Madden-NFL-09
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Are you ready for some Madden 09 achievements?
Our buddies over at 360Sync have already gotten into their Fall football mindset, exclusively releasing a list of Madden NFL 09's achievements. The complete list can be viewed after the jump, but we came across a few achievement highlights including the "Steal Their Thunder" achievement for stealing your opponent's celebration (nice use of T.O.'s mug) and "Midway Monster" where you have to create a legendary player from the past. We're also mildly offended by the "Slam Dunk All-Star" where it awards 30 Gamerscore to those who "dunk the ball over the goalpost (or at least attempt to) after a touchdown." Attempt? Psht, when we go for the goalpost dunk we don't attempt, we execute with flair.
Madden NFL 09 sticking the boot in with new trailers
Are all football players blockheads? That's what EA might be trying to say with those giant bobblehead players in the above trailer for Madden NFL 09. Here's an idea -- grab a copy of the game and head down to the local arena. Find a group of guys and taunt them with your nerdish ways, saying EA are right to parody player intelligence and the meaning of life is 42. It's a foolproof plan.If you're an NFL fan or not, Madden has been an acclaimed addition to the Wii library in the past and this year's entry looks to be no different. The bobblehead players are taken from the arcade-style 5-on-5 mode, but simulation fans can still duke it out with the traditional, realistic style. Head past the break for another, correctly-proportioned video of a full stadium experience.
Import fantasy football teams into Madden 09
Continuing the Madden fantasy football tradition, EA Sports recently announced that fantasy.easports.com will again be fully functioning this year, with new website enhancements, a Live Draft Tracker, a new Live Score Tracker and added Xbox 360 functionality where you'll be able to import your fantasy sports team into Madden NFL 09. Details are light, but EA promises that you'll be able to take your fantasy team into any of Madden 09's gametypes including online versus, play now and franchise modes. Quite nifty. So, we have to ask, are you getting more impressed with this year's Madden offerings?[Via IGN]
Video: Madden 08 versus Madden 09 visuals
On a mission to prove that Madden NFL 09 is a ginormous step forward in the Madden franchise, EA released a new visual comparison video that pits the graphics of Madden 08 versus Madden 09. And, as you can see above, Madden 09 does actually look better, especially when it comes to weather effects and lighting. The bigger, more pressing question is whether or not we should praise EA for adding such improvements that are normally commonplace among game sequels. It's a step in the right direction, but we have a feeling Madden fans are demanding a lot more.
Sony announces Madden NFL 09 PSP bundle
Let's say for the sake of argument that you are a fan of American football, and in this purely hypothetical scenario you also like to get your gaming fix while on the go. If this is the case then Sony's latest PSP bundle is likely right up your alley, grouping together the portable version of EA's upcoming Madden NFL 09 with a North American-exclusive "metallic blue" PSP.Shipping August 12 with an asking price of $199.99, the bundle will also pack in a documentary on UMD titled NFL: In Just One Play alongside a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo. In addition, the so-called Madden NFL 09 PSP Entertainment Pack will include a PSN voucher to download SCEE's London Studio's Beats rhythm game, an odd bedfellow for the latest sports offering, though we suppose after players tire of going long and letting virtual pigskins slip through their fingers they'll appreciate having something else to fall back on.
Fix your mistake, rewind added to Madden 09
Being added to Madden NFL 09's ever growing list of new additions comes the announcement of an "interesting" feature which is being called "EA Sports Rewind". How it's explained, this new feature will allow players to go back in time, take a down back and re-do what just occurred if one wasn't happy with the previous outcome. In it's simplest form, it's a do-over. The rewind ability can also be used defensively against your opponent, thus negating any progress or scoring they did the play before. Also, just in case you were wondering, before the game starts players will be able to specify the number of rewinds each team gets per game.It's an interesting feature add, but we can't help but wonder how much it'll actually be used between multiplayer foes or how annoying it'll end up being.
