Sports

Tiger Woods may have lost his wife, his children, his endorsement deals and his squeaky clean image, but the most famous golfer ever has gained one thing: huge sales for the latest Woods video game. According to EA, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters had the best first-week sales of any Woods game. The game topped 225,000 units sold and upped the previous record by 17% set in 2007. That's a pretty huge jump, eh?

Last year's Tiger Woods video game was a bit of a stinker --  Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 dropped 68 percent compared to the previous year's sales.

My question: has Tiger's image been rehabilitated, or is the sales of the game the result of some occurrence or situation outside of this question.

When SSX: Deadly Descents was announced, via a dark, moody debut trailer, a few months ago, I admit, I was a little confused. It seemed strange that a series best known for its silly, cartoonish take on snowboarding would offer a gritty, realistic, Call of Duty-style snowboarding game. Today's preview sheds light on the game, and as we learn more, it starts  making sense. It seems the idea is to keep some of what made SSX famous while giving it a this-gen gloss.

Here's a taste of Jake Gaskill's first-look at SSX:

"In the same way some game developers like to use successful movie sequels for inspiration on how to approach their own sequels, [producer and creative director] Todd Batty made mention of the latest Star Trek film and The Dark Knight  as reboot reference points to craft Deadly Descents. If this 30-minute overview was a close indicator of the final product, you can expect an unsurprising, yet still compelling, approach; one that is clearly not the SSX you played ten years ago but still will pull at the nostalgia strings when it comes to the gameplay."

For more, check out the rest of Jake's SSX: Deadly Descents preview.

According to EA Sports president Peter Moore, Madden NFL 12 is coming out on August 30, whether there's an NFL season or not.

Last night, at an EA sports event, Moore said, "We'll be shipping this year, regardless of what the labor issues are, whether they're resolved or not... Madden 12 will be shipping on August 30th 2011, regardless of what happens with the league itself."

August 30, you may notice, is a few weeks later than the August 9 date originally announced.

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By Matt Swider 

Sony’s San Diego Studio is made up of talented developers who put together the authentic-looking MLB 11: The Show. But while their presentation of baseball is spot-on for a videogame, it’s not as realistic as watching, you know, actual baseball. Luckily, Sony and Major League Baseball have once again teamed up to livestream America’s pastime so you can enjoy nearly every regular season game on your PS3. The console’s 2011 MLB.TV app is filled with enhancements over broadcast games, making it a steal for fans who are in the market for out-of-market match-ups.  

The good news is that the MLB.TV app on PS3 is free and weighs in at only 12 MB. The bad news is that the annual streaming subscription that goes along with it costs as much as $120. HD quality video (where available), in-game highlights and stats, full-game archives and alternate audio feeds make up the $100 vanilla plan. Parting with an extra Andrew Jackson bumps you up to the superior MLB.TV Premium, which adds home and away broadcasts and live DVR controls. Multi-game view is listed among the premium features on the PC and Mac, but its support doesn’t extend to PS3. You’re limited to streaming one game at a time on the console.

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The Madden NFL 12 coverboy contest continues. The field has been narrowed down to four fan-chosen athletes, each vying for/dreading an appearance on the box of the next Madden movie. Check out the Rundown in the photo above.

The choice is clear: The Eagles' Michael Vick. First, because he plays for the greatest football franchise in history. Second, because he had such a great season last year. Third: Because if there is such a thing as the "Madden curse," Vick deserves it for his dog-fighting ring...

Speaking of bracketed competitions... have you voted on our Videogame Deathmatch contest? It will determine, once and for all, what is the greatest game franchise of all time, and we need you to lend your voice and vote. It's down to the last eight franchises, so the action is heated!

All of the best people are following Stephen Johnson's twitter feed. Also, email me if you wanna.

There are things that every comic book enthusiast dreams of having. Thor's hammer, Green Lantern's power ring, and Spidey's web shooters are just a few of the things I'd love to have sitting in my collection. However, this DIY Iron Man suitcase suit takes the cake. The fully functional (sans weapons) suit can actually fit into a suitcase! Can you imagine the conversation you would have with a TSA agent when bringing this bad boy into the airport? Actually, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. Check out the suit and more in this week's links.

• DIY Iron Man suit. [Dvice]

• A Koopa finally gets a star. [CollegeHumor]

• Video game scenes turned into art . [UnrealityMag]

• The 10 best lightsaber sports games. [SuperBooYah]

• All 235 Star Trek characters in 8-bit. [Blastr]

• India meets Iron Man. [FilmDrunk]

• Surgically created elf ears are the new rage amongst kids. There is no hope. [BamKaPow] 

Hot summer air, the roar of crowds, the scent of a searing hot dog. I truly love Opening Day for Major League Baseball. Granted, I'm spending it locked inside our hermetically sealed (and air-conditioned) G4 offices, but I'd rather be stuck out in the bleacher getting sunburned and eating food that is terrible for me while washing it down with extremely overpriced beer. So we decided to replicate all of that, except without the beer, thanks to MLB 11: The Show, and MLB 2K11.

