The demo is now available for Madden fans to download and play to their heart’s content. At 2GB in size it is a nice size for a demo with 5 minute quarters and the ability to change the difficulty level (as well as change the accelerated clock back to normal speed so you can enjoy the demo for a bit longer each time you play.
You will have the choice between using the Ravens or the 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch in Baltimore. The other match-up has the Packers and Seahawks playing on the not-so-frozen Tundra of Green Bay.
The demo is solid and plays like you expect Madden to play. There have been some obvious tweaks and changes to the momentum of players as they don’t go into sprinting as fast as they once did in past iterations. Also noticeable is the fact that player collisions seem refined this year. If you are using a bruising runningback like Frank Gore and you flick the R-Stick forward at the right moment you can expect to blow up smaller players on defense.
On the other hand, if you are on defense and want to lay out an opposing player with the ball and you have someone like Patrick Willis – it will be a fun “oooooh!” moment as the heavy hitting defender knocks the snot out of the ball carrier. While this seems like something to cast away as ‘something that should have already been in the game’ it is a nice addition none the less.
Shouldn’t This Stuff Already Be In The Game?
Yes, you are right. We have been waiting for basically this entire generation of consoles to have a Madden title that plays and feels like this. It still feels like a crisp handling Madden game where the players move at the slightest command of the analog sticks. While many Madden fans tend to worship the control scheme and feel of this game it is still a bit arcade-like and feels at times like it is still focused on being an offensive shoot-out rather than a good football game. Granted – this is what the NFL wants in their new approach to the game (flag football much?).
This also brings to light the new ‘run free’ feature that gives players a more dynamic running ability based on their style and ratings. As mentioned above, players like Gore will run people over and then there will be players like LaMichael James that can juke others out of their jocks. It is a nice addition but it isn’t really something ‘new’ as much as something that is just being featured in this title.
Dear Phil Simms – STFU
I can’tstand this guy during his broadcasts in real-life and in Madden he is ten times worse. If you got sick of hearing him bad mouth the wrong player or make some sort of lame comment about WRs not being able to be touched – it gets old by the second quarter. Turn off the commentary and turn up the crowd noise… although even that isn’t as good as it should be. The sound quality is garbage and I’d recommend getting some decent music to play in the background rather than hear anymore of what we have been getting for the last 25 years.
Connected Franchise Mode
This is once again something that EA is trying to push as something new that was really removed before coming into this generation of consoles. Owner Mode (what it really is) was in Madden 2005 and is finally back almost ten years later. The only thing with this is that I am left wondering what in the hell I care about my team making more money for if there is a salary cap. In a baseball game this is vital as your team needs more money for better players. In this game you will most likely be able to spend your money on something you will never see in-game like cup holders at every seat or heated toilet seats.
The new feature seems to be directed on towards bringing more fans to your games depending on the prices you set for things in the concession stand along with ticket prices, etc. News to EA… NFL games are expensive forms of entertainment. You have to be crazy not to expect a cup of crappy beer to cost $8-9 per cup (no joke). So, before you get all excited about some ‘new feature’ like this it would be wise to look at it with a critical eye and ask – “What does this mode/feature really add to the game?”
As we get closer to the release of Madden 25 there will be a lot more hype built up on the internet focusing on how amazing this game looks and how many new features there are in place. Don’t fall in the trap… read up on Madden 25, play the demo and above all else don’t buy this game new without knowing the details first. We will keep you posted.
I have been fortunate to know or be acquainted with artists, writers and even some people that work in video game production. One thing that has never ceased to amaze me is their creativity. There is always something new in their head. Some sort of cool new project that is simply amazing because it is fresh and straight out of their creative mind. The current mainstream gaming atmosphere doesn’t allow for this sort of creativity anymore.
With games like Call of Duty and Madden being released every year it doesn’t say much for what corporate monsters think of gaming. They don’t see it as art – they see a bottom line that must be met in sales or the studio will be closed. As you start looking at the upcoming consoles do yourself a favor and ask why the games are getting stale. While Madden can’t exactly change or implement something wild or crazy graphically or otherwise – it is still lacking creativity.
Another example of a great game that became over-produced quickly – Assassin’s Creed. Really? Is the character truly a different person? Sure, the voice is different and the face may be structured with some new scars, etc… but this is the same damn game every time it comes out. Attack, Counter, Attack, Kill, Run, Repeat.
