CBS' iconic Road to the Final Four and March Madness presentation is paired with ESPN's signature college basketball, and both announcing teams will call an offense of back cuts and ball reversals familiar to fired-up gyms in the dead of winter. But can NCAA Basketball 10 deliver a game just as compelling as the sport's annual Cinderella stories?

Loved
Men in Motion: This year's big gameplay innovation involves implementing the motion offense, which is to college basketball what the option is to college football - versatile, team-oriented and not really used in the professional league. NCAA Basketball 10 offers what appears to be a head-spinning variety of motion sets, but it's easy enough to implement them. You'll bring the ball up in a base motion offense and then by touching the left bumper (or L1) initiate the play. Your teammates then start cutting across the half court, with passing indicators either grayed or lit depending on whether they're open for the pass. Timing is a big key, and it takes a few games to learn how to hit your man right as his icon becomes lit; just waiting for a full color indicator results in a lot of standing around. The responsiveness can be frustrating at times - direct pass control can often zip passes completely across the half-court no problem, while a skip pass inside in the motion offense suddenly becomes a turnover because the indicator goes gray when you don't expect it. Still, getting the hang of the motion does deliver satisfying thrills unique to this style of game. Seeing your man curl off a screen to the top of the key, hitting him in stride and dropping the dagger three exemplifies the character of the college game, and indeed sets NCAA 10 apart from its pro sibling NBA Live.

Prime-Time Performer: Much has been made of this game's use of both ESPN and CBS's broadcast packages, and with slight quibbles they live up to the hype. The CBS "heartbeat" graphic opens that package over a black screen, followed by a cut to the network's title graphics, iconic theme song, and Gus Johnson introducing the arena and the competitors. ESPN's Brad Nessler, Dick Vitale and Erin Andrews return as voice talents but are accompanied by that network's graphics and theme music too. It instantly took me to a sports bar on a Wednesday night in January. Nessler and Vitale, as veterans, have a deeper script and provide the truest broadcast. I straight up enjoy anything Nessler does and Vitale is tolerable because, frankly, he's in a recording studio and doesn't have a specific coach (or two) with an ass for him to kiss all game long, the worst aspect of his schtick. Johnson does a great job delivering his inflections and his excitement in the situations you'd expect to hear it. Unfortunately, he and Bill Raftery are rookies and as such, go into repetition earlier than Vitale and Nessler. The wipes and graphics are true to life for both networks, although they sometimes hang before going back to the action. Shooters go to the free-throw line with a biography box, complete with a major, again, just like on television. I love it that the announcers talk about going to a commercial, over highlight footage or a sideline cinematic, when you call a timeout. The CBS Selection Sunday show is minimal but an utterly necessary touch, and it's always fun seeing another bracket and rating other teams' shot at the Final Four in addition to your own. In all, these features deliver a verisimilitude that will definitely fire you up at least the first few times you see it, and is always enjoyable.

Hated
That's All Folks?: The motion offense and the broadcast presentation, though both are substantial, are it, unfortunately, as far as gameplay and experience changes from NCAA Basketball 09. The dynasty mode is basically a carbon copy from the previous year and, disappointingly, its schedules out of the box are not authentic, and must wait for a patch on Tuesday to fix these. That will be when EA Sports rolls out the game's first Dynamic Update, new to this year. It is similar in basis to NBA Live's Dynamic DNA, in that it will provide the updated, current state of college basketball as a context for your singleplayer dynasty, with a real world Top 25 and RPI and announcer commentary responding to those numbers. There's no superstar career mode, although I know how much effort this would take to create as it has no analogue in NBA Live. Online play has one head-to-head mode and no online dynasty, which is now integrated into every other major sports title. If anything needed at least an online tournament mode, it would have to be NCAA Basketball, but its multiplayer capabilities remain previous-gen.

