Are you ready for some ultimate football?!

Super Bowl XLVI is just days away and you know what that means, right?! Football and lots of partying and drinking with your best buds. Even if the New York Giants or the New England Patriots aren’t your NFL teams of choice, you can still partake in all the Super Bowl festivities that’ll take place this Sunday like a true party champ. Whether you’re hosting a huge bash for all your pals at your house or making your way to a friend’s house, we’ve provided you with some essential goods every awesome Super Bowl party needs (besides good company and drinks, of course)!

15. The Grill Sergeant Apron

Are you ready for some grilling?! With the Grill Sergeant Apron you will be given it holds everything you’ll ever need (or want) for an afternoon of grilling delicious steaks, yummy hotdogs and hamburgers and so much more.

14. Football Cocktail Shaker

Mix up your favorite drinks with a shaker that looks like a football! The Football Cocktail Shaker is the ultimate way to shake up some fun at your Super Bowel party this Sunday.

13. Brewsees Sunglasses

Sunglasses that double as a bottle opener are a must for the big game, especially if you’re going to be watching it from any where on the West Coast, where the sun will most likely be out. Pick up some stylish Brewsees before you hit your Super Bowl fiestas.

12. Blacktop 360 Party Hub Grill-Fryer

The Blacktop 360 Grill-Fryer features a patented technology to make your Super Bowl menu stellar and scrumptious. It packs a generous 20 oz. capacity so you can fry up all your party eats in no time.

11. Beer Froster Fridge

As a fridge made especially for the sole purpose to provide cold beers, the Beer Froster fridge is a must have at any Super Bowl party. You’ll have the coldest beers in town with this fridge at your party since it’s made to keep beers at a cool 24 degrees, which is the absolute coldest temperature it can be without freezing.

 10. Dual Wave Versatile Blender

Blend up the best margaritas around for those female guests at your Super Bowl party who aren’t into drinking beer with the Dual Wave Versatile Blender. You’ll be able to blend two different flavors at the same time, so the senoritas can get drunk faster.

9. Krups and Heineken BeerTender

Keep the beer flowing with this ultimate home draught beer dispenser from Krups that’s made engineered to work exclusively with Heineken, Heineken Premium Light and Newcastle Brown Ale. It’s ultra quiet and efficient Peltier cooling system provides constant and consistent cooling of the keg so all you get is nothing but refreshing beer all the time.

8. BeerPager Remote Control Beer Locator

Keep track of your beer with unique and fun BeerPagers. These electronic drink holders not only keep your beer cold, but also locate it when you can’t remember where you last placed it. But it also provides laughs with its fun sounds that vary with each of the five different Beerpager types.

7. Presto Pizzazz Pizza Oven

Keep all your delicious finger foods warm with the Presto Pizzazz Pizza Oven that rotates the try to assure even baking and warming. It’s easy to use and require no real cooking, which means more time to watch the big game.

6. Clicker Universal Remote with Bottle Opener

Control up to 8 devices AND open up your favorite beer at the same time with the Clicker Universal Remote with Bottle Opener, which will be an essential item for your upcoming Super Bowl party.

5. Madden NFL 12

Get amped for the big game and play your own version of the Super Bowl with your favorite teams with Madden NFL 12 (for either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3). Challenge your best buds and get ready for the real game between the NY Giants and New England Patriots.

4. Excalibur Electronics NFL Football Remote

Whether you’re a huge football fan or not, the Excalibur Electronics NFL Football remote control is the ultimate accessory for any Super Bowl party. Friends will be more than impressed as you control multiple electronics with this football-shaped remote and be envious of your new toy.

3. Grill N Chill

If you’re looking to have the ultimate Super Bowl party, it won’t be complete without the Grill N Chill system that features everything you need to get the party started. It’s a stainless steel grill that has a built-in stereo, ice chest, cutting boards, draft system, and more.

2. Vizio Soundbar 5.1 Surround Sound Home Theater

Watching the game isn’t only part of the Super Bowl experience, while the other is listening to all the action and what better way to get amazing sound than with Vizio’s Soundbar 5.1 Surround Sound Home Theater. Not only does it look good, but it also delivers big home theater sound that’s perfect for HDTVs that are 40” or larger.