There are many artists and developers out there that want to be creative in gaming and they are being held back because gamers don’t want new games or concepts. They want a fresh veneer painted on the same crap they have been playing for 10 years. People generally fear change and it is up to artists, musicians and writers to flip their world upside down.
I look forward to the day when I can look at video games and see them as new, fresh and risky art… right now all I see is what most people seem to want:
2/3 of a gun
Crosshairs
Poorly animated blood
The list could go on, but really if it needs to you are missing the point.
The Tuesday that many gamers had been waiting for has come and Microsoft announced the latest iteration in XBox consoles. It isn’t much of a surprise to hear that they are planning a release ‘later this year’. While this most likely means a retail release for the holiday season, it would be interesting to see them try to beat the Playstation 4 to the punch with a release prior to that time period.
XBox One
Some of the other details include a BluRay Disc Drive, 500GB harddrive and an 8-core CPU to go with 8GB of RAM. The system will also have wireless-N tech for networking. USB 3.0 ports will help for a faster connection for Kinect and other peripherals – it will be interesting to see how far they really want to take Kinect at this point.
In terms of backwards compatibility – none. This isn’t really a surprise as the 360 and PS3 had virtually zero backwards compatibility after a couple years.
Used games? The rumors were swirling and they will continue to swirl because Microsoft didn’t address this issue at all. It does seem that you will have to install every game to your harddrive which would make for an interesting issue when dealing with enormous games on BluRay discs. Will you have to uninstall old games and then start switching between them after awhile? The move away from being ‘used game friendly’ isn’t going unnoticed, but many gamers out there won’t do much to prevent this move as they continue to buy big budget titles like Call of Duty and Madden without thinking twice.
Hopefully, the limitations of second-hand games will create a more picky audience of gamers.
(No price points have been discussed, but look for it to be similarly priced to the PS4)
Remember, remember the fifth of November
It’s COD season is it not?
I can think of no reason why COD season should ever be forgot.
You can start pre-ordering Call of Duty: Ghosts soon
Are you excited by the news of a new name for the Call of Duty series or are you convinced that it is merely a first person shooter version of Madden NFL?
After Madden 25 announced a recent Gamestop promo for ‘Connected Franchise Mode’ and an article surfaced on Bleacher Report talking about the supposedly tweaked Connected Careers Mode; there seems to be a lot of work for us to do in order to make Madden better instead of simply allowing EA Tiburon to give us old features and call them ‘new’.
There is a poll on the Brian Mazique article asking if editing rosters, fantasy drafts and controlling every team are enough to make you completely satisfied. These aren’t new features! Madden 12 had every single ‘feature’ they are trying to re-implement into a mode that essentially disallowed them. While these features are a must and will only add more depth to the game they by no means should satiate your desire for a better football game.
Some of the (many) additions Franchise Mode needs in order to mimic the real NFL are below:
Player Morale – Player morale was in Madden 2005 and has been in the NBA 2K series for years. If there is one thing that Madden lacks in terms of bringing life into the players it is morale and mood when it comes to the actual players.
Free Agent/UDFA Signings – Madden seems to think that free agency is something that allows a team to go and simply sign anyone they want if they aren’t on a team. After this weekend’s draft there were many players that were picked up just seconds after it was over. These players don’t simply go to the first time that calls, they weigh their options and choose. Some players have no desire to play for a team that has too much depth or a team that simply doesn’t win. Madden needs to make this more realistic and that starts with a more true-to-life free agency.
Storylines – The addition of storylines for some of the draft prospects in Madden 13 was awesome. It was a nice way to give some of the players in the draft a personal touch. The downfall is that their stories all seemed to stop once they were drafted. The commentary doesn’t follow any of them and the updates on the ‘news feed’ seem to leave any of those stories high and dry. Continuity is something that Madden’s career modes always seem to lack and while it will take some work to fully implement – it will be worth it.
Fan Bases – Some teams sell out almost every game. Some stadiums are lucky to be at 50% capacity. Somehow, almost every game in Madden is a sell out according to the stands. While some games have low attendance due to weather it doesn’t seem to matter what is going on in a given city for a game to be sold out. I can promise you one thing, if the Browns ever host an AFC Championship Game and it is snowing like crazy… the stands will be FULL. On the other hand, if the Bengals are playing a game in the middle of the season at home and they are 2-7, they will be lucky to have any ‘fans’ show up. The NFL is nothing without the fans and that needs to be made apparent in Franchise Mode.
