Remember the Collector’s Edition of Madden ‘07 that now sits at EB for a couple of bucks but retailed for $70 originally? Well, EA has a deal for you!

This years edition is even more special (for EA). For a staggering, Earth shaking, Madden record setting $90, you can get the 20th Anniversary edition. Yes, that’s a nine followed by a zero. For a yearly sports game. To its credit, this is also bundled with NFL Head Coach ‘09. Since the latter franchise disappeared since its (lackluster) debut in 2006, one can only hope the changes are worth the bundle. Or, does EA not see the game selling all that well on its own?

Also bundled is some - as of now - unspecified video content which will undoubtedly have some retrospective on the history of the franchise. No systems were specified either, though one can assume the PS3 and Xbox 360 will be on the receiving end of this one.

As unofficial as it may be, a GameFAQs poll has revealed an interesting stat. 42% of players are using Gamecube controllers. Add in the Classic Controller, and that number jumps to over half.

A measly 14% are using the actual console’s controller to play the game. While it’s certainly not suited for the game and familiarity with the previous generations device certainly come into play, it’s not hard to see this as a small statement on the “innovation” the Wii remote provides. It’s simply not suited for many types of games, and those that force the issue generally end up in failure.

If you’re spending $250 for game hardware, isn’t it somewhat telling that the hardcore audience (who are certainly the ones playing Smash Bros. en masse compared to their casual counterparts) is rejecting the new control method?

This week brings only a trio a new multiplayer titles, and while we can only have one winner, one runner-up, and one “loser,” your time and money would be well invested with any one of these three games.

Pick of the Week: Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath Real-Time Strategy | PC Command & Conquer 3 was a return to form after Tiberium Sun, reminding us all why we fell in love with the series in the first place. Kane’s Wrath brings all sorts of new features to the table, including brand new customizable epic units, specialized sub-factions, and a metamap campaign. EA gets a lot of crap for being “that big, evil games publisher,” but people tend to forget that they’re capable of producing exceptional titles like this one.

Runner-Up: Universe at War: Earth Assault Real-Time Strategy | 360 If you only buy one RTS for the Xbox 360 this week, buy Universe at War: Earth Assault. The game arrived on the PC a few months back, but was held back by some annoying Windows Live features. On the 360, however, you have no choice to but to subscribe to Live if you want to play online, so complaining about it’s a moot point entirely! In all seriousness, the game sports three radically different factions and some impressive 4-player online modes, and is worth checking for any real-time strategy fans.

Be Imba! is a new site that allows you to evaluate and improve your World of Warcraft characters using WoW Armory data. The site will suggest ways in which your talent points could be spent more wisely and point out specific problems with your current gear, including any improper enchantments or radically lacking stats. Be sure to check out what the site has to say about my shadow priest. Be gentle, though; I haven’t logged on for nearly a year.

The site only focuses on World of Warcraft at the moment, but hopefully we’ll see it branch out to other popular MMOs in the future. Whether you think you’re already an imbalanced pro or an inexperienced noob, chances are the site can still show you a few pointers.

According to Gender Swapping And Socializing In Cyberspace: An Exploratory Study, 68% of female MMO players and 54% of male players played characters of the opposite gender. This isn’t exactly new information, but it’s nice to have the cold, unflinching numbers of science to backup what most of us already knew. While participants in the study gave differing reasons on why they chose to play a character that differed from their real life gender, most of the answers reflected the desire to see the world – even a virtual one – from a different perspective.

As Wired’s Game|Life blog is quick to point out, this study is hardly conclusive, finding fault with the study’s small sample size (just 115 participants) and the fact that it only polled users from popular enthusiast sites such as (Allakhazam, Everquest Vault, White Wolf , and Women Gamers.

Still, the issue of how we define gender in the inherently genderless space of virtual worlds remains an interesting topic facing our digital age.

This week is a week of pairs, with two excellent arcade sports titles, two not-so-excellent karaoke games, and a duo of shooters sequels (one 2D, one 3D) that should certainly impress fans of their respective series.

Pick of the Week: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 First-Person Shooter | 360, PS3 The first Rainbow Six Vegas was a breath of fresh air for the Rainbow Six franchise, hugely streamlining and modernizing Tom Clancy’s seminal shooter series. With the sequel, Ubisoft Montreal promises more of everything that made the original so great: More multiplayer maps that focus on smaller, more intense battles; more weapons and armor; more customization. The game also features a robust co-op mode with missions designed to encourage replayability. Whether you’re a tactical shooter junkie or someone who has strayed away from the Rainbow Six series, Vegas 2 is worth checking out.

Runner-Up: Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds Arcade Golf | PS3 The Hot Shots Golf series has long-since established itself as the premiere arcade golf experience, and is making its PS3 premiere this week with Out of Bounds. As always, the game features cute characters in over-the-top golfing scenarios, but now includes some impressive online features to boot, including tournament support for up to 50 (!) players at a time. You can even completely customize your adorable golfing avatar in order to stand out from the online crowd. Truly, Hot Shots Golf is the Mario Kart of golfing games.

