Madden
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Mainstream Madden Love
The insane popularity of the Madden series among general gaming public continues to garner mainstream media attention -- and meaningless holidays. Mayor John Street proclaimed August 22 a "Madden Holiday" in the City of Brotherly Love (I would have settled for parking ticket amnesty). Meanwhile, the Enquirer devoted a few days of coverage to the EA juggernaut. Next thing you know, the MSM will be blogging about video games.
Metareview - Madden NFL 07 (Xbox 360)
What can you expect from the first "next-gen" Madden to hit the virtual gridiron this year? Well, it's certainly gotta top the wackness that was last year's rushed 360 attempt. RIght?The current verdict seems to indicate that EA Tiburon has yet to discover where snazzy new hardware can take this franchise. Not only that, but Tiburon still can't seem to figure out how to include all the features of the Xbox version in the 360 version. What up with that? Perhaps, with a guaranteed $60 contribution from each blindly fanatical loyalist, EA's in no rush to sort out this mess. And why should they be? It's not like there are other gaming options out there for football enthusiasts... Yahoo! Games (80/100) offers the key to improvement: "EA's challenge is not to simplify their simulation or stop adding detail, but to integrate those features so well that players can simply marvel at how advanced the game has become." Gamespot (79/100) concludes rather bluntly: "There's no denying that Madden NFL 07 comes up short on delivering all the improvements one would hope for after last year's disappointing debut on the 360." 1UP (70/100) suggests that maybe the Xbox version is a better buy: "...those who plan on spending most of their time offline in solo play will want to take a long look at the arguably more polished and superior current-gen versions before committing to one or the other."
EA's launch lineup
Before we break out the goods, let's just clarify: these are launch window titles. Meaning they'll come out within the first few months of the Wii's release. They may or may not be taking up shelf space on launch day. That said, Electronic Arts is supporting the Wii launch window with six titles, including a few offerings from wildly popular franchises like Madden and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. These titles were already announced for the Wii, but EA confirmed all six for the launch window at in Leipzig. The full list: Godfather Harry Potter Madden NFL 2007 Need For Speed: Carbon SSX 5 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007
Deal of the Day: Madden for $28
The deals just keep on coming. Easily the most high-profile game to come out this week, Madden 07, is available for dirt cheap at Circuit City. The game has earned a solid 8.0 from IGN, and most likely doesn't feature the horrible glitches of NCAA Football. $28 is a great price to satiate football fans, until next year's minor upgrade installment.[Via Cheapassgamer]
Go into the light with Army of Two screens
EA dropped some new screens from Army of Two, its co-op centric shooter. The screens show off some amazing detail and even a few gameplay dynamics like parachutes, vehicles, and assisting a wounded teammate. Is it just us, or does this picture look like a CPR minigame? Keep your buddy from going into the light maybe? Hating on EA is somewhat de rigueur around here, but this game actually looks pretty good, and more co-op is always a good thing. Anyone excited for it?
Download and print your own Madden cover
As we all wait for the latest Madden episodic content from EA to hit store shelves, Gamestop has jumped the gun and is offering up free downloads of cover mock ups for your favorite team. Not sure what the point of it all is, but if you're one to show off your game box to others, this could be right up your alley. All our cases usually end up stuffed away out of view -- especially if you have a girlfriend or wife who despises any presence of a video game anywhere in plain sight. Either way, hooray for free stuff! [Thanks, murph]
A complete Madden 07 roster and ratings breakdown
If you're a self-described Madden-aholic, then check out this section in IGN that lists all the rosters and ratings for every player in the upcoming yearly installment of Madden NFL. Every single name, position, number, and stat is dished out for your pigskin pleasure. Now may be the time to plot your trades and strats before the game is due out on Aug. 22, just a couple weeks away. Anyone notice anything out of the ordinary with your favorite team? Like maybe a player got a little more or less of an upgrade from EA?
Phony Madden 07 voucher aims to break street date
We were recently (and anonymously) sent this peculiar voucher, claiming to have the power to break Madden 07's street date. Is this a magical gift from EA to its preferred customers ... or simply a desperate attempt to hit the virtual gridiron a few days earlier than the rest of us? Dear amateur forger guy, Props for the concept, but dude, you really shoulda run the fine print through spell-checker: "Participating stores incluse..." Who are you trying to fool here? Sincerely, Joystiq.com So if you should happen upon this coupon, know that it's a waste of your time -- but also know that some retail chains (read: Target and Wal-Mart) have a history of (unknowingly) breaking street dates, with or without a voucher. Good luck.
Major talks Madden
Major Nelson is on the road at the present time, so his regular show is an on-the-run collection of interviews with the folks behind Madden 07. Is there a football-obsessed soul out there planning on paying for this pay-per-view special they're talking about?