AI Doesn't Play Smart: NCAA 10 is still fundamentally the NBA Live engine, right down to the harebrained AI your players and the computer's will exhibit. Too many passes go to a man standing with a foot out of bounds to be acceptable. The opposing offense will inexplicably dribble down its clock and get locked into passing back-and-forth rather than attacking the basket. I've seen both on display in NBA 10. There also isn't much of a post-up offense to speak of, looking like a NBA Live 10 with its post mechanics stripped out before they were patched back in. In truth I didn't notice it that much because I was lobbing into the high post mostly to distribute the ball to a cutter, occasionally going one-on-one with a baby hook. You'll definitely want to bias the sliders toward more fouls at lower difficulties or shorter time lengths, as not enough are committed and when the CPU starts using them for clock management, it'll often have five or more to give before you go to the line. I also had issues with the point guard coming back to take the inbounds pass after a made basket, sometimes taking off for the wing immediately but looking back, I could have had some bizarre three-guard offense put in at the time.

Mild Manners: For a game with such polish in its presentation, what it's "broadcasting" comes off somewhat bland. There are too many generic looking players, and too many generic arenas for its mid-major teams and in tournament play. Over the course of a long season, the broadcast novelty will wear off and the games will start seeming to blur into one. For players, there are some 800 faces to choose from in create-a-player mode but the body types seem restricted to just a few templates. Until you build a familiarity with your roster it's hard to pick out key players because height in the college game, with 6-9 centers and 6-4 forwards, is not as matched to a position as it is in the pros. While all schools in the major conferences have their home arenas represented, tournament sites are generic until you reach the Final Four, and even then, the dimensions seem a lot more cramped than what you're used to seeing on the television. Also, I'm disappointed that the crowd and the commentary in tournament play seems to favor the designated home team as if it were a regular season game. College basketball has a rich tradition of tournament crowds kicking in for the underdog if they're close, or leading, late in a game. And overall, rather than the sustained jet-engine intensity peculiar to college arenas, the crowd's emotion rises and falls in waves, and cuts in inconsistently.

NCAA Basketball 10 is an odd duck to recommend. For a casual basketball fan with a lot of school pride, it's very entertaining, very accessible, and even educational in how it teaches you the basic college offenses. It's also a less complicated game to master than NCAA Football, so someone nostalgic for his campus days will be winning bragging rights faster here. Hardcore hoops junkies will at least want to see the motion offense and the CBS and ESPN packages, and will need more than a rental period to cut down the nets.

It's for the sports gamer or the basketball fan in the middle - not wed to a particular school or team, nor that fixated on offensive strategy - where NCAA 10 might fail to hold someone's attention. Of course, you don't have to run your offense through half-court motion sets. You can use a straight-up pick and roll, or drive and kick all by yourself. For those who prefer to play this way, it will feel very much like a reskinned NBA Live 10. And if there's anything bemoaned in the college game, it's the one-season mercenary who's already thinking of the pro game. NCAA Basketball 10 is likewise a fine performer that uses up its eligibility too soon.

NCAA Basketball 10 was developed by EA Sports Vancouver and published by Electronic Arts for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on Nov. 17. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played all game types in both single and multiplayer modes.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

"You hear that," Dougan, a producer in EA Sports' Vancouver studio, said after humming the tune "and wow - that is college basketball."

EA's college hoops title, even though it's in the second year of a competition-free, exclusive license arrangement, is taking a huge bite with this year's presentation. Full broadcast immersion - the package of real network announcers, graphics and music - has been on a sports gamer's wish list for a long time in many titles. NCAA Basketball 10 will be the first to dip its toe in the deep end of those expectations not once, but twice this year, presenting its games in the broadcast style of CBS and ESPN.

In season mode, "if your team is that good," of course, says Dougan, your weekday games will be broadcast with ESPN's Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale, using that network's signature key graphics, screen wipes, and music. Play on Saturday or Sunday, and maybe you're the over-the-air national game on CBS - called by Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery, with that network's visual package.

It gets better. If, say, you're North Carolina, playing down in the Maui Invitational, ESPN has the rights to that tournament in real life, and it'll be presented as such in this game. In the conference tournaments, you know how sometimes the broadcasts trade hands? For example, the SEC's semifinals are on ESPN but the finals are on CBS? NCAA Basketball 10 will switch accordingly. "We wouldn't be able to get approval otherwise," Dougan said, "and we wanted to do our best to make our broadcast partners happy."