1. Mitsubishi 92-inch WD-92840 Cinema TV

Watch the big game on a huge ass TV like the 92-inch WD-92840 Cinema TV from Mitsubishi. This cinema TVs offer a larger than life, intensely vivid 2D and fully immersive 3D viewing experience, and the Super Bowl is just the kind of thing you’d want to experience on this massive beast. Made for “media” rooms, everybody will have the best seat in the house with this bad boy at the center of your ultimate Super Bowl party.

Football season has officially commenced! It’s time for fantasy football, Saturday college games and hanging with the boys (or die-hard football chicks who know what’s up). But best of all, it’s time for some tailgating! Whether you more of a college football fan or a die-hard NFL devotee, it doesn’t get any better than going to a game and getting your pre-game party on. To help make your tailgate celebrations even better, we’ve compiled a few things that every party should have!

7. 12 –Volt Oven

The ability to cook using your car’s cigarette lighter socket is a genius idea, which makes oven the perfect tailgate companion. It’s a great accessory for when the BBQ is packed and you need to heat up something or even for after the game when you want to grub on some left over food.

6. All-In-One Beach Party Chair

As a chair that has it all, you’ll never want to loan this baby out to anyone! Not only can you sit on it, but it also functions as a cooler and has wheels so you can carry your seat and your beer wherever you party.

5. Portable Gas Powered Blender

When beer gets old, mix up your favorite drink with the portable gas powered blender. Whip this baby out, fire her up, and control the mixing with the twist grip throttle to make one hell of a margarita!

4. Brennwagen Grills

Anything on wheels is better, which is what makes this grill your go-to BBQ for all your tailgating needs. But not only is it portable, but Brennwagen Grills are also very study and features high-end luxuries like isolated drawers for meat and drinks, stainless steel construction, integrated thermometers, drum brakes, and height-adjustable grill units.

3. Tundra Midnight Rider Tailgater

Tailgating is fun, but packing all the necessities to do so isn’t, which is what makes the Tundra Midnight Rider Tailgater so awesome! It’s packed with everything you need to get the party going like a 42-inch flat screen, Kicker sound system, an electronically operated tonneau cover and a pull-out Grill N Chill which features a cooking space with countertops, infrared barbeque, beverage tap and ice chest.

2. Dish Network Tailgater Portable Satellite

While you’re tailgating, you’ll gonna want to keep up on the other games, which is why Dish Network came out with their Tailgater Portable Satellite. Thanks to them, you’ll never have to miss a live broadcast of a game since this thing travels with you.

1. Cruzin’ Cooler

Not only does it store all your beer, but you can also ride this Cruzin’ Cooler! It’s light-weight, comes in various sizes and colors and is available in electric models, with up to a 10 mile range on electric models and 30 miles on the gas models.

By now we all know what a behemoth the Madden franchise is and the impact it has had on sports gaming in general.  Some cherish it and some loathe it, but it’s the only licensed NFL game available, so play it you must.

I remember a time when football gaming was competitive.  Visual Concepts and Sega had released ESPN NFL 2K5 for $20 and EA Sports must have been straight spun.  But alas, no more.

Soon after that I read in utter dismay that EA had monopolized football gaming through an exclusive and costly NFL license.  In the years that followed, all the Madden reviews that I read couldn’t help but mention that EA was just dialing in their biggest and most lucrative franchise and that the series never really stepped it up from year to year.

While I agreed with these reviewers whole heartedly, I never stopped playing Madden.  It was firmly lodged in my gaming subconscious from the days of the early 90′s on the Sega Genesis to the late 90′s on the Sega Saturn to every other console after that.  I would never abandon it.  I loved NFL 2K5 for the strides the developers took to give EA a run for their money in regards to gameplay, presentation, and fun-factor.  But by no means was there ever a “bad” year of Madden, and it was often just a case of misallocated focus.  But, in the end, it was never the best it could be.

With that said, Madden 2010 is by far the most impressive rendition of football gaming EA Sports has created in years, but one can only hope and wait for what will someday be a truly complete and epic John Madden NFL Football experience.  Fingers crossed right?

