For the second year in a row, Madden fans have decided to curse the Detroit Lions.
How you can curse a team as dreadful as the Lions is beyond me. It hasn’t stopped them from ‘voting’ Barry Sanders to be the next cover-guy for Madden. Comment below and let us know who should be on the cover in your opinion.
Now that we are getting ready to start football season in the minds of most NFL fans with the coming NFL Draft this Thursday there are a few things we can start sorting out when it comes to what Madden 25 will be pushing from the marketing end of the annual title.
The first thing we can plan on is the inclusion of some sort of ‘interview interface’ when it comes to CCM. This is primarily due to the fact that NHL 13 is taking up where NBA 2K has been for a couple years now. The idea of interacting with the media and having a simulation experience
It has been twenty-five years since John Madden demanded a true simulation football game. We are still waiting on EA Sports to provide us with one.
isn’t really new but EA is starting to take more of 2K’s features to heart. My personal hopes are that Madden’s CCM (which is still going to be in the next iteration) will feature an interaction for people that prefer to be a ‘coach’ rather than a single player. This will add depth to a mode that was off to a decent start last year.
Better physics and refined tackling are something that people have been clamoring for ever since the 360/PS3 released. Last year we got the Infinity Engine and got to see some interesting animations play out (a lot of Gumby motions, especially). Regardless, we can be almost certain that Madden 25 will have more refined player physics and tackling animations assuming they keep working with the same engine. This leads us into one of the more intensely discussed topics on hardcore Madden forums – OL/DL interaction and blocking in general.
While it is highly unlikely that we will ever see a true end to ‘suction blocking’ it has been mentioned for NCAA 14 that there has been serious work put in towards improving blocking decisions and interactions. This has been highlighted in discussing the inclusion of a deeper CPU intelligence that focuses on second-level blocking. What is ‘Second Level Blocking’? Second level blocking is basically any blocking that occurs after an initial block has been made. So, if the Right Tackle blocks the defensive end and then starts running up the field – they will actually look for the next opponent to block rather than running blindly past a defender that will be looking to bring down the ball carrier. Sounds like something that should have been in the game for years, right? EA Sports isn’t exactly on top of things to pay attention to what seems like fundamentals sometimes. Hopefully they will make good on the improvements in blocking for Madden 25 as this will be a positive direction for the direction of the gameplay in general.
As many sports fans finish watching the Final Four tomorrow there will be a new direction for their attention to go in the coming weeks (assuming they are NFL fans). The NFL Draft is this month and while there aren’t any real high profile ‘must draft’ prospects out there there is plenty of hype to be started for some teams and especially for Madden 25.
NCAA Football 14 just announced through their typical trailer promo that it would have Infinity Engine 2.0. While this isn’t much of a surprise as Madden had it first (last year), it is something that should make Madden fans wonder what is coming this year. Now that EA has started to push yet another cover vote (as if it really matters) they are once again pushing the old players into the mix with a bracket that seems to be played out after the Peyton Hillis cover debacle – why I voted for him to curse my
I wonder if they will still keep brittle QBs damn-near invincible…?
Browns is beyond me.
Now that the Madden 13 cycle is almost over (most Madden fans will put this game on the shelf until July, when NFL Camps grab their attention and they can’t help themselves) we are looking to the next iteration of the same game we buy in droves every August. With NCAA’s announcement there are some things we can all but assume for Madden 25′s improvements.
Better tackle physics are something that happen incrementally every year for Madden. However, now that the NFL is making rules against certain player centered moves (tucking your head when running the ball – IE, The Truck Stick) we will most likely see a trend for Madden to be even more toned down as time goes forward.
Another hope for Madden is better O-Line/D-Line interactions. This has as much to do with physics as it does with how the game is programmed. It has been shown on numerous occasions that Madden’s blocking system is broken at best. There have been multiple occasions in the past where I have had a punter or kicker mysteriously jump into the O-Line and easily handle a 350 lb defensive lineman. While this goes beyond the infinity engine, it is something that should be made apparent regardless.
Pass Interference has been non-existent in Madden for almost the entire generation of 360/PS3 titles. There are high hopes that Madden 25 and Infinity 2.0 will actually have this often-called penalty fully functional this year (on both sides of the ball).
