Xbox360Achievements.org is once again staging the final run at this damn-near-impossible mark, which appeared in the first achievement-enabled version of EA Sports' hoops franchise and was not carried over to successive versions, for obvious reasons. X360A says "there have been only two times when this has been achieved." They'll try to make it three on Jan. 31, which is a Sunday.

They're trying to get 1,000 signed in at 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern, 10 a.m. U.S. Pacific (6 p.m. GMT). They promise "multiple x360a rooms set up, with staff and senior members heading up the rooms."

So, if you have the game, or can rent it, steal it, or buy it for a dollar-ninety-five from your local bargain bin, that's an easy 100 gamerscore just for showing up. Rumor has it that one person can sign in up to four controllers on the same console and still have it count toward the 1,000. X360A has contacted EA Sports for clarification.

NBA Live 1,000 People Online - Take 2 [Xbox360Achievements.org]

Not only have a slew of new, blockbuster titles come out for the emerging platform, Apple finally realized that maybe they should wake up and start touting the gaming benefits of their smartphone and media player.

This is by no means all of the iPhone and iPod Touch games we reviewed this year, but it's a quick look at some of the more memorable ones. Don't forget, just because they're download only, doesn't mean you can't present a list with the iTunes card you give someone.

Any we missed? Any you would suggest for a friend?

Asphalt 5

Price: $6.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: Racing
Subject Matter: Gameloft brings Burnout's adrenaline-amping crashes and Ridge Racer's wind-in-your-hair thrills to the iPhone with Asphalt 5.
Value: A strong competitor to the PSP's racing games, Asphalt 5 offers three modes-quick race, career, local and online multi-player, 33 cars, 12 tracks, vehicle customization, and unlockable stat-boosting babes.
Buy it for: Gamers ready to go vroom.
Read the Full Review

Command & Conquer: Red Alert

Price: $9.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: Real Time Strategy
Subject Matter: EA brings its over-the-top real-time strategy series to the iPhone, allowing on-the-go gamers to wage war wherever they please.
Value: While things like C&C's cheesy cinematics didn't make the leap to the iPhone, the platform's touch screen display is ideal for RTS style gaming.
Buy it for: RTS players looking for a mobile strategy game.
Read the Full Review

Doom Resurrection

Price: $6.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: First-person touchscreen shooter
Subject Matter: Loosely based on Doom 3, Resurrection is an impressive port of the demonic sci-fi FPS that's easily controlled with the iPhone's accelerometer.
Value: As iPhone games go, Doom Resurrection is priced almost right, offering a solid campaign, but not much more.
Buy it for: budding space marines who enjoy killing hellspawn between phone calls.
Read the Full Review

Dungeon Hunter

Price: $6.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Diablo-esque action.
Subject Matter: Dungeon Hunter has gamers play as a fallen prince back from the dead to save the kingdom from his evil wife. Plenty of dungeon crawling, loot gathering and virtual button-mashing in this game.
Value: A single play-through of the game can take 25 hours, and there are three character classes to play with. This is probably the best value you'll find on the iPhone or iPod Touch.
Buy it for: fans of adventure games like Diablo and light role-playing titles.
Read the Full Review

Madden NFL
Price: $9.99
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: EA Sports delivers its bestselling Madden franchise to the iPhone for the first time.
Value: Fully licensed, with all of the teams, players and game modes from the console version of the definitive NFL video game title.
Buy it for: A great stocking stuffer for any football fan with an iPhone or iPod Touch.
Read the Full Review

Metal Gear Solid Touch

Price: $0.99 to $9.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: Third-person touchscreen shooter
Subject Matter: Metal Gear Solid Touch brings 20 stages lifted from Metal Gear Solid 4 but focuses more on arcade-style touchscreen shooting than the stealth gameplay that Solid Snake is famous for.
Value: Depending on how much you pay (the game was marked down to 99 cents recently) MGS Touch offers a decent amount of replayability and cool items to unlock.
Buy it for: the serious as a heart attack Metal Gear fan who doesn't have access to a PlayStation.
Read the Full Review

