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Madden 13 – All Running Back Ratings Released

Once again, the hype machine has released their little bit of digital crack to the Madden masses! Come and get it!

TEAM	First Name	Last Name	Overall	Speed	Acceleration	Strength	Trucking	Elusiveness
Jaguars	Maurice	Jones-Drew	97	94	95	79	85	93
Vikings	Adrian	Peterson	97	96	97	84	87	97
Texans	Arian	Foster	96	92	96	79	96	92
Eagles	LeSean	McCoy	95	93	97	65	68	99
Ravens	Ray	Rice	95	91	97	84	75	93
Bears	Matt	Forte	93	92	93	73	78	90
Ravens	Vonta	Leach	92	69	80	84	74	40
Niners	Frank	Gore	92	91	90	78	89	78
Rams	Steven	Jackson	92	86	87	85	94	67
Jaguars	Greg	Jones	91	78	80	82	88	44
Chiefs	Jamaal	Charles	91	97	97	59	62	96
Falcons	Michael	Turner	91	86	90	85	98	74
Raiders	Darren	McFadden	91	97	95	74	94	78
Seahawks	Marshawn	Lynch	90	90	88	84	98	74
Titans	Chris	Johnson	90	99	98	66	55	86
Panthers	Mike	Tolbert	89	84	89	82	96	64
Seahawks	Michael	Robinson	89	79	84	80	85	57
Bills	Fred	Jackson	89	90	91	77	82	94
Saints	Darren	Sproles	89	94	98	55	40	93
Giants	Ahmad	Bradshaw	88	92	96	68	76	89
Chargers	Ryan	Mathews	87	92	91	74	92	81
Packers	John	Kuhn	86	79	83	77	89	48
Steelers	Rashard	Mendenhall	86	89	91	79	92	65
Broncos	Willis	McGahee	85	86	85	83	93	58
Cardinals	Beanie	Wells	85	89	87	81	96	74
Raiders	Marcel	Reece	84	90	92	77	65	60
Dolphins	Reggie	Bush	84	95	97	58	55	94
Panthers	Jonathan	Stewart	84	90	91	78	93	65
Panthers	DeAngelo	Williams	84	93	93	65	49	86
Texans	Ben	Tate	84	90	92	73	89	72
Bears	Michael	Bush	83	86	87	81	94	65
Browns	Trent	Richardson	83	90	96	85	95	76
Chiefs	Peyton	Hillis	83	85	86	83	93	58
Cowboys	DeMarco	Murray	83	94	93	74	88	78
Saints	Jed	Collins	82	75	76	72	71	48
Bengals	BenJarvus	Green-Ellis	82	82	84	79	94	65
Jets	Shonn	Greene	82	86	91	79	93	62
Saints	Pierre	Thomas	82	88	90	75	86	63
Chargers	Le’Ron	McClain	81	78	81	80	87	44
Cowboys	Felix	Jones	81	96	94	64	60	86
Niners	Brandon	Jacobs	81	86	80	87	97	61
Lions	Jahvid	Best	81	97	95	59	58	85
Bills	C.J.	Spiller	80	95	96	61	51	91
Bucs	LeGarrette	Blount	79	85	86	85	97	64
Redskins	Roy	Helu Jr.	79	93	96	64	68	85
Saints	Mark	Ingram	79	85	91	74	87	67
Jets	John	Conner	78	72	81	77	75	45
Colts	Donald	Brown	78	91	86	73	83	68
Lions	Kevin	Smith	78	88	90	75	69	79
Patriots	Danny	Woodhead	78	92	94	52	41	91
Niners	Bruce	Miller	77	75	82	77	66	35
Texans	James	Casey	77	82	86	68	79	44
Bengals	Bernard	Scott	77	93	92	65	68	88
Chargers	Ronnie	Brown	77	88	85	71	73	78
Packers	James	Starks	77	90	87	69	82	74
Patriots	Joseph	Addai	77	88	91	64	55	77
Redskins	Tim	Hightower	77	86	86	77	87	59
Saints	Chris	Ivory	77	88	85	77	92	71
Steelers	Isaac	Redman	77	86	90	82	94	65
Bengals	Chris	Pressley	76	70	75	77	77	44
Cowboys	Lawrence	Vickers	76	73	80	81	84	40
Steelers	David	Johnson	76	75	77	81	69	55
Broncos	Knowshon	Moreno	76	86	93	66	66	77
Bucs	Doug	Martin	76	87	95	83	84	75
Vikings	Jerome	Felton	75	73	76	80	70	50
Niners	Kendall	Hunter	75	91	96	58	67	88
