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Madden 12 adds a Hall of Fame Edition to the roster
Marshall Faulk is the first athlete who has graced a Madden cover and is being inducted into the Hall of Fame. To celebrate this marketing opportunity, EA is releasing a Hall of Fame Edition of Madden NFL 12, replete with bronze, embossed cover, an autographed Panini trading card (inedible) and a Madden Ultimate Team Platinum Pack -- in-game collectible cards for Madden NFL 12's supplementary mode, Madden NFL Ultimate Team. Oh, and if you're a Peyton Hillis fan, you can hit the jump to check out the official Madden NFL 12 cover. If you're not a Peyton Hillis fan, then don't sweat it: you can still daydream about how the curse will get him this season (if there is a season). [Thanks, Matt]
South Park lampoons EA Sports, Peter Moore, athletic royalties and everything else
The latest episode of South Park is ... well, one of the stranger recent episodes of South Park, an observation you probably made after reading its title: "Crack Baby Athletic Association." In the show's typical fashion, the episode is a hyperbolic, metaphorical critique of the treatment of professional and collegiate athletes, and their complaints of being denied royalties for media which feature their likeness. One target of the show's scathing barbs was EA Sports, headed up by one "Mr. Peters," a mock-up (pictured above!) of real-life studio president Peter Moore. You can watch the full episode for free online over at South Park Studios. We've contacted EA Sports to see if it has any comment on the show -- considering it's South Park's second send-up of the developer, we imagine its hackles might be a little raised.
Madden 12's roster of updates includes custom playbooks, new collision system
Even if you don't know who that guy is on the Madden 12 box, you've still probably got a pretty good idea of what's inside. No surprises here -- it's still a football video game. But, true to tradition, this year's iteration will include some new features. On the field, Madden 12 players will be equipped with "the #1 most requested feature by fans in recent years" -- go on, guess! ... Wrong. It's custom playbooks, which can be modifications of existing playbooks or your own concoction of up to 400 offensive or defensive plays handpicked from the piles of X's and O's. Custom playbooks can also be integrated into the "improved" GameFlow system (last Madden's much ballyhooed feature). Once you actually call a play (or GameFlow calls one for you), EA would have you take notice of the "all-new collision system" -- we're talking "over 100 new tackle animations, including 40 gang tackles" (ouch!) -- and the now more "advanced" defensive AI, a.k.a. "the smartest Madden defense ever." And be sure to give props to the "completely overhauled presentation," which includes "innovative 'real' on-field cameras shot by expert NFL Films cameramen." And, really, how else could you experience the "hundreds of visual improvements" (including really detailed blades of grass!), if not through the innovative "real" on-field cameras shot by expert NFL Films cameramen? But the roster of updates doesn't end there -- we just have to. Stay tuned in the coming weeks and months as EA reveals more about the revamped Franchise and Superstar modes; the new "Dynamic Player Performance" feature (it's "just like the real NFL," only still pretty much a video game); what's in store for the "Madden NFL Ultimate Team" add-on this year; and the proper etiquette for joining one of the new "Online Communities." And by then, it should be football season! Fingers crossed.
Peyton Hillis wins Madden 12 cover vote
Witness! Cleveland has a new -- and most unlikely -- sports icon in Peyton Hillis, who has been voted to the cover of Madden 12. Hillis, the could-be star running back for the Browns, trounced Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick in the final round of EA Sports' five-week, bracket-style cover competition. Hosted in collaboration with ESPN, the vote-driven promotion featured a player representative from 31 one of the NFL's 32 teams and ... the Seahawks fans (who were eliminated in the first round). Hillis' inspiring run, no doubt propelled by the passionate (desperate?) Cleveland fans that have been aggressively campaigning across social media networks, included defeating Green Bay Packers QB and Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers, the bracket's #1 overall seed. "I didn't think I had a shot," said the humble Hillis during ESPN's "SportsNation" show this afternoon, during which the winner was announced. Both Hillis and Vick were present on set for segments of the hour-long episode, doing their best to remain composed and engaged in the topics presented by hosts Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd, while a countdown timer ticked away. With the lights dimmed, Cowherd excitedly announced that "almost 13 million people voted" before he declared Hillis as the winner. The beefy back was then awkwardly goaded on by the two hosts, and even Vick, to flex his "guns" as the show cut out for the next program. [Note: Not official cover art.]
Madden creative director departs along with EA Sports CTO [update]
Madden 12 creative director Ian Cummings has announced his departure from EA on the official Madden Blog. His last day with EA Sports and the Central Florida-based Tiburon studio was yesterday, he confirmed in a tweet. He leaves behind a nearly 11-year career with the company to "seek opportunities elsewhere" -- in other words, "a new company." "I leave the Madden NFL 12 development team with confidence that it is in great hands," wrote Cummings in his final Madden Blog post. Apparently, those hands don't belong to Richard Wifall. The EA Sports chief technology officer tweeted today that he had left, too. The pair of high-profile resignations was first hinted at in a report last Sunday by sports game news site pastapadre.com, which suggested that "several high level members" of the Madden development team "may be joining a new studio." That studio is thought to be social gaming startup Row Sham Bow, founded by former EA Tiburon GM Philip Holt (aha!) and conveniently located in nearby Winter Park, Fla. According to the Orlando Business Journal, Row Sham Bow plans to create 60 "high-wage" jobs -- just the thing to lure over a few old friends. Update: Wifall confirmed with Joystiq that he is indeed teaming up with Holt, Cummings, "and some other talented individuals" at Row Sham Bow. "We aren't ready to talk about our plans just yet," he added. "When we are ready to talk, you can expect to find out more at rowshambow.com." [Pictured: Cummings; image credit: EA.com]
Madden NFL 12 will launch on August 30, regardless of NFL lockout
Despite the ongoing situation between the NFL and Players Association, which could ultimately mean no football this year, EA Sports president Peter Moore quelled doubts at a recent event. The situation will not affect his studio's hit football franchise's next installment, Madden NFL 12. "We'll be shipping this year, regardless of what the labor issues are, whether they're resolved or not," Moore told a group of journalists during an EA Sports event last night in San Francisco. "Madden 12 will be shipping on August 30th 2011, regardless of what happens with the league itself." So, there you have it. You may not get to see your players hit the field in real-life this year, but you can rest assured you'll be seeing their virtual representations, right on schedule.