NBA Live
Price: $9.99
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: The NBA goes mobile in EA Sports' first port of its popular pro basketball simulation.
Value: All teams, all players, plus season, playoffs, and pick-up-and-play modes, with customizable rosters.
Buy it for: Any hoophead with a gadget fixation will love having a full basketball sim in his or her pocket.
Read the Full Review

Resident Evil 4 Mobile Edition

Price: $6.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Shooter
Subject Matter: Resident Evil 4 Mobile Edition is a screen-tapping, stop-and-pop, suspense shooter.
Value: With a dozen settings and two dozen timed stages, this iPhone title is worth the money.
Buy it for: Resident Evil fans, shooter fans, anyone interested in gaming on their phone or Touch.
Read the Full Review

Rock Band

Price: $9.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: Music
Subject Matter: It's Rock Band. It's on the iPhone. Yeah!
Value: Packed with 20 tracks, Rock Band has a set list that boasts the likes of Foo Fighters, the Pixies and Joan Jett. Players can jam on all four instruments. Multiplayer supports up to four.
Buy it for: Music game lovers on the go.
Read the Full Review

Rolando 2

Price: $4.99
Rating: 4+
Genre: A charming side-scrolling puzzler.
Subject Matter: This sequel to last-year's must-have iPhone game, Rolando 2 introduces more story, character development and challenges.
Value: This is the first time Luke has ever played an iPhone that felt truly substantial.
Buy it for: fans of LocoRoco, Rolando or cute, cleverly-crafted puzzle games..
Read the Full Review

Space Invaders Infinity Gene

Price: $4.99
Rating: 4+
Genre: Shoot em up
Subject Matter: Space Invaders Infinity Gene is a re-imagining of 70s classic arcade game Space Invaders.
Value: One of the most played games on my iPhone, Space Invaders Infinity Gene offers you 19 levels with a number of interesting new weapons. But almost more importantly, the game can create levels on the fly designed around music played from your iPhone or iPod Touch's music library.
Buy it for: fans of Space Invaders, fans of shoot-em ups, fans of fun.
Read the Full Review

Star Defense
Price: $.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Tower defense
Subject Matter: Defend a planet outpost from an amazingly orderly bunch of aliens walking there way along the paths that lead from landing port to your base.
Value: It's just a buck, and it's a ton of fun.
Buy it for: Fans of tower defense and globes.
Read the Full Review

Streets of Rage

Price: $4.99
Rating: 12+
Genre: Genesis brawling side-scroller
Subject Matter: This is a straight-up emulation of the Sega classic for the Genesis with chop-socky music and over-the-top tiny graphics.
Value: Not much of a deal here even at $5. It's a straight, troubled port.
Buy it for: With a bad framerate and problematic controls, only hardcore fans of the game and nostalgia freaks should get this.
Read the Full Review

Waterways

Price: $.99
Rating: 4+
Genre: Puzzler
Subject Matter: Winner of the 2008 Japan GameGam Competition, Waterways is a puzzle game with cows, ducks and water.
Value: For a penny shy of a dollar you can't go wrong with this portable game.
Buy it for: Puzzle enthusiasts who want a some brain teasing on the go.
Read the Full Review

Zenonia

Price: $2.99
Rating: 9+
Genre: Adventure role-playing game.
Subject Matter: Zenonia follows a young man named Regret as he searches for answers to the mystery surrounding his birth after the sudden death of the man who raised him.
Value:With about 20 hours worth of play and the ability to choose good and evil paths, this is a no brainer.
Buy it for: fans of The Legend of Zelda.
Read the Full Review

Loved
Under control: Honestly thought I'd hate the controls, considering this is five-on-five basketball with not a joystick in sight. But getting the hang of them - specifically knowing how much space your juke moves take up, so you can finish a dunk or pull-up jumper - you can run some entertaining, mostly arcade ball with occasional flourishes of realism. (Though, dunks and drives to the basic seemed to be a little too easy, allowing you to brute-force your way out of trouble most of the time.) A blue ball button controls both quick passing and your jukes (by flicking it in one of four directions) and so sometimes, you'll make a crossover when you want to kick out to the nearest man. But the offensive setup capably handles the most difficult part of video game basketball - ball distribution. Pressing and holding the blue button allows you to select a player to receive a pass, in case you have a man free on the wing and the AI isn't highlighting him. And a clipboard icon allows you to call basic plays, like a pick-and-roll or isolation. Defense, I didn't like how your man instantly became a step slower as soon as you switched over to control him. It made defending in transition - and the computer is much better running and gunning than running set plays - a total crapshoot. After a while you learn how to play a guy off the ball, get him in position, and pick up easy steals and blocks, which are your main forms of active defense as the rest is handled by AI.