Lions	Jerome	Harrison	75	90	91	60	43	85
Patriots	Stevan	Ridley	75	86	92	78	93	69
Seahawks	Leon	Washington	75	95	94	62	53	87
Vikings	Toby	Gerhart	75	85	81	78	89	55
Bills	Corey	McIntyre	74	75	74	85	70	28
Chargers	Jacob	Hester	74	83	87	70	75	51
Giants	Henry	Hynoski	74	69	75	84	74	46
Jaguars	Brock	Bolen	74	72	76	68	73	45
Redskins	Darrel	Young	74	73	75	78	86	45
Cardinals	LaRod	Stephens-Howling	74	94	95	49	37	90
Chiefs	Dexter	McCluster	74	92	95	47	40	90
Dolphins	Daniel	Thomas	74	84	88	76	87	78
Falcons	Jason	Snelling	74	81	86	84	92	49
Falcons	Jacquizz	Rodgers	74	84	97	54	42	91
Giants	David	Wilson	74	94	90	65	74	88
Jaguars	Rashad	Jennings	74	84	87	78	89	60
Raiders	Mike	Goodson	74	93	95	54	54	91
Bengals	Brian	Leonard	73	80	84	74	83	55
Cardinals	Ryan	Williams	73	87	94	68	85	77
Colts	Mewelde	Moore	73	87	91	60	62	82
Niners	LaMichael	James	73	92	97	52	53	93
Jets	Joe	McKnight	73	93	95	59	52	91
Patriots	Shane	Vereen	73	90	86	58	62	81
Redskins	Evan	Royster	73	82	89	72	84	53
Titans	Javon	Ringer	73	87	94	67	68	76
Texans	Justin	Forsett	73	90	93	65	49	88
Bills	Tashard	Choice	72	87	89	65	60	74
Browns	Montario	Hardesty	72	84	87	72	84	62
Dolphins	Steve	Slaton	72	93	93	63	52	85
Eagles	Dion	Lewis	72	85	91	59	65	88
Lions	Mikel	Leshoure	72	85	93	75	87	56
Cardinals	Anthony	Sherman	71	80	75	78	58	55
Patriots	Spencer	Larsen	71	72	75	78	55	20
Broncos	Lance	Ball	71	85	86	71	84	65
Browns	Chris	Ogbonnaya	71	85	88	74	85	61
Browns	Brandon	Jackson	71	88	91	63	52	82
Colts	Delone	Carter	71	85	88	75	92	65
Browns	Owen	Marecic	70	73	77	76	78	25
Jaguars	Naufahu	Tahi	70	76	81	84	71	38
Patriots	Tony	Fiammetta	70	82	74	77	78	50
Ravens	Anthony	Allen	70	84	82	77	92	54
Falcons	Mike	Cox	69	70	72	85	68	40
Bears	Kahlil	Bell	69	85	90	68	72	82
Cowboys	Phillip	Tanner	69	86	90	73	85	66
Dolphins	Lamar	Miller	69	94	96	58	55	81
Jaguars	Montell	Owens	69	84	87	77	82	52
Lions	Keiland	Williams	69	83	85	74	85	56
Rams	Isaiah	Pead	69	92	92	60	64	78
Ravens	Bernard	Pierce	69	88	91	62	77	69
Dolphins	Charles	Clay	68	81	88	68	81	55
Saints	Korey	Hall	68	74	79	75	72	50
Bengals	Daniel	Herron	68	83	89	73	75	75
Broncos	Ronnie	Hillman	68	90	91	53	55	92
Chargers	Curtis	Brinkley	68	87	89	65	63	80
Colts	Deji	Karim	68	90	93	67	72	81
Niners	Anthony	Dixon	68	83	84	79	90	45
Packers	Alex	Green	68	87	91	72	84	65
Raiders	Taiwan	Jones	68	97	96	56	64	86
Seahawks	Kregg	Lumpkin	68	87	89	65	62	81
Bucs	Erik	Lorig	67	68	75	81	72	25
Texans	Moran	Norris	67	65	74	83	70	38
Cardinals	Alfonso	Smith	67	93	87	64	68	78
Niners	Rock	Cartwright	67	82	88	78	85	35
Jaguars	DuJuan	Harris	67	93	95	59	62	87
Ravens	Damien	Berry	67	83	87	76	87	64
Seahawks	Robert	Turbin	67	87	91	83	85	76
Steelers	Jonathan	Dwyer	67	87	78	79	93	59
Bears	Tyler	Clutts	66	69	74	76	74	37
Cowboys	Shaun	Chapas	66	69	82	78	75	40
Bills	Johnny	White	66	86	89	70	83	66
Chiefs	Cyrus	Gray	66	92	93	64	53	79
Broncos	Chris	Gronkowski	65	73	76	67	69	56
Chiefs	Shane	Bannon	65	72	74	69	76	43
Raiders	Owen	Schmitt	65	73	72	84	88	50