Video: Man tackle with Madden NFL 09
Put down Viva Pinata (game save first) and your too pink controller, because it's time to man up with some football roughness. EA just released a new Madden NFL 09 "Tackle Animations Trailer" that showcases this year's new tackling engine and a bunch of ... well, tackles. The game's tackling animations aren't bad at all and are some of the best Madden tackling animations to date. But we think the problem lies in with the fact that they are animations. Where's the oh so enjoyable ragdoll physics? Give us Euphoria-style goodness in Madden and we may actually support this new fangled "football" thing.
Madden 09 adds ability to return missed field goals
It's Gamestop's Madden Monday and that means we get treated to yet another interesting Madden NFL 09 feature reveal, and this week we learn about the ability to return missed field goals. This feature should be pretty self-explanatory, when a field goal is attempted and missed, your opponent can return it for a possible score. Group breaking feature add, no? In all honestly though, the ability to return missed field goals is a no-brainer and should've been in Madden ever since Hester was first conceived. Returnable missed field goals, user-controlled celebrations and a heaping helping of Favre ... Madden 09 is going to be a-maz-ing!
Madden NFL 09 to add 'Real Football Intelligence', online leagues, holodeck
Happy NFL Draft weekend, everyone! With one day of exciting athlete trafficking under our belts, we thought it would be appropriate to point out a recent GameTap interview with Madden NFL 09 designer Phil Frazier, which reveals a number of features in the next installment of the never-ending, pigskin-chuckin' franchise. With buzzwords like "Favre", "player weapons" and "holographic training center", could this be the year where we find our way back into EA Sports' monopolized fold?Some of the features highlighted include the Real Football Intelligence system, which tracks your skill as a player and provides helpful (and aggravating, we imagine) feedback, the induction of Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth as the new play-by-play and color commentators, and online, 32-man leagues (complete with trading, drafting, and flexible scheduling). We can only hope they'll include even more lunatic outbursts from the series ham-hearted, titular announcer.
EA lets you be a Head Coach without Madden
Previously, it was announced that the Madden NFL 09 Collector's Edition would, among other goodies, exclusively include NFL Head Coach 09 as part of the bundle. And even though that hasn't changed, EA has changed their minds on how to approach Head Coach 09, now deciding to release it as a stand alone game as well. According to EA, "after listening to fans and the Madden NFL community" they decided to make Head Coach 09 its own retail game which is now set to release on September 2nd for $49.99. We never knew Head Coach fans were so passionate about seeing Tony Dungy on his own retail box.[Via Game Stooge]
Vote for your favorite Madden NFL cover athlete
On April 25th the Madden curse will claim another victim when EA announces the football star who'll grace Madden NFL 09's cover. And to prepare for the glorious announcement, Xbox.com is hosting a semi-scientific poll asking Madden fans which year had the best Madden cover athlete. You can check out all the athletes (and John Madden too) after the jump, gawk at the Madden cover victims, select a favorite, then jump over to the forums to vote. Currently, Mr. Madden himself is leading the pack, but Ray Lewis (and his legally questionable past) is a very close second. Heck, while we're at it, tell us who you think deserves should be subjected to the 2009 Madden curse. We're up for seeing Vick a second time around. He deserves the curse times two.
User-Controlled Celebrations debut in Madden 09
GameStop's gaming blog (since when did they get into the blogging circuit?) is starting up a new weekly feature called Madden Monday where, every Monday, they plan on exclusively revealing a new Madden NFL 09 feature. And to kick-off (ha!) the fun, they just revealed Madden 09's new User-Controlled Celebrations. The UC Celebrations feature allows players the chance to semi-control their player's TD celebrations with the press of a button. Each player, stadium and Hot Spot location in the end-zone will have its own celebration. You'll even be able to steal the other team's patented moves. It's an interesting non-gameplay Madden feature addition that just may just be this year's BIG Madden formula change. Though, we hope it isn't.[Via NeoGAF]