EA & ESPN get greedier, offering Madden pay-per-view preview
EA and ESPN are inviting you to plunk down $20 and watch a pay-per-view preview of Madden NFL 07 beginning on August 4, 18 days before the game's official release. Anyone who's actually planning to pay the price of admission please do us a favor ... smack yourself! 'Nuff said.
Madden 07 hands-on impressions
The folks over at Gamespot were witness to a recent EA event showing off an early build of Madden 07 for the Wii. With the unique control style of the Wii, it looks like essential functions, as well as some cosmetic ones, of the game will be handled fairly well. During the demo, the exhibitors showed how the ball could be snapped, thrown to a selected receiver, and even how the crowd's intensity could be manipulated. In the case of hushing the crowd on offense, all the player need do pre-snap is place the Wiimote and nunchuk above their head and the QB will shush the crowd. On the other side of the ball, the setup is presented in much the same way. When playing as a defensive back, you could raise the Wiimote and nunchuk to jump for an interception or just wave the Wiimote to swat the ball down. Basically, the nunchuk is to represent your player's body and legs while the Wiimote represents the player's arms and hands. Considering last year's edition of the popular football franchise failed to improve on anything from the 2005 edition (see: QB = mobile lighthouse), we're hoping these changes bring back some life to the game. It's not like we have another football game to fall back on anymore!
Six from EA
Electronic Arts generally releases games for more platforms than we even knew existed. Thus, when they announce support for the Wii, we have trouble acting surprised, even for the benefit of our readers. When they announce that their tried-and-true franchises are being given unique control schemes by a dedicated team, however, we then tend to pay a bit more attention. Everyone knew, of course, that Madden 2007 was getting a specialized Wii treatment. In a press release earlier today, however, they have announced similar plans for five more games: Harry Potter, Need for Speed, Tiger Woods: PGA TOUR, SSX, and The Godfather. Whoa. Need for Speed: Carbon was indeed known to be coming to the Wii, albeit we had no idea what playing it would be like. Chances are, it will utilize a similar control scheme as Excitetruck, the Wiimote aligned horizontally. Tiger Woods will offer a more intense golf simulation over that of the Wii Sports incarnation, Harry Potter will certainly use the controller as a wand for some excellent spell-casting, and SSX will most likely revamp their trick system. And The Godfather? Is anyone else seeing an intense cigar-smoking simulation?[Thanks, John and Cabbage!]
EA's second half lineup for 2006
Electronic Arts has confirmed their release list for the remainder of the year, and according to studio president Paul Lee, "this is an extraordinary time to be a gamer."EA Sports titles include 07 editions of NCAA Football, Madden NFL, NASCAR, NHL, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and NBA Live, while the EA Sports Big label will deliver the third iteration of NFL Street. FIFA 07 has not been confirmed, but even though EA has already released two other FIFA games this year, plan on seeing the franchise's flagship title updated in Q4.Next gen and portable versions of The Godfather are also due to arrive in September, followed by Need for Speed Carbon, Superman Returns, and shooters Battlefield 2142 and Crysis. How many of these games are on your list?See also: World Cup keeps EA at top of sales charts EA's plan to rule Asia EA E3 lineup includes playable Wii, PS3 Madden [via Pro-G]
Games surpassing TV, bringing us closer to 'real' sport
New York Times has published an article examining the potential of virtual sports as a means for understanding the intricacies of success in real world sports. Using Madden as an example, NYTimes suggests that the future of EA's franchise "may lie in a renewed emphasis on teamwork and a new appreciation for careful preparation before the big game."This year's cover athlete, Seahawk's running back Shaun Alexander, has pressed the development team to consider transforming Madden from a one-on-one experience to a team game. Imagine the emergence of Madden clans, each player dedicated to a skill position, all are working together to win. EA hasn't yet dedicated itself to this task, but with gaming headed online, it's certainly a direction the developers should pursue.And, with games like the recently released NFL Head Coach, the Steelers' Bill Cowher reminds us that video games are already teaching us far more about the grueling process of success in the NFL than we could ever gather from watching 60 minutes of game time on Sunday.[Note: NYTimes article requires registration to access online.]
Wii impressions: the E3 experience
Due to how the Joystiq staff divided the Wii games' coverage, I ended up posting about a game that needs a lot of work (Madden), a game that needs a little (Metroid Prime 3), a couple of games that show promise (WarioWare & Elebits), and a game that is simply a gimmick (Final Furlong). I also played: Super Mario Galaxy, RedSteel, Twilight Princess, and Tennis. I'm not convinced that, at this stage, the Wiimote and nunchaku add-on are superior to a gamepad. Miyamoto, speaking last night at a developer's event, said that after becoming comfortable with the Wiimote, it's now impossible for him to go back. I'm not there yet, and I know I'm not alone. It's gonna take a lot of work to rewire how we, longtime gamers, play video games. It's important for Nintendo to understand this, and I believe they do.