It is a hell of a stab at sports immersion, taking on the guise of two real-world networks where no game has fully rendered one before. It's even ballsier considering there's no competing title, and that the Johnson-Raftery team not only had to come in to build that audio library from scratch, but the game will end up competing with itself as both will be measured against Nessler and Vitale's experience and deeper soundfile.

"To do one network's broadcast package is hard enough, and we had to do it well," Dougan said. "We're not going to be the first ones to do it for EA Sports and not nail it. We don't have that option. And here we decided to do two."

Creating the graphics wasn't as simple as dialing up a point of contact in Bristol, Conn. or New York, and asking for the network's files. "The way their systems work, their art doesn't translate well for us," Dougan said. "So we had to recreate it, based on references provided by them, or we just got it off tape. That's the overlays, the popups, the 3D screen wipes you see when they cut to a replay or the guy at the foul line."

Those wipes are both unique, not only in visual content, but in the space and time they take up on the screen. Keep in mind they're branded with the logo of the team in the game. And there are more than 300 in NCAA's Division I.

"And every broadcast package has multiple size logos. And then you have to times that by two," Dougan said. "It was a nasty challenge."

It gets so pointilistic, Dougan said, when a player comes to the line in a national broadcast, the networks usually throw up his vital stats, which include his college major. NCAA Basketball 10 had to build in a randomizer to give players a major for just such a presentation. "We've got the guys in there who are communications, or undeclared. We've got biology, performing arts," Dougan said, chuckling. (If you create a player, he will get a major but it'll be assigned by the game, you don't get to pick it.)

When tournament time comes, Dougan said, the graphics will incorporate bracket progression and other tournament specific details, entirely done in the branding of CBS, the Final Four network since 1982. And that ...

Well, that brings up the number one question:

"No, it's not in the game," Dougan said. "We do not have ‘One Shining Moment.' "

The misty-eyed melody CBS always plays at the end of the championship game, to a reel of the tournament's best highlights, is the one iconic feature of March Madness not present in this build.

"That's something we really wanted to do, but you'd be surprised how much the dude wants - or how much that song actually costs," Dougan said. "But yes, what would be the ultimate, is if we had a video highlight montage with that song."

I asked if this broadcast immersion was a proof of concept for other EA Sports titles; Dougan didn't want to speak to what other EA Sports teams were doing (though they do work together EA Tiburon helped out with the Lucas Oil Stadum build, the site of this year's Final Four in Indianapolis.)

But he made clear that, even though 2K Sports is no longer a competitor in college basketball, it doesn't mean College Basketball 2K10 has no competition. It is the last major sports title to release before the holiday season, when gift givers are considering not only which sports game to buy, but which game overall.

"You look at where we are, NCAA Basketball isn't as popular as, say, Madden," Dougan said. "But we're still competing with it. We're competing with other sports video games, or even Call of Duty. If someone only has $60 to spend on one video game, we need to give them something that's going to drive a purchase."

The double-broadcast package was arduous - taking up 60 percent of the development cycle, he guessed. But it was worth it.

"This is something we need to provide people, in order to grow our game and market."

Stick Jockey is Kotaku's column on sports video games. It appears Saturdays at 10 a.m. U.S. Mountain time.

More than just table overlays and title graphics, EA Sports is including signature wipes and other elements specific to both networks.

Our lead screen artist had to create 2 sets of broadcast specific logo sets (that are used in different overlays and wipes) for every team in the game. That's over 600+ unique pieces of art for logos alone! You'll see these logos in various overlays like National Top 25, player stat pop ups and team/player montage wipes (to name a few).

So, you can see this was nowhere near as simple as swapping colors or logos.

People who watch college basketball are used to seeing and extracting info out of the score overlays and montages during the games they watch on ESPN and CBS Sports. We had to nail this functionality and be true to the broadcast in order to make it authentic and easy to gather info and make changes based on that information. It is also a lot of fun knowing that the stats showing up in the ESPN or CBS Sports broadcasted game you are playing are a direct result of you playing a game or working through a dynasty. ESPN and CBS Sports are recording and surfacing YOUR stats, YOUR team's averages, YOUR work.

