Every year for the past 15 years, EA Sports has released a game with "NBA Live" somewhere in the title. And every year, there's been one lonely team back, back, back, back holding down the position of the worst team that year. With the release of the new Dynamic DNA feature, it'll be a more fluid position—players will automatically be rated every day with how well they are performing in the league. Which got us thinking: Who's been the worst of the worst over the past decade and a half? Who's been rated the worst in the game and then delivered on their expected mediocrity? Take a look:

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The NFL season starts today (did you forget already?) with the Super Bowl champions New York Giants facing division rivals Washington Redskins. A few weeks ago, we called up the Madden NFL 09's Assistant Designer Jonathan Crankshaw and got the lowdown on how the game's player and team ratings get calculated. If anyone's got the pulse of the NFL, it's gotta be that guy, right? So, we asked him who his favorites for the new season are and—well—there are definitely some surprises to be had. Compare your picks with his and put down your bets before kickoff tonight.

AFC Division Winners East: New England Patriots North: Pittsburgh Steelers South: Indianapolis Colts West: San Diego Chargers Wild Cards Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans

NFC Division Winners East: Washington Redskins North: Green Bay Packers South: Tampa Bay Buccaneers West: Seattle Seahawks Wild Cards New York Giants Dallas Cowboys

Team To Watch: Buffalo Bills

Super Bowl
San Diego Chargers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Winner: Chargers

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Assistant designer Jonathan Crankshaw lets you in on all the searing Excel spreadsheet action.

Let's get right down to it—who puts the Madden ratings together?
It's me, I have the final say. Before a game comes out, I assemble a group of media experts, around 10 people or so, and a bunch of college athletes, and I show them where I think I'm going as far as ratings go.

How do you make the numerical transition from how athletes perform on the field to how they perform in the game?
I look at a couple of things. First is public perception—everyone knows a certain player can do one thing, so he has to be rated as such. Second is what he did last year and what I think he can do this year. We now do roster updates every two to three weeks, so at home I have several TVs along with my laptop documenting everything players do. Some guys are in better situations for stats than others, so you have to watch that. For example, the Patriots' Laurence Maroney got very few rushing attempts last year because Tom Brady passed all the time. But when Maroney did get attempts, he ran real hard. Same thing with a guy like Steve Smith compared to Terrell Owens. T.O. was in a prolific offense that put up 35 points a game while Smith's team was juggling quarterbacks all season, so it was hard for him to get going. You have to read between the lines sometimes.

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It's almost September which means EA Sports is ready to unleash it's avalanche of 09 sports games, including the forthcoming NHL 09. EA released a new developer walkthrough detailing the new features of this year's iteration including the addition of the defensive skill stick, flip dumps, one-handed dekes, protect the puck. There is also a new mode called "Be A Pro" which puts you into the minor leagues of the NHL—the AHL—and you have to climb your way into a professional league. Kinda nifty for those who follow hockey, at least that's what our hockey nut editor meant by his "Holy shit. This is great!" comment when he saw the video. Now get to it and watch.

 

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EA Sports just dropped a NCAA Football 09 demo into the laps of unsuspecting Xbox Livers and PSNers. We're jockstrapping it on and taking the field for this year's roster update reimagining of the game played with the skin of pigs. Yum!

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