US 42 per three months, or US 78 for six months of play.

Age of Conan adopters from several European countries would have to dish out 13 Euros monthly, 36 Euros for 3 months, or 76 Euros for six months of subscription. In the UK, it’s 9 monthly, 25 for three months, and 46 for half a year. Do note that VAT is not included in these prices.

A recent press release has revealed that Actiga’s subsidiary, Qmotions, has signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft which will allow the company to incorporate the Xbox 360 wireless technology into new game controllers. Under the agreement, Qmotions will be producing a full-range of Microsoft-endorsed products for the Xbox 360. 

Qmotions plans on kicking things off with the Qmotions-Big Air action game controller in the second half of this year. According to the description, this product is “a full size skateboard that operates with the Xbox 360 and is compatible with popular skateboarding games.”

The company has yet to reveal a price point for the new device or even what specific games are compatible with it (Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground comes to mind). Oh well, hopefully Qmotions will have an answer to these questions and more before the product hits the market.

It’s a Moogle-filled extravaganza this May 16 as Square Enix celebrates the Mog Bonanza event in line with the 6th anniversary of Final Fantasy XI (PC, Xbox 360). This inaugural event sponsored by the Mog House Management Union will feature loads of gil and super rare items for a very simple price.

The main event is basically a number-guessing lottery game, where players pick a five-digit number and try to match it up with a designated number to be announced on a later date. All you have to do is purchase a Mog Bonanza marble for 1,000 gil from a Bonanza Moogle NPC at specified areas, then inscribe your number on the marble upon purchase.

Up to ten Mog Bonanza marbles can be purchased by characters level 5 and above. You can have the same number inscribed on multiple marbles for a chance to receive bigger earnings should you choose the winning number.  Bonanza Moogles can be found at Port San d’Oria (I-9), Port Bastok (L-8), Port Windurst (F-6), or the Chocobo Circuit (H-8)

Here are the winning conditions and the different ranked prizes for each:

• Rank 1 prize: all five digits.
• Rank 2 prize: last four digits.
• Rank 3 prize: last three digits.
• Rank 4 prize: last two digits.
• Rank 5 prize: last digit.

You can read about the different prizes and their appropriate gil equivalent by checking out the source link that we’ve provided below.

The official Street Fighter 4 website has just been updated with some new screenshots and character profiles of the four bosses in Street Fighter II, namely: Sagat, Balrog, Vega, and M.Bison.

Most of the special moves of the characters are shown in the gallery from Balrog’s Swan Dive to Vega’s Psycho Crusher. The character profiles on the other hand, give out some details (in Japanese) about the four characters.

So if you’ve been itching to find out more about the game, head on over to the official Street Fighter 4 website by following our source link below.

The subject of video game violence and the proper classification of such games has always been a rather hot topic in Europe. There’s even been contention which video game rating system would be best suited for the region.

It even came to the point that psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron released an extensive report regarding the current standards for rating violent video games. While groups such as the BBFC, ELSPA, ISFE, and Tiga all had positive remarks regarding the report, there were no solid conclusions which system would stand out as the basic standard for the industry to follow.

However, a recent press release made by ELSPA gave evidence to the Department for Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) Select Committee that the PEGI Age Ratings System should be adopted as the sole classification system for video games in Europe.

ELSPA Director General Paul Jackson was delighted to have the DCMS Select Committee recognize PEGI’s efforts in providing an appropriate rating system for video games. He was also quoted having said this:

[…] It is important that during this period of consultation post-Byron we work with everyone to ensure the revised ratings platform is robust and future proof. As games move increasingly on line, we call on all parties to embrace the PEGI Age Ratings system. As an instrument of the Video Recordings Act it would have teeth and deliver the right system to help the public make informed choices about the games they play.

Everyone knew that Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) would be one of the biggest releases of this year. It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that the game’s first day sales in the U.K. already hit 609,000 copies according to data from Chart Track.

These sales numbers have established GTA 4 as the fastest selling game over a 24-hour period in the U.K. The record was previously set by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which sold 501,000 copies back in October 29, 2004.

Another testament to the popularity of GTA 4 is that it also beat out the current champs of each console.

It was revealed that 335,000 copies of the Xbox 360 version of the game were purchased on the first day, beating out Halo 3’s 266,000 copies sold. On the PlayStation 3 side, 274,000 copies of the game were sold, edging out Gran Turismo Prologue which previously set the record at 80,000 copies sold.

Buy: [GTA IV (PS3)]
Buy: [GTA IV (Xbox 360)]

EA Sports president Peter Moore can be considered one of the more established personalities in the video game industry. He recently shared a few of his thoughts on the image of EA Sports, company acquisitions, and working at Electronic Arts as the president of one of their labels.

Moore noted that EA Sports has a strong following in the 14 to 34 year old age group, that’s a user base they can build on. He does have some concerns though, such as the company’s image and how its “American-ness” may turn off some gamers:

And yet, in today’s world, particularly in Europe, there’s an anti-Americanism that sits higher than it’s been for a long time, based on the war, the administration, George W. himself, and you worry about that.

Another hot topic Moore touched on was marketing and acquisitions (M&A). Electronic Arts has been trying to buy out Take-Two Interactive. EA also recently got the opportunity to snap up Midway Games.

While he wasn’t at liberty to discuss what they were going to do with 2K Sports if they picked it up, he did share a few words about Midway. He said that EA isn’t really interested in buying the company since they don’t really have anything that will compliment their line-up of games:

While we don’t necessarily comment on any M&A, there’s no real interest there in anything that [they] would have right now that would complement what we go to market with.

Finally, he also spoke about working as the president of EA Sports. He said that it’s the most focused among the EA divisions since the market base is well established. He has an easier position, in his estimation, than the one being held by EA Games’ president Frank Gibeau who has a much wider scope of gamers to please.

To go over the interview for yourself, follow the source link below.

The forthcoming Nordic Game Conference 2008 is turning out to be one great event. How so? Well, more and more top names from the gaming industry are going to take part in the multidisciplinary Game Creation Sessions.

Disruptive Design is one of the many sessions in the event. It will be tackling issues regarding creative innovation and new game niches. The panelists are going to be Keiichio Toyama, creator of Siren and Silent Hill, Rob Kay of Rock Band-fame, and Tameem Antoniades, co-founder of Ninja Theory.

For the international panel calle East-West All-Stars, the people who be leading the discussion are Sega’s Ryuuta Ueda, character designer Ryosuke Tei, and Alex Taini from Ninja Theory. They will responsible for comparing and talking in details about their cultural influences and creative styles when designing characters.

Furthermore, Funcom’s Jorgen Tharaldsen will be revealing more about the world of the upcoming MMO, Age of Conan. Also, Hilmar Petursson and the creative team of CCP will be discussing issues of the virtual realm such as democracy, economics, and even politics.

Things are surely heating up for this particular two-day event. We bring you guys more news and updates as more and more details unfold regarding this upcoming convention. Do stick around for that.