Yesterday was officially the start of Madden 11 Season with EA putting out some new information on Madden 11. In case you missed it, here is the video:
Here is my opinion:
I thought the blog was ok, but I guess I was expecting a little bit more. I mean, it’s nice to know who is responsible for what but last year you came out with Procedural Awareness and some videos to back up what it was. This year it was more of ‘Meet the Team’ that is going to be making the best football game ever and who they think will win the Super Bowl.
Most of the responses from hardcore fans come from Mark Turmell’s (who worked on NBA Jam, Smash TV, NFL Blitz) comments where he stated
… it’s clear that we are making a simulated football title, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t try to welcome more players. …. so that’s what I’m trying to think about is how we can embrace the different levels of players to bring them into the Madden fold.
- Mark Turmell
The idea of bringing more people to the game of Madden means you are going to dumb it down for new people. That’s time you could be working on a new hardcore element, fixing some of the gameplay issues that new people wouldn’t care about or even notice. Every new featured geared at bringing people in is time not spent on expanding the game. There are already features that are for new comers to get into the game. While I’m not worried that Madden will become some crazy arcade game, the attention to what the hardcore guys want and if they will be addressed has me worried. I’m hoping the addition of Mark will bring in fresh eyes into the franchise with fresh, new, innovating ideas.
Bottom line is the developers already only have but 10 months or less to work on this thing, I pray it’s spent on polishing up and expanding an already beautiful Madden 10 game.
So what do you think about the new EA blog?
Also check out ncaastrategies.com where CDJ has taken screenshots of the white board that reveal a little bit more about Madden 11, including who might be a 99 OVR.
Another great resource is the Madden Forums on EA Sports to hear what others are saying about the Madden 11 Blog.
Everyone is hyped up for the Super Bowl, Peyton Manning going for his second SB ring and Brees trying to propel the New Orleans area into a frenzy. Will Dwight Freeney play and can the Saint’s “Remember Me” hits on Peyton Manning even work. Others want to see the new commercials, the funny ads they will be talking about on Monday and even if this Tebow commercial is even worth all the fuss. I’m looking forward to halftime. No, I’m not a “The Who” fan, I’m a Madden fan.
Last year Ian Cummings, Lead Designer for Madden 11 (follow @Ian_Cummings on Twitter) wrote a blog at halftime about Procedural Awareness and how they wanted to be more transparent to the fans and I thought EA did a good job at times being transparent to us fans. You can view that blog here: http://insideblog.easports.com/archive/2009/02/01/madden-nfl-10-first-look.aspx
This year I’m hoping to hear one of the following:
1. Improvement of Online features.
2. Improved actual gameplay. I don’t want to hear about what new method or technology they have for bringing down ball carriers in the open field.
3. Improved Online Franchise. I’ve been loving Online Franchise but there are obvious needs there.
What I don’t want to see is how visually improved the game is. How authentic fields, jerseys, coaches, etc ….. none of that matters to me that much. Don’t get me wrong, I love all that stuff but if I had my choice of what new information I want to hear, those are not one of them.
What are you hoping for?
Every day this week I will be putting out a new article about Madden so please come back to MyMaddenPad.com and check it out.
One of my favorite running backs to play with in Madden 10 took the Madden Bowl this year as Maurice Jones-Drew outscored and spanked Patrick Wilis in the finals. This year there was not only braggin rights up for grabs between the trash talking players but the winner got a Gold, diamond encrusted 360 Presented by Peter Moore himself and the Madden Bowl trophy that was almost as tall as MJD …. lol.
EA announces today a new program called the EA Sports Game Changers. The EA Sports Game Changers is a collection of top community guys that EA has chosen to represent the EA Community. This is not just for Madden, this is for all of EA Sports. Here is the mission statement for the program:
EA SPORTS Game Changers Program Mission Statement
The Game Changer Award recognizes exceptional community leaders from around the world who use their knowledge of EA SPORTS games to improve the experience and overall growth of the EA SPORTS Community.
Game Changers are independent community members who are offered a close connection with people at EA SPORTS. To acknowledge Game Changers’ leadership and provide a platform to help support their efforts, EA SPORTS often gives Game Changers early access to EA SPORTS games, as well as the opportunity to pass on their highly targeted feedback and recommendations about product design, development, and support.
There are a list of guys I know from the previous Madden Community Program and some other guys that I know from around the Madden Community and they are all much deserved and very dedicated to the EA Community. Right now EA is taking applications for the program, so if you are interested you can apply.
Well it’s been a great ride with the rosters being updated very frequently this year. There was a couple of weeks where rosters didn’t get updated but overall I feel EA did a good job with the rosters and accurately updating them also.
The latest Madden NFL 10 roster update will be available soon for download on XBL and the PSN. Here’s the full list of moves included in this update. There are reports that this is the second to last update.
