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You may see a long line at midnight tonight for the video game football lovers go for every year. Some Target and Wal-Mart stores are holding a midnight release for "Madden '09."
This time every year, electronics stores see a rush of customers who are definitely ready for some football
Best Buy Media Supervisor Nate Wharton said, "They time it well coming out with the new football season. I mean, everybody's raring to go."
Wharton says the Madden series might not have the buzz games like Halo 3 and Rock Band may have, but for a game that has a new version come out every year, "Madden" has a huge draw.
"What we get are, especially being off (near) TRAX, we get the people working downtown coming in at lunch and picking up the game. That's when we get our rush," he said.
NPD Market Research says "Madden" accounts for more than 3 percent of the video game industry's yearly software revenues. Last year, "Madden '08" sold 1.8 million units in just the first week. This year Sony is releasing a new bundle for "Madden '09" on the PlayStation Portable (PSP), including the PSP and a one gig memory card.
"It retails for $199. So, when you consider the PSP, by itself, is $169 really you're getting your best bang for your buck by getting the bundle," Wharton said.
This year's version does have some upgrades from last year. For example, the game has artificial intelligence that determines how good you are and at what level you should play.
Game Informer magazine content manager Matt Bertz said, "When you boot up the game, you're confronted with a 'Madden IQ' test that's going to test how well you can run and pass and play defense."
Bertz says EA has spent a lot of money to help newbies, or people who haven't played "Madden" in a long time learn some complicated control work. However, for hardcore fans, he says it's basically the same lady in a different dress.
Bertz says EA has brought back some of the stat boxes that were popular in the past, and hired sportscaster Cris Collinsworth to do voice over work. Also, Brett Favre is a Green Bay Packer on the box, but a downloadable update lets you play him as a New York Jet in the game.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
