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Madden NFL Arcade: The heir to arcade games past.

(Credit: EA Sports)

Football is a team sport. Alas, that goes counterpoint to a lot of the superstar worship and smack-talking that gritty sports video games are made of. To satisfy the casual fan, EA has launched a surprise on Xbox 360 and PS3 owners with Madden NFL Arcade. A five-on-five football game, it borrows heavily from previous arcade football games like NFL Blitz and EA's own dearly departed NFL Street (and less remembered NFL Tour), while offering a few new wrinkles. It's also a download-only title, available through Xbox Live Arcade and PSN for a price of $15 (or 1,200 Microsoft points, which are always hard to do conversion rates for).

The game's not coming to the Wii, most likely because Nintendo's version of Madden 10 already incorporates an easier play mode that embodies a lot of what this new Madden game is about. And what, exactly, is this game about? From what we experienced, that would be man-on-man competition, quick scoring, and random fun.

(Credit: EA Sports)

We approached NFL Arcade from a serious Madden-playing angle, and needless to say, this game doesn't employ much strategy. Players select long-, medium-, or short-pass plays or runs and basic defensive packages, then face off in quick, hit-happy plays. With only five teammates, there's basically no offensive line, so the aesthetic is schoolyard chuck-around, not first-down making. In fact, one clever twist is that each possession is simply a four-down challenge to either score a touchdown or turn the ball over trying.

There's no play clock at all, and in our sampled game mode, the first to 30 won. Game settings can alter the points goal up to 48 and down to a handful of points, and the number of downs, length of the field and starting position can be toyed with, but the clockless format is a constant. We actually liked it at first, since it focused on scoring drives and points rather than artificially accelerated quarters. However, especially in games versus the computer, games can end up lasting forever if no points are scored on drives, prompting a tired gamer to give up a play just to end the experience already.

Another maddening (forgive the pun) addition is a randomized slot machine for each team that brought up certain power-ups, called game changers, on various plays. Whether you receive something or nothing is completely beyond your control, and some of the effects (instant fumbling, slow-motion, or a flipping of scores between you and your opponent) are insane and devastating. Perhaps too much so for my taste, since they almost completely eliminated any real strategy or skill from the showdown. On the other hand, they're purely meant for fun, and can be turned off if you're more of a game purist. In subsequent games with the final version, we got used to the power-ups and grew to like them, especially since they can be saved and activated at appropriate times, or countered with other game-changers.

Madden NFL Arcade

All NFL teams are included, and the models for the NFL players are less cartoonish than Blitz and Street games of the past, while still being more stylized and over-the-top than standard Madden. On the other hand, rosters can't be edited or retooled (although roster updates are downloaded during online play).

We lost our Jets-Texans match-up, but we're looking forward to the rematch. We do appreciate the price point--this game's a more affordable pickup than full-priced disc-based games that preceded it, and we welcome this move for future "extreme" arcade sports titles. It may seem like double-dipping for EA, but it's a smart way to reach those who are intimidated by Madden's intricacies, as well as a quick fix for NFL addicts who can't be bothered for a full four-quarter ordeal. On the other hand, the term "arcade" never fit a game better- this is a simple package, but a great game to whip out on a lazy Thanksgiving afternoon or quiet holiday morning during the thick of winter football.

Libe Goad

(Credit: Libe Goad)

The much-anticipated and controversial Modern Warfare 2 finally arrives in retail stores today, which gives us an excuse to invite AOL GameDaily.com's Libe Goad to give us some insight into all the action. Although it's definitely not the first Call of Duty game, Libe and Jeff tell us it's the most controversial of the pack, with disturbing scenes that let you take the side of terrorists.

It's hard to believe anything can be scarier than making the trip down to Chinatown, NYC, to pick up your "advanced" copy, though. Don't call it a bootleg; the copies they're selling down there are actually legit, a first for Canal St. merchants. And although they cost the same as copies from the big box stores, Modern Warfare 2 has been available at these "select retailers" for the past week! Good to know I live in such a respectable part of NYC.

Yesterday's episode sparked such a heated conversation about censorship, video game and movie ratings, and parenting video gamers that we're happy to revisit the topics today, with Libe's valuable industry input, of course! This time, we address the world of online gaming that's brought a new level of offensive material to young people who might not understand the implications of their trash-talking. With no moderators to police Xbox Live or PSN, players are allowed to communicate directly with each other, which often results in racist and misogynistic epithets. Tune in to today's episode to listen to our opinion on what should be done.

Finally, we hate to take the spotlight away from Libe, but we've been resisting the urge to announce our guest for the past week. We finally got the green light, so we're happy to announce that Tony Hawk will be in The 404 studio on Monday, November 16, to chat with us about his latest game, Tony Hawk: Ride and maybe even do a live in-studio demo! Start thinking up questions, as we'll most likely be taking questions from the audience as well.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2--photos

Netflix's consumer survey has brought hope to PS3 owners with Netflix subscriptions.

(Credit: Engadget)

In recent days, rumors have been percolating about the PlayStation 3 getting Netflix streaming video support. Most of the rumors revolve around a survey that Netflix has out gauging user interest in adding its service to Sony's game console for a fee. No one seems to know whether Netflix or Sony commissioned the survey, but either way, it's certainly raised hopes with PS3 owners that they would get something that Xbox 360 owners have had for a while. (For what it's worth, nearly identical rumors of Netflix on the Wii have also been making the rounds.)

Interestingly, as the rumors make their way around the blogosphere, Sony's been trying to promote how robust its PlayStation Network Service (PSN) is and how great a media extender the PS3 is. A few weeks ago, a few of us from CNET spent some time visiting with Sony PR and marketing reps in a hotel suite going over what PSN had to offer, including Home, Sony's online virtual community that's hit 5 million registered users. And just yesterday, I got a voice mail from a PR rep encouraging me to do a story on what a great media extender the PS3 is.

Read the full column

(Credit: PlayStation)

In a brief interview with MTV Multiplayer late last week, Sony's Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller says that Sony plans to expand its digital catalog to include non-PlayStation console titles as well as back-catalog games from the PlayStation One console.

"PSOne is included, but everything is on the table. We look for some of those big hits from all of the past games in their history and look for ways we can bring them over," John Koller says. "It's not always easy. There are obviously technical areas that need to be bridged. But when those are solved, consumers will see a wide variety of retro games and brand new games coming to the PlayStation Network.

In an effort to further improve the offering of digital games available to PSP users through the PlayStation Network, the company is preparing more portable versions of PS3 downloadable titles including Flow and the upcoming PixelJunk Monsters, in addition to producing more internally developed download-only titles and to eventually match the largely available titles to the Japanese market.

As multiconsole service appetites grow--such as with Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console and evidenced by already hacked PSPs out there--Sony is also reaching out to other publishers for their back catalogs, showing an interest to expand to non-PlayStation platforms.

Sony's drive to digital content is backed up by the sense that this is what consumers want. "We know that 50 percent of our base is interested in downloadable games for pay, not for free, from the network," Koller said. "That's something that needs to be acted on."

I'd opt for free, but I hang out with the wrong crowd. I'm grimy like that.