Wednesday, May 31, 2006

EA Community Email Address

EA has set up an email account in order to answer fans questions. They are encouraging podcast listeners and anyone else who has a question to shoot an email to the new address. This will be a great way to get some of your community related questions answered, so don't miss out. If you do send in a question, make sure and let them know you're from VG Sports!"

The email address is maddencommunity@ea.com

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

First look: "NFL Head Coach"

Here's a bit more about NFL Head Coach:

By Jeff Rider
Staff writer
Have you ever watched an NFL telecast and found yourself second-guessing a coach’s decision?

It’s OK, you’re not alone. And now EA Sports is giving you your own video game.

In the 3D sports strategy game “NFL Head Coach,” you’ll make the calls on game day. Do you run out the clock late in the game when you’re nursing a lead or be aggressive and throw deep? Give the ball to your fullback on fourth-and-short or have your quarterback sneak for the first down?

Saturday, May 27, 2006

The EA Podcast: Madden NFL 07, Part I

EA Sports has posted a new podcast on Madden NFL 07.

This is from the Rookie Premiere event from last week. This first podcast features conversations with:

- Vernon Davis

- Brandon Williams

- Maurice Drew

- Derek Hagan

- Laurence Maroney

- Demetrius Williams

The theme is transition. EA discusses their transition to the pros as well as transition into playing and being in Madden 07

Friday, May 26, 2006

Tye Hill Interview

This one is pretty funny. It's cool to see how guys don't always get their props in the game, and how everybody knows it:

Talking Deion and the draft with the Rams top pick. New Madden screens included.

May 24, 2006 - Whatever stat you quote to Tye Hill, there's one that gets him fired up. "I'm not 5-9, I'm 5-10," he says with a laugh. "That 5-9 thing is a bad rumor. They pushed my head down at the combine and now everyone thinks I'm short. Of course I'm 5-9 when you push my head down."


Whatever his size, there's no doubting Tye Hill stands tall on the field. The first cornerback taken in the draft instantly became one of the fastest men in the NFL when his name was called by the commissioner, and his athletic ability could make him one of the standout rookies in 2006. Not bad for a track star who started his football career as a running back and only started to play corner, a position many feel is the hardest in the sport, as a sophomore at Clemson.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Madden Next Gen Interview with David Ortiz

Next Gen Madden Producer David Ortiz sits down and sheds some light on the Offensive and Defensive lines and the running game. Short but good read.


Check it out here: EA Sports Next Gen Interview 5/22/2006

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Dan Bertholomey aka Packwolf sounds off on Madden 360

All Games Interactive Podcast

Today's installment of All Games Interactive comes to a screeching halt when the king on the non sequitur Arena Lounge's very own Ron hits us with his breaking news involving . . . Paul McCartney? Doesn't sound very gamer oriented to me. Luckily Scot Rubin is here to save the day with his thoughts on Saint's Row, the new Blue Ray copy protection solutions, the Phantom gaming system fiasco, and gaming publishers' doubts about the PS3.

We also hear from Microsoft MVP and purveyor of all things Madden Packwolf a.k.a. Dan Bertholomey. He and Scot talk about their experiences with the next generation of Madden games at E3. With madden 07 on the PS3, Xbox 360, and The Wii these two Madden maniacs have much to say on how each one stacks up. Packwolf also brings us a Madden related exclusive that you can only hear first on All Games Interactive. So what are you waiting for!? It's All Games Interactive and its just one click away.

Click here to listen

EA Community Manager Mike Johnson on Air Tonight!


Madden Nation Radio will feature a special guest tonight. New EA Madden community Manager Mike Johnson (MJ) will join us to introduce himself and discuss some of his plans to make this the biggest and best year ever for the Madden online community.

To listen live, go to the following link at 9:05 PM EST. click here.

Madden 07 goes Mobile

This article comes from the UK. I know, it's an odd place for Madden news, but info is info so here you go:

"Okay, so most of us Brits aren't exactly clued up when it comes to American football. After all, it's just another U.S. stop-start sport played by men too wussy to do without the helmets and padding and play rugby, innit? (Letters to the usual address...)

Actually, there are plenty of gridiron fans in the UK, as shown by the popularity of EA's Madden franchise down the years, and those are the people who'll be getting excited by EA's announcement of the mobile version of Madden NFL 07 at E3 last week."

