The holiday season is among us and I was asked by my co-worker who is married to a gamer what she should buy him for Christmas.  I usually don’t get asked these questions, but since I’m a gamer I told her 5 things she should get him that would make him very happy.  I also talked about this on my latest podcast – Game Changers Radio – Show #82

#5. XBOX 360 Microsoft Points and PSN Cards ($20) – My first suggestion as a stocking stuffer is Microsoft Points and a PSN Card.  You can buy these at your local GameStop and they can used for buying games in the XBOX 360 Marketplace and the PSN store. There are many increments of these cards but what I suggest is buying a $20 Microsoft Card which is 1600 points or $20 PSN Card.  I told her that he probably could use them cause she mentioned he has both systems.

http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/dlc/xbox-360-live-marketplace-1600-points/84477

#4. The Walking Dead ($30) – The Walking Dead is not only a great series on TV but it is now the Game of the Year according to SPIKE TV and I have to agree.  I played this game and it was so great that I’m picked it up from Game Stop the other day.  You used to only get the Walking Dead by buying the Episodic DLC but now you can find all 5 episodes on 1 disc for $30.  He’ll also be impressed that you know it’s the Game of the Year.

http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/games/the-walking-dead-a-telltale-games-series/104326

#3. MadCatz – MLG Pro Circuit Controller (PS3 – $100 XBOX – $100) – The essential accessory for every gamer is his controller and some are very obsessed with their controller, even so much as naming them.  My controller is called Simone, she’s curvey, very smooth, fits my hand perfectly, and loves when I press her buttons. But I always didn’t have Simone and I went through many controllers until I found her.  And she is the MLG Pro Circuit Controller.  I suggest this controller to everyone, especially if you have two systems.  I never liked the PS3 controller and like the XBOX 360 one better and this controller for the PS3 feels and looks like the XBOX 360 and you can switch the setup to have the analog sticks like the one on the 360. Go get it for your gamer!

http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/accessories/major-league-gaming-pro-circuit-controller/101486

#2 Turtle Beach Ear Force X12 – ($50 X32 (wireless) – $80) – The two things a gamer goes through the most are controllers (which I suggested a good one above) and headsets. There are no better headsets than the Turtle Beach Ear Force. Now I have the X32 which are wireless and the sound is so clear but I’ve heard on good authority that the X12 which is wired are very clear as well.  These are your ordinary headsets either as you can have all the sound come through the headphones, which if your wife is constantly yelling that your TV is too loud, is a major plus.

http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/accessories/turtle-beach-earforce-x12/92704

#1 Elgato Capture HD ($159) – This is by far my #1 gift to Gamers this Christmas season.  Every gamer wishes that they could record their action, weather they are playing Madden, COD, or even Borderlands 2; they would love to revisit what they did the night before.  The Elgato Game Capture HD is a powerful little device that can do a number of things.  Here are some of the feature that this device does:

1. It records your game

2. It can stream to Twitch without any extra software than the one that comes with it.

3. You can also do live commentary and adjust the volume of your game for a better finished product

4. Trim, Cut and edit your video before you push it to YouTube, Twitter, Email, Facebook, iPad, or your favorite video editor like Final Cut Pro or iMovie.

I ordered my Game Capture HD from Amaon, but I did see one at my local Apple Store, so you may be able to find it there.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/H9452LL/A/elgato-game-capture-hd-game-recorder

So there it is 5 gifts that you can probably go pickup this weekend to satisfy any gamer.  I also have to mention the Gaems G155 which is a self-contained mobile gaming environment, it lets you stay in the action when you’re on the move. Just strap in your gaming console, store your accessories, select the game, and you’re good to go. With a built in Monitor this may be the best gift ever for that gamer that’s always on travel. You can find it at Walmart – Walmart.com

When I was growing up my mom wore a specific shirt every Sunday and it read “I root for two teams on Sunday.  The Redskins and whoever is playing the Cowboys.”  So it wasn’t a question who I was rooting for on Sundays and as I grew up I grew up really loving the Washington Redskins and was very grateful for seeing them win Championships.  Some fans have never seen their team win 1 Superbowl and I happen to see 3. I remember when I was 8 and my uncle took me to go see the Redskins play the Dallas Cowboys at RFK.  That Day we lost to the Dallas Cowboy 26-10, and I think I even cried in the car going home.  It was the first game of the season and we end up losing our 5 games that season.

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There are some good Madden leagues out there where you can pick a team go through a schedule, draft players and such and try to win the Super Bowl. CCM is going to be very in-depth and keep ballers occupied in Online Franchises more than ever.  That is fine and all but until you played in a Madden Wars League then you’ll never know what you are missing.

Madden Wars is not your typical 32 man CCM league (we have some of those coming up), it is a str8/sim league where you are on a team, you play against other teams, and you battle to secure stadiums by playing Battle Modes. Yea, it sounds crazy but let me break it down for those who are not familiar with what we do.

