MADDEN NFL 09 News, Previews, Reviews and Screenshots

[Raider1one]

WELCOME To the Official Madden NFL 09 Thread

[Raider1one]

Madden 08 was a disaster of sorts for EA Sports. The game was shipped with bugs that rendered major portions of the game unplayable and as a result, the game sold less than the previous year's version. Metacritic average be damned, Madden 08 didn't have the fairy tale year some would have you believe.

This year's Madden release is going to be the most interesting I have covered since beginning my coverage of Madden games back in the year 2001. First off, the big business question is after Madden actually had a drop in sales last season, will that trend continue yet again? For gamers, the big question is will the game simply improve in a big way?

After last year's release, which was based off of more hype than I can remember this side of Madden 2001, there has been a huge backlash among Madden fans who have said they will not be buying the game on the release date this year. Of course every year there some people who say this only to turn around and buy the game the first day yet again; but, based on my observations from browsing through the community, the number is significantly larger than in previous years. I think it's pretty obvious that if the sentiment across the country is somewhat similar then EA could be taking a hit in their sales numbers once again.

The big question then is, does EA feel the same way I do when it comes to the pulse of Madden fans across the country and, if so, how do they plan to remedy it this year?

My first gut reaction, and based on what we are seeing so far with NCAA, is that a focus on the gameplay and the little things to try to make the experience more authentic and more fun is in order. Does that mean we will see Madden back in the booth this year? All indications point to yes, or at the very least we will get some form of a TV presentation. And if EA doesn't do that, then frankly I fear for the sanity and business savvy of EA's leadership.

Another thing I hope we see EA successfully pull off is a polished and relatively bug free release. I know I shouldn't have to say that, yet it's definitely a priority. And yes, every game ever made has bugs, but a major title like Madden simply can't afford to ship with game breaking bugs. This might sound strange for someone to say of a longtime developer, but after last year you just can't take anything for granted. Peter Moore has hinted that this is something we can expect to see remedied somewhat this year, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

One more thing I think we will see is a continued overall improvement of the gameplay this year -- an obvious point I know. But if you played Madden simply head-to-head last year, you actually got to play a pretty decent game sans the fumbles. With some tweaking and balancing by the developers, Madden could at the very least play a good game of football this upcoming season.

Last year's title sans the bugs was very close to being a title that did turn the corner. Instead, inexcusable bugs ruined the day and sent the Madden franchise into a possible tailspin. Looking ahead and this is now year one in the Peter Moore era, and let's not forget there's been a new Lead Producer on board for the last few months, so there's some fresh faces around EA.

One year later, with an added year of polish and work hopefully completed on the key aspects of the title, along with the addition of a quality TV-style broadcast, and I think that Madden NFL 09 could be a return to something we can recognize as a quality Madden title.

Of course, last year many believed the same could happen and we all know what happened next: we were treated to one of the worst Madden titles since, well the year before. However, one thing is for sure: with the newly renewed NFL exclusivity, this is now a make or break year for the Madden franchise. Either get the franchise back on the right foot, or be swallowed up by the swarm of negativity surrounding exclusivity in sports videogames.

And right now, there are no guarantees.

[Chubz]

Madden 09 needs TV commentary and use their partership with ESPN. Like what NFL 2k5 Did with highlights of other games and scores and stats. Give it that Sunday NFL feel. Not some pretty game with no fun value

[Raider1one]

The official website for Madden 09 went live earlier today following the announcement that the 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition would include NFL Head Coach 09. From the main page of the site you can access the press release containing details of the collectors edition along with links to new Head Coach videos and features. It also notes that “the countdown begins 4/5/08″. Whether that countdown will lead into the NFL Draft or something else (cover announcement?) isn’t immediately clear.
Previously the Head Coach website listed some features of the game. However several new ones have been added and the entire list can be found here. It’s a pretty intensive list that would be too difficult to for me to recap so check it out in its entirety there.
One interesting thing of note is that with the new play creator and ability to export them to Madden they’ve also added Gamernet which will allow for you to upload created plays where they’ll available for anyone to rate, view and download for their own use.
There are also two new videos for Head Coach. One is a general overview of the game while the other focuses on the play creator. You can check those out in HD by visiting the media section of the Head Coach website.

[Raider1one]

EA Sports has announced details of the 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition of Madden 09. It will include NFL Head Coach 09, exclusive classic Madden gameplay, and bonus video content. The price of the set will be $89.99 and the release date has been set for August 12th.