Raiders	Manase	Tonga	65	71	74	75	77	45
Rams	Brit	Miller	65	76	75	75	72	44
Broncos	Jeremiah	Johnson	65	86	92	65	62	82
Eagles	Chris	Polk	65	88	77	62	85	49
Jaguars	Jalen	Parmele	65	82	86	71	84	55
Titans	Jamie	Harper	65	85	91	75	81	62
Browns	Eddie	Williams	64	77	81	66	73	72
Jets	Josh	Baker	64	78	83	73	72	33
Vikings	Rhett	Ellison	64	74	75	63	53	55
Bears	Armando	Allen	64	83	91	63	63	77
Bucs	Michael	Smith	64	95	94	72	77	73
Cardinals	Javarris	James	64	81	85	72	83	52
Chiefs	Nate	Eachus	64	84	81	75	70	80
Chiefs	Shaun	Draughn	64	79	84	68	63	77
Colts	Vick	Ballard	64	85	89	74	88	62
Panthers	Josh	Vaughan	64	82	86	75	85	55
Redskins	Alfred	Morris	64	81	83	65	89	57
Steelers	Chris	Rainey	64	94	97	48	44	92
Vikings	Lex	Hilliard	64	80	82	83	86	55
Browns	Brad	Smelley	63	73	69	75	77	38
Eagles	Stanley	Havili	63	80	84	68	79	54
Patriots	Eric	Kettani	63	82	78	68	77	39
Titans	Quinn	Johnson	63	70	75	67	70	30
Bengals	Aaron	Brown	63	95	94	59	49	87
Bucs	Mossis	Madu	63	86	87	55	64	83
Colts	Darren	Evans	63	86	82	78	87	49
Cowboys	Lance	Dunbar	63	87	90	48	55	80
Eagles	Bryce	Brown	63	92	86	71	87	63
Giants	Da’Rel	Scott	63	96	94	62	65	69
Giants	D.J.	Ware	63	84	86	71	83	55
Panthers	Armond	Smith	63	94	95	58	45	85
Rams	Chase	Reynolds	63	84	79	62	66	81
Rams	Daryl	Richardson	63	89	95	53	48	85
Seahawks	Tyrell	Sutton	63	88	92	64	65	80
Steelers	John	Clay	63	78	82	84	93	49
Bengals	Cedric	Peerman	62	91	84	75	52	79
Chargers	Edwin	Baker	62	88	82	75	85	52
Falcons	Dimitri	Nance	62	82	89	72	85	64
Niners	Jewel	Hampton	62	85	87	79	83	56
Giants	Andre	Brown	62	87	79	78	86	50
Jets	Bilal	Powell	62	86	87	74	82	61
Packers	Brandon	Saine	62	93	95	69	81	48
Patriots	Brandon	Bolden	62	86	80	73	81	47
Ravens	Bobby	Rainey	62	86	90	72	61	75
Steelers	Baron	Batch	62	86	85	67	74	66
Vikings	Jordan	Todman	62	94	90	58	64	73
Bears	Evan	Rodriguez	61	83	75	62	67	54
Bucs	Cody	Johnson	61	78	85	82	82	44
Falcons	Bradie	Ewing	61	76	73	59	56	45
Broncos	Mario	Fannin	61	94	86	69	85	63
Browns	Adonis	Thomas	61	89	93	54	37	86
Cardinals	William	Powell	61	85	87	63	74	71
Jets	Terrance	Ganaway	61	84	86	73	87	65
Titans	Herb	Donaldson	61	81	84	77	80	54
Titans	Darius	Reynaud	61	89	91	48	46	45
Texans	Davin	Meggett	61	87	91	74	73	68
Raiders	Lonyae	Miller	60	90	88	72	86	57
Saints	Travaris	Cadet	60	82	85	61	78	52
Bengals	James	Develin	59	73	74	76	77	37
Jets	Fui	Vakapuna	59	73	69	78	74	44
Panthers	Richie	Brockel	59	67	77	72	76	42
Packers	Marc	Tyler	59	79	82	69	87	43
Broncos	Austin	Sylvester	58	73	77	74	67	25
Packers	Jon	Hoese	58	72	82	69	74	45
Vikings	Ryan	D’Imperio	58	69	74	75	55	20
Bears	Harvey	Unga	58	74	75	76	86	44
Lions	Joique	Bell	58	85	84	75	85	50
Lions	James	Bryant	57	77	74	73	73	42
Vikings	Matt	Asiata	57	77	83	69	80	42
Bears	Alvester	Alexander	57	93	95	62	51	70
Cowboys	Darrell	Scott	57	81	84	70	85	47
Falcons	Antone	Smith	57	92	94	49	37	83
Jaguars	Richard	Murphy	56	83	84	64	55	75
Colts	Kyle	Miller	55	76	74	62	63	44
Texans	Derrell	Smith	52	75	85	67	66	37