Click here for more on Madden Mobile

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Xbox and PS2 Madden 2007 Trailer

EA/Tiburon has released a new Madden 2007 Trailer.

Check it out here: PS2 and Xbox Madden 2007 Trailer

Madden 07 Current Gen Interview with Phil Frazier

Here's bit of the EA Sports Interview with Phil Frazier

Phil Frazier Current Gen Interview
Phil Frazier, Lead Producer for Madden NFL 07 Current Genenration
Q: Talk to us about the all-new defensive playbooks. How did you come up with those?

Frazier:We watched a lot of game-tape. We've got two guys that are dedicated year-in and year-out to making Madden playbooks great. They're the most hardcore football guys that we have in this building. One of the guys actually played college ball at Florida, and the other one aspires to be a head coach somewhere. The two of them combined watch hours and hours of game tape that we get directly from the NFL. Using that footage, we're able to create plays in Madden that look exactly like plays that NFL teams run, and we also get a lot of different systems and formations in there as well.

This year, we have team-specific defensive playbooks in the game. Instead of having just the schemes, like 3-4 and 4-3, we actually went in and looked at team-specific things. Teams will run things based on specific personnel, and we wanted to capture that in Madden.

Q: You've expanded last year's Superstar Mode? What's new in that?

Frazier: Superstar Mode was something that a lot of people were excited about in concept last year, but at the end of the day, when the game shipped, there was no real difference in playing a Superstar game than there was in playing a Play Now game or a Franchise game. The in-game experience was exactly the same. This year, we wanted to change that, so we went in there and now we lock you to your position. If you create a quarterback, you play quarterback and only quarterback. If you're a wide receiver, you play only wide receiver, and so on. It's called Superstar: Hall of Fame mode and it's a big improvement over last year.

We really wanted to kind of focus on you being the guy you create, and that's more than just the off-the-field stuff -- that's with in-game stuff as well. As you're playing with these guys, we've also added position-specific cameras so you actually get to experience what it's like to play at that position. When you're on defense, you're not looking at the standard camera where you're looking down the field -- you're actually looking from behind the defensive player's shoulder. You get to watch the quarterback as he's looking at you or into your zone, you get to cover wide receivers as they're running all over the field, and you have to react to plays like a normal defender would.

Click here for the full article

Madden E3 Info on the EA Sports Site

EA Sports has relaunched their Madden website with a bunch of new content:

Innovative rushing controls give you a game-breaking ground attack featuring all-new jukes, cutbacks, and the distinct running styles of your favorite backs. Between the tackles or in the open field, run to daylight with Madden NFL 07.

Key Features

Lead Blocker Control: Throw the perfect block and create a running lane with all-new lead blocking control, and then take command of the tailback and rip off a big gain.

NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame Mode: Play your way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame by taking complete control of any position on the field. Your actions on and off the field determine your impact on the game.

Run Like the Players Run with the All-New Highlight Stick: Bust out player-specific running styles matching those of real NFL players (e.g., smaller backs slash to break tackles, while bigger runners bowl over defenders in the open field). All-new jukes, cutbacks, and power moves.

Additions to Franchise Mode: Scout collegiate prospects with the all-new NFL Draft Scouting System and the College All-Star Game, or watch players around the NFL impact their teams with the new Franchise Player Roles feature.

Team-Specific Defensive Playbooks: For the first time, use actual plays from your favorite team's defensive playbook to shut down the running game, pressure the quarterback, or force key turnovers.

Online Play: Climb the leaderboard as you take on your biggest rivals from coast-to-coast in Play Now or Session Match games.

Click here for the full article

Gamespy looks at Madden Wii

Football fans have often thought of the Madden games as less of a simulation and more of an arcade-styled pigskin experience. While it may not have been conceived with this intention in mind, Madden NFL 07 on the Wii may just come closer to simulating what a gridiron athlete goes through over the course of a game.

If the idea of playing Nintendo's simplified sports party games doesn't appeal to the hardcore sports enthusiast in you, then Madden NFL 07 may be right up your alley.

Click for full article

E3 2006: Hands-On Madden NFL 07 Wii

IGN has posted some hands on thoughts about the Nintendo Wii version of Madden NFL 07.

I personally am interested in playing the game, but I don't know if it will be anything beyond just a gimmick. I know that when I am playing a video game, I want to be lounging back on the couch, not having to get all involved waving my hands in the air to get stuff to happen.