Whether you prefer to make your moves on the field, from the sidelines or in the front office, the Madden NFL 09 20^th Anniversary Collector’s Edition has something for every football fan. Madden NFL 09 will feature the most immersive gameplay, the richest online offerings and the most comprehensive feature depth in the history of the franchise, while NFL Head Coach 09 has been reinventedto provide a unique new NFL experience by allowing fans to be in total control of their favorite franchises. The two games offer unique experiences and then can even interact with one another with gamers being able to import their user-designed plays from NFL Head Coach 09 and put them into Madden NFL 09 to create customized playbooks for complete control on the field.

Great to hear about interaction between the two titles. A lot of people will enjoy creating the plays in Head Coach and then being able to use them in Madden.
Sounds like a pretty good deal and one of the few times I would want to purchase a collector’s edition. No word on how much Head Coach will cost if purchased separately (I have doubts that it will end up being exclusive to the Madden CE) but getting it for essentially $30 presents great value and that isn’t even considering the other extras. The biggest problem will be finding time to play both games with them coming on the same day.

[Raider1one]

New commentators for Madden 09

from pastapadre.com

We’ve known for a while now that the much hated radio announcer was going to be replaced in Madden 09. The general assumption was there would be a return to basic commentary although there are several directions they could go. In a recent interview EA’s audio director addressed the topic.

I know it’s kind of early in the year but can you give us an idea of what kind of sound changes we can expect from Madden, NHL, FIFA – all the different sports games?
AH: I have to be careful about this. Although I can… We are making a change in the Madden commentators. I can’t mention who they are. We are using some of the biggest names in the business. We listened to the fans and we are making a change. And that will be more than one. It will be a fantastic year for Madden fans, I think they’re gonna be thrilled with this new direction. I don’t think I can say much more than that.

So who do you think it could be or who are you hoping for? The Monday Night Football crew would make sense given the license although EA hasn’t shown much interest in utilizing it for this type of thing so far. You can’t rule out the Michaels-Madden combo although the secrecy suggests it’s a new group of personalities. I’d like to see one of the duos from Fox which I find consistently to be the the best. If it really is big names then outside of the MNF group and Madden it could be the combo of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. As long as Bryant Gumble isn’t involved in any way it’ll be an improvement.

[nwdave]

I have Madden 08 and what I hate about it is there's no balance between too easy and unrealistically hard.

Can they make this game play like a real-life football game??

[Raider1one]

from pastapadre.com

Latest Peter Moore blog confirms no Madden 09 PC

When the Madden 09 20th Anniversary Collectors Edition press release mentioned all platforms known to man except for the PC people took notice. Now Peter Moore has confirmed that there will be no PC version of Madden 09 in his latest blog entry.

We knew that our decision to not develop this year’s Madden for the PC would be an unpopular decision in some circles. But I’ll reiterate what I said a couple of weeks ago in this space…the PC presents some very serious business challenges to us in the sports category, particularly because so many of you all are playing your favorite sports games on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. We are committed to shipping a limited number of our games on the PC this year, but we’ve also had to cut a few of our games from the platform. We do have ideas for how to revitalize the PC for sports games and the types of games that are best suited to the platform, and we’ll continue to explore those.

One legitimate complaint regarding this decision is that when an exclusive license holder chooses not to develop for a particular platform there are no licensed alternatives. While anyone is free to make football PC games none can use the NFL. This is the case also with the MLB as 2K Sports does not make a PC title. It is my understanding that there are clauses in the contracts that require them to be released on all major platforms however the PC is no longer considered to be one.
It is understandable that the very low sales numbers have not justified producing PC titles for years now and it has actually been surprising that EA Sports has continued to produce PC versions of many of their games. Hopefully though EA goes at the PC market in a different way with new titles that cater to that small hardcore group. What may happen is you’ll see an NFL game down the line but using a different model such as what EA is doing with Battlefield Heroes. That game will be free to download and play and will be supported by advertisements and microtransactions.

[Raider1one]

from pastapadre.com

When the official Madden 09 website launched I brought up the presence of the statement “the countdown begins 4/5/08″ and what that could mean. Yesterday the site updated and it will display one of the covers from the 20 years of Madden each day as the NFL Draft nears.
The countdown leads up to the 24th which is when presumably the Madden 09 cover athlete will be revealed. However with the PS3 NCAA Football 09 cover being announced on the 24th I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Madden announcement come on the 25th instead. It just doesn’t seem that they would bring out both at the same time and split the attention that will be paid to them in that manner.
Generally the cover athlete is announced about a week and a half ahead of the NFL Draft so it appears they’re pushing it much closer this year. Given that the last couple have been leaked a day or two ahead of the official announcements it is possible it’ll be known before then.
Look for my breakdown of the top cover candidates coming soon. What do you think? Will it be a traditional cover or do they have something special in store to commemorate the 20th year?