Trip Hawkins disputes Madden lawsuit claims
Robin Antonick, a designer on John Madden Football, filed a lawsuit against EA recently, looking for monetary compensation and credit for his work. He claims the current generation's installments were "derived from software" he helped develop. But according to statements from Trip Hawkins (via LA Times), Antonick's recollection of the past is a bit off. First of all, he says that Antonick didn't work side-by-side with Hawkins in the office as he claims, but was rather a contractor who worked out of his home in Chicago. Hawkins also claims that Antonick was "one of many" people who worked on the game and wasn't responsible for "driving the game" at any point. Apparently there's press corroboration to some of this, as well -- Hawkins' four-year stint developing the game would be referred to as "Trip's Folly" internally, suggesting that Antonick's role was more diminished than he suggests. Hawkins also claims that Antonick was only commissioned to work on the first 8-bit game, and wasn't tapped to help work on subsequent 16-bit versions of the game, which he claims needed "more advanced" programmers than Antonick. [Image: Retro Games DB]
Madden 12 cover athlete vote expanded to 32-team bracket
Perhaps channeling the spirit of "March Madness," EA Sports and ESPN's SportsNation have partnered to present a five-week, bracket-style voting campaign for the Madden 12 cover athlete -- labor disputes be damned! The first round, which starts today and runs through next Sunday, divides the field of 32 players (one from each NFL team) into two sides of seeded match-ups, with quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Philip Rivers representing the two #1 seeds. (League MVP Tom Brady is noticeably absent from the field of candidates.) It's unclear how exactly the rankings and players were determined, but the first round craftily pairs match-ups by division, playing off of heated rivalries. While this setup encourages each team's dedicated fan base to vote (for themselves in the case of the lowly Seahawks), those loyalists might first have to overcome superstition. While electing Panthers' offensive tackle Jordan Gross to the cover would be quite a coup for Carolina fans, can they really risk cursing the standout lineman? Perhaps the best strategy, then, is to vote for the teams and players you hate the most.
Onion: Madden NFL 12 to let players feel tackles, go deaf from crowd noise
We realize The Onion, purveyors of funnies, is joking with this video segment past the break that details a new head-and-neck peripheral for Madden NFL 12, but we think there's actually potential here. Think about the people who play Madden: people who like football; people who play professional sports; and people who wish they still played professional sports. That last group has got memories to relive and the cash to make it happen. They've also got skulls thick enough to not die when the pistons in the helmet fire.
Report: EA and NFL restructure exclusivity deal amid work stoppage fears
The NFL has cut EA a break, reports SportsBusiness Journal, reducing the Madden maker's licensing fee by an undisclosed amount for the next football season, which remains in jeopardy as the current collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union is set to expire March 4 and, so far, renegotiations have been futile. If a new CBA is not drawn between the two sides before the current contract expires, it could result in a work stoppage -- in other words, no football come fall. While such an outcome wouldn't prevent EA from releasing Madden 12 in early August (the series' traditional launch window leading up to the start of the NFL regular season), it could certainly devalue the expensive NFL-related licenses that EA has secured. Last October, anticipating such a scenario, EA reportedly requested a $30 million dollar discount on its payment owed to the NFL this year. The five-year deal inked in 2008 between the two sides is believed to be worth "well into nine figures" -- that's hundreds of millions -- and is likely the NFL's most lucrative non-TV contract, according to SBJ. "For one of our core partners in a difficult environment, we say let's look at this, and maybe it makes some sense to extend something out longer and give our partner some relief in the short term, but gain something on the back end," Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver, chairman of the NFL's business ventures committee, told SBJ, alluding to the nature of the restructured deal with EA. According to SBJ's sources, EA has been granted some form of relief for this year's fees, and its NFL exclusivity deal has been extended one year through the 2013-14 football season. EA maintains a separate, concurrent contract with the NFL Players Association for which the players' union receives $30–40 million, annually (according to the union's Labor Department filings), for the publisher's right to use NFL players in its games. It's as yet unknown if EA has sought to reduce its fees owed to the union this year or extend the deal another year to remain consistent with the companion contract with the league. EA declined our request to comment on its NFL-related licensing agreements for this article.
Madden NFL 12 adding tuner sets, surprise onside kicks
EA Tiburon creative director Ian Cummings has passed along the first few details on Madden NFL 12 -- no, not the 3DS game -- over on the Madden Blog, including a video showcasing a new surprise onside kick mechanic. You can check that out past the break. The more significant feature is tuner sets, which were first introduced in the NHL series and brought over to football in NCAA Football 11 last year. It's a vehicle for updating specific aspects of a game, circumventing the need for a full title update and the red tape that comes along with it. The goal is to provide more frequent updates addressing individual problems rather than issuing massive updates periodically.
