So, this is it fellas. The Hail Marry pass with 1 second left on the clock was dropped and the game's over, the fans are leaving the stadium and the lights will be turned off for the last time. BlogFaction is being decommissioned immediately and that means all the fun content you've grown to love on GamePro Sports grinds to a hault as well.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the readers and most importantly our writers for all their hardwork. But first, I'd like to take this opportunity to take full responsibility for the antics that ensued on a certain “Ask the GameGirls” post a while back. We hosted a hilariously funny contest at your expense and we don't regret any of it. We figured you'd never catch us because, well, we knew you didn't read our site. It just didn't make sense, under these circumstance, to not own up to it.

More serious goodbyes after the jump.

MS Paint contest (23 images)

When you think football, at least the American varient, what are the first things that pop into your head? Probably incredibly tough things. Very large men in armor crashing into eachother at high speeds on the gridiron. Smashmouth. Violence in its purest and most entertaining form.

That isn't all there is though. Somewhere between a bone crushing hit and an "alleged" Fred Smoot boat party is where the real beauty of football is. The art. Week 5 helped me realize how artistic this game can be. Whether it be a masterful Kyle Orton drive to help keep the Broncos undefeated season alive or the Bengals continuing their trend of ruining former commish Paul Tagliabue's desire to make football as unentertaining as possible, there is a wondrous amount of art behind these sweaty guys of questionable mental stability. So when I sat down to do a recap of this weeks antics, I no longer cared about analysis or stat regurgitation. Statistics are not artistic. The only way to do America's beautiful game any justice is with the written word.

So like the brilliant Yone Noguchi to his American poetry peers, I hope to convince sports-writers across America who currently just regurgitate the same opinions of EFSPN* to take a new and fresh angle on things.

Why do a review,

when you can do... a haiku.

Click after the jump.

 

 

* The F stands for Favre. Get it. Because they talk about him. A lot.

That’s right you heard me correctly. Broadcast Integration. For those of you don’t know what that means, allow me explain.

For this year’s version of NCAA Basketball (or known more widely as March Madness) there will be not be just one, but two broadcast teams. Two for the price of one! That’s called a bargain my friends.

Now it’s not like EA skimped out on the trimmings here either. You are getting quality broadcasters in your interactive experience. You don’t just get the turkey, you get stuffing, gravy, and some sweet potato pie to go along with it.

ESPN remains as one of the commentary options that will be frequented by players. For those of you familiar with playing the NCAA Football series, you will recognize the man calling the plays as Brad Nessler, who also provides play by play with the quarterback Kirk Herbstreit, and the Coach Lee Corso. (Yo!) Color commentary is provided by the man, the myth, the mouth, Dick Vitale (It’s awesome baby!) Check out the trailer for the ESPN Presentation below:

Along with ESPN, CBS will be joining the commentary fray with their team of Bill Raftery as the color man, and in this humble viewer’s opinion, the most exciting play by play guy in the business, Gus Johnson. If you haven’t heard of Gus Johnson, shame on you. Look him up, and watch a football or basketball game with him at the helm. He makes watching games involving bad teams completely enthralling with just with his voice, and I think this is a phenomenal addition to this series that will help take it to the next level. Trailer below:

As you can see, both presentations of the respective networks are pretty spot if you follow NCAA Basketball on television. Perhaps this is just the beginning of future sports games having duel commentaries? We’ll see…

Details on EA's expansion of the Madden franchise, with a casual downloadable title for the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation 3 Store, were revealed today. Developed by EA Tiburon, Madden NFL Arcade will arrive in December and be priced for download at 1,200 points or $14.99. This will be the second foray into the downloadable arcade styled sports game for EA, following 3 on 3 NHL Arcade from early this year.

More after the jump.

