Madden NFL 13 Week 2 simulation: Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers

While the Madden version of the Detroit Lions had no problem disposing of the St. Louis Rams in Week 1, the real-life version needed some heroics from quarterback Matthew Stafford. How will the Lions fare against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2? Here is a simulation of Sunday's matchup.

Defense ruled the day in the first quarter. The Lions and 49ers' running games were going nowhere until after midway through the quarter, running back Kevin Smith scampered into the end zone from 11 yards out to give the Lions a 7-0 lead.

However, the troubles began in the second quarter. Deep in their own territory, an under-pressure Stafford couldn't get a pass away and fumbled the ball inside the 5-yard line, and a 49ers defender scooped it up and walked into the end zone to tie the game 7-7. On the next drive, the Lions' offense stalled just past midfield, and coach Jim Schwartz decided a fake punt would do the trick. The 49ers sniffed it out and stopped them just short of the first-down marker, forcing a turnover on downs. With great starting field position, the 49ers kicked a field goal to take a 10-7 lead at halftime.

The woes continued for the Lions as Stafford tossed an interception on the first play in the third quarter. The 49ers capitalized with a 1-yard TD rush by Frank Gore, whose running game picked up greatly in the second half.

The Lions were able to march down the field twice in this 15-minute frame, but could only chip away at the lead with two Jason Hanson field goals. Heading into the 4th quarter, the 49ers led the Lions 17-13.

After forcing a punt early, the Lions had plenty of time to move down the field and take the lead. It was looking great until Stafford threw a bomb to Calvin Johnson deep in 49ers territory, which was picked off. With a powerful rushing attack led by Gore, the 49ers' offense moved with ease and quarterback Alex Smith connected with Michael Crabtree on a 6-yard TD pass.

With under 6 minutes to go, the Lions refused to give in. After turning the ball over on downs and forcing a 49ers punt, Johnson hauled in a 13-yard pass from Stafford for a much-needed score. Titus Young caught the 2-point conversion to pull the Lions within 3 points, 24-21. But with under a minute remaining, the Lions couldn't recover the onside kick, and the 49ers ran out the clock to secure the victory.

The handshake went smoothly.

Madden record: 1-1

Real record: 1-0

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Nintendo to kick off a much-needed new generation of consoles with the Wii U on Nov. 18 in the U.S.

We finally know the price and launch date for the Wii U, Nintendo's new console coming this holiday.

Two versions of the system will launch on Nov. 18 in the United States. The basic version will cost $299 for the system, GamePad controller, AC adapter, HDMI cable, sensor bar and 8 GB of memory. The deluxe version will cost $349 and also includes a GamePad charging cable and cradle, 32 GB of memory, a copy of NintendoLand and access to premium bonuses on Nintendo Direct.

What and how many games will be available for launch is still unknown, but we know that New Super Mario Bros. U will be a flagship title, which pretty much guarantees a successful launch coupled with releasing the system prior to Black Friday. The $299 and $349 price tags may seem a little on the pricey side, but new consoles generally ship in this range and even more. If you're thinking about buying one, get the deluxe version for NintendoLand and extra memory.

We all know the troubles Nintendo had with the 3DS at launch, but you can't really compare that situation here since handhelds generally don't sell well at $250. Plus, the Wii U is shaping up to have much better games at launch this time around. Launch window games (November through March) other than NSMBU and NintendoLand include Wii Fit U, Pikmin 3, Skylanders Giants, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Darksiders II, Assassin's Creed III, ZombiU, Rayman Legends, LEGO City Undercover, The Wonderful 101 (originally codenamed Project P-100), Just Dance 4, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and much more. That blows the 3DS' launch window games out of the water. Bayonetta 2 was also announced to be a Wii U exclusive.

During Nintendo's Wii U presentation this morning, much focus was on a new feature called Nintendo TVii, which brings together content services like Amazon and Hulu Plus and allows users to search, purchase and play content on the GamePad and TV.

The Wii U will be one of the hottest items this holiday season. The video game industry needs a kick in the butt, and Nintendo will deliver a much-needed boost. Now we await Microsoft and Sony's turn.

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Capcom reveals post-launch DLC for Resident Evil 6

No surprise, Resident Evil 6 will be receiving downloadable content some time after its Oct. 2 launch for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Capcom hasn't said the cost and when the DLC will become available.

Three new modes will expand multiplayer gameplay. In Survivors Mode you will respawn as an enemy character if you're killed. Defeating two human characters will allow you to resurrect in human form, and the last man or team standing wins the match.