The Full Package: Like Madden, EA Sports shoehorns as much of its full console experience into this device as possible. You have a season, playoffs and a quick game mode at three levels of difficulty, for both AI and how fouls and penalties are called. At the easy level, backcourt violations, going out of bounds and three-second violations are nonexistent, and they give you breathing room to run your game without turning your learning process into nonstop punishment. In season mode you can go right up to 12 minute quarters and 82 games if your commute is that long. Trades and roster management are enabled, but the former is more like "move players as you wish," because there is no trade AI. (Hello, Dwight Howard-for-Nene trade!) Three-minute quarters for me produced enough results in the 30-40 point range to be satisfying.

Hated
Some Inconsistencies: My wi-fi access is on by default, and I was struggling with some bad framerate drops until I switched it off on a hunch. That seemed to help but there are still some inexplicable lags that make this finesse game feel a little clumsy. Although this is a device and not a game limitation, it feels very cramped playing on an NBA halfcourt with 10 guys on this size of a screen, from the broadcast angle. You can switch to a baseline view that magnifies things but I found the constant camera zooming and movement to be a little dizzying. Contesting shots and going for rebounds, especially in traffic, left me wondering whether I'd grabbed the miss or recovered the ball after a block. Marv Albert's commentary isn't helpful in telling me, either, as misses are either "Comes up short!" or "Off the mark!" or "Rejected emphatically!" His presence lends authenticity but is very, very repetitive. And finally, there were some puzzling AI sequences at the lower difficulties, especially in the final possessions of a quarter, where the opposing team would do things like pass the ball between two guys, repeatedly, or hold the ball until a 24-second violation sounded the horn.

NBA Live has enough of a learning curve, and a large enough price, to be a serious purchase and not an impulse buy. Those who enjoy video game basketball can pick it up easy enough. But you should have a lot of time or desire to play it on your mobile for you to see value in the title, because it requires exploration. It's clear NBA Live on the iPhone is also meant as an entry product to get you to think about its larger sibling. Ultimately, it succeeds, and does so without resorting to fun-size cop-outs like three-on-three, or dumbed-down controls.

NBA Live by EA Sports was developed by EA Mobile published by Electronic Arts for the iPhone and iPod Touch on Oct. 23. Retails for $9.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played all game types and difficulties.)

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Dynamic DNA, now in its second season, draws on analysis provided by Synergy Sports Technology, and breaks down the trends, tendencies, streaks and performances of players across the entire league. That's be incorporated into your own NBA Live 10 gameplay, both in how these players and teams perform and how the announcing team calls the action.

Just as important, a huge patch has rolled out and is now available for for owners of the Xbox 360 version, and will be available on Thursday for PS3 players. It delivers a multitude of gameplay fixes and enhancements drawn from community feedback during the game's first month on the market.

Most notably, backdown postures have returned with a click of the right thumbstick, returning a more familiar presentation of post play to the game. A lockdown perimeter defense feature also has been added, plus better touch on keeping your defender in front of his man.

The entire list of enhancements and fixes, according to an EA Sports news release, is below.

Enhancements:

• Auto-switch to PG on defense after a made basket
• Enabled rim stuffs. Now when you try to dunk in traffic, there's a chance you'll brick the dunk.
• Tune nets to make them a bit less stiff
• Added more variation to "get back" animations after made shots. Less "skipping" back.
• Disabled the canned scenario steal that happens when you rip the ball from a player who is sizing up. Instead, we allow actual collision with the ball if the defender performs a steal while a ball handler is making a dribble move. Makes for a much more read and react, twitch game on defense.
• Improved Freestyle pass animation selection to prevent guys from bursting into a sprint while passing on the move.
• Backdown button is back. Enabled right thumbstick click to toggle between face up and backdown postures.
• Disabled the turnaround jumpshot that would play if the shooter is facing away from the hoop when outside of 18 feet. So instead of a turnaround three, players will pivot and shoot a regular jumpshot.
• Minor tuning to shot and layup percentages.
• Improved responsiveness and AI's usage of off ball cuts.
• Stop the rebounder from running up court too early after securing a rebound
• Improvements to reception logic, specifically square up catches
• Improve player reaction to loose ball situations
• Left analog passing improvements: Update analog angle metric to consider the receiver's destination so you can lead the receiver with the pass
• Improved the logic of when to play a standing reception vs. a moving reception based on the receiver's momentum and position on the court.
• Added the ability to "lockdown" perimeter ball handlers (by pressing into them) and force them into a protect dribble state.
• Ability to shoot "runners" on demand by driving toward the basket, neutralizing the left analog stick and hitting the Shot Button. Works inside of 18 feet.
• Improvements to user on ball defense. Made it easier to stay in front of the ball without "slipping off" when you move your left stick toward the ball handler.
• Anti-cheese code. Prevent users from being able to take off ball control of players and run them under the hoop for the cheap pass and dunk.
• Inbound flow improvements. Allow the inbounder to move to multiple (closer) locations along the baseline after picking up the ball.
• User control over shot contest vs. block. Tap of the Block button will always yield a contest animation. Regular press will always jump to block.
• Several improvements for end of game AI logic. When the AI is ahead, they'll do a better job at recognizing time and score and use more clock. If they're trailing, they'll accelerate the offense.
• Improve AI logic for pump fake biting. AI defenders will be smarter about defending pumpfakes according to difficulty level. Previously, the higher the level, the more often they'd bite. Also, if user is pump faking multiple times in succession, the AI will stay down.

Bug Fixes:

• Smooth out some of the gameplay by tuning blend times for passes as well as some various fixes for blend pops across the board.
• Exploit fix. Fixed bug in shot calculator that would make stepback jumpshots that crossed the 3pt line have unrealistically high FG%s.
• Fixed sliding and warping during standing rebounds
• Addressed issue where defenders would sometimes watch the ball fall off the rim. Increase the allowable distance for a teammate to come help.
• Player Lock fixed. AI teammates will now make decisions on their own when user is player locked off ball.
• Put the ball handler into protect dribble if the on ball defender attempts to crowd him. Previously, the ball handler would not recognize the defender and just expose the ball.
• "Rocket dunks" fixed. Fixed a bug that was causing dunks to speed up by 30% and added code to have dunks retain the shooter's on-ground velocity, preserving his momentum after takeoff. Also applies to layups.
• Various post play fixes, including the case where two guys would stand next to each other while one of them was posting up.
• Addressed a potential exploit where it would be too easy to pass to cutters for dunks. As part of this fix, we now allow ball collisions on passes when passing into the paint.
• AI Stagnation fixes: Ball handler would sometimes not properly pass to receivers in a play. Also, we allow the ball handler to "improvise" if we detect he's been idling for too long.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes an off ball cut animation wouldn't properly settle into the correct spot.
• Restricted the post up and under move to within 12' of the basket. No more ridiculous up and under heaves from deep.
• Fixed an issue where off ball post players would sometimes quickly go in and out of post battles, significantly cutting down on jitter.
• Fix for big men waiting too long to outlet the ball after rebounding
• Fix for fidgety box outs. They should kick in more reliably now.
• Prevent user passes to teammates who will be out of bounds or to teammates in the backcourt after they've crossed the timeline.
• Improve goaltending calls
• Fixed ball physics for blocked layups/dunks. There was a mirroring issue that was causing the ball to shoot off in the complete opposite direction of its intended path.
• Fixes for animation oscillation on defense (i.e. jittery movement)
• Fixed a bug that would cause certain off ball movement animations to not mirror properly
• Series of small fixes to prevent balls from hitting the floor during rebounds.
• Fix for shooting fouls not properly getting called on collision layups. This will yield more realistic free throw attempts for both the user and CPU.
• Put in a fix to mitigate the excessive turnovers inside the paint, specifically after pulling down an offensive rebound. Gives users a little more time to pass out or attempt a shot when they get in congested areas in the paint.
• Smoother ball handler post up entries. Sometimes guys would "pop" into place.
• Fixed issue where players would sometimes "freeze" in an off ball post battle before receiving a pass.
• Fixed bug where the "check assignment indicator" would draw on one of your own teammates in LIVE RUN games.