Our Next Generation Console Demands – Part 1

Hoping for advances in technology is like hoping that tomorrow will come. While it is a 99% certainty that it will happen, we really don’t know how it will turn out. We usually hope for tomorrow to be amazing. It is human nature to desire more and better for the future. As we get closer to the next generation of gaming, we will be talking about some of our favorite parts of this generation’s games and what we hope to see in the future.

In Game Graphics Vs. Screenshot Graphics

If you have read any of our coverage of Madden 13 and real time physics you will see that it is one of the more important parts of gaming at this point. Players and characters have ‘looked like’ their real-life counterparts for a couple years now. While EA Sports has taken awhile to get more face scans, it is something that will indeed improve for the next generation. However, physics and processing power are going to be more important than something just looking pretty.

Take Battlefield 3 for instance – not only do you see guns and enemies, but you see buildings and vehicles that can easily explode and remind you that some things look cool but they just aren’t ‘super real’ just yet. That is where the physics and actual graphical ‘processing’ are going to be more important than some sort of glorified screenshot that we see even this generation.

PC games aren’t necessarily held back like console games in this way. Well, they aren’t held back ‘as much’… and it is something that PC gamers are always happy to point out to console gamers. Console gamers shouldn’t expect ‘real life’ realism yet. If you take a look at the game from id Games that made everyone see just a glimpse of the graphical future of games – Rage certainly amazed gamers on PC and consoles alike. Even with a bunch of driver problems on PC it is still a great benchmark graphically. The issue XBox 360 users got to see as they opened the game for the first time was the fact that it came on 3 discs. While PS3 owners got to snicker and laugh because they have Blu Ray playback, XBox 360 gamers simply had to enjoy Rage with a couple swaps of the disc.

Other gamers might even recall having to switch discs on their 360 while playing Rockstar’s L.A. Noire. This game, while running on the same engine as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption pushed a new era of facial structure and movement in games. Never before have you had to interpret whether someone was lying to you based on their facial expressions, but in this case it made the game incredibly innovative even if it was quickly disregarded as a must have title. L.A. Noire still ranks as one of my favorite titles that came out during this generation of consoles because while it was in development for what seems like forever (nearly 7 years) it was still incredibly innovative and risk taking from a graphical and gameplay perspective when it game to interrogating suspects. There is still something to be said for games that take a chance to amaze you and that will never go away.

Even with these amazing achievements in graphics, there is still something to be desired. The PS3 was marketed almost solely on ‘The Cell Processor’ and its amazing 7-Cores. Yes, it was and is an amazing processor, but the funny part of this really goes back to the fact that many developers actually stated that games were easier to develop for the XBox 360 (which had issues with their own processor – RROD). Metal Gear Solid 4 was delayed on numerous occasions and if you pay close attention to Solid Snake during a cinematic scene you will notice that his hair still moves around in little chunks. While details like a character’s hair are something that some people might scoff at, take a look at some of the things people are getting caught up about with Madden Football. (wrong facemasks, helmets and shoestrings, etc.)

Real Time Physics (aka – The Sports Gamer’s Pipe Dream)

Perhaps one of the most famous hits in NFL history is the one that Lawerence Taylor put on Joe Theismann. While this is an extremely gruesome hit (please don’t watch this video if you get queesy) – it is a fine example of something that isn’t in Madden NFL football – real time physics with real time injuries.

Perhaps one of the most desired and denied wishes of gamers is realistic ‘real-time’ physics. This basically means that if a character is moving at a high rate of speed and tackles someone going a different direction you should see a collision that makes you go “oooohhh!”. What we have been seeing instead are animations that are ‘canned’ and play out in an expected fashion almost every time.

