One pastime that takes advantage of our love of tech (and video games) is the official Madden Super Bowl simulation, where the current Super Bowl match up is played out on EA’s mega-successful Madden video game. This year’s simulation is good news, provided you are a New York Giants fan. According to the sim, the Giants will defeat the Patriots, 27-24, with Eli Manning (pictured above) winning the Super Bowl MVP trophy for the following stats: 25-39 for 342 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The video of the simulation:

As for the accuracy of these simulations, Yahoo Sports has some information:

The Madden simulation missed last year when it predicted a 24-20 victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Two years before, it missed hitting the exact final score of the Steelers-Arizona Cardinals game by one point on each side.

It sounds like a “close, but no cigar” type of outcome, something that should give nervous New England fans a sense of relief.

Since this article is essentially talking about Super Bowl predictions, what are yours? Giants or Patriots? Let us know what you think.

It’s an interesting question that has raised a lot of eyebrows the past few weeks as more and more publishers and developers have risen up in opposition to the dangerous legislation.

The ESA issued a statement to Joystiq on why they support SOPA last week. Here it is in its entirety:

“As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. Rogue websites — those singularly devoted to profiting from their blatant illegal piracy — restrict demand for legitimate video game products and services, thereby costing jobs. Our industry needs effective remedies to address this specific problem, and we support the House and Senate proposals to achieve this objective. We are mindful of concerns raised about a negative impact on innovation. We look forward to working with the House and Senate, and all interested parties, to find the right balance and define useful remedies to combat willful wrongdoers that do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.”

That last paragraph is especially interesting. They claim that they support the House and Senate so they obviously support SOPA and PIPA but are looking for ways to stop piracy that “do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.”

They could achieve this goal to “not impede” by supporting the OPEN Act, the safer alternative to SOPA. The ESA has not updated their stance, however, so it’s safe to assume that they are still firmly in the pro-SOPA camp.

The problem with developers and publishers is that they are represented by the ESA. This makes all of them supporters of SOPA by association.

Sony, Nintendo and EA, all members of the ESA, listed their support for SOPA. They had removed their support after some anger, mostly at Sony, arose from the depths of the Internet. Of course, when asked by Joystiq, EA said, “EA never expressed a position for or against SOPA.” I think putting the company’s name on the list of SOPA supporters firmly planted them in the for SOPA camp.

Some developers that are represented by the ESA have stood up against SOPA though. The list is still really small unfortunately. The confirmed list is Epic Games, 38 Studios, Mommy’s Best Games, Trion Worlds, Major League Gaming, Riot Games, Nvidia and Red 5 Studios. Out of all those companies, only Epic, 38 Studios, Trion Worlds and Nvidia are members of the ESA. They are a minority where as the other publishers just seem to delegate any concerns over SOPA to the ESA.

Capcom was the first to do this as they said that the ESA represented them in legislative matters. They then doubled back and said that they never claimed to support SOPA and that anybody inferring that from their statement was practicing bad journalism. I hate to break it to you, Capcom, but SOPA is a legislative matter.

Sega was even worse when a fan asked for their position on the matter. Sega sent back a form letter telling the concerned gamer that they need to “hard reset” their device. They apologized later for the answer, but still gave no official stance on the subject.

Once again, this is the main problem. By remaining silent, these publishers are supporting SOPA and the ESA.

That’s where you, the gamer, comes in. Keep pestering these publishers to actually say something about it. The more publishers that come out against SOPA, the more likely that the ESA would drop their support for it. This can’t be done by a few dedicated concerned gamers though. Get your friends, your clans, your guilds and everybody else in on this.

Gamers are a powerful force that have and can achieve a lot. Making publishers and developers formulate an opinion on SOPA independent of the ESA should be a piece of cake. We just need to show them our sheer force and numbers.

The companies that have yet to make a stance are 505 Games, Deep Silver, Disney Interactive, Eidos Interactive, Ignition Entertainment, Konami Digital Entertainment, Level-5, Namco Bandai Games, Natsume, Nexon America, Perfect World Entertainment, Square Enix, Take-Two, Tecmo Koei, THQ, and Ubisoft.

Getting a stance, even a pro-SOPA one, is an important step in this fight. Without knowing, we are left to just assume they are supporting it. Don’t let them delegate this stuff to the ESA. It’s too important to just let them delegate everything to them.

Reddit can do a black-out, every tech company can voice their dissent but gamers are a large force that can make things happen.

Demand action and the ESA will have to notice.

EA took time out of its busy schedule today to announce that the community of players enjoying their free-to-play browser-based games has reached 25 million players.

