Bad news for fans of nostalgia laced arcade basketball games on platforms that aren’t the Wii. The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of NBA JAM are going to be included with copies of NBA Elite ’11, and it’s not even the full game. The only way to play the full version of the new NBA JAM is to buy it for the Wii, otherwise you’re getting a half assed download version. So, could we see NBA JAM outsell NBA Elite? I’d say it’s possible.

EA Sports Active 2 which has been renamed from EA Sports Active 2.0 is in fact coming to Kinect. Not only that but all three versions of EA Sports Active 2 will have heart rate monitors. We’ve already seen the wireless straps for Playstation 3, but if you look at the picture above you can see the wireless heart rate monitor for the Xbox 360. The Wii version will continue to use a leg strap for the nunchuck, but will now include a heart rate monitor for your arm. No release date was given for EA Sports Active 2.

UPDATE: Release date November 16th

EA Sports is including Online Passes with all of it’s sports simulation titles starting with Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’11. The pass will only be available with new copies of the games. If you buy a used copy you will pay $10 or whatever point equivalent it is for an Online Pass. So, what exciting things do you get with your online pass? You get to play…….online. That’s right no pass, no online play. It appears that there will be other bonuses but activating online play in a sports title is definitely an interesting twist. I would listen to Bullshot! this week to find out what Fish thinks, because he demanded that I post this story. He must have something angry to say about it. Maybe he loves the idea, but I doubt it.

It’s no big secret that the geek world has a soft spot for zombies. Now it would seem that the NFL has joined in on the undead affection. In an EA Sports press release, a new Zombie Mode was announced for this years Madden NFL release. Much like the recent Zombie Nazi mode for Call of Duty: World at War, Madden’s Zombie Mode will be a bonus feature. The brain-hungry mode will be unlocked by players who complete a perfect, undefeated season for their franchise. Players will be able to continue a new season with “zombified” versions of their favorite players.

Sure it may be just a gimmick, but it’s also possible that this might be enough to get non-Madden players to give the game a try. I know I’ll be ready to host the first ever Zombie Bowl party at my house. BYOBraaaaaaiiiins.

EA has announced the follow up to their best selling Wii workout game, and while there were rumors before, it’s now confirmed for PS3. The game is also coming to the iPhone/iPod Touch and what will separate this version apart from the previous is the inclusion of an arm strap that has a heart rate monitor. The leg strap and arm strap will both have motion sensors built in and using wireless technology will be able to tell how intense your workout is. It will then upload this info to an EA Sports Active website where you can track your progress. We imagine there will be an app for that, while the Playstation 3 version will connect to EA’s servers to periodically download new workouts and keep you connected to the online hub.

Using motion sensors in the straps rather than relying on Wiimotes or Playstation’s Arc will mean exercisers are now free to make any motions they please without worrying about if the Wiimote registered the correct movements. The pre made programs will be three phase 9 week programs which is much more in depth than EA Sports Active 1.o’s 30 Day workouts.

As someone who has used EA Sports Active in the past I can tell you that it’s pretty fun, and if used regularly with a diet I think you could see yourself getting thinner and healthier. 2.0, which is a working title by the way, sounds like a vast improvement over the first version and I look forward to giving it a try myself. Especially if there’s an iPhone app I can use to help with progress.

Starting in less than a month EA will begin killing the servers for many of it’s EA Sports titles. The most shocking of which will be the April 6th closing of Madden ’09s servers. While we can all agree that shutting down online play for titles like Facebreaker, NASCAR ’08, and March Madness ’07 might not be that big of a deal, the closing down of EA’s biggest franchise is a little crazy. However, as MTV Multiplayer points out, this will force online players to trade up to the latest iterations of these games, and will help to kill used sales, which doesn’t go into EA’s pockets. Whether you are playing these games online or not, click READ MORE to get the full list of EA Sports titles getting their online play axed.

April 6, 2010 Online Service Shutdown
• “Madden 09″ for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360

February 9, 2010 Online Service Shutdown
• “FIFA 07″ for PC
• “Madden 07″ for Xbox 360
• “Madden 08″ for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii and Xbox 360
• “NHL 08″ for PC
• “Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 07″ for PC
• “UEFA Champions League 07″ for PC

February 2, 2010 Online Service Shutdown
• “Facebreaker” for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
• “Fantasy Football 09″ for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
• “FIFA 07″ for PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2
• “Fight Night Round 3″ for PlayStation 2
• “March Madness 07″ for Xbox 360
• “NBA LIVE 07″ for PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360
• “NBA LIVE 08″ for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii
• “NBA LIVE 09″ for Wii (Europe only)
• “NBA Street (2007)” for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• “NCAA Football 08″ PlayStation 2
• “NCAA Football 09″ PlayStation 2
• “NASCAR 08″ for PlayStation 2
• “NASCAR 09″ for PlayStation 2
• “NASCAR 09″ for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (Europe Only)
• “NFL Tour” for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• “NHL 07″ for PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360
• “UEFA Champions League 07″ for Xbox 360

The headline is actually the name of the game. EA Sports Active More Workouts. It’s an expansion to the wildly popular workout game for the Wii. The expansion contains 35 new exercises and add a warm up and cool down feature. No word on pricing for this “expansion”.

• Fight Night Round 4: Launches June 25, 2009. Round 3 ran at 30 frames per second. Round 4 runs at 60 frames, and movements looked to be fluid in the onstage demo as Tyson took on Ali.
• The Big EA Sports announcement is that MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is coming to the EA family. Tiberon is designing the new franchise coming 2010.
• Tiger Woods PGA Online is an in-browser version of the game.
• The new Tiger Woods for Wii will be bundled with Motion Plus
• NCAA 10 has a new feature called “Team Builder” where you can create a team online and import it into your game, The feature is already available online. You can create your own Stadium, fully customizable jerseys, and players.
• Madden 10 also has an online presence. Online Franchise will be available to you anywhere you can get internet access.
• EA Active has already sold 600,000 units. With its success EA is launching an expansion pack available this holiday season. It will add 30 more exercises.
• Grand Slam Tennis Wii comes out next week. it is Motion Plus compatible. This is the first tennis game to include Wimbledon in a long time. The game has 30 players, new and old.