Even if you don’t play sports games it wouldn’t be hard to imagine a fighting game or an action game that had better real-time physics. Games like Assassins Creed or Mortal Kombat could become some of the most amazingly technologically advanced console games ever made (from the standpoint of physics). However, where many people want to see this drive improvement is in sports games.

The current generation of consoles has been pushed to the limit with physics processing. Many games look good in this fashion (All Pro Football 2K8) and others look simply ‘overblown’ (Backbreaker). What we are really hoping for is something in-between that will give us true physics in regards to player size, speed and strength (with other such variables). It is our hope that someday we will be able to play a game of Madden, MLB, NHL or NBA 2K and see hits, throws, catches, shots, passes, interactions and injuries that genuinely make us feel like we are watching/playing a real game of football.

XBox 720 Coming Out Next Fall/Winter? – A Job Posting At Microsoft Has Given Us Hope

Where is the ‘proof’? Check out the bold print below or the link provided-

“Job Category: Marketing
Location: United States, WA, Redmond
Job ID: 803075
Division: Marketing

Over the next eighteen months Microsoft will release new versions of all of our most significant products including Windows (Client, Server, Phone and Azure), Office and Xbox, along with completely new offerings like Microsoft Surface. This wave of product launches will define the course of the company for years to come and thus provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to refresh and evolve our strategic brands. The Microsoft brand strategy team is looking for passionate, creative, team oriented branding experts to help us lead this transformation…”

It isn’t really surprising that the next XBox generation is on its way. There also isn’t a lot of wonderment about the fact that Microsoft is looking to hire a marketing wiz to help them push out many of their upcoming products. However, this information could give us a lot of insight into what some game publishers are doing at this moment.

Some studios have been rumored to be working on Next-Gen titles. There are rumors constantly pouring out of the wonderful internet cesspool. Some of them are legitimate and most of them are as contrived as the people posting them. Keep your eyes and ears tuned into NoobTubeTV as we search for the first legitimate and official details of new consoles.

Diablo 3 Patch 1.0.4 In The Works – Information Coming Soon

Recently (6 hours ago), Bashiok, a Community Manager on the Battle.net forums posted some promising information about a much needed patch in the works for Diablo 3. This game has been fantastic on many fronts, but with some many strangely broken issues there are some users that are getting ready to look for their gaming elsewhere if this patch doesn’t pan out. We have posted the forum information and will be sure to give you all the updates we find as this is good news, but it is also make or break news for the team of Diablo 3. For a link to the post from the horses mouth click here or on the picture!

The Diablo III developers have been hard at work on some exciting new features and updates for the game. Many of you have asked for more details, and we’re busily preparing several developer blogs filled with information on what’s coming in patch 1.0.4. In the meantime, here’s an overview of the information we’re planning to share here on the Diablo III community site in the not-too-distant future.

Please keep in mind that this list isn’t set in stone, but it should provide a useful preview of what we’ll be revealing in the days ahead.System Changes, by Wyatt Cheng
Senior Technical Game Designer Wyatt Cheng is preparing a high-level summary of some of the system changes planned for 1.0.4.
Legendary Item Improvements, by Andrew Chambers
Senior Game Designer Andrew Chambers is working on a blog detailing all the ways we’re making Legendary items stand out.
Magic Find Update, by Jay Wilson
Following up on earlier discussions, Game Director Jay Wilson will be providing an update on how Magic Find is evolving in patch 1.0.4.
Class Changes, by Wyatt Cheng
Wyatt will also be providing a preview of the changes we’ll be making for each class in 1.0.4 (and the philosophy behind those changes).
Patch Notes, by Lylirra
Of course, this is all building up to the actual patch 1.0.4 release, and we’ll be releasing the full patch notes shortly before the update goes live.

We’re also planning to run some interviews and developer chats surrounding patch 1.0.4, and we’ll be sharing those on the Diablo III front page. Be on the lookout, as we’d love to get you involved in any live chats we host.

As always, your constructive feedback is very much appreciated. Stay tuned for the updates to follow!

Madden-ing: How Finding Madden ’93 In My Parents’ Garage Made Me Re-Think EA Sports and the Direction of the Madden Franchise

20 years ago I was a nine year-old sports fanatic. I was lucky enough to get a Sega Genesis for Christmas in 1992. After playing many great games like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 I was still hoping to have a chance to play a sports game. Eventually, my mom and dad came home with a copy of John Madden Football ’93. It was a gift for my 10th birthday and I cherished it. I had played the same game while visiting my cousins in Georgia on a trip to the Citrus Bowl where I saw Garrison Hearst run over my beloved Buckeyes in Orlando. It had hooked me from the first snap.

