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Boom! Boom! John Madden celebrates 20 years in the business

The next eight days in handheld games

Boom! Boom! John Madden celebrates 20 years in the business
By Jon Jordan
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DS + PSP

It first graced the virtual playing field in 1988 under the name John Madden Football and since then Madden NFL has become the most successful gaming franchise in North America, regularly selling over five million copies per year.

Of course, it doesn't quite bask in the same success over this side of the Atlantic but nevertheless if you're bored of playing our version of football, the Madden games have always met high quality standards, even when it comes to the handheld releases - both the DS and PSP versions are out this week.

Sadly, similar enthusiasm can't be expressed in the various games over the years based on Hellboy comics/films. Instead, hanging out with Anung un Rama has almost always been a universally depressing experience - something we expect to continue following our earlier time spent with Hellboy: The Science of Evil.

Still, if there's something else Madden signifies it's the ending of the closed season and the imminent start of the autumn game season - aka the time of the year when publishers decide to squeeze over half of the year's biggest releases into a quarter of the actual year.

You can get a taster of what's to come with the sudden jump in the number of games that will be released next week - something that will again be matched the following week.

So while we can, let's relax and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Europe: Out August 15th
Hellboy: The Science of Evil (PSP)
Madden NFL 09 (DS/PSP)

Europe: Out August 22nd
AMF Bowling Pinbusters! (DS)
Carnival Funfair Games (DS)
Ducati Moto (DS)
Mary King's Riding School (DS)
Mahjongg (DS)
Road to Vegas (DS)
Pirates Duel On The High Seas (DS)

US: Out up to August 26th
B-Boy (PSP) (Read our review)
Commando Steel Disaster (DS)
Digimon World Championship (DS)
Fading Shadows (PSP) (Read our review)
Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli (DS) (Read our review)
From the Abyss (DS)
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (DS)
Line Rider 2 Unbound (DS)
MLB Power Pros 2008 (DS)
My Chinese Coach (DS)
N+ (DS/PSP)
Picto Image (DS)
The Sims 2 Apartment Pets (DS)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (PSP)
Time Hollow (DS)

Click on any of the above European games to buy them. We alternate between linking to either Play.com or GAME, depending on which offers the cheapest deal.
Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.