**Before I get started on my review of Madden 10 I just want to note that I have been playing on an 2005 Xbox 360 that has already seen the three red lights.**

Presentation:

Receiving a positive and fresh overhaul this year, the whole look and feel of Madden NFL 2010 has a TV style sheen to it.  Each game information about the stadium is given and there are some animated tie-ins that show tailgating, consumerism, and social banter.  The in-game advertising is present once again but it would have been nice to have more of a variety instead of the same brands we’ve seen for years.  And I’m not talking about Snickers.

I would have liked to see some major networks (ABC, NBC, FOX, EPSN, NFL Network) involved in the process with each game being broadcast by the corresponding network with all the appropriate graphic, such as that stupid FOX football robot dancing around (never gonna happen).  Now that’s what should be the future of Madden, right? I swear I just cursed myself.

There could even be the specific announcers for each network.  While this review is traveling down a wish list path already, I can’t help but think about all the possibilities.  If EA truly wanted to champion an all great version of Madden NFL Football they wouldn’t have to make one every year.  They could release roster updates and other downloads, and a perfect game of Madden wouldn’t require you to buy one every year.  Would you pay $100 for a Madden NFL game that lasted you 3 or more years?  Not that EA would ever do this (-$$$), but it’s not a bad idea to ponder from a non-technical/financial standpoint.

At the end of the day – let’s make that day be Sunday – the TV-style presentation is truly evident and a nice leap in the 2010 version.   But with EA’s big slogan of the year being, “If It Happens On Sunday, Then You’ll See It In The Game”, what happens if I see it on Monday Night Football?

Graphics:

What you’d expect for the most part. Madden 10 doesn’t look all that different from years previous.  Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but you won’t really be taken aback by anything that’s happening on the screen.  The animations have been touched up this year in addition to the inclusion of the new “Pro-Tak” system that allows for up to 9 man gang tackles to occur.  Some of the momentum animations are a bit puzzling in terms of aesthetic, but you’ll get used to it.

Player models look standard and solid as always with some minor improvements like animated quarterback hand towels thrown in to spruce up the realism.  I would have liked to have seen some more attention given to the field and how it changes over the course of the game.  Divots, chunks of torn up turf flying off the back of the offensive line’s cleats or stuck in a players facemask are all absent.  Plus I’ve yet to see a field that has a partial baseball diamond on it.

Wind is another gripe.  While is has it’s apparent effect on the ball during field goal attempts, you can’t tell it’s there during regular game play.  I hope I’m not complaining about the impossible here, but hopefully my comments can be taken as constructive criticism at the very least.  Rippling jerseys, trash on the field, crowd reactions, or even bellowing gusts from the blimps POV are all ways to convey a windy football game and these too are absent.

In terms of the instant replay feature, I noticed that the resolution on manual replays had dropped significantly, as I remember them looking better in past Maddens.  While I’m on the topic of instant replays I really don’t understand what EA’s problem is.  First of all the frequency of replays is weak and second it never shows an instant replay right after a touchdown is scored.  **Note: Madden just received an update over Xbox Live and I just saw my first two replays after a touchdown** Doesn’t that happen all day long on Sunday?  Isn’t that the time we want to see a nice angled replay the most?

To add insult to injury when I attempt to run a manual replay often times it doesn’t even finish playing out.  Just before the ball carrier crosses the plane of the endzone the replay is halted.  WTF EA?!  You’ll also notice that this happens during the highlights at halftime or post game as well.  It’s super annoying and takes away from the feeling of achievement and satisfaction after a great touchdown is scored. One last thing about replays is that it also seems like it can’t make up it’s mind.  It will flash the NFL logo indicating that it’s about to show a replay, then it immediately flashes the logo again and there is no replay.  Easily my greatest disgust with this game, but I’ll stop now.

Frame rate issues were in abundance on my old machine and it was bothersome to say the least.  It seemed to happen the most at kickoff.

Sound:

Another aspect of Madden 2010 that isn’t going to win any (sound design) awards, but is fairly competent in its own right.  From the blaring hum of the crowd and stadium announcer one-liners to the on field chatter from the players and coaches I can’t really think of anything missing.  Except for creativity that is.

Madden was one of the first games I can remember that used licensed music and some bands have even blown up (Good Charlotte blah) due to the exposure.  This year’s collection is really quite good.  There’s a bunch of late 90′s jams in there from Korn, Rage, Helmet, Public Enemy, as well as some awesome new stuff including Set Your Goals.