As far as gaming goes in 2013, it has been a surprisingly dull start with little to look forward to in terms of games and even the new consoles. It seems that we have hit a bit of a lull when it comes to this generation’s games. Everything is a sequel, prequel or some other sort of half-assed effort with a big name company stamp on it (I am looking at you SimCity). I always start out my year by saying I won’t buy Madden because it is the same game every single year. Now that we are firmly set to start draft season, I am sure my tune will change for a few months before we are once again asking for patches the day after the game comes out.
As more Madden info comes out we will have it here for you – with completely honest opinions and reactions.
If you are curious about the roster update for Madden 13 – it is in progress and will be out in a couple weeks.
The draft is often a busy time for roster updating, so it will be a good time to get that work started.
A few people have sent messages about what sliders we are using/recommending for Madden 12.
Here you go!
That isn’t White Castle’s delicious sandwiches you smell… It is our very own set of sliders… In May no less!
NTTV Sliders/Settings
Settings –
10 Minute Quarters
Playcalling – Conventional
Acc Clock – 15 Secs
Cam – Standard
Auto Sprint and Strafe – OFF
Injury – 15
Fatigue – 55
Game Speed – Slow
Speed Thresh – 5
Penalties
Offside – 99
False State – 54
Holding – 52
Facemask – 55
DPI – 99 (Rarely Called)
OPI – 99 (Even more rare than DPI)
KR/PRI – 99
Clipping – 25 *Down this low because many kickoff returns will get called back because your blockers are stupid.
Int Grounding – 99 (CPU Is Never Called for this)
Rough Passer – 55
Rough Kicker – 99
USER/CPU
QBA – 40/30
PBK – 15/75 *You will have between 2.5-4 seconds to get a pass off most of the time. Sometimes less, sometimes more.
CTH – 20/55
BRKTKL – 25/0
RBK – 25/40
FUM – 25/50
Pass Defense
React – 10/10
INT – 25/15
PRSH – 40/30
Rush Defense
React – 18/30 *This is being actively looked at. Stopping the run can be a slippery slope in either direction easy or hard.
BLKS – 18/22
TAK – 25/10
SPECIAL TEAMS
FGP – 50 *With the right wind, you can kick a 65 Yarder with a 99 KPW.
FGA – 50
PPW – 55
PAC – 70 *Makes it a little bit more realistic to get kicks to the corner.
KPW – 50
…and now for the little disclaimer for all the slider/sim nazis out there.
Yes, these sliders have faults and no they aren’t perfect. They are set up for the user to have an enjoyable yet challenging game. It may take a little bit of tweaking for you to find your perfect settings, but we hope these are a good start for you!
THE DRAFT – Recap
Ask any NFL fan about their favorite team’s draft and you will get some sort of response.
As a Browns fan I will give you all you need to hear and more. First, we needed to fix our offense with better receivers and someone to take over after Hillis’ departure.
The Trent Richardson pick was a good one at the time and still is; however, to give up the picks we did in order to get him I would have thought that we would be super smart about the ones we had left.
Then we took a 28 year old QB, Brandon Weeden at #22. In a league where you are looked at as old when you are 30 it is strange to see that as a pick with any sort of gainful longevity. Yet, even that pick wasn’t too terrible in the scheme of things. It was followed up with Mitchell Schwartz from Cal, a big and mean O-Lineman.
Then we took John Hughes! Yeah, you read right… 16 Candles, Pretty In Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire on the Cuyahoga JOHN HUGHES!… Actually, it is some sort of D-Lineman that is going to be a back-up for our talented middle D-Lineman Rubin and Taylor. I was confused by this pick to say the least… then my confusion turned to anger when I saw the other players taken after we traded down and move around in the draft to get a guy that wasn’t even projected to get picked in the draft on many experts’ boards.
That said…
Ever since Madden came out on the 360/PS3 generation of consoles it has had growing pains that have led many football gamers to get banned from forums for venting their anger (which will never happen on our boards, assuming you support your opinion without major profanity— which with Madden can be hard at times). The worst part about Madden for years had been Franchise Mode and bugs in Franchise Mode. That said, there are three major events for NFL fans:
Improving The Draft (What’s Missing?)
There is a reason why the NFL Draft is #1 on that list. It gives people faith that for a moment, their team is going to get better. They might find their ‘Tom Brady’ or ‘Peyton Manning’. There are some players that coming out of college are looked at as ‘sure things’ like Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III and then you have big risks on guys like Vontaze Burfict (went to the halfway-house, AKA the Cincinnati Bengals after going undrafted) who have major character issues.
