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There have been five bazillion news stories about this presidential campaign, but none of them have really given you the fair and balanced views of the candidates. Enter us with our presidential video game primer. Make sure to hit the link to check out the rest of the article.
THE ENVIRONMENT
 John McCain: NASCAR 09
While the Great Right Hope has touted a plan to cut greenhouse emissions 60 percent by 2050, his zero rating for 2007
by the League of Conservation Voters on environmental issues should
serve as a caution flag for any tree hugger. Couple that with delegate
chants of "Drill, baby, drill" at the Republican National Convention
and you've got a record as green as the tarmac at Talladega. Punch it! |
 Barack Obama: Flower
If you're down with flowers and nature and shit, you're probably leaning Democrat this year. With an 82 percent voting record on pro-environmental issues the last two years, Obama may be best represented by Flower,
a game in which you play as... wait for it... THE WIND! Push spores
around, make windmills turn, create ocean waves—really, where does the
fun end? (Or begin.) |
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 Assistant designer Jonathan Crankshaw lets you in on all the searing Excel spreadsheet action.
Let's get right down to it—who puts the Madden ratings together?
It's me, I have the final say. Before a game comes out, I assemble a group of media experts, around 10 people or so, and a bunch of college athletes, and I show them where I think I'm going as far as ratings go.
How do you make the numerical transition from how athletes perform on the field to how they perform in the game?
I look at a couple of things. First is public perception—everyone knows a certain player can do one thing, so he has to be rated as such. Second is what he did last year and what I think he can do this year. We now do roster updates every two to three weeks, so at home I have several TVs along with my laptop documenting everything players do. Some guys are in better situations for stats than others, so you have to watch that. For example, the Patriots' Laurence Maroney got very few rushing attempts last year because Tom Brady passed all the time. But when Maroney did get attempts, he ran real hard. Same thing with a guy like Steve Smith compared to Terrell Owens. T.O. was in a prolific offense that put up 35 points a game while Smith's team was juggling quarterbacks all season, so it was hard for him to get going. You have to read between the lines sometimes.
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Guitar Hero: On Tour
Are you ready to rock…awkwardly?
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Being top dog often means getting lazy, sloppy, maybe not strive for the prize, so to speak. That's our reaction after Nintendo's lackluster showing at E3 this year. While the Wii is selling like hotcakes (200K a week, 700K monthly), it's the software that eventually makes the day. Unfortunately, we're in for some pretty crappy days. The lowlights (or if you prefer, the highlights):
DO NOT WANT
WII MOTION PLUS Here's what Nintendo's announcement of a WiiMote attachment should've sounded like: "Hey, our original controller kinda sucked, so here's more add-ons to maybe make it better. No it won't be free—you have to buy our other games to get it."
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