The Dolby Surround Component could be a bit stronger in terms of variety.  There should be more of a 360 degree sense of immersion attached to whatever player you are controlling.  For example, you are a halfback running down the left side of the field .  On the right you should hear the offensive and defensive lines clashing and fading in volume as you run further away as well as oncoming defenders and blockers trying to catch up to you.  On the left you should hear the sideline team and staff, either for or against shouting and jeering.  And while all this is happening you should hear 360 degrees of crowd noise.  I know that this is a review, but I can’t help but use this platform to get some of my ideas out!

IGN’s review blatantly disliked the on-field commentary, but I didn’t really think it was any better or worse than subsequent Madden’s.  I like Cris Collinsworth a bit less now, but I’m always going to talk shit back to the TV no matter what.  Other than that it was noticeably fragmented and spliced at parts which you’d think would have been fixed by this stage in the game but…

GamePlay:

As always, a staple of the Madden experience has been about the gameplay.  That is no different this year.  You can tailor the speed of the game to your liking, which is a nice feature to see what works for you as a slower game will give you a bit more time to decide what move you want to pull off before the tackle animation takes over.  The spin move is far less effective this year leaving the side-to-side juke and forward press on the right analog to put your head down as the best offensive moves.  The stiff arm works well, but timing is key and you have to really anticipate the approaching tackler.

No longer does momentum carry you out of bounds on a screen pass (except for the AI).  It’s totally fixed and makes those type of plays useful again.  Sometimes while catching the ball, the animation takes over to an unrealistic effect but it usually works out in your favor so I can’t complain about that.

The right analog has also been added to quarterback controls to help you evade sacks in the pocket.  It’s really awesome that that has been implemented, but I just can’t seem to remember it’s there.

Also included this year are errant passes from quarterbacks who get hit in the pocket.  This opens up for some realistic-ish interceptions and odd catches by the offense.  EA has also included a button mashing fight for the fumbled football feature that’s cool and unexpected when you witness it for the first time.  Reminds me of the days when controllers had turbo buttons.

Other than that, everything you’d expect is intact and the game plays great.  Solid gameplay is synonymous with Madden and this year it’s definitely no different.  It’s just as fun as always and the randomness and unexpectedness of pro football really makes every game different.

Replay Value:

There are literally tons to do here.  Between franchise on and offline, superstar mode, online co-op, practice and Madden Moments, there’s no way you are going to exhaust this game anytime soon.  Franchise mode is really deep as per usual and you could spend hours on end just noodling around your off-season.

Online co-op is a bit janky due to some camera angle constraints, but is a fun alternative to playing with close friends (you can play with random strangers).  It’s great that the online franchise companion iPhone app has finally arrived but I can’t seem to access the app with my Xbox Live Gamertag so I can’t really tell you how it is.

Beyond that, you will definitely get a bang for your buck with this year’s Madden and something you’ll easily be playing into 2010.

Final Endings

Through all my gripings and delusional wish list manifesto-isms, Madden NFL 2010 is the best football game we can play on this generation of consoles.  Is it the best EA can do?  No.

EA still has a long way to go in my opinion to create the definitive football gaming experience, but I haven’t given up hope by any means.  I really think that other developers deserve a shot at the NFL license as it will only make football games better for the consumer.  Hopefully some of my ideas are taken into consideration and thanks for reading!

Oh, one final thing.  The Madden shop is ridiculous and exemplifies what is wrong with American sports.  Allowing you to buy upgrades and boosts for teams and players in specific games is like sanctioned steroids.  That’s why the New York Yankees will always be one of the best teams because they have the most money to BUY the best players.  Where’s the sport in that?

Pros:

• Pick up and play- What you’ve come to expect from a Madden game
• Online Franchise Mode
• Great replay value

Cons:

• Lame instant replays
• Sound design could use some creative improvements
• No real surprises-What you’ve come to expect from a Madden game

Buy it here for $58!

Bordering obsessive, these team specific game schedule watches are the perfect gift for the crazy sports fan in your life.  At just over $80 per watch, the large LCD screen displays when your favorite team is going to play as well as opposing team.  The watch also lets you view past and future schedules of other teams of the same sport as well as your specific team.  Not that any smart phone can’t do any of this right?  These watches cover all MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA teams, as well as NASCAR.  Get fixin’!

[via CoolestGadgets]

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