Every year, EA tries to see who will win the Super Bowl by running a simulation in Madden, which I guess makes sense, given that it’s a football game and all.

But 1UP decided to do the same, in another game that features giants and patriots. From what I understand, the actual outcome wasn’t nearly as lopsided, but it pinned the winner correctly, and that’s what matters…

But yeah, because of the video above, I don’t feel as foolish spending all last night playing Animal Crossing instead. Hey, I was behind on my virtual mortgage payment. BTW, for those curious, Madden also predicted a Giants victory…

Let’s take the new FIFA for example…

… Yikes. Though most examples have been courtesy of Madden. Here’s a clip reel, courtesy of Machinima Sports…

… I’ll be honest: I’m not a football fan, and therefore don’t get all the nuances, so most of the glitches are totally over my head. But I’m guessing by the comments section from the vid that they’re all fairly obvious.

Meanwhile, I mostly dig the ones in which you have to be blind not to notice. Like…

Or something, if it really happened, would have grown men screaming and crying in the stands…

Or ones that are indicative of someone with a VERY boring sex life…

Or ones in which a player is obviously from the planet Krypton…

Here’s another example of that…

And finally, potpourri…

First of, and to be honest, they’re not saying flat out “this game is a piece of sh*t” but the basic message is, once again, it’s the same damn game with just three new things, from a company that has zero reason to make any changes cuz everyone’s going to buy a copy anyway. BTW, NSFW language ahead…

… Wait, so sprinting was removed? Was that intentional? Sorry, but I don’t know enough about football, nor the game. Other than, you know, it’s the same thing every year, with just one or two extra things and/or tweaks. AKA, stereotypes exist for a reason sometimes (cuz they’re often true).

Now Tiger Woods 2012, for the PC to be exact, there’s apparently zero question regarding how much it sucks. It was supposed to be the first brand new, real deal edition in years (since Tiger Woods 2008 to be exact). In between there’s been a free to play version that hardcore golfing fans have scoffed at (the intended audience was the casual set to begin with, if I’m not mistaken).

So when 2012 arrived, everyone assumed a port of the console versions, or at least the same features. Since it was even advertised as such, Turns out, that wasn’t exactly the case; it’s just that aforementioned crappy free to play title with some major tinkering. Also, the game as a whole suffers from bad animations and numerous other technical deficines.

To the point that EA is offering full refunds of the game as Rock Paper Shotgun points out, which is actually somewhat unprecedented! Though as they also state, no word yet on whether it’s across the board or a per request basis.

Well, it’s mostly about judges hating on other judges, but at the very least we get to hear a television studio audience’s reaction to Mortal Kombat fatalities. lol, noobs. BTW, here’s their report on the case as it first entered the courts, a few months ago…

Bonus clip, a somewhat more recent clip from The Colbert Report in which one of the topics addressed is Madden…

First up, Battlefield 3, which got the whole crowd all hot and bothered the most. I’ll just let the footage do all the talking; arrives on the Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and Wii (okay, just kidding about that last part) on October 25…

Next up we have the latest from Insomniac, the folks behind Resistance and Ratchet & Clank. They’re finally going multi-platform, and their first offering is Overstrike. It’s apparently a cooperative sci-fi adventure involving secret agent type stuff…

Time for the BioWare portion of this report; Mass Effect 3 is landing on March 6th of next year…

And for those that still care about Jedis and crap like that, you’ve got Star Wars: The Old Republic…

Need for Speed: The Run has you racing cars around like usual, but you’ll also be running around on foot. Hence the name of the latest installment, obviously. And get this: as a human, you’re still be controlling the action via car-like controls. Okay…

What EA presser is complete without some Madden?

And finally, the best news for last: the Sims is coming to Facebook, via The Sims Social. For some folks, this will be the E3 game of the show… seriously.

It’s especially prevalent in football, where concussions have become a big problem both in the short term (players getting injured and football’s violence being on display) and the long term (older players are now coming forth with serious health issues, much of which may have been misdiagnosed concussion symptoms).