Team Movement – While this poses some sort of strange issues with licensing, etc. there were some serious shortcomings when Madden allowed you to move a team to a new city. Outside of the issues listed in the fan base section, you couldn’t keep the team logo and there wasn’t any real support for the gamer to create a team in a new city because the commentary was terrible and franchise mode lost its luster. If you look at the fact that many teams are looking to move to new cities because of stadium issues or simply for more money it is something that will be happening soon and should be given the proper attention in the game.
Injuries – Madden finally put in some sort of real-time physics last year with the Infinity Engine. The downfall was evident in many areas but injuries are one of the most obvious. As much as the NFL wants to censor Madden and try to convince people that it isn’t a violent sport – football is a violent sport and that is why we like it! Real time injuries need to be in the game and big hits need to matter. It makes no sense for my 6’4″ 260lb MLB to have a random injury when he crushes Joe Flacco or Mike Vick in the backfield and they get up like nothing happened. Fix the injury system… please.
Player Progression – While I have always been a proponent of performance based progression I do not like how Madden 13 allowed the user to simply accumulate points by stats and put them where ever we wanted to in each player. Abilities should progress as the player uses them and performs them. How can a strength rating go up randomly or just because we decide we want it to? Follow the lead of MLB The Show and let the user have the option to determine what areas players will work on in a given week or set it to auto and let the coaching tendencies determine it.
Player Value – After Joe Flacco won the Super Bowl he got a healthy contract renewal. I drafted a QB in my Browns CCM, Mark Mallett… He has thrown for over 4500 yards and 35 TDs in his first three seasons. He then won a Super Bowl in 2015 and is up for a new contract offer from our front office. His OVR is 84 but his abilities have been growing with his performance. His contract demands?… 5 Years, $4.6 Million per year. There is no thinking about this from my perspective – Mallett is never going to ask for the money he deserves and that is sad. Players with great speed or players we like using are typically going for crazy statistics in our Franchise Mode. We should have to pay a premium price to keep them around if that is the case. Player value shouldn’t be determined by OVR but by performance and that should make it harder for teams to sign players they want to abuse the other teams with and keep them forever.
We will continue our efforts to make Madden a better game and you shouldn’t let EA get away with calling old parts of the game ‘new features’. What are your thoughts? What is Madden missing the most in Franchise Mode?
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.
The Madden 13 Roster Update 4-14-13 is available now! – Download Here
The time has come to get your fix of updated rosters. There have been some moves around the league lately and those moves have been accounted for (Cleveland’s recent trade for Dion Lewis being one of them). While some of the rookies have been re-rated due to prior creation having them too high for their projections in the original roster file.
You don’t have to do a lot of googling to find out some of the rumors pouring out into the interwebs. The XBox 720 seems destined to be an ‘always online’ DRM machine designed to say, No you can’t take your new game to a friends house. Make those cheapskates buy the game too. We are entering what might be the twilight of console gaming as we have known it for the
ok… Maybe it wasn’t ever really like this, but it has changed quite a bit.
Many of you have iPods that have some sort of DRM protection from Apple (a company that is highly supported by hipsters the world over) and then there are others that have been playing games on the PC client, Steam. Either way you roll with these different examples of DRM and online functionality it is safe to say that ‘The Matrix Has You’.
While the Playstation 4 seems to be what every angry former Microsoft fanboy is cheering for, it is interesting to see them flock to a console that hasn’t actually been shown to the public. We have seen videos of games that don’t look much better than current PC titles (or even current console titles for that matter) and we also have yet to hear what type of paid service they will demand for their console. Sony doesn’t exactly have the best record for internet privacy or security.
If you are set on getting a new console this holiday season there isn’t much I can do to stop you from spending your money. I personally think you would be better off saving the $500 on a new video card for a gaming rig and never have to worry about consoles running your gaming world from an ‘always online perspective’.
Whatever happened to single player games and other people having some privacy? In a world full of instagrams and shameful spring break videos it really shouldn’t surprise my seemingly old-crotchety self that consoles are going towards this same style of social networking. Afterall, it is vital for everyone to know exactly what you are doing at all times no matter when or where. It seems that John Connor has failed after a long fight against the corporate machines.
Skynet will become self-aware this holiday season.
spring break videos it really shouldn’t surprise my seemingly old-crotchety self that consoles are going towards this same style of social networking. Afterall, it is vital for everyone to know exactly what you are doing at all times no matter when or where. It seems that John Connor has failed after a long fight against the corporate machines.
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