Predator Mode will feature one player commanding the role of the Ustanak, a deadly B.O.W. featured in Jake Muller's campaign. Other players will face the task of defeating this enemy or surviving until the session ends.

In Siege Mode, one team is tasked with protecting a non-playable character, while the other team must kill the NPC. The human team wins by keeping the NPC alive when time expires.

All three modes will support up to six players online and can be played using maps from Mercenaries Mode. More future DLC includes additional maps for Mercenaries and other features yet to be announced.

Madden NFL 13 Week 1 simulation: Detroit Lions vs. St. Louis Rams

The NFL season is finally here, and the Detroit Lions take on the St. Louis Rams in Week 1 action. The following is a summary of a Madden NFL 13 simulation of the matchup and what could exactly happen on Sunday (but very likely not).

Quarterback Matthew Stafford got off to the worst start possible, throwing an interception on the first play of the game deep in Lions territory. However, the Lions defense held the Rams to a field goal to take an early 3-0 lead, which would end up being all the scoring in the first 15 minutes.

The Lions offense exploded in the second quarter. After a Jason Hanson field goal tied the game at 3-3, Stafford connected with Titus Young for a 68-yard TD pass to make it 10-3. After another Hanson field goal, running back Kevin Smith got his first TD of the year on a 1-yard run to make it 20-3. Late in the quarter, the Rams added another field goal to make it 20-6 at halftime.

Smith would get his second TD of the game on a 9-yard run in the third quarter, and in the fourth, Nate Burleson would haul in a 54-yard TD pass from Stafford to make it 34-6. Adding to the Rams' misery, Hanson would add another field goal to cap a Week 1 victory for the Lions, 37-6.

The Lions racked up 480 yards of total offense. Stafford went 18/27 for 386 yards, but threw two interceptions to go along with his two TDs. Smith ran for 75 yards on 27 carries to go with his pair of scores, and Young and tight end Brandon Pettigrew both hauled in over 100 receiving yards. Calvin Johnson had a quiet day, only catching two passes for 45 yards to go with 28 yards of rushing.

On defense, rookie Bill Bentley snagged his first interception, and Cliff Avril dominated with three sacks. Rams running back Steven Jackson was held to 49 yards rushing. Sam Bradford threw 221 yards and two interceptions.

Madden record: 1-0 
Real record: 0-0

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Quick thoughts on Plants vs. Zombies Pinball

I've been eliminating an infinite army of zombies with a pinball lately in Plants vs. Zombies Pinball on Xbox Live, the newest table in Zen Studios' popular Pinball FX 2 platform. Here are my thoughts on the game so far.

Plants vs. Zombies was a giant hit for PopCap, and they've teamed up with Zen Studios to create this pinball table jam-packed with elements from the original game. The pinball looks like a pea, the plunger is a corn on the cob, you can lob a watermelon at zombie targets and, of course, there are a variety of zombies to take down. As usual, there's an extraordinary amount of detail in a Zen Studios pinball table.

It's not a difficult table. Orbit shots aren't hard to master, and I found myself activating multi-ball way too many times. On the Xbox version there's only one achievement, which can be unlocked in no time at all.

Watch out for my full review at www.theoaklandpress.com.

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Now it's the pigs' turn to play. Angry Birds creator Rovio announces Bad Piggies, coming Sept. 27

Tired of slingshotting really angry birds at pigs? Well, you can soon play as the pigs as Rovio has announced Bad Piggies, coming Sept. 27 for iOS, Android and Mac. Angry Birds fans will finally be able to play as the pigs, although it won't be by a slingshot. No more details have been released yet, but Rovio is promising "all new, never-before-seen gameplay." We'll see about that.

Windows Phone, Windows 8 and PC versions will launch shortly after Sept. 27. Watch the trailer below.



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Square Enix announces Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, coming in 2013

Square Enix has promoted the heck out of Final Fantasy XIII character Lightning, and love her or hate her she's getting one more game coming to the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2013. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be the final chapter in the Lightning saga, featuring a new story, world and characters with an enhanced gameplay system.

Lightning will be a playable character and Square Enix is promising fans that they will experience an "active and expansive environment like never before." To date, the Final Fantasy XIII franchise has shipped more than 9.6 million copies worldwide. I'm not the biggest Final Fantasy fanboy, but having played through XIII and XIII-2 I'll probably be playing this one, too, even though the storyline is so crazy and complex.

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