To honor baseball's starting day, we've taken our hometown team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and pitted them against their opening day opponent, the San Francisco Giants. They play for real in just a couple of hours, but we decided to let 2K and Sony simluate everything for us.

Today will mark the 10th time that the Giants and the Dodgers have faced off on opening day in real life since both teams moved to California, and it's a rivalry that has deep roots in the world of baseball. The Giants are the reigning World Series Champs, while the Dodgers haven't won a championship in 22 years. But that doesn't mean you can take this matchup for granted. Hit the break to see how the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox scored the games, then find out what happens tonight

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The cover athlete on the next Madden game, Madden NFL 12, will be chosen by fans. Beginning today and continuing through April 27, fans can participate in a bracket-style voting campaign on on ESPN's site. You'll choose among 32 candidates (one from every NFL team). Fans’ votes will determine which NFL players advance through the seeded bracket, culminating in the reveal of the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete on ESPN’s “SportsNation” on April 27.

“Whether it be from fans, media, agents, or even the players themselves, there’s never a shortage of opinions when it comes to the annual selection of the Madden NFL cover athlete,” said Anthony Stevenson, Senior Product Manager of EA Sports. “So this year we’re handing the keys over to the public."

• NEWS: Madden contract extended through 2014

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Sega's Virtua Tennis 4 has a release date. You'll be able to swing your mighty raquet on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii on May 10, 2011.

As you'd expect, the game is playable with Wii MotionPlus controller, the Kinect and the PlayStation Move, and it features tennis heroes Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del Porto and Caroline Wozniacki.

If you remember back to the launch of the Wii, you'll remember how all anyone ever played on Wii Sports were the tennis games, and sometimes the bowling game -- there's something about tennis that makes it uniquely suited to motion controls, don't you agree?

While female characters have been a fighting game staple since Chun Li strapped on her leggings in the first Street Fighter, chicks have generally not been featured in realistic fighting games, or, worse, are included more as cheap T & A than actual combatants.. All that's about to change. Supremacy MMA will feature two up-and-coming female mixed martial artists, Felice “Lil Bulldog” Herrig and Michele “Diablita” Gutierrez, as playable characters. According to the company, these are the first females ever in an MMA video game.

“Female fighters are not represented in MMA games and face a giant glass ceiling in the fighting world,” said Ricci Rukavina, CEO and creative director of developer Kung Fu Factory. “We’re proud to be a part of raising their profile and giving these tough-as-nails fighters their due in the virtual cage.”

• VIDEO: Supremacy MMA Jens Pulver trailer

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Our reviewer Mitch Dyer is often referred to as the Great Gaming hope. Known as a punishing pugilist with a rope-a-dope style, his review of boxing simulator Fight Night Champion is as hard-hitting as Tyson on a heavy bag. Dyer loves this video game foray into the sweet science like Ali loved knocking out Frasier, writing:

"Sports series rarely require anything as outlandish as a story mode to keep it from stagnating. Fight Night Champion’s rise-and-fall boxing tale is a refreshing and welcome addition to the franchise. The story in Champion Mode, typical though it may be, is a serviceable one that hits all the necessary highlights: fixed fights, mobsters, rivalries, etc. What’s here isn’t exactly breaking new narrative ground, but it’s a top-notch excuse to set up what are easily the most entertaining matches you’ll play in EA’s most accomplished boxing game to date."

Read the rest of our Fight Night Champion review right here.

If you were hoping for a non-EA NFL football game in 2014, sorry. According to "well-placed sources," Electronic Arts and the National Football League have extended their sweetheart, exclusive, BFF relationship for another year, meaning Madden will (presumably) be the only official NFL game franchise until at least 2015.

The labor problems between the NFL's owners and players present a more immediate issue, however. A league-wide labor lockout is looming for next football season, and The Madden franchise without a football season is a huge unknown. Potentially, EA could be left with a football game that doesn't have player names and likenesses. Then you have to wonder whether there will even be a Madden 2012.

• NEWS: Madden 2012 First Details Revealed

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When we wanted to get to the bottom WWE All-Stars Wrestling from THQ, we talked to actual wrestling all-stars like Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, Ricky Steamboat and the Big Show. The grapplers talk about which classic fighters they most want to square off against, the backstage action the game features, and why WWE All-Stars Wrestling is different from all wrestling games that have come before it.

It's a true inside-the-ring look at the Sport of Kings -- professional wrasslin'!

Consider this the death-spasm for the 2010-2011 football season: The first details of Madden 2012 were revealed yesterday during the big game's half-time show.

Wanna know the very first feature EA is revealing about the game? It's surprise onside kicks! Look:

That's not exactly the most earth-shattering revelation ever made, but it's news for football wonks. Honestly, it sounds like a pretty annoying feature if you play online -- I could see an overuse of this option as a major griefing/cheesing tactic. It will have to be very difficult to pull off in order to "work." Let's hope the Madden team balances this out correctly.

More Madden 2012 details are under the cut.

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