The company, admittedly, has done quite well for themselves in the free-to-play business in recent years with the launch of Battlefield Heroes and Need for Speed World, both of which have reached 10 million registered users earlier this month. Their other not so popular games including Battlefield Play4Free, Dragon Age Legends, Battleforge and Lord of Ultima have brought the total number of players to that magical 25 million number that they are boasting today.

To celebrate, EA has decided to give something back to the community playing their most popular freemium games. For Battlefield Heroes players, they can redeem the code EQ9M-TYYT-TXR3-5GU3 for 300 Battlefunds, the in-game currency that can be used to purchase in-game weapons, vanity items (i.e. hats) and more.

The same promotion is available for Need For Speed World, players can enter in the code EWPD-3KGA-VBVF-9HYS for 750 SpeedBost, the differently named but still the same in-game currency that can be used for the purchase of new cars, performance upgrades and more.

Those codes had better be used quickly though as they expire on January 17. After that, it’s back to paying real money for that in-game currency. I’m sure EA would appreciate your continued patronage.

“Developing a community of 25 million players is a remarkable achievement. It is a testament to the explosive growth of the free-to-play market and a reflection of EA’s commitment to spearheading the digital transformation. We plan to continue to innovate in the category, introduce new gameplay that delights players and keeps them coming back for more,” Sean Decker, Play4Free, Vice President, said. “For our teams, this is an incredibly exciting time to be making games as the audience continues to grow and diversify.”

Since the launch of Battlefield Heroes, EA has found that 8 billion bullets have been fired with nearly 532 million in-game kills. Those numbers clearly indicating that players have terrible accuracy or they just like wasting bullets.

For those who prefer exotic cars over exotic cartoon soldiers, Need For Speed World is releasing a series of new cars starting with the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S that went live on January 10.

EA also announced in December that their newest freemium title would be adapting the popular strategy series into a browser-based strategy MMO in the form of Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances. Chances are it will be better than Command and Conquer 4.

How do you feel about free-to-play games? Are they the new “it” thing that EA makes them out to be? Do you play any of them? Let us know in the comments.

As you are likely aware, users can dance in The Old Republic by typing in ‘/getdown.’ This is used by many users to dance in public areas just like any other MMO. The difference here is that users can also use this command to interrupt any NPC action, including attacks. This becomes even more of an exploit when it stops boss enemies and their powerful attacks.

For those curious, the exploit looks like this:

Exploits like this are generally patched out rather quickly, but the response to this specific exploit has raised some eyebrows.

The reaction to the exploit on the forums were just as expected from BioWare. All threads regarding the exploit were deleted and allegedly one of the users who posted the above video on the forums received this takedown notice:

“We recently removed your thread about the /getdown video. We appreciate you trying to bring it to our attention but we do not allow the posting of potential exploits on the forums. Note this message is just to let you know and is NOT a warning against your account!”

The authenticity of the notice can be called into question as it’s only been posted on sites like 4chan and Reddit. Speaking of Reddit, there’s a rumor going around there that BioWare is banning players who are using the exploit and stating that the ‘/getdown’ command should only be used in specially sanctioned dance zones.

In a statement to Joystiq, BioWare said that the Reddit image was a troll posting and that it was a fake ban email. They did not, however, deny that users were getting banned or the removal of all references to the exploit on their forums.

All we know is that BioWare is aware of the exploit, do not want it being discussed on the game’s official forums and may or may not be banning players for using it.

This next item, however, pretty much defies all description. Going by the title “An EA Christmas Carol,” the upcoming video is what one publication intimates as EA’s attempt to ruin Christmas. Normally, I try to find a middle ground when it comes to hyperbolic reactions, but in this case, the Destructoid post might be onto something. Take a look for yourself:

Currently, there are 84 likes and 222 dislikes.

Obviously, this little video wasn’t intended for the television audience, with words and phrases like “goddamn cab,” “testicles,” and “my wonderland is shat.” In fact, much like the everybody’s else reaction, I’m not exactly sure what kind of consumer this targets. The singers in the video are — seemingly — making fun of crappy gamers, because, I guess, that’s the way to attract more customers? By making fun of those who are less “l337″ than the professional gaming crowd?

In the video’s description, it says “And for those of you who like a challenge, listen closely to the carol. Do any of the lines sound familiar?” indicating the lyrics come from various EA games, meaning the attack on bad gamers isn’t exactly accurate, even though it comes across that way. Are any of you out there familiar enough with EA’s stable of games to identify which games are being quoted?

Clearly, if it’s in the game, it’s in the Christmas Carol.

At least in regards to the PC gaming environment.