The much anticipated (for me at least) Madden Ultimate Team arrives today for both the 360 and PS3. The Madden Ultimate team is part fantasy football, part owner mode, but nothing short of instant replay value for Madden 10. I’ve been longing for this kind of replay value from Madden for years and finally the Tiburon team delivers. There still is no exact time the download will be available. Check out the video tutorial on how to get started with your Madden Ultimate Team today:
EA is dropping the bomb on a number of their video game servers, shutting down the online fun for many of their Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 games. The list is after the break and you’ll surprisingly find many a game ending with the suffix “09.”
EA is so hungry to sell their new video games to old customers that they have released a particularly unhealthy list of video games that they’ll be nuking on February 2nd 2010. Oh, and Happy New Year by the way.
The company writes on their website that gamers will be able to play the following games up until that date, but some community programs may begin to close before then. They even seal the letter by offering distraught gamers their current line up of online games for purchase:
All of us at EA would like to thank you for your valued participation in our online gaming community and hope that your enthusiasm for these games extends to our current lineup and beyond.
Expletives may leave your lips when you read the rundown of titles. Not only is the inclusion of PS3 and Xbox 360 titles surprising, the date the games were released is even more surprising. Yes, Madden 07 and 08 are included in the shutdown…but Madden 09 on all consoles as well? Europe gets more of the brunt with NASCAR 09 and NBA 09 (Wii) also. These titles were only released just over a year ago and yet EA is ready to say goodbye and force gamers to put up the cash if they want to jump online.
There is a suspicion that P2P online gaming may still be able to continue, but since most of the games need to be signed into EA’s servers to play online at all, its unlikely gamers will even be able to do that. Enjoy gritting you teeth to the following list:
I read a great article by PastaPadre as he lists Madden 10 his #2 sports game of the year in 2009. Here are some of the points he made:
The most beneficial change to gameplay that really made this year exceptional was slowing down the game speed. That resulted in one of the most balanced experiences between offense and defense that the series has been able to provide. The default use of accelerated clock made the pacing much better as well allowing for longer quarters to be played thereby producing more realistic stats. My full impressions of the game from around release can be found here.
One of the most discussed new elements came with the Pro-Tak animations. It did end up making a big difference without being overwhelming like many new features have been in their first attempts in the past. Between the game speed and Pro-Tak it was a stunning shift going from NCAA Football 10 to Madden 10 and really accented just how far Madden had come in a single year.
Madden 10 took heavily into consideration community feedback in both of the patches that released. Given that there were no severe issues that required patching immediately EA was able to take a little extra time on the first patch. The biggest problem that was corrected was the holding on field goal attempts. That patch actually caused a few issues including turning the numbers on the back of some helmets into solid squares. The second patch took a while to arrive but fixed those, made a few additions such as helmet stickers and new uniforms, and adjusted a few things to make the gameplay experience better.
The AFL downloadable content was a pleasant surprise as it didn’t just add in the uniforms but also included a retro presentation style and field art changes. With additional content coming in the way of Madden Ultimate Team still to be factored in Madden 10 definitely provided a ton of value. Far more than it has before for anyone that didn’t dig in deep to Franchise or play a lot of ranked online games.
I really think that the addition of the Madden Ultimate Team later this month hopefully would have propelled Madden to Pasta’s #1 spot.
One of the best features going into the Madden season had to be the addition of online franchise. With online franchise you and 31 of your best online buddies can go through 10 seasons playing with your favorite team and building a dynasty. Unfortunately in my opinion online franchise has not lived up to my expectations. With the instability of online, the lack of salary cap, and players raping the Free Agent pool at will and dumb trades I find it really bad at times.
Let me first say that I’m in 2 Online Franchises and both of them are different.
Want to save that great play in Madden? Upload your Madden or NCAA Highlight on MyMaddenPad.com. You can save as many highlights as you want. Click here to start your Madden video collection.
The next roster update for Madden 10 is nearing with its release slated for January 8th just in time for Wild Card Weekend. With the regular season nearing an end some players seem to be shutting it down while others are stepping up or seizing opportunities.
ZFarls from MaddenBible.com has written a nice article about the mindset of a player when he goes into a game against an opponent. He gives details about what he personally is thinking and how confidence plays a big factor.
This guide is for all Madden players who would love to spend a little more time in the lab, but love to play the game. Maybe you haven’t been able to get on the sticks quite enough and need a little boost, well here it is.
On show #3 of Madden Bible’s Week in Madden; ZFarls and Sgibs talk about the adjustment to online game speed, weather the HB Direct Snap should be banned from MLG Dallas, and the tournament scene. Sgibs delivers his tip of the week!
Looking to catch up on all the news in the Madden Community? Sgibs and ZFarls discuss the Favre and Vick Roster update, fatigue, accelerated clock, game speed, Online Franchise, and more.
Hey Madden Ballers, it’s that time again where I give away some more great prizes. This Twitter Tuesday’s prize is a FREE subscription to MaddenTips.com’s Season Pass and Virtual Playbook.
For those who have not got a copy of Madden 10 yet and are looking for some gameplay videos, I suggest you head on over to PastaPadre.com and check out Pasta Video Blowouts. All of the 8 videos are done in HD.