The GGL Wire is reporting that Activision plans to tap Blizzard Entertainment to bring Guitar Hero to “roughly 300,000 game rooms between China and Korea.” Clearly, Activision hopes to cash in on Blizzard’s extreme success in Asia, especially in South Korea, where StarCraft is essentially the national pastime.

Readers with especially good memories will recall Activision CEO Robert Kotick’s comment that a Guitar Hero MMO seemed like a logical move for the franchise in November of last year. Given Blizzard’s unending stranglehold on the MMO market with World of Warcraft, is Activision getting Blizzard acquainted with the Guitar Hero franchise with bigger projects planned in the future? One can only hope.

For a full list of offenses so you can avoid being on this list, see the roundup of rules on this post.

Gamertag: luv da chourico, Booge Man14714
Found: Halo 3 Team Doubles

Awards: Losing Trash Talker

Specific Offenses: Nothing is worse than saying “good game” to people when you enter the lobby after a match, only to have the opposing team explode on you for no reason at all. That’s what these two did. It’s even worse when they lose and won’t admit the match was fair. Unsurprisingly, that’s what these two did as well.

Gamertag: Sanctified 3, Killer Clown9274
Found: Halo 3 Big Team Battle

Awards: Outside Conversator, “That’s Gay” Guy

Specific Offenses: There’s annoying and then there’s these two. Two of the worst yet to make the list, everything they said involved either a penis or sex reference. Their inane chatter blocked out real communication during the match. After repeated attempts to ask them to stop, most of the team muted them. This only caused them to go further, including laughing about their behavior.

Gamertag: ARMAGEDON2122, i Own U 11
Found: Halo 3 Team Doubles

Awards: Losing Trash Talker, The Cheater

Specific Offenses: The Narrows may not be as bad as the Guardian in terms of hiding spots, but it can still be an easily exploitable map. Both of these two dropped to the bottom of the map with sniper rifles and began firing. They then tried hiding up top in hard to reach perches. After the game, even though they squeaked out a win by running away from a rocket launcher blast, they found it necessary to taunt relentlessly. Winning like that doesn’t even count as a win guys.

I am happy to announce the launch of the Multiplayer Games Forum.

I am hoping that everyone can enjoy the new setup and theme as well as the topics. Our goal from the beginning has been to launch the best place for gamers to come together to discuss the latest happenings of online gaming. The forums should give you the perfect platform for discussing gaming. It will need a little boost to get started and I am hoping that MPG readers will click through and check it out.

I am also happy to announce the first of many contests on the forum! The first ever contest is a free subscription to XBOX Live for 12 months!

Multiplayer Games Forum Contests will be a cool place to win prizes, games, consoles, and hardware for gaming online.

As always, feedback is key to a good community and I welcome it in the comments - or the game forum!

Looks like the rest of the video game industry has cleared out its release calender for fear of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Or as we like to call it: The Halo 3 Effect.

Pick of the Week: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Mascot Fighter | Wii Five years from now you’ll still be playing Brawl with your buddies and even bashing heads in the odd online match-up. This is not prediction. This is fact. With a massive character roster and a multitude of multiplayer game modes, Brawl isn’t just the Pick of the Week; it’s the Pick of Forever. Unless your one of the unlucky few with a Wii that’s unable to handle Brawl’s double-layer disc. In which case, well… You’re better off just waiting for next week, honestly.

The launch of the one of the hottest titles in the Wii’s short history has finally arrived. If you want an idea of the chaos, Joystiq posted a video of what went down at on specific Gamestop that chronicles the moments before and after the midnight hour.

When a few of those gamers went home however, they may have found a small problem. The game wouldn’t work. According to Nintendo:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl utilizes a double-layer disc which has a large memory capacity. A very small percentage of Wii consoles may have trouble consistently reading data off this large capacity disc if there is some contamination on the lens of the disc drive.

This must apparently be the first Wii disc to use a dual layer DVD, as no other games have been reported with same issue. If your copy isn’t working, you can request a repair through Nintendo. I would NOT want to be Nintendo tech support today, especially after the number of delays people have already experienced waiting for this thing.

“Terrific” in this case meaning “poorly conceived and laughably ineffectual.”

The program, which UK Resistance so aptly mocks, is the brainchild of the South London police force. PROJECT GAMERZ aims to get “anyone aged between 11 and 18, who live, or attend school, in the Riverside Ward of Rotherhithe, to get involved with their local community through Video Games and eSports.” Because clearly, the way to combat youth violence is to stick a dozen at-risk teenagers in a room filled with Xbox 360s and force them to play a few competitive games of FIFA. Never mind the socio-economic problems breeding environments that feed and encourage crime and violence. No, the answer here is clearly to play more video games.

Next up, we fight hunger by giving starving nations copies of Cooking Mama.