Last year's version of NBA Live finally helped the franchise pick itself off the mat in the next generation of consoles, where barely acceptable offerings had trailed NBA 2K10's best-in-class effort for years. This year EA Sports Vancouver pushed the focus to team play rather than flashy individual performances and animations. The product is a clean, accessible game with a strong underpinning of realism, and a level of player control that sets it apart.

Edit: In the interest of accuracy, the opening sequence does not use the word "revival." Instead it's "arrival." However, the sentiment stands. It's a revival of the franchise.

Loved
Everyone's under control: Whatever your style of play, the ability to custom-move off-ball player with a trigger-button-stick combination is a strong positive. This isn't a command to an AI, this is you physically moving one player while another has the ball. It creates lots of catch-and-shoot opportunities at the perimeter and do-it-yourself plays that are more technically satisfying than run-and-gun basketball. They're also more efficient - sometimes a little too efficient - than some of the set plays you draw up. You also have the "dynamic quick play" button which basically tells your hottest (or nearest) scorer at the moment "get open." These wielded in combination with the quick pick-and-roll's improved control, give you an impressive sense of power getting the ball in the basket, without ever beating your man off the dribble or going one-on-one. It rebalances the focus on team play and easily does the most to recommend this game.

Fancy passing is no passing fancy: In addition to the above, freestyle passing allows you greater directional control over where you whip the ball, even in traffic, rather than hoping the game AI doesn't send it to an unintended man covered up on the play. With this and the trigger/button direct-pass mechanism, there's almost never a reason to flick A/X unless you're just bringing the ball up. Like Magic and Bird, the controls make the assist cool again. Hell, it makes the outlet pass cool. More importantly, with a clampdown on speed and what you can get away with taking the ball to the hole, NBA 10 places a greater premium on spacing and open shots, and with the passing controls, it gives you the tools to create those opportunities.

Dynamic DNA: It's back again with another layer of fine-tuning and a year's worth of data to build upon. Not only do you get players whose performance is broken down by attribute score and tendency, you're presented with a thumbnail scouting report of your AI opponent in every game and the means to go much deeper in your franchise mode. By no means do I study player or team tendencies of the NBA, but I could sense that, in certain game situations, bad teams defaulted to type, superstars tried to take over (sometimes succeeding), and many other AI choices that seemed to be based on the game's breakdown of players, and not a coaching directive. You get the Lakers down by eight late in the game and Kobe's going to start bombing away, I assure you. Yeah, that's an easy call for any AI to make, but I swear that players who would prefer drives to one direction would hit a point in the game where they would take whatever was in front of them, suddenly defense got a lot easier, and that point at which every team in the NBA makes its run had passed.

Dynamic Season: This is fast becoming all the rage in games, and I don't know who exactly innovated it. But once the season gets going NBA Live 10 will allow you to drop back in time and replay any game on the schedule. That's different and that's a plus. Right out of the box you can pick key moments from the 2008-2009 regular and postseason, and almost immediately I started playing the epic Bulls-Celtics opening round series from the playoffs. It's not integrated into Dynasty Mode; but diehards can play along with their favorite team and change history for any disappointing result in real life.

Hated
Tone-deaf defense: Compared to 2K10, there's less subtlety in the distance your player covers when you move the stick even minutely, and playing man-to-man defense really exposes this. I overran a lot of plays and couldn't quite find the touch necessary to keep from being beaten off the dribble constantly. The standard ball-you-man fundamental, to cut off passing lanes, is hampered by an imprecise way to engage and stick to your man. In defending a shot, getting your hands up seems to have no effect, unless you keep them down, in which case you can count that bucket. It's the cross borne by defense in a game style that largely entertains with scoring, but the defensive controls doesn't feel as responsive as the offense. As such, it is more work and less fun in NBA Live 10.