NCAA Basketball 10 - CBS and ESPN Presentation Packages [Inside EA Sports via Pasta Padre]

This I honestly did not know. EA Sports is bringing in two different major networks' signature voice talents and graphics packages for a single title. Color me impressed. That's seriously delivering it's-in-the-game verisimilitude. If they have a DLC package of Jim Thacker and Billy Packer and the old Jefferson Pilot ACC broadcast graphics from 1978, I'll go camp out for my copy like it's January back on Tobacco Road. Now I'm humming the jingle again ... Sail with the Pilot ...

As a couple of unicorn-loving tipsters with a thirst for sporting news have informed us, inputting the infamous Konami cheat code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, enter) will infest the official ESPN web site with mystical ponies. And they'll keep spawning if you keep clicking.

Not only do you get an eyeful of unicorn and rainbow, you'll also get a heaping help of Comic Sans. And every story will become "cute," "magical" or "sparkly." Thanks to Ken and CronoX2 for the mystical tip!

Update: Looks like ESPN.com has removed the "Cornify" code from the majority of its web site. It was glorious while it lasted.

The Nintendo Fan Network kicked off in 2007, giving DS-holding visitors to Seattle's Safeco field access to game stats, video, and remote food ordering during the home games of the Nintendo-owned Mariners. Now Nintendo has teamed up with ESPN to deliver even more convenience to Mariners' fans, with the addition of sports news, ESPN columns, closed-captioning for PA announcements, and a special ESPN Zoom photo matching game.

"ESPN has a long heritage of embracing emerging media platforms to deliver unique experiences to fans," said John Zehr, senior vice president, digital media production and product development. "Our collaboration with the Nintendo Fan Network is a direct extension of the ESPN mission to enliven the sports experience, no matter how or where fans are consuming sports."

In celebration of the Nintendo DSi, the first 150 fans attending each Mariners home game will receive a free DSi rental in order to partake of the special features.

I really wish they would roll out this sort of feature at more ball parks, but I suppose Nintendo would have to buy more teams before that could happen. Oh well.

Whatever it is, ESPN has just won the rights to take its baseball 'content' and pump it out through new distribution channels. As well as the ESPN website and the obligatory voguish handhelds via the iTunes store, the sports network will also be bringing baseball footage to Xbox Live.

ESPN will be simulcasting Sunday/Monday/Wednesday Night Baseballl and special events as well as selected show footage and game highlights. The network is also committed to developing interactive services based around its baseball content.

ESPN gets digital rights to put baseball on more devices [USA Today]

Gamers sue EA over football exclusivity [GameSpot]

ESPN will be on hand at all of this year's MLG Pro Circuit Competitions, with coverage appearing online at ESPN360.com at the very least. Thrilling, no? The prospect of hearing from your favorite wispy virtual athletes with extremely toned thumbs? Sign us up!

Additionally, we've signed a content agreement with the press release. Our contractual obligation is after the jump.

ESPN Enters Content Agreement With Major League Gaming

ESPN.com, the leading online sports destination, today announced it has entered a content agreement with Major League Gaming (MLG), the leading professional video game league.

ESPN will serve as a primary outlet for news about MLG, providing extensive digital coverage of MLG's 2008 Pro Circuit Competitions, including exclusive streamed matches, pro player interviews, and scores and stats. Additionally, MLG will host ESPN co-branded online video game tournaments.

ESPN will be on site at each of the 2008 MLG Pro Circuit Competitions, reporting news from its own coverage booth for various ESPN programs and platforms, including ESPN360.com, ESPN's signature broadband sports network.

Additionally, ESPN.com will launch a competitive video gaming section (http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/mlg ) replete with all of the latest news, information and video as it relates to competitive gaming. The section will include background on MLG, interviews with marquee players, video from past competitions and the ESPN/MLG Top Ten, which includes regularly updated video highlighting top game play from MLG pros and players. ESPN.com will announce details of MLG's 2008 Pro Circuit season in the coming weeks.