[Raider1one]

from operationsports.com
Madden 09: Three Point Thursdays

Point #1: As the only NFL game in town, the Madden NFL series has a responsibility to push the envelope.

Madden became the only kid left on the block when EA acquired the exclusive rights to the NFL’s video game license over three years ago. Like any rational person, I understand that the move was purely a business decision and there was nothing inherently unethical about the purchase, as the masses who scream of a monopoly protest. But while it comes down to the bottom line in the end, a company in this situation still has a responsibility to its customers to deliver the best product possible. The game will sell a ton of copies regardless of how good or bad it may be, as the appalling Madden NFL 06 effort on the Xbox 360 demonstrated. Despite this indisputable fact, you have to reason that it would sell even better if the game’s quality lived up to its titanic name. If that is the case, why not do everything possible to take the game to the next level, and give sports gamers what they’ve been begging for?

Point #2: The Madden NFL series has been a tremendous disappointment on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles.

There is no denying that Madden has failed to live up to expectations in the three years since its move from the previous generation of systems. While the graphics made enormous strides in the transition, other elements of the game suffered immensely. The gameplay improved after the embarrassing Madden NFL 06, which marked the series’ arrival on the Xbox 360, but it has still fallen far short of reaching its potential. The presentation continues to resemble the games we played on the Sega Genesis, and I’ve yet to meet anyone who can explain the inclusion of the game’s radio announcer for three straight years. Top that off with the bland game modes and absence of online leagues, and you’re looking at the NFL video game version of the Knicks. Sure they look imposing in uniform, but who really cares when they struggle with the most fundamental aspects of the game?

Point #3: We have a few reasons to be hopeful about Madden NFL 09.

We’ve already established that Madden has disappointed on the new generation of consoles, but it’s hard to deny that each edition has improved at least marginally on the previous one. When you ignore the stale features and presentation and instead look solely at the graphics and gameplay the progress becomes even more pronounced. We can hope that this trend continues with Madden NFL 09, and the early whispers on this year’s game give credence to that belief. Last week’s declaration from audio director Aubrey Hodges that we’ll finally have new commentators this year – “some of the biggest names in the business” – suggests that at least one monumental change is in the works.

The Point: Let’s be cautiously optimistic about Madden NFL 09.

This series has let us down time and time again over the last few years, so we shouldn’t get too excited about these early revelations. I know a lot of us are desperate for a good NFL video game, but lofty expectations will only lead to more disappointment. It’s far too early to make any kind of accurate predictions about how the game will turn out this year – we haven’t even seen a features list yet. However, people expecting the series to undergo a massive transformation in one year to turn into a next generation NFL 2K5 – or even to fully realize the potential of a “next generation Madden” – will find themselves upset once again when August rolls around, so temper your expectations now.

[Raider1one]

Feedback needed for Madden 09 survey

EA Sports is interested in getting some feedback regarding a potential 20th Anniversary DVD including a playable demo and trading cards featuring Madden 09 stats. Feel free to leave your responses in the comments and they’ll be passed along. Continue on to view the survey.

Dear EA Sports Fan:

We want your input! We would like to ask you about some cool Madden items that we’re considering.

Here are a few questions for you to answer. Thank you for your time and valuable opinion.

1. On a scale of 1 – 10, how interested are you in getting a :60 minute Madden 20th Anniversary DVD with a playable demo of Madden 09 and 20 years of NFL highlights?

2. How much would you pay for a :60 minute DVD with a playable demo of Madden 09 and 20 years of NFL highlights?

$2

$5

$10

$15

$20

I wouldn’t pay for this

3. On a scale of 1-10, how interested are you in receiving a Donruss trading card (1 of 20 collectible cards) that features stats on Madden 09 players to help you build your team?

4. How much would you pay for the trading card?

.50

$1

$2

I wouldn’t pay for this.

5. On a scale of 1-10, how likely would you be to go to a store that offered these items FREE with a purchase (assume cost is less than $10?)

Thanks for your responses!

[Raider1one]

from pastapadre.com

Could EA change their mind about selling NFL Head Coach 09 separately?

