Hah, oh wow. Double report.

Umm, Luke m'man? Look... up.

This is pretty much the best thing to happen at the same time ever.

Man, good timing...

Sweet cover and most deserving.

Hmm other one went poof.

Is this their answer to the whole madden curse thing?

Awwww I liked both of them being up. It was kind of nice seeing the two different writing styles on the same topic in direct comparison.

It feels like Brian and Luke have somehow successfully divided by zero O.o;

[www.designverb.com]

@Indy_aka_Rex: Yes, yes, the news was so hot we had to post it TWICE! Fixed.

@Luke Plunkett:

Great, now I look like a 'tard! Bring it back, Luke... BRING IT BACK!

Plunkett FTW.

I may get killed for this (by the packer fans) but is one of the lesser reasons Brett Favre is on the cover is because John Madden constantly praises Favre never-ending extent?

(like I said, dont hurt me for asking this silly question. Please! I know Favre is great.)

Just wondering.

I love Brett Favre. I still don't like him on this cover. he said that he would come back if they asked him too.

im down with this cover. Favre FTW.

At least there's no way for the curse to get him now that he's retired.

Unless he comes back.

So if it's the twentieth anniversary of the series, are they going to do anything special with gameplay?

i will buy this just for Brett favre cover.

@Raziel Dune:
I might do so as well.

This will be a timeless cover, for an athlete who couldn't possibly be cursed in any way, and this is an unbelievable choice. We all hate EA, we all hate how they killed off 2K, and we hate how they've been slacking off on Madden for the past few years. This makes me forget all that. This will be pre-ordered immediately, first thing tomorrow morning at Play N Trade.

I'll pass on this game unless they make huge strides in gameplay.

Favre on the cover is neat though

Well, if Favre continues with his planned retirement, the curse will be broken. If he decides to come back for "one more season" he will likely be hit by a rogue zamboni that tried to smooth out the football "fields" they play on in frozen Wisconsin.

This is a very classy move by EA.

I'd think/hope that many sports fans who normally would not buy a Madden game would pick this edition up -- at least as a time piece and collectible, if for no other reason.

What the hell is Brett Favre doing [on the cover of Madden 09]?

aaand the video does not come on.. just a sec...

there.

Favre's on the cover but will he be in the game?

Not to mention that the "cover curse" resulted in an injury that threatened to take them out of play for a sizeable chunk of the season.

See, you can't miss the season if you're no longer playing football.

Kinda funny since Favre won't be in the game as the packers will have #12 Aaron Rodgers at QB. I guess Favre will be in the Classic team modes or something.. By the way, I'm live in Green Bay and I bet this game will sell off the hook to all the cheeseheads who will just want it to add to their collection of 500 S.I. covers!

@Zero_Beat:

See if that works...

Maybe the curse will be on Aaron Rodgers and Favre will come out of retirement to play!

Almost as good as this cover,[www.xlife.nl] was hoping to see #4 grace the APF 2k9 Art.

He's going to come back from retirement due to Long's future injury making his cover appearance the anti-curse.

Going to be fairly awkward when he announces that he's coming out of retirement with, oh, the Dolphins around the same time this game ships.

Honestly never thought I'd see another white boy after Madden himself on the cover. 'Color' me 'surprised'.

This isn't as shocking to me as when EA put Desmond Howard on the cover of NCAA 06. For some reason, it also doesn't excite me as much-- man oh man, but NCAA 06 was GOOD! I'd really love to find out that EA let Madden have a little say in the cover athlete, since it is the twentieth anniversary issue and all. We all know how Madden feels about Favre.

Good for Brett, at any rate. He had a really terrific career.

That's my man!
Go Farve go!

So, does this mean that I'll have to give up vicodin half-way through "career-mode" now?

I have been a packers fan for well over 20 years, however I feel that this is just stupid to do. Yes Brett is my favorite player, however he is retired now, why now of all times put him on the cover? Why not after he won the Super Bowl? Well, whatever now I just have to buy it because he is on the cover. First Madden purchase since Madden '05

They made a great choice.

whats so special about this madden? A picture? What have they added to make me want to buy expansion pack 19?

i hope you guys realize he quit not because they didnt not ask him to come back, or because hes been in the league longer than the madden franchise but because they asked him to be on the cover... can you imagine the madden curse on an old guy like farve, he probably would have died... too bad he didnt play another season

makes sense they put him on the cover, record breaking and...... to break the curse maybe? i mean, after all, he did retire so whats the worst to happen?

@PQ Crash: If you can even get halfway through career mode.

In last year's game, there was a show-stopping bug in franchise mode (not career mode, but you never know this year) that basically killed your franchise. There was no way to move forward because your opponent had too few players and there was no way to fix it. I put weeks into my franchise and it all went down the drain...

Did they ever fix that via a patch or something?

I'm not buying another Madden game until I am *assured* by those who have played the game for some time that there are no such bugs. Not one of the reviews I read mentioned that bug last year, and it was a major, major bug. Yet every single person who played franchise mode long enough came up against it.

Something tells me that he's going to be in some sort of hunting accident...(for those who don't know, Favre loves to hunt)

this made me smile. it didn't take too many interviews to realize Brett Favre was an extraordinary human being with a heart the size of Texas.

*insert interception achievement joke here*

But in all seriousness...this is a "meh" move. If they wanted to celebrate the 20th anniversary, why not put Madden himself on there?

@TRT-X:
Because if you bought the game, who would you rather look at each time you went to play: Madden or Favre?

I didn't know it was the 20th anninversary. In that aspect, putting Madden on there might've ben the best thing to do but this is a close second. Brett has been Madden's favorite player for years.

OMG BRETT, GET DOWN! THAT FOOTBALL IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!

...look at his face. He knows he's on the Madden cover, haha

^== Long time packer fan and very happy to hear that Favre is the #1 pick for the cover of the 20year anniversary edition of the game.
Best QB of all time, no doubt about it.
Very sad to see him retire, but at least he was able to do it on his own terms and not due to an injury or something.

Please, EA: make it work on PS3 this year.

@Raziel Dune:
I second that

Wow, Madden must be having a heart attack, his boyfriend on the cover of his game and all.

That said, I bet it still plays like ass. Bring back NFL 2K!