This week we have our defending champion Slizeezyc facing off against Dave Branda (aka BlyGilmore) in DSM Fact or Fiction.  We cover everything from Skate and Tony Hawks, to a Madden recall, to March Madness and Live to the recentely announced new football games.  How did these two fare?  Be sure to cast your vote by leaving a comment to the article in our forums!

  Skate will outsell Tony Hawks Proving Ground

BlyGilmore: FICTION: This will be an interesting thing to watch, because in a rare situation it pits EA Sports' marketing might versus an established title that has been coming out since 1999 and considered the de facto skate boarding champion until knocked off its perch. While I think EA takes some of the market from Activision, I still see Tony Hawk coming out on top and ruling the skateboarding landscape for at least another season.

Chase Becotte: FACT: First let me put on my analyst hat...OK with that out of the way let's take a look at the market. First, I'd say EA marketing has once again done a good job plastering SKATE all over the place, and the talking thumbs is a good angle to take for the commercials. Besides that point, SKATE got out into retail before the big bad Halo 3 monster, and next week SKATE will grace PS3 consoles a few weeks after Heavenly Sword and with enough time before the next Ratchet and Clank. Another point on the 360 front is that Proving Ground releases a week after Halo 3, and it comes out during a bloated week of PGR4, NBA Live and 2K, and Half-Life 2 Orange Box. I'm sorry but that's retail suicide.

Madden should be recalled.

BlyGilmore: FACT: Which year? For years I have had a theory. The quality of EA Sports titles is directly proportional to how stiff their competition is in that sport. Like Pigman said while watching A Bridge To Far in his quest to prove the Caine-Hackman Theory, Madden 08 is my closing argument. Some of this games bugs are just legendary. The Moonwalk will go down in history right next to the ambulance. The "why is there a rogue football sitting in front of the line of scrimmage" bug is perhaps one of the most enjoyable in sports gaming history. And I won't get into the tons of other bugs that are seeming to pop-up all over the place, ruining franchises and sucking the fun out of what used to be one heck of a football title.

Chase Becotte: FICTION: Alright it's time to rock the corporate cap. The game is playable in any mode correct? It's possible to complete full seasons correct? There are no bugs which cause the game to crash correct? Then while we appreciate your concern we ask that you call EA Customer Service if you are having any troubles and they will provide a work around for you. OK, removing that cap, it's definitely a downer that Franchise Mode has a rather serious bug which makes it basically impossible to finish seasons after a certain year because of an injury bug. Nonetheless it's just not rational to expect about 1.5 million sold copies of next generation Madden to be recalled. A patch seems like it should be in the works, but a total recall is not possible, or necessary. Brownie points for the theory though Professor Bly.

Exclusive Licenses are bad for gamers.

BlyGilmore: FACT: Man talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Two questions. One answer. Bring it Sliz!

Chase Becotte: FACT: I thought about trying to argue this from the fiction point of view, but this is just such a bad question it's not even worth it. You get an F for this session of fact or fiction Chris.

March Madness will get a higher review score than NBA Live this year.

BlyGilmore: FACT: There are basketball games? Was I supposed to know this? Do I have to play either of them? I would refrain from further review until playing the March Madness demo, since I have played the NBA Live demo already. I would hope for the sake of EA basketball gamers March Madness gets a better score, because based on what I have played I'm not sure NBA Live is doing so well. 

Chase Becotte: FICTION: Go back to racing your Hot Wheels Bly, I got this one. Both games were horrendous last year, but I present exhibit A as evidence to the court.

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Call me crazy but I think NBA Live is safe this year. Live appears to be making strides in the gameplay department (new camera, new post game, refined gameplay) and zero information has been released for March Madness -- nor do I remember the last time March Madness was good in the first place. It actually was a bit better than Live last year, but that's not saying much. This year the only thing March Madness has going for it is Kevin Durant on the cover.

None of the recently announced football titles will be any good (Black COllege Experience, Backbreaker or whatever)

BlyGilmore: FICTION: I highly doubt it. People have a certain degree of polish they expect from a football title at this point and I'm not sure these titles will be able to pass the consumer sniff test. I will say the Black College Football game intrigues me, however. Being built on the Unreal Engine perked my interest, and game concentrating a bit more on the atmosphere of football games could do a few things the big publishers take notice of.

Chase Becotte: FACT: Backbreaker gave me vibes of Any Given Sunday; I assume that's because of the insane tackles and black jerseys. If Al Pacino is in the game screaming at me from the sidelines while NaturalMotion makes all the players flop around on the field, in no way can that be bad! On the other hand, playing in a heated Grambling State versus Prairie View A&M match-up doesn't "intrigue" me. Face it Bly, the only reason you said that the game intrigues you is because of your fear of Al Sharpton (Bly: Nah. Mostly Jesse Jackson).

Please go to the forums and voice your opinion on who won this version of DSM Fact or Fiction!