EA Sports officially announced Gus Johnson as the play-by-play voice of Madden NFL 11 back in May (although Robert Littal made the discovery a month earlier), getting gamers geeked up about the chance to have Johnson lose his mind over their virtual feats like he does for guys that play sports in real-life. Here’s some video EA uploaded to Youtube of Gus Johnson recording the voice-over for the game. Adding Gus Johnson is the best new feature the franchise has had in years..

Here’s Gus calling a Madden game with Nate Ahearn of IGN. If Gus ever finds himself desperate for money he can go door-to-door offering his Madden play-by-play services for a few bucks.

Linebacker Shawne Merriman of the San Diego Chargers is joining Tom Brady on the sidelines after telling the team he’s going to undergo season ending knee surgery. Merriman played with two torn ligaments in his left knee in the season opener, but said he didn’t feel right and now he’s shutting it down. I wonder if he still had his party?

Damn… I feel bad for Lights Out, but what about all of the party goers? When Merriman throws a party it’s the shit.

Gotta love Hollywood.. If you watched until the end you got to see some chick from Wildin’ Out season four claiming to be a star. Somebody needs to pull ‘er to the side, sit her down, and let her know that playing charades on MTV does not a star one make.

If there’s a bright spot in the middle of the Merriman injury storm it’s that he gets to work on his Madden game now.

The rappers Game and Bow Wow have been dissin each other and talkin trash via YouTube about who would win in a game of Madden. Bow Wow talked the best ish but when it came down to it Game shut him down and took his 100 thow wow.

Of course Game came out with a football helmet on. It was the corniest thing he could do. I can’t knock him though. Technically he skunked Bow Wow 21-0, but they kept playing and the final score was 55-23. Game challenges Dwyane Wade and Ocho Cinco to a game of Madden at the end of the video. I can’t see D-Wade doing it, but I’m surprised Chad 8 5 hasn’t posted a YouTube video accepting the challenge already.

Bow Wow should try to win some lunch money off of this kid:

EA Sports combined random fans, NFL stars, Kimbo Slice, and bagpipes playing Amazing Grace in this commercial for the 20th edition of Madden football. The game’s Tuesday release helped shares of EA jump 2.2%, and guaranteed that video game junkies will remain without girlfriends through the winter.

Madden, EA Sports, commercial, Kimbo Slice

When I was a kid, a library wasn’t the place to be. You only went there if you had to do a book report, or to hide out. Times are a changin, especially in Ohio.

Registration begins Monday for the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s third-annual Madden NFL PlayStation 2 video game competition.

The Madden Madness tournament will be Jan. 5-26 at all branch libraries. The top two finalists from each branch will compete at the main library at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 26 until the Madden Madness Super Bowl Champ is crowned. The public is invited to cheer for the participants at the finals.

What’s funnier; a library having a Madden tournament or a library having it’s 3rd annual Madden tournament? I don’t know the literacy rates for the Akron-Summit county area, but since the libraries are throwing in the towel, I’m guessing they’re not good..

When I was first heard about this, I thought it was kind of a good idea.. Lure the kids in with video games, and then hit em in the head with books.. But as I read on I found out the contest isn’t promoting reading in any way, and there’s no age limit. That means libraries in Ohio are gonna look like ESPN’s Madden Nation.. A bunch of dorks with lame nicknames wearing NFL jerseys. The only difference is, when the Ohioans get on the bus, it’ll be to go home.

Library plans ‘Madden NFL’ video game contest. Courtesy of Ohio.com

Tags: Madden, Madden Nation, NFL, Video Games, Illiteracy

EA Sports is holding an election for the cover of it’s NFL Tour 2008. It seems like EA is rolling out a new NFL game every week. There’s Madden, NFL Street, NFL Head Coach, NFL Dogfighting, and the hardest game of all, NFL Black Quarterback. Here’s what EA’s latest installment is all about:

NFL Tour is a new NFL licensed video game that offers players a fun and engaging experience with the NFL and its talented players. Gamers will be able to embark on a fictional NFL road show. With real NFL players as teammates, players will travel across the country to play against each of the NFL teams in newly designed stadiums. As players defeat each of the NFL squads, they come one step closer to winning a NFL contract.

Yaaawwn.. Sounds like fun… The candidates for the NFL Tour are Jason Taylor, Shawne Merriman, and Dwight Freeney, and you can cast your vote here. If you haven’t decided on who deserves your vote, check out their ads.

Jason Taylor:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=148a70NoaT8[/youtube]

“Follow me to victory.” Yeah not quite JT. Not quite.

Shawne Merriman:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO5qtU1UjBo[/youtube]

According to Mr. Merriman he’s tough, soo pretty, and he hears them cry when they see him coming. That was a step up from Taylor’s vid. Wooo!!

Dwight Freeney:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oqhzq2rt98[/youtube]

If Dwight wins, I hope they wake him up for the cover shoot. I’d have to give my vote to Merriman if it’s based on these commercials, Freeney if it’s based on “team success”, and Taylor if it’s based on bad acting.

Decision ’08. Courtesy of EA Sports

EA Sports Announces Cover Athlete Election. Courtesy of 360 Daily News

Tags: EA Sports, Video Games, NFL Tour, Jason Taylor, Shawne Merriman, Dwight Freeney

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=450Fkqa_tBQ]

I like the combination of the God and the G.O.A.T. What this will do for 2K8′s sales? I have no idea. I rarely play video games anymore but in my day I was a Madden guy. There was a time in the late 90s when I experimented with NFL Gameday, and I played one of the 2Ks for an evening, but Madden was still the one.

I don’t play video games anymore because I suddenly became a cool adult. No more days of sitting around for hours on end playing video games with friends or strangers online. Nope, now I hang out for hours on end in the cool confines of my parents basement, wearing only my underwear, typing about sports or the latest video game commercial. I’m all grown up now.

What up to Nah Right Lite..

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