PSA: Backbreaker demo available now for XBL Gold members

NaturalMotion’s Backbreaker isn’t only special because it’s the first sports videogame ever to use the Euphoria engine. Its simplified, pick-up-and-play control scheme is also notable, and in the tutorial above, you can learn how its passing — controlled solely by the right analog stick — works. (In case you missed the tutorial for the running game, you can check it out here.)

Once you think you’ve got that stuff under control, you can actually try it out for yourself in the Backbreaker demo, which you can download right now if you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber. The demo will hit the PlayStation Network “soon,” and since the game is due out on June 1st, we’re guessing/hoping that “soon” means next week for PS3 owners and Xbox Live Silver members.

The demo allows you to pick from six teams in the San Francisco stadium, and just in case the tutorial videos didn’t give you a good enough idea of how the game plays, there’s an extensive training camp in the demo. It also includes the “Tackle Alley” minigame, which NaturalMotion has turned into a very successful iPhone game; Tackle Alley can be played solo or split-screen.

Let us get you started: click here to add the demo to your 360’s download queue. Backbreaker will be in stores on June 1st for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for $49.99.