Wii impressions: Madden NFL 07
This doesn't work. In Madden's case, and likely most mainstream sports titles, motion-controlled functions can't compete with good looks (e.g. fluid animations, realistic physics, etc.). This is the risk Nintendo took. And this is an instance where that risk has put Nintendo at a disadvantage versus its competitors.Madden NFL 07 is fugly, and if the tech demo of EA's next generation of sports titles we saw at Sony's media briefing is any indication, PS3, and Xbox 360 for that matter, will see some incredibly enhanced animation and physics upgrades over the coming years. Nintendo will trade these improvements for the ability to hike the ball with a wrist snap or attempt a pass with a wrist flick -- heck, Sony's PS3 controller can do that. There are other motions for jukes, straight arms, and kickoffs. But these motions don't make us feel any closer to the real sport, if anything, they're just tedious. First we have to select a receiver using the appropriate button, and then we have to flick the wrist. Why can't we just press A?Madden for Wii needs a new direction.
EA E3 lineup includes playable Wii & PS3 Madden
EA will be showing off playable versions of Madden for Wii and PlayStation 3 at E3 this year. The catch? Those sessions will be held behind closed doors. Also reserved for VIPs are demos of Army of Two, Command & Conquer 3, and a taste of this year's sports roster, including NBA Live, Tiger Woods, and FIFA. The publisher's promised, "never-before-seen technology that delivers authentic athletic performance." More sweat! Here's the complete list of announced titles: Army of Two (PS2, Xbox 360) Battlefield 2142 (PC) Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (PC) Crysis (PC) Def Jam: Fight for NY: The Takeover (PSP) LOTR: The Battle for Middle-earth 2 (X360) Madden NFL 07 (DS, GBA, GC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360) NASCAR 07 (PSP) Orcs & Elves (mobile) Spore (PC) Superman Returns (DS, GBA, PS2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360) Tetris (mobile) Various sports titles (mobile) [Thanks DLB]
Wii to get unique Spider-Man 3 version
According to WiiSpot.com, the Wii version of the multiplatform Spider-Man 3 title will be different than the versions that end up on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The question is, how different?3rd party developers that are used to churning out 3-way (or 4-way) ports of the same title are going to be faced with some decisions. Big publishers might choose to split duties between two different developers, as looks to be the case with the Madden franchise. But don't be surprised if Wii owners start getting gypped because of the console's shortcomings (when compared to the technical power of the PS3 or Xbox 360). The ability to motion to a point on the screen with the Wii controller and fire off a web shot, for example, is certainly no consolation.Without an obvious advantage, publishers/developers are not going to take risks (i.e. spend millions) to develop truly unique Wii versions of multiplatform titles.
Madden on the Revolution
In a rather lengthy interview with news site Gamespot, EA Canada's John Schappert (who used to helm EA's Tiburon) talks about the 2007 edition of the company's flagship franchise Madden Football that will be releasing on the Revolution Wii (it hurts to type that). Seeing as how the franchise has been just about the biggest port title every year for the past several years, the biggest question of the day is just how the Revolution edition of the game will be different from the others and maximize the unique control style of the console. In proper 'days-before-E3' form, John doesn't reveal much about the game, aside from confirming it'll be at E3. Still, it's a good read if you want to see an EA employee actually have a brain.
EA says Madden Revolution not a port
We're not sure if this is brilliant or incredibly, incredibly foolish, but EA has revealed that the upcoming Revolution Wii release of Madden (of course there was going to be a Madden Revolution Wii), is not going to be a half-assed port. Instead, EA has established a "new internal studio within Electronic Arts Canada specifically set up to make Nintendo Revolution games" and they've sent out exec John Schappert to preach why simple ports are a bad idea.Schappert dishes some serious Revolution Wii control scheme pr0n, teasing Gamasutra: "You're... a receiver, you just caught the ball. You want to stiff arm? Take your hand out and extend it. You want to juke left or right? Jerk your arm left or right. So in addition to using the pointing device to select plays, we've completely redone the control scheme as if the Revolution was the only platform." That sounds unique enough to make our Revolution...err, rather, umm, Wii-exclusive list. EA, king of all ports, sounds like they really have the right idea here. With a control scheme like this, next-gen sports fans might be eschewing shiny graphics and calling Revolution Wii home. Our worry? How many people are going to get drunk and start tossing revmotes around like footballs?Read - Gamasutra: EA's John Schappert on Madden for Nintendo RevolutionRead - Gamespot: EA brings Madden to Revolution[Thanks, Paul, Simon, and Probot][Update 1: Added in new name--Wii?--and link to Wii games post.]