People go nuts for the draft and it is something that is often talked about more than the Super Bowl. Simply because it is something that every team has a chance to do and do well.
Madden has no personality or atmosphere for the Draft. It is difficult to see what other teams are doing in your Franchise Mode. One example is when a team trades up or down in the draft there is usually some sort of reaction by commentators (which also don’t exist in Madden’s Franchise Mode for the Draft) – in Madden you are greeted with a notice that a trade took place and which picks were involved… and then nothing… No highlight of who was so important that the team moved up to get them. You are also not going to see which players teams select during the draft because the Drafted Player Ticker resets after every pick, rendering it impossible to see how the draft is going or who is coming off the board in any sort of fluid manner.
If the Cowboys were to take a punter with the first pick in the draft you would probably see riots and hear commentators berate the management (Jerry Jones) of the Cowboys…. Not in Madden, take whoever you want because no one cares. Perhaps that is the real personality of Madden’s Franchise Mode – No one cares… and frankly, why should they?
Not to mention it is hard to really have any sense of immersion in a league that seems to exist without any sort of news feed that is easily accessible to let you know that certain players are under-performing. Then again, that is the hideous beauty of Madden’s Franchise Mode.
Minus the lacking atmosphere, here is a list of just some of the things that are missing from creating a true Franchise Mode experience worth paying $60 for every. single. year…:
This list will be expanded over the course of the next few months and years as Madden is sure to continue to grow and regress in quality and features. The first step for any game mode like Franchise Mode is ATMOSPHERE and IMMERSION and that should start with the most important day (weekend) of the NFL Year – The NFL Draft.
Yesterday we posted an update about running a longer lasting Franchise Mode in Madden. Today we are posting the first video of our newest Franchise Mode…
In honor of the late great Chris Farely we have chosen DAAAAAA BEARSSSSS!
The biggest roster move before the 2011 season sent Matt Forte to the Bucs and brought Mike Williams to the Bears to help Jay Cutler.
Rookie Halfback, Mikel Leshoure was signed to a one year deal worth $2 million to earn a future as the feature back in Chicago.
Before this season started officially we made a few moves that included trading our 93 OVR starting HB, Matt Forte for a better WR for Jay Cutler. The best offer came from Tampa Bay as they offered their young potential star WR Mike Williams (79 OVR). The final deal ended up being Matt Forte and a 2nd Rd Pick in 2012 for Mike Williams with 1st and 3rd Rd Picks in 2012.
We suffered injuries to two different CBs and signed Fabian Washington (77 OVR) as ‘insurance’.
So, without further delay… Here is Week 1 Showdown with the Atlanta Falcons!
This was one hell of a battle.
Now that the regular season is over and my Browns are set to get a Top-5 pick that they will use on Tim Couch, Courtney Brown or William Green it is time to focus on fake, digital, monopolized football gaming from EA Sports. The issue of trade logic has been a contentious one to say the least. While we will be covering more Madden issues in the coming weeks we will start with what kicks off the football season for most NFL fanatics – the NFL Draft.
The Draft is one of the most popular parts of the NFL (minus the Super Bowl). Draft picks are often held at a premium, even more than superstar players… okay, maybe not all teams feel that way (The Oakland Raiders). The issue with Madden’s trade logic is on-going and has been since the game came to PS3/360.
One issue that has been in Madden’s trade system since Madden 2002 is the ability to milk teams for draft picks or players based on faulty logic and a broken system. This is covered in the video below.
There are many issues with this game that seem cosmetic to most people. However, if you pay attention to sports gaming like some of the people of that niche community do (myself included) you will see that EA has put out an inferior product ever since they got the sole license to create NFL videogames. Back in 2004 they had to compete with 2KSports and NFL2K. While I was never a big fan of 2K’s games, they noticeably pushed EA to put out a quality product every year.
Now that that time has passed, we are stuck with Madden and the only growth that comes year after year is cosmetic. While this may seem like is a rant, there is a sincere hope that EA Tiburon makes the needed improvements we will cover in the coming weeks.
On a personal note, I have to say that this iteration of Madden has given me a lot of confidence that they MIGHT be going in the right direction. I am now in my 5th season of Franchise Mode and it is going strong. Here’s hoping that 2012 brings a fresh face to football gaming – and maybe a fix to a pathetically simple exploit in the trading system. (Watch the video) 
