After deciding on a console, you pick out Madden 09 as your first Xbox 360 game purchase. Now, still imagining you're this boy, you and your pa make your way back home where you setup your newly purchased Xbox. Caught up in the excitement, you rip open the (scotch tape sealed) Madden 09 packaging and are taken back because Madden 09 doesn't quite look like Madden 09. It looks something like the "redneck sh*t" you see above. Tears run down your cheek as you realize Walmart has failed you. Somehow, you purchased what you thought was a new copy of Madden, but was a returned and previously used copy with the disc swapped out. Oh the horror!

Scariest part, this is a true story.

The Top Global Markets sales data from NPD, Chart-Track and Enterbrain (via GameDaily) reveals that Madden NFL 09 blitzed the global charts to become the best selling game in the third quarter of '08 (that's July to September). Trailing Madden were Wii Fit and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Also, showing that the franchise still has some Pikachu-charged power behind it, Pokémon Platinum battled in fourth place with 1.4 million units sold, despite being only available in Japan. Mario Kart Wii rounded out the top five.

Certainly the most interesting question about the sales figures is: Where would Wii Fit be if it was actually meeting demand? Madden's sales were (obviously) US heavy, while Wii Fit had a regional sales spread based on Wii's install base. Find the full sales figures after the break.

EA Sports announced today that Madden NFL 09 Pink will be sold at Target, with a portion of the proceeds from the sale going to the Deanna Favre HOPE Foundation. The box will be available during the month of October (National Breast Cancer Awareness Month) and can also be purchased at Target.com and NFLShop.com.

We called EA Sports to find out how this "new" art still has Favre in his Packers uniform. Turns out the pink ribbon design is actually part of a clear overlay inside the cover. Meaning, consumers can completely remove it if they want, or place the Favre Jets cover in behind it. Behold, the freedom of choice.

With the NFL regular season just barely underway, there's plenty of time for the Madden Curse to sink its hooks into Mr. Favre's vulnerable ankle, but for now, EA is busy squashing a host of bugs that have crawled out of the bowels of latest edition of Madden. The major pest is a freezing issue that can crop up during play calling and highlight screens, reports IGN. Senior designer Ian Cummings has documented most, if not all known bugs on the game's Producer Blog, recommending various workarounds while the team puts together a patch. EA is targeting "less than a 3 week turnaround" from last Tuesday for the update to be released. So put a big checkmark next to the 16th and cross your fingers.

Yeah, we all know the story -- Brett Favre pulling a fast one out of retirement and signing up with the Jets. While football fans may have been ecstatic over the news, it was a move that left Maddenites with an outdated cover for Madden NFL 09. However, not wanting fans to remain disappointed, EA has a backup play to counter Favre's surprise blitz.

If you head on over to EA's website, you can download a free, brand new cover for Madden 09 which features Favre sporting a Jets uniform. The covers are high quality PDFs, so you just have to make sure you have a good printer and some glossy paper to make the cover look legit. Might want to stop by Kinkos for that. Download the cover and replace it with the old one if you so desire.

[Thanks WhiteSpy!]

Yeah, we all know the story -- Brett Favre pulling a fast one out of retirement and signing up with the Jets. While football fans may have been ecstatic over the news, it was a move that left Maddenites with an outdated cover for Madden NFL 09. However, not wanting fans to remain disappointed, EA has a backup play to counter Favre's surprise blitz.

If you head on over to EA's website, you can download a free, brand new cover for Madden 09 which features Favre sporting a Jets uniform. The covers are high quality PDFs, so you just have to make sure you have a good printer and some glossy paper to make the cover look legit. Might want to stop by Kinkos for that. Download the cover and replace it with the old one if you so desire.

[Thanks WhiteSpy!]

Football fans may have noticed that Brett Favre is still wearing his Packers uniform on the cover of Madden 09 rather than his swanky new Jets uniform. If you just can't stand to see Favre in the wrong uniform (or you're just obsessive compulsive), you can now download a new cover directly from EA. The only question now is what do you do with the old cover? We suppose it might work for papercraft. Failing that, it could make a decent rain hat in a pinch. Just use your imagination kids!

Welcome to X3F Season Update where we outline the additions and changes to major sports franchises. Looking to nab Madden NFL 09? This handy guide will walk you through some of the updates to the franchise and pinpoint issues we've heard from around the web. In this feature we tackle everything from the new Madden IQ feature to the utter failure that is the online leagues in the game. Jump in sports fans and find out everything you need to know about Madden NFL 2009.

Continue to X3F Season Update: Madden NFL 09

It's times like this we're happy there's a Metareview. Because, honestly, if we had to say something intelligent and clever about football, it's probably going to be related to The Waterboy or Superpro. We're sports dumb, to put it more directly. Luckily, the internet is here to put the new Madden through its paces.