"ESPN is committed to serving our fans, and we recognize the growing popularity of pro video gaming," said John Kosner, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN digital media. "Adding MLG content to our already comprehensive offering will help us continue to deliver the best news, information and entertainment to our growing gaming audience."

"Pro video gaming offers sports fans everything they love about sports—great teams, break-out personalities and stars, and exciting competition," said Matthew Bromberg, President and CEO of Major League Gaming. "MLG's digital properties now reach over four million fans a month, and millions more follow the League on TV, mobile devices, and X-Box Live. We're excited to build upon that audience with ESPN."

ESPN.com's video game section (ESPNVideogames.com) is the leading online destination for the latest sports gaming news, analysis, reviews, rankings, video, teasers, cheats, podcasts and the home of game simulations (including Madden, NCAA Football, NBA Live and NASCAR).

About ESPN

ESPN, Inc. is the leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company with over 50 business entities. Sports media assets include ESPN on ABC, six domestic cable television networks, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com and other growing businesses, including ESPN360.com (Broadband), ESPN Mobile Products (wireless), ESPN On Demand, ESPN Interactive and ESPN PPV.

About Major League Gaming
Major League Gaming is North America's first professional videogame league, and its only sanctioning body for pro gaming. MLG operates the multi-city MLG Pro Circuit, presented by GameStop and powered by Xbox 360; produces compelling competitions for national television, broadband and mobile distribution; and exclusively represents the best gamers in the world. It also operates a thriving online community and online tournaments for millions of gamers at mlgpro.com. MLG, founded in 2002, is based in New York City and is privately held.

There is a great opportunity to take EA Sports and turn it into a general sports brand that can compete not only with Take-Two and Konami and the other usual suspects in the videogame world...[but also] to look at ourselves in a different way and compete with the likes of Nike and ESPN to win the hearts and minds of a very desirable demographic group, which is the 14-to-34-year-old male worldwide.

...I think we have an opportunity to aggregate information and bring it to life with video technologies.

It sounds like Moore is fitting right in at his new job.

EA Sports' Moore Puts ESPN in Crosshairs [nextgeneration]

Gaming is an important and fast-growing part of a fan's connection to sports. The ESPN Arcade is the latest addition to ESPN's array of gaming initiatives — casual online games now join fantasy games, innovative content integration within console games, and news, information and reviews — all to provide sports fans with interactive connections to sports.

Sometimes I miss the days when people would actually go outside to play sports. Kim Phu

ESPN adding video games to Web site [Game Daily]

Beginning in August, thanks to a deal with The Weather Channel, a Madden '08 NFL game at the Baltimore Ravens' stadium automatically will be set in the snow if it happens to be snowing that day on Maryland's Atlantic coast. Similar innovations soon will allow an option to incorporate current sports news and statistics from ESPN into the game.

"So if a guy in the real world twists his ankle, you can't use him in the game until he gets back," said Aaron LaBerge, senior vice president of technology and product development for ESPN.

A baseball star on a hot streak temporarily could become a better hitter in EA Sports' MLB title. A Cinderella upset in the NCAA basketball tournament immediately could be reflected in the March Madness video game, he said.

Stereotyping should tell you that as a girl I'm not really into sports, but honestly, I think this is a crazy good idea. If anything, video games have created a new interest in sports I previously didn't like by teaching me the nuances of the game. Bringing it back to what is currently going on in sports news is genius. Kim Phu

Sports Video Games Go Real-Time [Denver Post]

Unfortunate for them. But fortunately for me, that custom cover for NCAA 07 featuring Jack Ikegwuonu for the Xbox was already made!

Hey dudes, the Xbox really isn't that expensive. You can get one used (obviously not a concern) for, like, a hundred bucks! You really want to risk a fine, jail time and potentially ruining your college football career.

Oh wait, you're college athletes. You pretty much have immunity to do whatever you want! Michael McWhertor

Ikegwuonu faces charges after weekend arrest [ESPN]

Tonight's episode of SportsCenter will feature nothing but delicious advertising from our very own hometown hero, the Xbox 360. Nestled between the wisecracks and coverage of today's sports news will be beloved Microsoft ads, including the fan-fave Gears of War "Mad World" spot as well as the premiere of the Cops & Robbers commercial.