Setting boundaries:: Again, pointing to the lack of finesse in player motion, there seemed to be some real AI issues with the boundary lines. Passes to the corner can be a faith-based affair, because your man will sometimes set up with a foot over the line and sit there. It does not happen all the time, but it's often enough to be unacceptable. There were also some backcourt violations that defied reality - I had a player run back across the timeline to take a pass in a kind of reset-the-offense way, even though we'd already inbounded the ball to that side of the court. The upside, I guess, is you can work this to your advantage. Sideline traps work often enough to feel like an exploit. Just call a double team, get the hands up and wait for the opposing ballhandler to step out of bounds. I got to the point where I did it on three straight possessions in a Finals game.

Who's (play) calling?: If you're not familiar with what basketball looks like beyond screens, picks, and drive-and-kick, calling set plays in this game will still be a puzzle for you. I'd order a play that had Nene posting up and he'd stand there, facing the basket, while Chris Andersen was backing down his guy and everyone had a full-color pass icon overhead. So I'd wonder if I was supposed to start the play by passing to someone else first and if so, who. Some icons are grayed, some are not. Pretty sure this exposes my lack of proficiency and familiarity with the game, but hey, I don't study the triangle-and-two in my spare time. The game touts playcalling that was advised by NBA scouts for added realism, but the execution was nowhere near as intuitive as NBA 2K10's, where icons on the floor direct you every step of the way. Plus, there's no practice mode in Live to try this out. Your games are your practice.

Postal Disservice: Down on the blocks you are on your own this year, big fella. The trigger/right-stick combos that formed your post-up offense are gone and replaced by ... nothing actually, which is a curious choice for a game featuring Dwight Howard on the cover. It's now entirely handled by the CPU whether your player posts up or not, and much like defensive engagement, I never got a feel for what automatically got me backing my guy down, ass to the basket. My advice is to wait for your swingman to do it on his own and then pass to him, maybe even direct him there with the off-ball control. But taking away post-up is going to leave some feeling really exposed, especially since the game's tightened up on what you can get away with in the lane and in traffic this year. Without the assuredness that you will actually stick your big ass into the defender and not face him head on and start running, interior play feels arbitrary and can make you look silly at times.

Sure, that's a lot of red ink up there, but on the whole, these are problems you can overcome or work through. NBA Live 10 is still a very inviting game. The crowd reaction is exceptional and the atmospheric difference between a regular season tilt - even a tight one - and the drama of the playoffs or the Finals, is quite palpable. To motion your man to the top of the key, shedding his defender as if you'd called for a screen, and then bury an overtime jumper provides a cathartic feeling of satisfaction. And the ability to order up this emotion in a quick play game is a definite plus, indulging the prototypical hoop dream of playing for the title, even when all you want to do is just play one game.

NBA Live 10 will deliver great moments and, especially with Dynamic Season, the individual games you want to play. The long haul of a season's worth of play is a different measure. With a direct competitor in 2K10 the first, if not only question for many is simply which one wins this year. But it is not a zero-sum proposition. I do consider NBA 2K10 to be the better package of the two, but NBA Live 10 is no less a worthy and enjoyable game in the presence of competition than it would be in the absence of it. It may not be a triumph over its rival. But in delivering a strong game for a second straight year, NBA Live is seeing the revival EA Sports wants it to be.

NBA Live 10 was developed by EA Vancouver and published by Electronic Arts for Xbox 360 and PS3 on Oct. 6. 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 singleplayer mode and tested online multiplayer.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Update: Doesn't sound like they made it. No word yet if they'll try again.

The game included a 100-point achievement for being signed in at the same time as 1,000 other players. This achievement was not included in later versions. For many completionists, it's the last barrier to getting all 15 achievements and 1,000 score.

So if you have NBA Live 07, log in now and stay online until 2 pm U.S. Mountain Time (40 minutes from now). You might pick up a stupid easy 100 points. You might also waste 40 minutes with a three-year old game, but hey, it's a Saturday. You had plans?

Boosting Gaming Session for NBA Live 07 [TrueAchievements]

EA first gave the set to gaming/hip-hop site The Koalition. And with Snoop, Mos Def, David Banner and the Beastie Boys, you've also got Mickey Factz and Mick Boogie. So here's your menu music while you're busy forcing through that Renaldo Balkman-for-Chris Paul trade, or whatever cheese you pull in franchise mode. Don't act like you don't do it, either.