• 1UP (A): "Madden's the sports-gaming superpower, though, so it's hard not to nitpick some of this stuff. But even with the listed complaints, this is a football game that one-ups the stakes between the sidelines, and it's so visually impressive that it's likely to stick in your system all season long -- even on Saturdays."
• GameDaily (80/100): "Despite all the this cool stuff, Madden commits some penalties. The game supposedly has more dynamic camera angles, but you'll often see the same one repeat up to ten times per game. As for the computer, it often makes strange decisions, such as running out the clock when it needs a score or wandering out of bounds for no reason."
• IGN (88/100): "It may not look all that different to the casual observer, but football aficionados and Madden veterans alike will be able to appreciate the small enhancements."

Huh, looks like EA doesn't have everyone ... covered. Less than a week after Madden 09's cover athlete Brett Favre jumped ship for the Jets (single-handedly thrashing millions in Madden marketing materials) EA has come through with its "plan": you can now download a replacement cover (in handy PDF format) for your copy of Madden NFL 09 featuring Favre donning his new team's colors ...

... that is, if you happened to purchase either the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, or PS2 release. Those of you that bought the Wii or DS versions, sorry. And for the four of you that bought the Xbox version ... you should know better.

Also released today: a "new online roster download" for Xbox 360, Xbox, PS3, PS2 and Wii which "features Favre as the starting quarterback on the New York Jets." Rocking something a little more portable, are we? EA advises you hit up Franchise Mode, transfer "NFL Great" Favre to the free agent roster pool, and then scoop him up "on any of the 32 NFL teams for the 2008 season."

[Update: If you don't want to blow all of your green ink printing out the new cover, stop by either Sam's Club or Wal-Mart to pick one up in-store. It's unclear if you'll need to purchase the game there as well but our money's on "probably."]

The Rose Bowl was Madden-ified yesterday to make way for the 20th anniversary of Madden games, as well as the new Madden NFL 09 game that went on sale at midnight last night... or 9 PM Pacific if you were lucky enough to be in the stadium in Pasadena. The upper deck was wrapped in gigantic Madden sail cloths promoting the game and featuring poster boy Brett Favre in his Packers gear. The playing turf featured autograph sessions with NFL legends, skill games, free Pepsi schwag (which we forgot to photograph, whoops), a Slurpee booth complete with Hooters-esque booth babes, a mini Wal-Mart store, and a giant gaming tent full of tons of Xbox 360s, and a scant few Wiis, PS3s, and PSPs.

Read on, dear gamer, to discover the rest, including a confab between rapper Busta Rhymes and EA's Peter Moore. Plus you can click on the gallery below for loads of photos.

It's the week Xbox Live Arcade purchasers have been looking forward to, because Target stores are selling 1600 Microsoft points cards for the oh so nice price of $15. But that's not all, they also have CoD4, Battlefield: Bad Company or Army of Two for $50 and are also giving away $40 gift cards with the purchase of any Xbox 360 console and Madden 09. Best Buy has a similar deal, where if you buy an Xbox 360 console and Madden 09 they'll throw in a free wireless controller. Other than that and Turok for $30, Best Buy's 360 deals are kind of lacking this week. Over at Circuit City, they're selling CoD4 for $40, Gears of War for $30, Juiced for $15, and giving away a free mini football with Madden 09 or a free $5 gift card if you purchase Madden 09 online. Finally, Circuit City is handing out free $30 gift card with the purchase of any Xbox 360 console.

Happy shopping and be sure to stock up on those cheap Microsoft points, because as you're well aware, Castle Crashers is releasing soon!

We're excited about Madden NFL 09. Oh no, sports on a game blog, run! But, in all seriousness, this year's Madden NFL 09 looks like it's going to be a solid title and unique from the other versions available. Plus, the All-Play stuff looks fun. If the video up top tickles your fancy, then the one past the break is going to blow you away.

Also, check out the latest video updates to the Nintendo Channel tucked away back there as well.

We walked into 7-11 today while representatives were setting up the massive marketing onslaught of Madden NFL 09, and it's a full blitz. There are standees, posters, chip racks, Big Gulp plastic collectible cups, and even Madden sandwiches. That's right, Madden sandwiches. Boom. We feel as confused as the digital Terrell Owens in that photo.

As a "special deal" they're offering a FREE Xbox 360 Madden NFL 09 demo... if you purchase a "Madden Sub" ($3.59 for a turkey and cheddar sub, with maybe half a leaflet of lettuce on it), a .99 bag of Doritos (your choice of scent/flavor!) and any "Gulp" or larger drink. We didn't even know there were just plain old "Gulps."

Find out what kind of idiot buys something you can get online at home free, after the break.

Looking to expand their already rich library, EA just announced some new Rock Band downloadable content that's headed our way as part of a partnership between them and Madden NFL 09. According to the press release, "'Rock Band' will feature music from the 'Madden 09' soundtrack in its weekly downloadable songs update, a handful at a time, over several weeks, with each song carrying the 'Madden' brand." Though, at what price, which tracks from the album and when they'll release are all question marks right now. That said, we do know every track that is on the soundtrack (conveniently listed after the break) and it's also interesting to note that some of the Madden 09 soundtrack songs are already available as Rock Band DLC including The Offspring's "Hammerhead" and Disturbed's "Inside the Fire". Whatever happens, we say keep the DLC coming.