Soon after the news was clearly relayed that NFL Head Coach 09 would be exclusive to the 20th Anniversary Edition of Madden 09 I wrote about why the decision didn’t make much sense. The value of the Anniversary Edition would not be harmed by selling the game separately for the standard price and being able to save money through purchasing the special edition set. However it would keep people from purchasing Head Coach who had no interest in or already owned Madden.
I still feel that this is a decision EA may reverse. Curiously Gamestop/EB still lists Head Coach as releasing individually on September 4th. Generally when an announcement is made they would make corrections to their database, so to see it still there makes you wonder if things are up in the air or if a contrary decision has been made behind the scenes. I also like the potential symmetry of the game releasing on the opening day of the season. A day in which Tony Dungy and his Indianapolis Colts are featured in their brand new Lucas Oil Stadium against the Chicago Bears. Could selling the game separately but only after the Anniversary Edition of Madden has been out for a few weeks be a good compromise?
As mentioned previously even if Head Coach does not end up being sold separately then you’ll be able to find copies of it on Ebay or possibly even in gaming stores (depending on how they decide to value it). It will have its own case. Otherwise I think Tony Dungy would be disappointed with being designated as the cover coach for a game that has no actual cover.

[Raider1one]

from pastapadre.com

What will come for Madden around the NFL Draft?

Not only is the NFL Draft an exciting time for all football fans but it brings the first rumblings around the new version of Madden as well. Lets look to the events of last year for a picture of what to expect in the coming weeks.

1. Vince Young was announced as the cover athlete almost two weeks ahead of the draft. Two days later came the first screenshots with Young featured. We know the 09 announcement won’t be made until closer to draft time likely on the Thursday or Friday prior.
2. The first Madden commercials started airing the week before the draft. While they didn’t show gameplay they did start the buzz. Devin Hester, Reggie Bush, and Vince Young were featured in the three teaser ads.
3. The official website for Madden launched the day before the draft. Until then it was essentially a placeholder with wallpapers which is similar to what we have now for 09 (but with each year’s cover and their wallpapers instead). They also released a very nice Vince Young 360 dashboard theme for free on the same day.
4. Throughout the first round of the draft the official website was updated with first look screenshots. The rookies could be seen in their new uniforms for the first time.
5. The first preview of Madden from a media site came from IGN on the opening day of the draft. It included a lot of details which focused mainly on gameplay enhancements rather than a feature list.

With this being the 20th Anniversary I’d expect an even larger presence of Madden. We know we’ll be getting the cover athlete announcement in the days leading up to the draft. Look for the first screenshots and cover art along with it or soon after. The first commercials will likely be shown during the draft or on ESPN the week before as was the case last year. With the popularity of the rookie screenshots as the draft is progressing that’ll surely return. When it comes to first look previews it was surprising to get one on that Saturday last year so it may be more likely that would come during the following week.
What else that you think we may see right around the draft? I suspect there will be some surprises.

[Raider1one]