This very special episode of the jock must-see program signifies the kick off of the "Ultimate Xbox 360 Experience Sweepstakes" and watching the ads will help you win. Answer a series of five questions online about the ads and you could win a trip to the SportsCenter set or an Xbox 360 package.

Those of you with bedtimes before 11 PM EST can watch the ads online at the contest site. The rest of you night owls should tune in at 8 PM PST/11 PM EST for your chance to win. Keep in mind you're competing with ME so don't try too hard. Michael McWhertor

Ultimate Xbox 360 Experience Sweepstakes

ESPN AND MICROSOFT UNVEIL "THE ULTIMATE XBOX 360 ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCE" SWEEPSTAKES ON SPORTSCENTER

Tune in tonight to ESPN's SportsCenter at 8pm PST/ 11:00 pm EST for a sports program packed with an Xbox 360 punch. As the sole advertiser during this special edition of SportsCenter, Microsoft will air a total of seven minutes of national commercial time with compelling Xbox 360 ads such as "Cops and Robbers" and "Mad World." Microsoft and ESPN also kick off "The Ultimate Xbox 360 Entertainment Experience", a three week online sweepstakes with entry through www.Xbox360winitall.com. Viewers will be asked five questions about the commercial spots. If they get three or more correct, they will automatically be entered in the sweepstakes.

Once entered into the sweepstakes, people will have the opportunity to win a variety of prizes, including a free trip to Bristol, Connecticut to visit the set of ESPN's SportsCenter. Additional prizes include Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment systems, an assortment of Xbox 360 games and Xbox 360 accessories. The sweepstakes runs until December 18.

For the first time in the United States, Microsoft will also unveil the "Cops and Robbers" advertisement, which captures the gaming experience as an exhilarating adventure. In addition, viewers will have the opportunity to watch "Mad World," a cinematic commercial for "Gears of War," the new third-person tactical action/horror game developed by Epic Games exclusively for Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. As a testament to the popularity of the game and the response to the advertisement, the commercial has been downloaded online more than 1 million times and has been modified on community websites like YouTube.com in over 100 iterations.

"Gears of War" was shipped in North America on Tuesday, November 7th and has sold more than 1 million copies world-wide in just its first two weeks of release—elevating the game to the fastest-selling original next generation game of 2006.

"Xbox 360 and ESPN are a match made in heaven, as we both speak to the same audience," says Mike Fischer, general manager of U.S. Games Marketing. "The Xbox 360 is the best way to take passion for competitive games, including competitive sports to the next level with the great lineup of hi-def games, including games for every major league sport. This media relationship provides a sweet spot to spread the word about our powerful next-generation Xbox 360 experience."

Xbox 360 as the sole advertiser for the November 28th SportsCenter is a testament to the popularity of the program and the strong demographic tie to the ESPN audience. Ed Erhardt, president, ESPN Customer Marketing and Sales added "We are constantly trying to create ways in which we provide advertisers with an opportunity to break through the clutter for high impact in the marketplace."

SportsCenter is ESPN's flagship news program and provides television's most thorough and entertaining presentation of the day's news in sports. Having revolutionized televised sports news, SportsCenter anchors ESPN, Inc.'s 24-hour news and information franchise.

ESPN televises more than 23 hours of live SportsCenter each week - three times daily at 6:00 p.m. ET, 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. Additional live editions of SportsCenter are featured Saturday mornings at 10:00 a.m. and Sunday mornings, currently at 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The 1 a.m. (10:00 p.m. PT) SportsCenter is re-aired at 2 a.m., with live updates as needed each night, and on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and Sundays from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

For more information about the sweepstakes, visit www.Xbox360winitall.com on Tuesday, November 28.

Electronic Arts sends word that the 2006 EA Sports Madden Bowl will be shown on ESPN tonight at 9:30 p.m. EST.

The bowl was filmed at the Colony Club in Detroit during the week of the Super Bowl XL and hosted by Trey Wingo of ESPN.