The success story of Steam’s online service is the industry standard, but there are others like Direct2Drive and Impulse. Electronic Arts, famously known as the makers of the Madden NFL Football series of video games, has also jumped on the digital distribution service with Origin, which offers EA-published games available for immediate download. The concept is a brilliant one as long as you aren’t one of the people who requires a jewel case with some cover art to legitimize your purchase.

There is, however, one issue in regards to using EA’s Origin service: consumers are at the mercy of EA’s DRM, which can apparently be applied whenever EA sees fit. Take the plight of an Origin member by the name of MaximumTacos. While the silliness of the name may be hard to overlook, the shafting he received from EA concerning access to games he’s already purchased is not.

The story of MaximumTacos’ EA issues hit the web yesterday, and after popular threads on Reddit and The Escapist’s forums, everything began to take shape. What we have is another user going to the EA forums and posting a profane message that made mention of the MaximumTacos user name.

Mind you, the post was not made by MaximumTacos, it just mentioned the user name during the profanity-filled rant, and because MaximumTacos had the audacity to allow his name to appear in a TOS-violating forum thread, he, and not the user who authored the post, got banned. Not banned as in banned from the forum, but banned from accessing the EA games he had purchased via digital distribution methods.

Or, as EA’s online customer support put it:

Angad: Please note that your account [maximumtacos@gmail.com] has been permanently terminated from the Electronic Arts Online service for violating the terms of services. The account will no longer be accessible in any way, and all property, items, and characters associated currently are or will soon be deleted.

This bears repeating: Electronic Arts banned the account of a user in such a way, they no longer have access to games they’ve already bought and paid for, all because someone else mentioned their user name during a profane rant.

Does that even make sense? Apparently to EA, it does, because they aren’t backing down even in the face of being so completely and utterly wrong with their punishment. As for the offending post in question, EA even referenced it when they informed MaximumTacos about the suspension, which turned into an outright ban:

Chat log: soldier shapes / camo to watch for, and the people camping in corners with it./quote so its no longer INFARED = IR YOU NOOB B—- C— maximumtacos

As you can see, MaximumTacos was the target of the profanity, not the author, but yet, he’s the one who gets banned? Does that make sense? Furthermore, does cussing on an EA-owned forum warrant an outright bannishment from EA, one that prevents access to content that’s already been bought and paid for? Here’s an image of what MaximumTacos was greeted with when he tried to access his copy of Battlefield: Bad Company 2:

For years, DRM advocates scoffed at the idea that it would be used for bullshit like this — the refrain was always that it was about preventing piracy. But managing rights is what DRM was built to do, so that is what it’s used for.

What’s next from EA? Banning a reviewer who didn’t like their 2013 version of Madden? Or, perhaps banning someone who tweets about their dissatisfaction with an EA product? To cover his plight, MaximumTacos is starting a blog to document his dealings with EA, but at this point, I’d seriously consider legal representation, because not only is EA’s punishment entirely too severe — complete banishment from products for swearing at an EA forum? Isn’t that like 10 steps beyond what’s appropriate? — but it wasn’t even enforced against the right person.

It’s in the game, apparently.

Consider this a head start for EA if you will, although, expect Activision’s offering to quickly close the gap when it launches next Tuesday.

Whatever the final numbers are for these first-person shooters, and regardless of Modern Warfare 3‘s impending success, EA will undoubtedly still be celebrating Battlefield 3, especially when you consider the latest installment sold five million copies in one week, which catapulted to the top of EA’s fastest-selling game list. This means that ever since arriving in stores on October 25th, the newest version of Battlefield sold faster than EA’s ubiquitous Madden franchise, which is news in and of itself.

That fact that Madden is not the fastest-selling game is surprising, but then again, Madden gets an update every year and the new version of Battlefield has been completely overhauled for the both the next-gen consoles and the PC market, where the game truly shines:

EA released several indicators of the game’s success: Battlefield 3 fans executed 73 million “savior kills”, 48 million “revives” by medics and destroyed 67 million vehicles. And they also accrued 2.5 million Facebook Likes and 200,000 Twitter followers, EA said.

Of course, the true test of Battlefield’s appeal will be known when Modern Warfare 3 — which is being billed as “the most anticipated game ever” — hits the stores, which happens in on November 8. Even with Battlefield’s undeniable hot start, some industry analysts aren’t too worried about how the newest installment of Modern Warfare will do:

[Michael Pachter, videogame analyst, Wedbush Morgan Securities] forecasts that Modern Warfare 3 will come out on top with 16 million copies sold worldwide this year. That’s double the sales total he predicts for Battlefield 3, which should sell 8 million copies globally. And that’s just this year. Modern Warfare 3 could sell an additional 8 million copies in 2012 and Battlefield 3 could tally another 2 million units sold next year.