Madden NFL Arcade (5 images)

"It is what it is." This annoying phrase has been gaining much use and popularity lately, primarily due to overly dramatic reality TV shows or the Jimmy Fallon spoofs of said shows. The point is, “it is what it is” is annoying to hear and usually means absolutely nothing. But in the case of Baseball Blast for the Wii, it’s the perfect way to describe the game. Baseball Blast! is another Wii minigame collection that targets younger gamers. It is good at what it does, but all that means is that it is a rather run-of-the-mill mini-game collection on the Wii. It is what it is; nothing more and nothing less.

Basically, Baseball Blast! is a collection of 20 baseball themed minigames that use the Wii’s motion controls in various ways. Keep in mind that I said baseball THEMED minigames; there is never any actual baseball played in this game. Baseball Blast! in not a baseball game. Most minigames amount to a few simple movements and button presses to complete short challenges. There’s the obligatory lightgun type game, races, and a few things that use the Wiimote swinging mechanic from Wii Sports baseball to hit pitched balls to hit targets. There are also a few that mimic the pitching from the Wii Sports baseball game as well but you never go head to head with a real pitcher. Aside form that, there is really no baseball in Baseball Blast! It is what it is and what it is is a minigame collection, not a baseball game.

More after the jump

Another Peyton Manning commercial. I might just be doing this out of spite.

That's right, the complete Forza Motorsport 3 car list has been unveiled. With cars ranging from the Acura NSX to the Volkswagen Touareg, there's definitely something for everyone. As you may already know, the complete collection of cars is split between two discs with 304 on disc 1 and 101 on disc 2.

That's not all you'll get though. On launch, the Forza 3 game will include a free, one time use, code to recieve the "Legends Car Pack"  DLC which adds an additional 10 cars and 2 tracks. But wait, there's more. The Limited Collectors Edition will ship with 5 exclusive cars and, from what I've read, it will also include a Forza Motorsport VIP membership pack with another 5 to add to that.  There are also a 6 exclusive cars that can be received by preordering from certain retailers.

So, as you can see. There are a ton of cars in Forza Motorsport 3, but you can get up to an additional 21 cars on top of what's included in the game if you have gone through the trouble of preordering an LCE version.

To avoid having to scroll through 405 cars + additional pack cars after the jump, just click here to find the complete car list. And, if you're looking to get more info on the free "Legends Car Pack" DLC, click here.

I'll be honest, I don't have much experience with portable sports games. When I play a sports game, it's usually a situation where I'm going to be stationary for a good long while. 

Well, guess what? It turns out portable games are pretty strong in their own quirky way!
 
Read on after the jump!

Below is a fairly short video that illustrates some of the new and improved features of FIFA Soccer 10.

Now, before you start drooling over the video, let me say that I spent 5+ hours with FIFA 10 yesterday. THE. GAME. IS. SPECTACULAR.

I honestly can't imagine a more fluid and comfortable soccer game. Everything seems to be tuned to perfection while still retaining the familiar and comfy structure. With new and improved animations, AI, game modes and control, I'm confident enough to say that FIFA Soccer 10 will be the best-selling and top-rated sports game of 2009 (NA & EU)

I recommend you take the time to view the video, and remember that every example was pulled directly from the game. The graphical presentation will blow you away.

Fifa 10 screens (6 images)

New screens for Fifa 10.

They said we'd love it; they said you could manage your team on the go, from anywhere in the country so long as you were connected to the 3G network; they said they'd “have an app for that.” But when Madden NFL 10 stormed store shelves last month, many overzelaous fans, like me, were left asking “where is it?”

I, like many, began Googling for the answer and we didn't like what we found. Apparently EA Sports' promises were empty ones, at least partially. You see, they claimed they were developing an iPhone application that would allow you to interact with the all new Online Franchise mode in Madden 10, but they neglected to mention that it wasn't going to be ready until a month after the game released.

Well, last week EA made good on their promise and the Madden NFL 10 Online Franchise Companion app hit the iTunes app store, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait.

More after the jump.