I haven't played the game personally, but I get the feeling that the gimmick will only be fun for a limited period of time. I don't see this being a game for the serious competitor. In any event, here's the article:

How does it play with Nintendo's revolutionary new controller? IGN goes hands-on to give you the scoop.
by Dan Iverson


May 10, 2006 - One of the most anticipated games for any system has to be Madden NFL 07. The Madden football franchise has always been solid, but it always seems to lean on familiar ways by simply updating the roster, giving the graphics a face-lift, and maybe adding a new play mode. However, here in the seventeenth installment of Madden we are given a new way to play. Using the Wii remote is a shock at first, but within a short amount of time you feel like you are getting completely immersed into the game of football.

Click here for the full article

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Madden NFL 07 PS3 hands-on preview and screens

I've included a bit of themanroom.com's look at Madden 07 at E3 below. One thing to bear in mind is that these are very early builds of the games. I have to wonder if the guys from themanroom.com have ever been to E3 before. They seemed really surprised at the early builds.

Like many others, they are beating up the PS3 version of the game. Well at E3 last year, all we had for Madden 360 was some player models to look at.

PS3 already has full 11 on 11 game play. It should be on par with 360 by August and they still will have more time to get stuff done before the November release. The producers for the game stated that the PS3 version would be everything you see in Madden 07 for the 360 PLUS some more. That is encouraging!

In any event, here is the article:

If the E3 2006 demo for Madden NFL 07 for the Xbox 360 was rough, then the Playstation 3 version was non-existent. It was obvious that the demo was quickly thrown together just so something, anything, was playable at E3. The developer stated that the Xbox 360 version was almost 60% complete while it's PS3 counterpart was closer to 30. The graphics and player control were obviously rushed versions and the developer was quick to point that out as well. The screenshots on the right do not look anything close to what was shown at E3, a good guess would be that they were polished up a bit.

When questioned about the different play features that would be included in the PS3 version the same answer was given each time... "We're not allowed to talk about it." Hmmmm, not very promising. Could we be looking at the Playstation equivalent of the bare-bones Madden 06 debut on the Xbox 360? Based on the lack of answers, a good guess would be yes.

Click here for the full article

Monday, May 15, 2006

Madden Filmroom Updates

46 Bear Buzz Weak -This week we take a look at another blitz from the 46 Bear that I ( Kobra) have had success with over the course of the 2006 season. What I like about the 46 Bear Buzz Weak is I get good pass coverage down the field, plus over the short middle. Another reason I like this blitz is there are three different gaps I can move the MLB to blitz through. This keeps my opponent off balance.

Big B's 46 Normal Mike Blitz - Me and Kobra was talking one day and he said that he wasn't finding any CPU blitzes in the game that were consistent. I told him that they were several of them and I would show a few in the filmroom since I’m down from Madden till 07. The 1st blitz I saw this year was the Mike Blitz. I saw something there, but the high passes ran me away from it. Then a crew member made a adjustment or two and found a decent safe blitz to run. I will show this blitz so that you can add it to playcalling when you need to get pressure on the QB.

I-Form Twin TE Series - The I Twin TE is a formation that Chow of The Firm, and Vinny of The WBC use quite well. These two labbed this set last year and became very good with it. Many feel that the lack of WR speed can be a problem passing effectively. Since this year is about size and jumping ability, the Twin TE can be deadly. Let’s take a look.

Madden 07 HB Draw Preview - We have a bit of a surpise for you here. The screen aren't the greatest since we had to work with camera shots of the E3 Madden 360, but you'll get the drift. We are not going to go in depth into this play but merely show you something to look forward to in the upcoming game. Lets get right to the new stuff.

E3 Hands On with David Ortiz - Many of you reading this now get those thoughts in your head that no matter what the situation is there should be some exclusive information for you when we go to events such as E3 or EA Community days. We value your opinion and understand your desire for exclusive content that is not on our message boards. Here you will find a video with David Ortiz, Lead Producer of Madden Next Gen. This was taken while on the floor of the E3 Expo.

If you don't have the filmroom, you can find out more about it at www.maddenfilmroom.com

Friday, May 12, 2006

IGN Looks at NCAA '07 PSP

May 10, 2006 - We managed to get our hands on EA Sports' version of NCAA Football '07, which is making its PSP debut in a little over two months. However, just because this is the first time the long running football franchise has crossed over to the portable realm doesn't mean that the design team has cut corners in any way. In fact, using a lot of the lessons they learned from last year's PSP version of Madden, the designers decided to focus primarily on the game experience. In doing so, they tried to push the envelope of what the PSP and UMD could do.