Considering the incredible success of Modern Warfare 2, it’s not as if Pachter is going out on a limb with his prediction, although, it should be noted that, in only a week’s time, Battlefield 3 is over halfway to his prediction of 8 million units sold, and the 2011 Christmas shopping season — a period that should boost each title’s sales even further — hasn’t even begun yet, at least not in earnest.

Just in case you need yet another reminder, here are the launch videos for both installments, starting with Battlefield:

But that doesn’t mean Battlefield’s makers, Dice, aren’t above stealing thunder attempts when Modern Warfare 3 content hits the streets. Earlier, the Modern Warfare 3 online play trailer hit, and, not to be outdone, Battlefield 3, too, has a new trailer. The latest one highlights some of the different weapons players can come across during the game.

Much like MW3′s latest, the new BF3 trailer is pretty ballsy as well:

As indicated earlier, both games target different gamers, with Modern Warfare 3 concentrating on the XBox 360/PlayStation 3 crowd. Any PC gamers who buy it are welcome, too, but Activision makes its hay with the console crowd, and there’s nothing wrong with that. To many, gaming is gaming, no matter what platform is used.

Meanwhile, Battlefield 3 has the PC gamer directly in its sites, and while that makes for superior-looking and controlling games, the reach isn’t nearly as expansive. That being said, BF3 will indeed be available for consoles, but if Dice had their way, the consoles wouldn’t even be a consideration. To them, the best way to enjoy the potential of Battlefield 3 is to play it on a souped up PC. A quote from Battlefield 3 Executive Producer Patrick Bach reveals as much:

PCs are way more powerful than the consoles today and there are actually almost zero games out there that actually use the benefits of this. So for our target of what we want to hit, we are now using the more powerful platform to try and prove what we see gaming being in the future rather than using the lowest common denominator, instead of developing it for the consoles and then just adding higher resolution textures and anti-aliasing for the PC version… we start with the highest-end technology that we can come up with and then scale it back to the consoles.

The following image, courtesy of an awesome Yahtzee Crowshaw review, may help portray the issue a little better:

Clearly, these gamers weren’t too offended by Dice’s preference for the PC gaming environment.

As a decided Battlefield fan–no, not a Modern Warfare hater, either–here’s another reason to buy this game: the 12 minute “Fault Line” trailer.

If, after watching that, you aren’t interested in at least giving Battlefield 3 a spin, perhaps you should rethink that whole “gamer” title. It’s just too bad these games are coming out at the same time. Not enough time in the day, it seems.

As part of the agreement, EA will receive the same 70 percent revenue share for Facebook Credits as is standard for all developers on Facebook.

Pet Society and Restaurant City from Playfish, a division of EA, are two of the most popular games on Facebook in terms of daily users. EA said its soccer and football games are also popular on Facebook.

“We are pleased to enter into this long-term partnership with EA to make it easier for people to purchase virtual goods across some of the most popular games on Facebook,” said Dan Rose, vice president of partnerships and platform marketing at Facebook.

“Playfish has a great reputation for building high-quality games on Facebook, and we look forward to working even more closely with them and the larger team at EA.”

EA has also recently announced the launch of Monopoly for Facebook along with Pogo Games including Poppit! and Word Whomp as well as Hasbro games such as Scrabble and Boggle.

“Since gaming has emerged as the most popular category of applications on Facebook, the natural next step is for EA to broaden its relationship with Facebook and its 500 million users,” said Barry Cottle, Senior Vice President and General Manager for EA Interactive.

"Online video is increasingly a primary source of entertainment for today’s consumers, so it’s important we showcase content in key entertainment categories – such as video games – about which people are passionate," said Erick Hachenburg, CEO of Metacafe.

"We’ve developed our new hub to make it easy for viewers to find the freshest, most compelling game-related videos, which creates valuable opportunities for advertisers who want to reach them."

EA is the initial sponsor for the video games hub, promoting its new racing game "Need for Speed Shift."  The campaign includes prominent exposure within the hub, an interactive home page skin, and a combination of custom and standard media across the site.

"Closely aligning with premium video game content and reaching our target consumers when and where they’re engrossed in the entertainment experience is central to our marketing strategy," said Tabitha Hayes, Director of Marketing for EA.

"Teaming with Metacafe as the charter sponsor of its new Video Games hub is an effective and efficient way for us to build further awareness for Need for Speed Shift."

Content partners include IGN and GamePro. Additional content and new content partners will be integrated into the hub in the coming weeks and months.

Metacafe said it will promote its video games hub across the site so users can find the entertainment content they are looking for and provide brand extension for its hub sponsors.

Metacafe’s other recently launched hubs include TV Clips, Movie Trailers, Music Videos and Sports Highlights.