The annual bowl pits the top eight MAdden gamers in the NFL against each other in a sudden death tourney. The two part show will wrap-up on Thursday, April 27.

Hit the jump for the list of the competitors and a full list of air times.

The PlayersWillis McGahee (Buffalo Bills)
Marcus Trufant (Seattle Seahawks)
Edgerrin James (Arizona Cardinals)
Chad Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals)
Alex Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers)
Mark Clayton (Baltimore Ravens)
Santana Moss (Washington Redskins)

Full Madden Bowl air schedule on ESPN and ESPN2 (all times EST):
ESPN THU 4/20/2006 09:30PM Episode 1
ESPN THU 4/27/2006 09:30PM Episode 2
ESPN FRI 4/28/2006 01:00PM Episode 1
ESPN FRI 4/28/2006 01:30PM Episode 2
ESPN THU 5/11/2006 01:00PM Episode 1
ESPN THU 5/18/2006 01:00PM Episode 2
ESPN2 THU 4/27/2006 10:00PM Episode 1
ESPN2 THU 4/27/2006 10:30PM Episode 2
ESPN2 FRI 4/28/2006 12:00AM Episode 1
ESPN2 FRI 4/28/2006 12:30AM Episode 2
ESPN2 SUN 4/30/2006 12:30AM Episode 1
ESPN2 SUN 4/30/2006 01:00AM Episode 2

Also you can catch Madden Nation at these times:
ESPN2 WED 4/26/2006 12:00AM
ESPN2 WED 4/26/2006 12:30AM
ESPN2 SUN 4/30/2006 01:30AM
ESPN2 SUN 4/30/2006 02:00AM
ESPN2 SUN 4/30/2006 02:30AM
ESPN2 WED 5/3/2006 12:00AM
ESPN2 WED 5/3/2006 12:30AM
ESPN THU 5/4/2006 01:00PM
ESPN2 WED 5/10/2006 12:00AM
ESPN2 WED 5/10/2006 12:30AM
ESPN2 WED 5/17/2006 12:00AM
ESPN2 WED 5/17/2006 12:30AM

I also received a single email accusing me of going off half-cocked. So, to be fair, I went back and set up a second account and this time wrote down the "Subscribe to Play Online" agreement word for word.

I also typed up the ESPN Sponsorship agreement for your perusal. I didn't type up the 22 page Privacy Policy from ESPN which says things like: ESPN can share your personal information with other subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company and third parties so they they can send you promotional material. (They can do this through email, mail or "other means"... like phone perhaps.)

What this all boils down to is that, ESPN offers to pay your $2 fee in return for having the right to contact you with offers and the right to give you information to just about anyone. While there are two examples of the offers that ESPN can hit you up with, there is nothing in the terms that says they can't also send you offers for AOL subscriptions, good deals on Rolex watches or even miracle grow for your penis.

Hit the jump for the full agreements.

Subscribe to Play Online

Thanks to ESPN, you can play this EA Sports product online as part of EA Nation at no charge! By accepting the ESPN sponsorship, I will allow ESPN to pay my $2.00 online subscription for this game and understand that ESPN may contact me with offers and promotions such as subscriptions to ESPN the MAgazine and ESPN Insider.

Pay by credit card
ESPN Sponsored
Quit

ESPN Sponsorship

By clicking Accept, I agree to ESPN's sponsorship. I understand that if I am at least 18, ESPN will contact me with offers and promotions and I am authorizing EA to share my EA account membership information with ESPN in the United States. ESPN's use of my account information is subject to the ESPN Privacy Policy, which I have read and I accept.

Reality TV may be going too far. EA and ESPN announced a partnership that will launch a reality TV program focused on, playing games. Instead of the show being the game, a la Survivor, the 13 best Madden players will team up with NFL player/sponsors for games that lead to the $100k finale, which airs Dec. 27. Two episodes air tonight on ESPN 2 starting at 11 p.m., two more will air each Tuesday during the eight episode run. No Kotaku editors are good enough at Madden to participate, we're all sorry.