Click for more

More Madden 07 360 Screen Shots

More Madden 360 Screens:



The grass texture in 07 is downright sick. Heck, the grass doesn’t look that good in my own front yard.



I like the new kicking meter. If you have played Tiger Woods, you will feel right at home with 07.



In the screen shot above, I take control of the FB and look to block for Parker on a counter play.



Look really close at the turf...notice how it is starting to get muddy. This year the turf will have more of an effect on the running game.



Here I take control LG (Faneca) and look to block the MLB to free up Parker.



If you look at the screen shot above, you will see I am again in control of the LG, but this time I am passing the ball. As soon as the ball is snapped, I will automatically be switched to the QB. You will want to be sure to do this often so that you don't tip off your play selection.

Madden 07 Xbox 360 Screens

Below are some screen shots I took of Madden 07 on the Xbox 360.



One of the cool parts in the opening sequence was the inflated helmet as the home team players come out of the tunnel. We also saw some great particle effects with the smoke.



If you look really close at Big Ben, notice he has his right arm up in the air as if he getting ready to throw the ball. The kicker is he doesn’t have the ball, instead Willy Parker has it. This is how the HB Draw play looks in 07. When I first saw it, I was totally fooled by it. A nice amination!



I mentioned this in the write up above, but I am really happy to see that I am able to move defenders before the snap more fluidity in 07 than I was in 06.

Madden 07 Xbox 360 Impressions

by Kobra

When Madden 06 came out on the Xbox 360 I wasn’t a big fan of the game. I remember when I first played it, I felt like I was playing some of other game and not Madden. After playing it out at E3 this year, I felt the team at EA Tiburon did a better job at making the game feel more like Madden. Normally I can get a pretty good idea if I am going to like a game or not within the first five minutes of playing and I can safety say that I will want to play 07 on the Xbox 360 rather than shelving it like I did with 06.

The first thing that I noticed write off the bat was the controls felt tighter. One of my biggest complaints with 06 was I felt I didn’t have much control of the defenders before the snap. When I tried to move a defender, I had a hard time trying to move them. In 07, I was able to move defenders before the snap with no problems.

Another issue I had with 06 was controlling the ball carrier. To be honest, I felt like I was controlling a ball carrier in ESPN 2k5. For those who played ESPN 2k5, you know what I am talking about. In 07, that twitching and jerking has been cleaned up.

Speaking of the running game, you can tell that Tiburon put a lot of time into tweaking it. Being able to take control of any player before the snap and block is an advantage to help clear out running lanes for the ball carrier to run through. Admittedly I didn’t get as much time on controlling the blocker as much as I wanted to, but from the time I did get, I see how it will help make the run game a blast. Even when only picking up just a few yards.

Not only can you take control of the blocker, but having the ability to perform running moves when controlling the ball carrier with the R3 stick also improves the running game dramatically. If you have a big back on your team, he isn’t going to run around the defender, he is going to lower his shoulder and try and run the defender over. If you have a smaller ball carrier, instead of trying to run the defender over like in 06 with the truck stick, he either spins or tries to juke out the defender. What I like most about this is it separates the north-south runners from the east-west runners like never before.

The passing game for 06 was another issue that I was glad to see fixed. In 06 when throwing the ball, there seemed to be frames missing between the time the ball left the QB's hands to the time the receiver made the catch. In 07 that seemed to be corrected.

Something else that caught my eye was the addition of over 20 new individual ratings. I didn’t hear what those ratings are going to be, but I am sure we will see a few for quarterbacks and running backs. One I did actually see was elusiveness. I am sure that one has something to do with how well the CPU ball carrier avoids defenders.

Overall I am really happy with the direction the game is going for next generation. I felt like I was playing Madden again and not some other game. Granted there still needs to be work on the game. The build we played out at E3 was only 65 % done. David Ortiz promised us that there were a lot of features in the game haven’t been implemented or were locked and we couldn't see yet.

That made me feel really good about what the final product of the game is going to look like once released. We will have more info on Madden 07 on the Xbox 360 once we go down to the Tiburon studios for Madden Community day later this summer.

E3 Recap from Philly Ron

It’s now Friday and I’m starting to slow down as the convention comes to a close. Guys have been hitting me up like crazy asking for info but I have been trying to play enough games to give you a real foundation to work from.