So what happens with the virtual world of football, with Madden? Well, no more playing with concussions, that’s what.

In the newest rendition, Madden 12, if a player suffers a concussion, he’ll be out for the game. Additionally, illegal hit techniques (leading with the helmet, etc) won’t be shown.

“I wouldn’t say this is a full public-service announcement, but it’s a means to educate,” executive producer Phil Frazier said.

And the game’s namesake is on board too — John Madden, the long-time coach and announcer who’s probably grown more famous thanks to his virtual presence than he did in the real world (no, seriously, for younger people, it’s kind of a big deal) agrees with the changes.

“Concussions are such a big thing, it has to be a big thing in the video game,” Madden said in a telephone interview with the New York Times. “It starts young kids — they start in video games. I think the osmosis is if you get a concussion, that’s a serious thing and you shouldn’t play. Or leading with the head that you want to eliminate. We want that message to be strong.”

And the NFLPA appreciates the sentiment as well.

“Good for EA Sports,” NFLPA spokesman George Atallah tweeted recently. “Concussed players in NFL Madden prevented from returning to play. Culture change is important.”

Look, no one wants to see the fun taken out of fake football. After all, hard hits (hello, “Hit Stick!”) are what make the game exceptionally fun.

But the cold, hard truth of the matter is that lots of kids who are growing up to become football players do so while watching monster hits on Sportscenter, and laying people out online in Madden. Hard-hitting football is a part of our culture and unless we do something to curb what people are learning at a young age, and what youth football players are emulating, we’re never going to help put a stop to the rampant concussion problem in the sport.

Madden Puts Concussions in Light in His New Game – [New York Times]

Or a gigantic curse, depending on how you feel about voodoo and whatnot. Either way, until 2011, the choice of player on the cover of the Madden game has been out of the fans’ hands. Now, EA’s cashing on America’s love of brackets and giving everyone a choice to vote for the cover star, via a tournament that will last about a month.

Voting kicks off today (Monday the 21st) at 4:00 PM (yes, that’s now, thanks for pointing that out) and takes place on a special Madden page located on ESPN. Each team is represented, in some sort of way, therefore getting a chance to be repped on the cover and have one of their players destroyed by the Madden Curse.

The seeding’s fairly interesting, because while it’s not surprising to see Aaron Rodgers is a No. 1, having Philip Rivers edge out someone like Michael Vick or Tom Brady (the MVP) as a No. 1.

Of course, that’s not nearly as weird as having Hines Ward slot in as a No. 2.

Also of interest, Brady’s not even in the bracket: Danny Woodhead is repping the Patriots for whatever reason. (And, actually, that reason might be that Brady’s name is on a lawsuit against the NFL right now; Peyton Manning isn’t in the bracketing either as Dwight Freeney’s repping the Colts.)

More important for fans than who’s the “face” of their team, though, might be the ability to fill out their own bracket and win prizes. Which is something that they can do by cruising over to EA’s Madden Facebook page and filling out a bracket. Up for grabs are prizes as awesome as Super Bowl tickets.

Of course, the ideal scenario is some sort of viral movement to get the Seahawks most valuable “player” — the 12th man!!! — elected for the Madden cover. In that scenario, everyone wins, because Seattle fans will awkwardly grace the front of the world’s most famous sports video game, and the Madden Curse will finally be broken, because it’s not possible to make Seattle sports fans’ lives any more miserable than they already are.

Rex Grossman craps a football (not unlike in real life!).

A hit so hard the QB lost his damn head…

Direct snaps to Ronnie Brown? Try snapping to the wideout.

Mutant football players! Run!

The safety is possessed!

Run, Forrest, Run!

116 yard field goal?

Magic floating football!

Is this intentional grounding?

What is this, FIU vs. Miami?

This just looks painful…

Rules, what rules?

The sideline first down marker guys aren’t real smart.

Now THIS is what I call flexibility…

And, of course, the grandaddy of them all: The Madden ambulance.

Got a great Madden glitch? Give us the link to the video in the comments! We’d love to see it.