from forums.ea.com

First Madden NFL 09 Producer Blog Posted:Apr 10, 2008 10:10 PM
Hi guys, Even though it's still early, our Madden NFL 09 dev team wants to share a couple of tidbits about the game with you. Enjoy this first blog from D-Cas and feel free to leave comments here in the thread. :) A New Season is Approaching! Hello again Madden fans! It’s been over six months since we last did an official blog, but as the NFL Draft approaches the time is right to get a new year kicked off. I’ve read some comments on message boards about us being very silent about the game- and what that could possibly mean. Well allow me to break the silence and assure everyone that the development team here at Tiburon has been hard at work making what I think is shaping up to be the best Madden EVER. I feel like we are past the transitional challenges and ups-and-downs that we experienced in the early years of Next Gen, and that we have built the same type of efficiency and innovation that we had during the PS2/Xbox years. The big difference is now we are dealing with much more powerful hardware, so we can really take football gaming to a whole new level. Needless to say- I’m excited! In the wake of our long silence, I‘d like to take a second to address some of the sentiments I have been reading on message boards and give you guys a brief update: Are you watering down Madden?! Most of you have probably read Peter Moore’s blogs where he referenced our desire to make football gaming more approachable and easier for people of all ages and experience levels to play. We at Tiburon couldn’t agree with him more and I think that we have done a great job this year on accomplishing this goal in Madden. HOWEVER- I want to make one thing very clear! Making the game easier to approach does NOT have to compromise the great advanced gameplay experience that we have spent years building. From reading message boards it seems like our core Madden gamers (you guys) have been quick to assume that making the game more accessible means they will lose the depth they love. This is simply not the case! With proper design we can cater to both brand new and the hardest of hardcore users. Think about it… the level of depth and advanced features are the very things that have made Madden what it is today- why would we ever stray away from that? In fact this year we are adding even more depth and hardcore features than ever before AND we are also making a game that your little brother or dad can pick up and enjoy. When will Next-Gen be “caught up” to Current Gen?! Admittedly I have been a Current Gen guy at heart the last few years- in fact last year (Madden 08) was the first time I played a Next-Gen version of the game. I’ m also quick to tell people that Madden 2004 and Madden 2005 are my favorite versions to date. I get a lot of people, especially some of my CG playing friends, asking when will Next Gen “catch-up.” First off, I think that the term “ catch-up” is a pretty unfair term considering that some facets of NG Madden are well past CG Madden- like graphics for example. But not only do I understand the question, I constantly ask it too; when will my favorite CG features make it into NG? I’m going to go out on a limb right now and say that Madden 09 has not only “caught up” but it has surpassed CG from a sheer feature standpoint. Another thing to note is that one of our goals is to not only bring features over from CG, but to make them better in the transition. You are going to see that with a couple of the new features that we are bringing over this year. What about these staffing changes!? Of course another one of the hot message board topics was the departure of David Ortiz a couple months ago. David is a really cool guy, he loved Madden and we’ll surely miss him. Stepping into his place is Phil Frazier a guy who was a key member of the Madden team back in the glory years of PS2/Xbox. Phil worked on an entire generation of Madden, in fact the most successful generation, and he is extremely in tune with what the product needs to be and what people are looking for. Luckily he also has a special place in his heart for hardcore fans- his first words to me the day he started on this project: “D-Cas! What have we done for the hardcore this year and are they going to love it!?” Are you guys fixing the glitches from last year!? This might be my favorite part of the job! Every year you guys find some of the most innovative ways to take advantage of our AI. Working on CG I thought of myself as a deputy of shenanigans, helping to fix everything from nano-blitzes to online disconnection cheats. And rest assured that this year will be no different! Let’s take a look at a few of the tricks we have already fixed this year: -3 Man Front Nano- and other nano’ s of course -Double Pass and HB Pass Plays -Onside Kick Exploits -Jump Catching and Spectacular Catch Exploits -Online Disconnection Glitches- including the automotion offsides bug Ok-so give us the goods on next year’s game! What can we expect!? We’ve been quiet for a reason- we think this is going to be a VERY special year for the Madden franchise, not just because it is the 20th Anniversary but also because the game is looking awesome! We’ve really taken community opinions into consideration and you’ll be happy to know that you have had a direct influence on the contents of this game. We are not at a point where we are ready to release a bunch of information about the game, but we are getting ready to spill the beans very soon. Rest assured that once we make the initial announcement this year, there will be more blog content than ever to give you guys the full scoop.

[Raider1one]

from pastapadre.com

New NFL Head Coach 09 hands-on

Earlier the latest screenshots for NFL Head Coach 09 were released. Now Gamespot has posted an updated hands-on with many details on the game. You can check it out here. I’ve pulled some of the aspects I found most interesting and commented on them but there is also a lot more to read in the full preview.

You’ll be able to save up to 200 offensive and 200 defensive created plays to your playbook, export them to your Madden NFL 09 profile for use in that game (though you won’t be able to use created plays online in Madden).
You’ll also be able to upload created plays to your EA Locker for sharing with other Head Coach players. Here you can download the plays of other fans in the game and vote on your favorites. Interestingly, EA Sports producers told us that the AI-controlled coaches in the game will also be importing some of those user-created plays into their playbooks.

No surprise that they won’t be allowing user-created plays in online games. I still don’t see the logic in preventing them from being used in unranked games however. This is a gripe of mine that continues. All sorts of options should be available for unranked games, there should be little to no restrictions on what is allowed within them.

In the original NFL Head Coach, you could only play five-minute quarters; that’s been rectified for Head Coach 09, and you’ll be able to play full quarters as you go. Of course, if you’re looking for things to move quicker, you can always check out the supersim options, which will let you skip ahead one play at a time, or further ahead in the game. Unfortunately, though you can use your teams and original playbooks online against other opponents in Head Coach, you’ll only be able to play the games out using the supersim style of play, which is a bummer in terms of realism but, at the very least, will probably keep games quick.

That was a big gripe, the five minute quarters in the original Head Coach. It went so far that the modding community worked to get the PC version to have longer quarters. So this is another area they listened to feedback on. I’m not sure what I think of how it’ll work for online play though. Supersimming through them will keep them quick which is a positive but I wonder if it’ll take away from the overall experience that you aren’t seeing the results happen on the field.

Roster updates will be available in NFL Head Coach but will only be available to you if you start your season in the preseason (not in the off-season, which is the other option available to you). These will be the same roster updates that Madden NFL 09 users will get, but with updated ratings, player information, and–possibly–player portraits to boot.

It makes sense that roster updates wouldn’t occur if you’re playing from the start of the off-season. It’s somewhat a surprise that they’ll come at all given that the game is so much about making your own team related decisions in the same way of thinking that roster updates don’t make sense for franchise modes. For online play it is a big deal though.