After years of asking for Tecmo Bowl for Christmas I had found a game of ‘real’ football. You had to run ‘up’ the screen and call all sorts of different plays. There was a manual that seemed to be 1000 pages long with player ratings and explanations of how to play every facet of the game. I digress, my play-style was far from what many in the hardcore community would call ‘sim’… but dammit, I had a blast! I could circle the field 3 times with Thurman Thomas before either getting tackled or scoring a touchdown. So yes, before we get into the nitty gritty of this reflection – there are some incredibly arcade-like things about JMF93.

During my most recent visit with my parents we started going through some of the things I had packed away in the garage after getting married seven years ago (August 27). In the process, I uncovered a bunch of old memorabilia and video games – including my Sega Collection with JMF93. As I opened it up after years of storage and checked out the manual and case I was floored with how advanced this game was back in 1992 and perhaps more-so… how unimpressive the title has been in its growth during this generation of consoles. That is where we will pick up the remainder of this article.

Why John Madden Football ’93 Is Better Than This Generation of Madden

Back Cover Game Features

Anytime you get a new game, the first thing you do is look at the back cover. In this case, it is no different. Upon finding JMF93 I took a look at some of the features in this game… and I was impressed.

Madden93 Back of Case Cropped — Back Cover Features – How A Game Puffs Its Chest

“Buffalo’s No Huddle offense makes Washington scramble in the snow.”After seeing this quote, I started to think about some of the things the Madden development team has been championing over the last couple of years. Teams playing like their real life counterparts and other such pursuits that sound great to anyone looking to have a great experience against their teams rival or the like. Yet, how does this get so much coverage when almost 20 years ago – it was already in the game. Granted, this is a small version of what we have now but the fact is that this is nothing new and even what we have tends to be broken from a logic perspective.

“Which four-time champion will dominate?” The next part of our back cover reveal is focusing on something similar to what we have this year – All Time Players and Teams. This is one of those interesting things we commented in July when relating the inclusion of ‘Legendary Players’ for Madden 13 to All Pro Football 2K8. In fact, if you want to go back 20 years, you will see that there are “8 Greatest-Ever Teams” that include teams such as the ’85 Bears, ’78 Steelers, ’84 49ers and more. It tends to make us scratch our heads and wonder how original some of these ideas are or consider the notion that they have a tendency to recycle some of these old features as the games find new audiences. It is a fine idea, but it seems somewhat off-base to call the inclusion of legendary teams or players anything but an expected inclusion at this point – rather than a ‘new feature’.

“Head butts, Clothesline Tackles and Shoestring catches”You would think that some of the animations from old games would make their way into future games with ease. Well, clothesline tackles haven’t been included in Madden in almost a decade. Head butts have gone the way of the Dodo with the NFL becoming more of a police-force trying to censor away the natural violence of their televised sport so Madden can stay rated-E… for the children.

Did You Know You Could Challenge Rulings In John Madden Football ’93?

There are a lot of things that Madden has that don’t really work well when it comes to actual in-game performance. One of the things that people complain about almost every year is challenging calls on the field. In JMF93 you could actually overturn penalties (see the picture to the right). While this was limited to Head-to-Head games, it is still something to look back and snicker about because it probably worked better than the current system ‘works’.

Player Ratings Were Better 20 Years Ago, Kind of.

Another thing I noticed when browsing through the 79 PAGE manual was the listing of player ratings. When you take a look at some of the ratings you might laugh, but most of the ratings when taken into further consideration come across as pretty fair and downright decent. If you take a look at the pages we scanned you will see two teams with drastically different talent levels – Cleveland and Dallas.

Ratings have become some of the more contentious sticking points in Madden over the past 12+ years. If you take a closer look at the ratings in JMF93 you will notice a few things.

– They are simplistic

– They are smaller (on a scale of 0-15 rather than 0-99)

– They are brutally honest

– They are somewhat wonky

For instance, Cleveland’s starting QB (Bernie Kosar) was given a Passing Range rating of 11 and a Passing Accuracy rating of 12. He was a very slow QB when it came to running and scrambling and he was given a Speed Rating of only 4. The interesting rating that is included is a Scrambling Rating… Kosar also had a 4. His back-up on the other hand was given some rather strange ratings. He was given a Passing Range rating of 0… yes… ZERO and then a Pass Accuracy rating of only 4 with SPD and Scrambling of 3.

