EA Sports MMA Promotes Sherdog MMA Fighter Exchange

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EA Sports announced a partnership with Sherdog.com today. They will work together on the Sherdog MMA Fighter Exchange, which is similar to a feature in EA Sports MMA‘s career mode.

In EA Sports MMA, you can play as a young fighter traveling the globe in order to learn various martial arts disciplines. Players experience different fighting environments, rule sets, and training locations while they learn from legendary MMA trainers like Randy Couture, Pat Miletich, Rickson Gracie and Bas Rutten.

For the Sherdog MMA Fighter Exchange, four rising stars in MMA will be paired up with veteran Strikeforce members Luke Rockhold, Jason Mayhem Miller, Gegard Mousasi and Renaldo Jacare Souza. They will travel around Brazil, Japan and the United States to train and hone their skill.

Sherdog.com will provide blog and video coverage of each fighter while they train. After training, they will make their Strikeforce debut on December 4 which will be streamed live on Sherdog.com.

To watch and learn more about the Sherdog MMA Fighter Exchange please visit http://easportsmma.sherdog.com/.

Lil Wayne Album Free With Purchase Of Def Jam Rapstar

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4mm Games, Def Jam Interactive and Cash Money Records today announced a special promotion with Def Jam Rapstar and Best Buy. Those who buy Def Jam Rapstar at participating Best Buy stores between October 12 and October 19 will receive Lil Wayne’s “I Am Not A Human Being” album for free.

“The opportunity to partner our new video game, Def Jam Rapstar with Lil Wayne’s new album, ‘I Am Not A Human Being’ is a historic moment for gaming, music and hip hop,” says Kevin Liles, President and CEO, Def Jam Enterprises. “When we approached Lil Wayne’s management team, Gee Roberson of Hip Hop Since 1978 and Cortez Bryant of Bryant Management, to partner with us, we all knew this would be another opportunity to super-serve hip hop fans across the country. Special thanks to my good friends Bryan ‘Birdman’ Williams and Ronald ‘Slim’ Williams of Cash Money Records; Together, once again, we made history.”

Lil Wayne is the featured artist in the Def Jam Rapstar out-of-home advertising campaign, running right now in all major markets. His hit song A Milli is also featured in Def Jam Rapstar.

“Part of our work as managers is to develop new ways for the artist and brand worlds to intersect,” says Gee Roberson of Hip Hop Since 1978.  “Lil Wayne himself is an avid gamer and Def Jam Rapstar is a new way for fans to interact with music, so it was a natural fit.”

“It wouldn’t be a true hip hop game without the presence of hip hop’s most recognizable face,” adds Bryan “Birdman” Williams, Co-CEO of Cash Money Records Group.

Super Mario Bros. Wii Bundle

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Not only will Europe get a special Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary game, but they’ll also get a special Wii bundle. The bundle will come with a red Wii and matching red Wii Remote.

No North America announcement makes us sad.

The bundle will include a copy of Wii Sports and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Also pre-loaded on the console will be a copy of the original Donkey Kong. The “New Super Mario Bros. Wii Pack” will be available on October 29.

T-Mobile, AT&T Have Initial Windows Phone 7 Offerings

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Microsoft today unveiled their new line up of Windows Phone 7 handsets. In the U.S., T-Mobile will be offering the HTC HD7 and the Dell Venue Pro, while AT&T will offer the HTC Surround, Samsung Focus, and the LG Quantum; there will be a total of 13 carriers in 12 different countries offering their own variation on the phones.

“We have a beautiful lineup in this first wave of Windows Phone 7 handsets,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “Microsoft and its partners are delivering a different kind of mobile phone and experience one that makes everyday tasks faster by getting more done in fewer steps and providing timely information in a glance and go format.”

Sprint and Verizon Wireless will be launching their own Windows Phone 7 handsets in early 2011.

eBay Bids On Windows Phone 7 App

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With the launch of Windows Phone 7, several companies have eagerly launched an app for the service, including eBay. This new app will let users search, bid, buy and check their eBay activity on the go, with Windows Phone 7’s push notification technology built in so that users receive real-time alerts on deals and best offer activity.

“eBay and Microsoft share a common goal of keeping consumers connected. When Microsoft approached us about Windows Phone 7, we welcomed the opportunity to reach more eBay users and to create a unique, engaging mobile shopping experience on Microsoft’s platform,” said Steve Yankovich, eBay’s vice president of mobile and platform business solutions. “We built this app from the ground up to take full advantage of Microsoft’s operating system. Users can slide through all their eBay activity and receive real-time notifications on best offer and bidding activity, and items ending soonest.”

Mega Man Comics Coming From Archie

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Following in the footsteps of the Udon and Viz comic versions of Mega Man will be a new version by Archie comics. Long time Sonic artist Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante will provide the drawings, while action/adventure veteran Ian Flynn will be the writer.

“Since 1987, the enormously successful Mega Man franchise has conquered media from video games to television to manga. Archie Comics is ready to carry on this tradition of success, holding true to the spirit of the old school with a fresh eye on Mega Man‘s strong potential in the world of American comics,” promised Archie Comics editor of the Mega Man franchise, Paul Kaminski.

Massive Fall From Grace

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According to insiders, Massive general manager J.J. Richards is currently looking for another job, and other sales and technology team members are being assigned to other projects within Microsoft. This bodes poorly for the Microsoft-owned in-game advertising service, and it is expected to be closed soon.

Despite the optimism that surrounded the acquisition of Massive at the time, with between $200 – $400 million spent in the original acquisition, Xbox Live has become the prefered medium for advertisers. Moreover, the in-game ad industry has cooled off and been taken internal by publishers (like Electronic Arts). When Microsoft more recently put out feelers for a buyer of Massive, rival company Double Fusion only offered something in the single digit million range.

Source: AdWeek {link no longer active}

Gakai Probably Going Live Mid-December

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While not necessarily as high profile as the OnLive service, cloud gaming initiative Gaikai has been slowly building for a while now. Founder David Perry indicates, however, that Gaikai should launch by the end of 2010.

“We said we’d be done by the end of September, and we are. We’re feature complete. You see it running from Dallas. That’s the experience that people are gonna have. So the problem is we have not had the mass market real gamers come and play this. We ve had publishers playing, but we haven t had real gamers,” said Perry. “The minute that announcement comes out of who we re gonna partner with, we’ll start sending out invites immediately. And we’re gonna do that for 60 days. So we are 60 days from the start of those invites to launch,” he added.

“So that s means, at some point in December, probably mid-December, we will be live. There will be no you’re in a beta. It’ll just be go ahead and play,’ he added.

Source: VG247