First, Madden Wars is not an individual competition it’s a team sport. There will be anywhere from 3-6 teams depending on how many signups we get and there will be anywhere from 7-10 people on a team. Once you are on a team, you can play anyone from the other teams in what we call a “Random Game”. If you win, you earn 2 points for your team. If you lose you will earn 1 point for your team. You can play “Random Games” whenever and against whoever, it’s just one aspect of what makes Madden Wars so great, there’s always someone in the Madden Wars Community Lobby for you to play some Str8/Sim ball.

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There are some good Madden leagues out there where you can pick a team go through a schedule, draft players and such and try to win the Super Bowl.  That is fine and all but until you played in a Madden Wars League then you’ll never know what you are missing.

Madden Wars is not your typical 32 man franchise league, it is a str8/sim league where you are on a team, you play against other teams, and you battle to secure stadiums by playing Battle Modes.  Yea, it sounds crazy but let me break it down for those who are not familiar with what we do.

First, Madden Wars is not an individual competition it’s a team sport.  There will be anywhere from 4-6 teams depending on how many signups we get and there will be anywhere from 7-10 people on a team.  Once you are on a team, you can play anyone from the other teams in what we call a “Random Game”.  If you win, you earn 2 points for your team.  If you lose you will earn 1 point for your team.  You can play “Random Games” whenever and against whoever, it’s just one aspect of what makes Madden Wars so great, there’s always someone in the Madden Wars Community Lobby for you to play some Str8/Sim ball.

Another way to earn points for your team is to participate in “Flag Games”.  Each week the Leader of each team will schedule “Flag Games” against other teams where they will play in a particular matchup in what we like to call “Battle Modes”.  “Battle Modes” are specific rules or conditions in which the game has to be played.  For instance we have a “Battle Mode” called “Starless”.

The “Starless” battle mode is where each player chooses 3 people off their opponents team to take out of the game.  You have to select one person from offense, defense, and any other player but not a duplicate position.  So let’s say I’m the Redskins and I’m playing against someone who is using the Cowboys and it’s a Starless Flag Game. I’m going to choose Romo, DeMarcus Ware, and Felix Jones as guys my opponent can’t use.  If I win I get 10 points for my team and my opponent gets 0 points but most importantly I also get a team flag in that stadium.

There are other Battle Modes other than Starless.  There is Random Spins, Division, CFL, Home Security, Disaster, and more …

So are you still with me?  There’s more.

There are 32 stadiums each with a combination of 4 “Battle Modes”.  So FedEx Field has a Home Security, Disaster, Starless, and Division Battle Modes up for grabs.  Once a team captures all 4 flags in a stadium before any other team, they receive 50 points.

So the whole object of Madden Wars is to have the most points at the end of the regular season (which is between 8-10 weeks).  The top teams then battle in playoffs and the winner is Champion of Madden Wars.

We also have a farm system with farm teams where people that are not on a team but are waiting for an opening or to serve on a 5 day contract wait and play for their farm team.  So even if you haven’t made it up to the big leagues, you can still participate and earn points.

So if you are looking for something different, you play SIM football, you love to play a lot of SIM players, and all of this sounds very interested then you can sign up here.

We also have a website that still shows last years stats and gives you an idea of how many guys we had last season and we want to grow this season. Check out MaddenWars.com!

Mymaddenpad has created a fantasy football league. We are looking for 10 dedicated owners.

League Settings:

Draft Type: Live Sep 4, 2011 6:00pm CDT

Custom Url: http://mmpfl.league.fantasy.nfl.com

Divisions 4

Playoffs Weeks 15 & 16 – 4 teams

Teams 12

Trade Review Type League Votes (by team owners)

Trade Reject Time 2 days

Trade Deadline November 25, 2011

Waiver Period 1 day

Waiver Type Resets Every Tuesday to Inverse Order of Standings

Waiver Lock Type Waivers on Drop and Lock

Post Draft Players Follow Waiver Rules

Roster Lock Type Game Time

Start of Season Week 1

Starting Roster Positions & Roster Limits

Quarterback:1
Running Back:2
Wide Receiver:2
Tight End:1
Wide Receiver / Running Back:1
Kicker:1
Defensive Team:1
Bench:6

*Settings could change.

Remember we are looking for dedicated owners. If enough people sign up we will create another fantasy league. Click here to sign up!

UPDATE: We have 6 spots left, You have to be a registered member of mymaddenpad.com to participate. WWW

Hey guys, if you haven’t seen me around the site lately it’s more or less because I have a copy of Madden NFL 12 and it’s occupying all of my time right now.  EA SPORTS sent me a copy of Madden NFL 12 for my birthday and now I’m ready to try to answer all of your questions about the game.

Unfortunately I am embargoed until August 26th, but here is what we are going to do.  In the forums there is a forum where you can place all of your questions and I will answer them for you.  My answer or response will not be available (invisible) until August 26th, so that’s when they will be visible.

There will be three forums actually.  One for media request, like screenshots and videos.  Another for player ratings, eventhough you can find those on ESPN’s Video Game, and another forum for Questions.

So what are you waiting for, ask away.  August 26th is gonna be an explosion of Madden NFL 12 information here on MMP.