If you look at the other page you will see one of the greatest running backs of all time has almost top ratings in every meaningful category. Emmitt Smith was given 15s in Speed, Agility and Break Tackle with a 4 in Hands or ‘Catching’. If you take a look at the ratings given to the running backs for the Browns you would think that their players were taken out of a tar pit with Speed Ratings of 7 and 8. Kevin Mack (#34) was actually a FB and had a 12 SPD rating. So, it wasn’t a complete loss for the Browns.

This Article Isn’t Meant To Trash On Madden Football

Before any Madden fanboys (see our earlier post if you don’t know what that means) read this article, please take into account that we are giving honest opinions based on evidence from actual games. Also, it should be considered that we do realize that Madden 93 is clearly graphically inferior and definitely has issues with player movement when compared to current Madden games. Again, this article isn’t stating that people will enjoy Madden 93 more than Madden 10, 11, 12 or even 13, but it does put current Madden games ‘on the spot’ when it comes to pursuing greatness and innovation.

We want Madden to be great. We want it to be able to make us turn off a game on Sunday because our digital experience on a console is more enjoyable. We want to see pass interference and hard hits across the middle. We want to see head butts, shoe string catches and even an ambulance come onto the field as Colt McCoy asks where he is. We want better football on our consoles and hope that this can invigorate people to be more critical while still being professional. You are allowed to be upset, but please remember that this is all in an effort to make people think about the past so we can improve the future. Even if it means looking into the past and wondering what the hell is going on with current game development.

Are You A Fanboy? – Five Ways To Find Out If You Are

Fanboys (and Fangirls) are everywhere in entertainment – TV shows, movies, comics and especially video games. When you start looking at how people interact on message boards and forums or on the comments section of YouTube videos it can be made abundantly clear that some people are devoted to a fault.

Fanboy – (noun) An extreme fan or follower of a particular medium or concept, whether it be sports, television, film directors, video games (the most common usage), etc.

Here are five ways to figure out if you are a dreaded Fanboy.

You Call Yourself a Fanboy – This is self explanatory. If you refer to yourself as ‘the ultimate fan’ or the ‘most dedicated’ member of a certain franchise’s community. You are a fanboy.
You Blindly Support Every Marketing Strategy – When a developer or franchise starts a commercial campaign or screen shot reveal and you gush over or J.I.Y.P. after every release like it is the ultimate moment of nirvana… You are a fanboy.
You Truly Believe Nothing Compares – If you believe your preference in a game like Call of Duty’s killstreak rewards are the best thing to ever happen to a game and playing any game without killstreak rewards is terrible – You are a fanboy.
You Become A Troll On Other Game Community Sites – They are everywhere. Trolls. You are so devoted to your game being better than another game that you decide to invade the sovereign territory of another website to start trash talking or disrespecting the people that enjoy something you don’t approve of… you now wear two (2) hats – you are a Troll and a Fanboy.
You Get A Tattoo (Make Yourself into a Billboard) – Believe it or not, this has been done. This really doesn’t require any further explanation, but just remember that your body is sacred and if you choose to freely advertise a product that you aren’t making money off of you are a fanboy… and a fool. (If you are making money off of it, you might lose the ‘fool’ label… but you will not lose the ‘fanboy’ moniker.

Borderlands 2 – Getting You Excited About Finding Amazing Guns… Tim Tebow Excited

If you haven’t played Borderlands up to this point, you have been missing out. You haven’t just been missing out on a great game with an open world full of baddies. You have been missing out on some of the craziest weapons you will ever see in gaming. This isn’t an over-stated point… it might be an understatement. If someone says “BFG” and “Doom” in the same sentence it is usually met with some sort of reaction that entails it being the best gun ever made in a video game.

BFGWiki — The omnipotent BFG 9000 from the Doom Series.

Then again, if you have played Borderlands, you might have a certain gun that has been the greatest ever made. What makes it better? It could be completely unique to your experience! We don’t use exclamation points often, but in this case it is worth it and necessary. Borderlands is a game that gives you the opportunity to explore a vast world and in the process you will find weapons that are randomly generated for your enjoyment. What type of guns can you find? Here are a few examples –

BorderlandsGuns — These are some guns collected in Borderlands… Take a look at some of the damage and bonuses that come with these guns, rifles and rocket launchers.

In Borderlands 2 you should expect a lot of the the same. Tons of guns (a lot of them will be crappy when you start) but once you get rolling you will never regret diving into this amazing open world FPS.