The situation that I'm in is like a person who loves classic cars and finally gets his first one. The joy of finally having it is your first wave of emotion and then you look at the work that has to go into it to make it run right. EA has done a great job in the look, feel and responsiveness of the game but it is still early and the car (Madden 07) is in the garage with 40% of work left to make it drivable.

Here are some things that you will love in this year’s game.

#1 The new run blocking features. This is going to be a monster and will drive the game for the whole year. The run feature takes advantage of the new Highlight stick. (Right analog stick)

2# The right analog stick is now known as the Highlight stick when you are using the run block feature. From a blocking standpoint you can select the person you want to use as your blocker and then fire off the ball and before you engage (right stick) up for blow up block, left for seal left, right for seal right and down for cut block. This feature is very useful. I had a few runs for TDs because of getting the timing down.

#3 The Highlight stick can also be used when you’re running the ball. This is more on the lines of how you use it in the NCAA game. Juke left or right, back juke or truck stick. All of these animations can now be controlled from the right analog stick.

#4 There is a new animation in the game that many players will love and it’s because of the Run to Daylight feature. After you have set the block that you want, you can then press the B button on the (XBOX) controller and regain control of the HB. What is sweet about this feature is that the animation goes to the clutch kick type animation and slows the game down so that you can see how important your lead block was. If you did a great job then you will see the defender blown up and the regular animation will kick in so you can run to daylight.

There are a ton of more features that are in the 360 and PS3 that I want to talk about but will have to do when I get back to Philly. It’s almost that time of year again. I can’t wait.

PS: Check out www.myspace.com/phillyron_j This is going to be another way we strengthen our Madden community. My profile is set to private so send a friend request and I’ll add you.

Later

Ron_J a.k.a Phillyron

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Madden Next Gen Graphical Enhancements

The field looked incredible this year. Unfortunately we were only able to see Hienz field, but the turf really looks good. The grass is much more 3D this year. Also, the field degredation is awesome. The more you play on a certain area of the field, the more torn up it gets.

Uniforms looked better as well with new shading and textures.

Player models got more tweaks this year. Players are starting to look more and more unique in their builds. You can actually recongnize players by body types.

With the focus being on the run, there were a number of run tweaks that were made. There are now several different types of running styles. Tiki Barber carries the ball up high, Randy Moss runs like a sprinter and Jamal Lewis has his signature leaned back running style.

From what we heard, this process is just beginning and we can expect to see more and more new changes along these lines to make players take on their individual characteristics and movement styles.

There will be 17-20 new player attributes which will affect the game play significantly.

There are new offensive line animations and schemes. Holes up up more randomly (but within the confines of the play call and attributes of the O & D lines). You will also see defenders get different types of penetration and have room to make their moves as well with the new blocking scheme.

More to come later...

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

NCAA '07 Impressions

First off, NCAA 07 on the 360 looks awesome. Reaction times were much better than Madden 360. The controls felt much better, smoother and more responsive.

Stadiums and live crowd interaction was phenomenal for NCAA 07. You can see the mascots reacting live on the field while you are playing.

More to come later tonight...

Monday, May 08, 2006

VG Sports prepares for E3

The team is getting all ready to rock to head to E3 to check out Madden 07. We'll have just about the whole crew there with 4 representatives of VG at the event.

Stay tuned to this site for breaking coverage of Madden 07 right from the show. We'll get our first look at the game Wednesday morning so check in throughout the day.

If you have questions you want to see answered, post them as comments here on the blog.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Madden 07 - All About the Running Game

IGN has posted a pre-E3 breakdown of many of the new Madden features, including a total reworking of the run game & Superstar mode.

We'll get our own hands on coming up this Wedneday at E3 in a special session not available to the general public. We'll bring you all the details left out in the IGN breakdown. They did a pretty nice job though and things look exciting for this year's game again.

IGN Madden 07 Preview

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Madden Challenge 07 Platform?

Each year, the Madden community waits with baited breath to see which platform EA Sports will use for the Madden Challenge.

So far we don't know what EA has planned but there is plenty of speculation on the VG Sports Madden Forums. My personal opinion is that it will be the Xbox 360. If you follow recent patterns, the game used in the Madden Bowl is also used for the next Madden Challenge.

If that is any indication, we might just see the tournament on next-gen next year.