• 88 Keys feat. Colin Munroe – Wake Up Call
• Afrika Bambaataa feat. Why G, Mickey Factz &The Fort Knox Five – Zulu!(We Don't Stop Yawl)
• B.o.B. – Champion
• Beastie Boys – Pop Your Balloon
• David Banner & GQ – S.P.I.T.
• De La Soul – La La La
• Dead Prez – Still Bigga Than
• Embassy Music Board – Overtime
• Grand Puba – Get It
• Laza – Crank It Up
• Matt & Kim feat. De La Soul – Daylight (Troublemaker Remix)
• Matt & Kim – Daylight
• Mick Boogie feat. Kidz In The Hall, Donnis & Daytona – Class Of Our Own
• Mickey Factz & B.o.B. – Mind Got Blown
• Mos Def feat. Talib Kweli – History
• Murs feat. Kurupt & Jay Rock – We Ballin'
• Pete Rock – When I Need It
• Reflection Eternal – Get Lite
• Rye Rye feat. Busy Signal – Get Like This
• Snoop Dogg – Lodi Dodi (LIVE 10)
• Wale feat. Jazmine Sullivan – World Tour
• Wyclef Jean feat. Haitian Fresh – Ballin'
• Xzibit feat. BJ The Chicago Kid & Poo Bear – Fanatic
• Young Dre The Truth & 2Pac feat. BJ The Chicago Kid – All Eyez On Me (The Truth)
• Zion I – Go Hard

NBA Live Tracklist Revealed [The Koalition]

Most of the star athletes were defeated in their own games. Tiger Woods went down before 52-year-old Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2009 world champ, Steven Ward. New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush was taken out by gamer Paul Glasgow in Madden NFL 2009. Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson lost a game of NBA Live to Steffon Dunlop — adding insult to his recent real-life injury on the court.

It didn't go much better for all-star athletes who tried their hand at other sports games:

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter tried his luck in FIFA Soccer but proved to be no match for Jose Miguel Morales Herrera (GT: CAPELLOOO) of Mexico. Before the match started, Jeter was asked if he was ready to begin. No, I just learned how to play this game five minutes ago, Jeter joked. Herrera said he would have rather played Tierra Henry but had a good time anyway. He let Jeter score in order to make it seem closer than it really was.

Aw, how sweet of him.

You can watch the Finals on Spike TV February 18.

Gamers dominate athletes in sports game competition

Holographic... interface?

Riccitiello also promised that the next NBA Live would take "a huge step up," with new features set to be unveiled at E3.

EA seems enthusiastic about its sports franchises, and Riccitiello says he expects EA Sports will help drive the company to an additional $1 billion in revenue and an 100 percent increase in operating income. Riccitiello was optimistic about the company's studio structure in general, also listing big things ahead for the Sims Studio: Two sequels for MySims, a new SimAnimals title, and the launch of The Sims 3.

"Our fiscal 09 operating plan keeps us on track to achieve our fiscal year target - even without Take Two," Riccitiello said.

During the same call, EA Games label president Frank Gibeau also expressed positive sentiments about EA's "city-state" label structure. "We have restructured... from a top-down and centralized model to a federation of highly creative teams, each with our own culture and vision," he said, noting a broad range of studios and properties from EA Mythic's Warhammer to Battlefield and Mirror's Edge at DICE.

Riccitiello was largely unable to comment on the specific state of the Take-Two acquisition, however. "We're obviously contained pretty clearly in what we're allowed to talk about," he said. "Our offer currently stands at $25.74 a share, or $2 billion dollars, and our valuation took fully into account the success of GTA... we'd anticipated a result much like what happened in the market."

"It's a spectacular game - I'm enjoying playing it - and offer enormous congratulations to the Rockstar team."

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]

Despite his slightly crazy attitude that fans and players alike have dubbed "Gilbertology," the once second-round draft pick has worked his way up to being an All-Star starter and now what many of today's athletes consider a supreme honor, the EA cover shot.

"This is a dream come true," said Arenas. "I'm a huge gamer and have been playing NBA LIVE since 1995. I never imagined that I would see my face on the cover of an EA SPORTS videogame."