By the way, you should also know that when you team up with friends you can trade and give them some of the weapons you have found. Who says charity isn’t a good thing? When it gets you a shotgun that fires rockets with a sniper scope and it’s accurate to that range for 400 damage?… Yeah, we are excited like Tim Tebow.

Tebowing — We are Tebow-ing with ‘excitement’ for Borderlands 2

Call of Duty Still Going Strong – Are You Surprised? Should You Wish Otherwise?

Call of Duty will never die if people keep playing it. The bottom line of any business is whether or not their product is selling or being used enough to keep them in business. In the case of the Call of Duty series, there is no doubt that the game is among the favorites of Xbox 360 gamers.

In Major Nelson’s recent update about the most played games on Xbox Live you will see four Call of Duty titles on the list of the Top 20. Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops (as people prep to play Black Ops 2), Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare are among the titles listed (which also includes the likes of Battlefield 3, FIFA 12, Minecraft, Madden NFL 12 and Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. This list shouldn’t tell you that games are necessarily ‘good‘ but that they are among the most popular to be played online.

The Call of Duty series is one that is being driven into the ground by its current publisher, Activision. Activision is notorious for taking titles to the point where people are just sick of them (see Guitar Hero). It isn’t that their games are bad or even that they aren’t fun. It is the fact that people get burnt out on spending $60+ on new games and add-ons every year. Guitar Hero (GH) even had a point where the guitars weren’t even compatible with every other game under the GH label. It was really a pathetic turn for the worst from a company that is becoming more and more synonymous with being more money hungry and brash rather than being a good developer of gaming goodness.

We don’t know what would happen if Call of Duty were to take a hiatus or even get to the point where it had simply played itself out; yet, we still look forward to the day when the series isn’t on the release list for November. There are some games that could use a break and Call of Duty is one of them.

Madden 13 Demo Should Be Released On August 14

*IT IS OFFICIAL!!! August 14! – LINK

It is the hope and expectation of many gamers and Madden NFL fans that the demo will be released next Tuesday, August 14. Keep in mind that the demos are usually earlier builds of the game you hope to buy. Also, you should take time with the demo in order to learn how to play the game and develop a feel for the new Infinity Engine.

Lynch — No word on the teams you will get to use… Our guess is that the Giants will be one of them. Unless of course they want to show off the new Hall of Fame Stadium with a game between the Cardinals and Saints?

Either way it goes and however EA decides to release the demo of Madden, it should be known that this game is starting to pick up some steam and a lot of football fans’ hopes. The new addition of Connected Careers has brought some people to the point where they think EA finally ‘gets it’. This won’t be a part of the demo but you can hope and pray that it is worth your $60. On the other hand, there are a lot of people in the hardcore community that are already annoyed with many decisions about Madden 13 from the developer perspective. The primary issue revolves around the fact that the infinity engine is only going to effect tackles rather than every other facet of the game. Hopefully we can expect these improvements in Madden 14, but don’t hold your breath.

Is Halo 4 The Dark Horse of FPS Games This Year?

Surprisingly, Halo 4 has managed to sneak up on many gamers this year. It could be a case of the series being over-produced and pushed to its creative limit. It could also be a situation where people have pretty much had their fill with Halo and the expected gameplay that has become synonymous with the Halo series.

With 343 (the studio behind some of Halo: Reach’s multiplayer content) pushing out the latest title you should know to expect similar gameplay. Outside of that, you will have a lot of new possibilities that make Halo fresh.

This iteration of Halo allows you to pick your weapon load-out much like Call of Duty or Battlefield, however there are other tweaks that make it a more unique game than than the typical – Hey, lets go shoot the other team and rank up so we can prestige and call people noobs type of experience you see on Call of Duty quite often.

Halo 4 is also going to also allow you to sprint and play the game in a faster fashion than other Halo titles previously. It seems that playing a faster paced game is more important to the growing base of gamers than playing a more cerebral game that is slightly longer. This said, you can probably recall many Team Slayer matches that actually lasted until the final minute and they weren’t even close enough to call them good matches – they were just slow. That should hopefully change for the better with these new additions.

War Games is the new addition to multi-player that will essentially put gamers onto a ship – the UNSC Infinity that will allow gamers to experience a new type and form of multiplayer that features smoother gameplay and better lighting. Not to mention the new concept of teamwork and playing through endless scenarios with new ways to earn power-ups and develop your Halo 4 experience. Stay tuned to NoobTubeTV for more Halo 4 updates and other news as we enter the busiest part of the gaming year! Don’t be afraid to pre-order Halo 4 either – we are providing a link below so you can join the experience on November 6!