Musings for a Thursday afternoon…

• The NCAA Football 09 demo landed on Xbox Live today, and just in time, too - about this time of year, I start experiencing football withdrawal. So maybe two-minute quarters and two teams doesn’t exactly fill the hole inside, but beggars can’t be choosers. Although Madden always gets the hype, NCAA’s generally been the better football game for five years now and it’s been far superior on “next-gen” consoles. I’m looking forward to pulling down the gig-and-a-half download and hitting the gridiron this evening.

• Speaking of Madden, Pastapadre.com is reporting that the development team is planning a post-release patch, adding an accelerated clock to the proceedings. I recently had a conversation with one of the better “sim” Madden players I know, where we talked about how badly this feature was needed and how much Madden stands to improve by adding it. The accelerated clock can make a huge difference in the realism of the game when implemented correctly; the number of plays come closer to reality and fatigue plays a more noticeable part. In truth, this is something that should have never been removed from the game years ago, and why EA chose to remove a quality existing feature like that is still a mystery. Nevertheless, it’s a good sign that they’re planning on getting it patched in - even if post-release patching is quickly becoming a blight upon the gaming landscape. Obviously, Madden’s very far along in the process without it, so I’m not holding my breath, but an accelerated clock patch - preferably available upon release - would go a long way toward showing Madden’s loyal customers that the team has a new dedication to making the product they want.

• What the hell is up with this? I know Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid’s a series built on the foundation of great play mechanics and an extra-loony story, but seriously - a creepy T&A shoot with hyper-sexualized female characters… that has nothing - nothing - to do with the game itself? Knowing that these characters are modeled on real actresses makes things even less pleasant. Believe me, I know America’s completely whacked on this subject - we’re OK with insane amounts of violence, but one scene of healthy sexuality gets the lunatic fringe all over you - but it is possible to go the other way, as our friends in the Far East can vouch. Ladies and gentlemen (not that a lady would approve), I present to you… the other extreme.

• “EA doesn’t get the benefit of the cult”, says Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello. Says Mark Androvich of GameIndustry.biz, “While speaking to investors gathered for the William Blair & Company’s 28th Annual Growth Stock Conference, Riccitiello was asked to estimate the Metacritic review scores for EA’s upcoming titles.” Hmm, Metacritic scores mattering primarily to non-game-playing investors? Where has that unholy union been explained before? Oh, yeah - here, here and here. “It used to be… All Metacritics were higher once upon a time because it was ten professionals rating them. Now, sort of anybody with a pen can rate them and it ends up with a bit of a wider track sometimes,” Riccitiello said. “EA doesn’t usually get the benefit of the cult - ‘everybody has to rate it a hundred’ thing going on - that happens sometimes even when they may not, based on the review, have played more than the first fifteen minutes of the game. But that’s a separate issue.” Yeah, it is, John - and he’s right, that happens - which is exactly why we’d all be better weaning ourselves off that ridiculousness.

• EA sure hasn’t gotten the benefit of… something in the case of Boom Blox. One of the very best games available on the Wii, it’s so elegant in its simplicity, accessibility and fun that it’s hard to envision as an EA product. But it most certainly is, and despite the world’s preeminent gaming marketing machine behind it, it’s kind of a bust. Part of the problem seems to stem from the perception that Nintendo’s always had; they make systems for their own games, and that reputation isn’t entirely undeserved. Nintendo certainly doesn’t mind that gamers look at Nintendo-made games first and foremost, but that tends to drastically depress third-party sales, which has led to problems for Nintendo in the past. Only 0.6 percent of Wii owners in America purchased the game, which is just sad, given that it’s a great game for both kids and adults. You’re missing out, America!

• Rock Band’s paradigm-changing World Tour continues to roll on. Said EA Sports President Peter Moore in an interview with CVG, “It really came home for me when we were in Munich for our global marketing meeting and we took over the Hard Rock Café for the night and had a Rock Band competition. There were a hundred of us and it was like a real rock concert. It was a blast. I stood back and I thought that this was an incredible cultural phenomenon. The crowd (was) going wild, but all we were doing was playing on toy guitars, toy drums and singing badly into a microphone. Now the beer might have had something to do with it, I don’t know, but it was a great social thing. And I said, ‘Boy, this product is going to change the way we think about games.’” Well, Peter, the beer does help, but Rock Band has created many new - and shifted the perspective of - gamers, including this one, who finally has a door-opener to bring his friends and family into his favorite hobby. Of course, there’s a dark side to it… see this beauty? It’s part of a new Mad Catz line of licensed Rock Band peripherals. And if it’s good, I’m so buying it, never mind the price - and perhaps some of it’s brethren to boot - even if that means filling my basement with even more Chinese plastic.