GILBERT ARENAS NAMED COVER ATHLETE OF EA's NBA LIVE 08

Electronic Arts Brings NBA LIVE to the PLAYSTATION 3 and Nintendo WiiTM for the First Time

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - April 30th, 2007 - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that Washington Wizards All-Star Gilbert Arenas will be the cover athlete and spokesman of EA SPORTS NBA LIVE 08. This season Arenas displayed tremendous determination to emerge as one of the league's most dangerous offensive players, rising to No. 3 in league scoring and leading the Wizards into the playoffs for the second straight season. NBA LIVE 08 is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver, BC, and will ship to stores worldwide this fall.

"This is a dream come true," said Arenas. "I'm a huge gamer and have been playing NBA LIVE since 1995. I never imagined that I would see my face on the cover of an EA SPORTS videogame."

Arenas finished the 2006-07 regular season averaging 28.4 points and 6.0 assists per game. Arenas was the first player from the 2001 draft class to be named to the All-Star team in 2005 and now has three consecutive All-Star appearances. In the ultimate salute to his climb from relative unknown to NBA All-Star, fans voted Arenas a starter on the Eastern Team at the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.

Fueled by a combination of talent and a larger-than-life personality, Arenas has risen from below the radar into the spotlight. His breakout 2007 season included authoring a blog on NBA.com that established a direct relationship with his fans, and a well-known catch phrase (Hibachi!). Dubbed "Agent Zero" in reference to his jersey number, Arenas chose zero as a reminder of his underdog mentality that drives him to succeed. Off the court, Arenas is devoted to many charitable organizations including Scores for Schools, the NBA Cares program, and created the Zer0 2 Hero Foundation to promote the well-being of children.

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That having been said, Xbox 360 Achievements.org it trying again to gather the required number of people online in order to spread the achievement love. Apparently the last one, held by Achieve 360 Points.com, didn't work as planned, and X360a has stepped in to give it a go. Personally I think EA should just give them the points for buying the game in the first place, but until that happens this is all they've got. Good luck with that!. Michael Fahey

X360A 1000 people online attempt... [Xbox360Achievements.org]

Citing dropping review scores for EA's stable of yearly roster updates disguised as new games (Madden, NCAA, NBA Live), Wilson says that if scores continue to fall it could spell financial trouble for EA:

The widespread industry belief is that one or two bad iterations can ruin the long-term value of a license, and we agree.

Kicking them while they're down, he also writes of "EA's continuing woes", pointing to slightly-better-than-crap reviews for games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance and movie tie-ins Batman Begins and Superman Returns, as well as the company's "excessive employee turnover" and, well, a host of other things.

Typical EA bashing or BAIL OUT NOW warning to investors? I appreciated the publisher's commitment to "prioritizing game quality" but want to know when it will pay off. Michael McWhertor

Analyst: EA brand tarnished [Gamespot]

IGN has a piece up about the extensive process of motion capturing EA is investing in its NBA Live 2006 for Xbox 360. With fifty nodes on the face of NBA Live 2006 cover boy Dwayne Wade, EA is using facial capturing to such an extent that it might actually look like Wade in this year's game. Eventually they will get the facial mapping so realistic that we can read the swear words coming out of the athletes' mouths just like on real TV!

Dwayne Wade: Face/Off [IGN]

Today's tip-off is between NBA Live 2006 and the also-just released NBA 2k6. NBA Live 2006 dribbled into stores today giving consumers the all-important second option at the "NBA game" position. Miami Heat guard DeWayne Wade is the cover boy for NBA Live 2006 and teammate Shaq is holding down NBA 2k6's cover page. Where's the love for the rest of the league? Somewhere LeBron James is crying.

Electronic Arts, never one to pass up a platform, will be selling some of their games for cell phones through Verizon Wireless in the next few weeks.

Verizon said they will be selling Madden NFL 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and NBA Live 06 through their VCast high-speed service.

Lets hope this proves to be a better move for EA than was supporting the N-Gage and Gizmondo platforms. Oh, wait Gizmondo hasn't even launched here yet. Maybe I shouldn't write it off yet.

Verizon will offer Electronic Arts Games [CNN/Money]