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Mortal Kombat decapitates the competition in April NPD report
It’s no secret that the video game community has responded to NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat reboot with a resounding “I love it.” But like Shao Kahn taunting a clearly inferior kombatant, the game also emerged on top of The NPD Group’s April 2011 sales report. And according to a tweet from Kombat creator Ed Boon, the game sold over 1,000,000 copies during the month. Flawless victory indeed.
April 19’s other big release, Portal 2, teleported its way to the top of the list with a strong #2 showing. Of course, it’s important to point out that a good portion of Portal 2’s sales were digital downloads through Steam, which isn’t counted by the NPD.
But the biggest surprise from last month’s top ten might be the absence of Sony’s SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs. The online shooter was also released on April 19th, one day before hackers took down the PSN. The service has yet to return and its offline status definitely contributed to SOCOM 4’s lackluster sales.
Hit the jump for the complete top ten of April’s bestselling games. (more…)
Your Madden NFL 12 Cover Athlete: Peyton Hillis
Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis didn’t just win the Madden NFL 12 Cover Vote, he demolished his competition, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick. The Madden NFL 2004 coverboy only managed to capture 34% of the vote to Hillis’ 66%. Hillis had an impressive 2010-2011 season, but this vote was clearly a huge upset.
All told, more than 12,000,000 votes were cast throughout the entire tournament and Hillis steamrolled some pretty hefty competition (including head-to-head victories over Ray Rice, Matt Ryan, Jamaal Charles and Aaron Rodgers).
Madden NFL 12 (with Peyton Hillis on the cover) will be released for the PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360 on August 30.
Michael Vick, Peyton Hillis fight for Madden NFL 12 cover
And then there were two.
The voting for the Madden NFL 12 cover athlete is down to the end and only Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis remain.
Hillis defeated the heavily favored Aaron Rodgers to reach the finals while Vick ended the cinderella dreams of Adrian Peterson. A Vick victory would give the formerly incarcerated quarterback his second Madden cover appearance while Hillis has run over some of the biggest names in pro football to reach the finals. I think it’s safe to say that few people picked either of these guys to make it this far.
Final round voting will continue from now until Monday, April 25. The winner will be announced on April 27th during ESPN 2’s “SportsNation.”
Madden NFL 12 blitzes stores on August 30
Rob Semsey, the Director of Public Relations at EA Sports, has tweeted that Madden NFL 12 will be released on August 30. Normally, the Madden series rushes stores during the middle of the month, but with this year’s labor problems between the NFL and the players union, perhaps the publisher wanted to give the development team at EA Tiburon a little more time before the season starts.
Semsey said the later release date was picked “to align closer to the start of the NFL regular season.”
Whatever the reason, the currently cover athelete-less Madden NFL 12 will be released for the PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360 whether the lockout is resolved or not.
Rodgers, Hillis, Vick, Peterson are the Madden NFL 12 final four
The third round of the Madden NFL 12 Cover Vote has come to a close and now only four names remain.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers emerged victorious over New England’s Danny Woodhead. He’ll face Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns in the semifinals, who continued his cinderella run with a win over Kansas City’s Jamaal Charles.
The other half of the bracket includes Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick on top, Vick beat the 49ers’ Patrick Willis in round three. He’ll be challenged by Vikings wide receiver Adrian Peterson, who stomped Drew Brees with 62% of the vote.
Semifinal voting begins today and runs through April 17.
WWE All-Stars roster rumbles onto the web
Well, half of it anyway.
IGN has managed to wrestle the full roster to the upcoming WWE All-Stars away from THQ and they plan on publishing it in two parts. Part one appeared today, revealing eight legends, seven present-day superstars and five fighters that’ll only be available as downloadable content. IGN also revealed that Larry “The King” Lawler and Jim Ross will be providing the color commentary.
Screenshots and video of each wrestler were also included, giving us our most in-depth look at WWE All-Stars yet.
So, let me ring the bell and reveal (after the break) the first 15 wrestlers in WWE All-Stars… (more…)
First Madden NFL 12 details emerge
While most of us were pulling our hair out at how atrociously bad the Black Eyed Peas were last night, Ian Cummings, Creative Director of Madden NFL 12 (yes, Madden games have those) took some time out for the fans during half time to blog about some of the game’s new features. One was the input shown above where A, A, B on the 360 controller executes a surprise onside kick. The other major feature is “Tuner Sets” – gameplay balances that were previously featured in past NHL and NCAA games that allows the developers to tweak the gameplay without the cumbersome process of getting Sony and Microsoft to approve a patch. This will probably save all of us a lot of time and go a long way in keeping online play fun and free from exploits.
More Madden NFL 12 information can be found at the Madden NFL developer’s blog.
With the exception of the NBA Elite debacle last year, EA Sports has really been impressing game critics with their last few rounds of iterations. Expect Madden NFL 12 to do the same when it releases later this year.
Conduit 2 delayed, multiplayer modes detailed
High Voltage Software’s Conduit 2 has been hit with another delay, pushing the Wii title’s release to April 19. This is Conduit 2’s third delay as it was originally slated for a Fall 2010 release before being pushed back to February 15th and then March 22nd.
The team at High Voltage has pinned this latest delay on the development issues as they want to “continue to balance and enhance the game’s multiplayer,” which they call one of the game’s key features.
To make up for this sad news, the team has released some new details on all 14 multiplayer gametypes:
- Deathmatch: First player to the kill limit in the time allowed wins!
- Team Deathmatch: First team to the kill limit in the time allowed wins!
- Capture the Flag (CTF): Each team tries to capture the ASE (flag) of the other. First team to the capture limit in the time allowed wins!
- Single Flag CTF: Teams fight over a single centrally-located ASE (flag). First team to the capture limit wins!
- Free for All CTF: Get to the flag and then carry it back to a random goal location. First to the scoring limit wins!
- ASE Ball: Longest time holding the ASE wins!
- Bounty Hunter: Kill your assigned target for points or kill those hunting you for fun. But beware; killing someone who doesn’t fill those roles will cost you points!
- Shared Stock: Teammates share a pool of lives while trying to get the highest kill count possible.
- Killing Override: First team to the kill or capture limit wins!
- VIP: Fight to kill the randomly selected VIP on the opposing team. First team to the point limit wins!
- ASE Basketball: Each team tries to capture a centrally-located ASE and then carry it into the enemy base. Toss or carry the ASE through the goal to score. First team to the point limit wins!
- Balloon Battle: Lose balloons with every death. Gain balloons with kills. With no balloon, become a mini bomb! Last player alive wins!
- Annexation: Teams fight for control over capture points. These totems award points over time. First team to the point limit wins!
- Power Surge: Teams must defend their own generator while destroying the enemy’s when its shield is down. First team to destroy the generator or the team with the more intact generator wins!