Madden 25 – Page 3

Will New Rules In NFL Change Madden?

In case you haven’t been paying attention. The internet almost blew up yesterday when the NFL announced that they were implementing a new rule against players lowering their heads in the open field to either run over a defender or tackle an opposing player. It was then that I started to wonder how this would effect Madden NFL games, in this case primarily the ‘Truck Stick’.

The Truck Stick was added into Madden 06 after the Hit Stick was put into Madden 05 (back when EA still cared about defense in their games). The Truck Stick is essentially pressing the Right Analog stick forward while running the ball with a power back in order to run over an approaching defender. If you consider the fact that this animation has been in Madden for around eight years it is going to be interesting to see if they get rid of the truck stick in Madden 25 (aka – Madden 14). If they don’t get rid of the animation they will have to implement some sort of

penalty detection in the game to keep the NFL happy. Chances are good that they will simply remove the ability altogether in order to 1) Avoid more work in an already broken penalty system and 2) Make their exclusive license partners happy.

Now that the tuck rule is being taken away, should we see more actual fumbles in Madden? Chances are good that you will still see your defenders get hurt while sacking the QB but to think that you will be able to get a fumble call on a big hit ‘while throwing’ might just be a pipe dream.

You might say that I am jaded and totally biased against EA Sports and Madden. In some cases I would say you are 100% correct… but in reality, I have bought the game every year on release day since Madden 08. In some cases I have actually enjoyed some aspects of the game. Madden 13 kept me happy for the most part, but it was the little things that turned me off. Little things include bad animations, poor blocking, non-existent real injuries, bad playcalling, etc. I am like many football fans out there that are considered to be 2K fanboys or Madden haters – we just want good and more importantly real football.

As the NFL works harder to make football into some sort of human bumper car game I am hoping that at some point we will get real football video games again. 2K – where are you?

Trying To Bring Life Back Into Madden 13 – Updating Rosters

Now that off-season free agency has started and many of the stars have realigned throughout the NFL (with plenty of time left for more movement) there are many Madden fans left wondering why they should bother playing the game now that EA’s roster updates have been over for a month.

Your Madden 13 isn't quite dead yet. — Your Madden 13 isn’t quite dead yet.

I am happy to announce that there is a simple home remedy that I will be undertaking as we get closer to the draft – updating rosters manually. This is a substantial undertaking as Madden isn’t always the most end-user friendly game for roster editing. I did a similar service for Madden 12. While the XBox 360 is horrible for simple save transfers, here is a link to the NTTV post back in August that should help you out.

The rosters will be updated to the best of my ability to follow along with the busy free agent season. There will need to be some testing for how these might work in CCM. If you would like to assist with any roster moves please leave comments or like us on Facebook and post your suggestions!

If anyone would like these updates to be done for Madden 13 on PS3 you might have to donate a game to the cause as I have a PS3 but do not have Madden 13 for the console.

Madden 25 – Six Months Out

Now that the NFL Combine has started there will be a few weeks of excitement before the actual NFL Draft and the announcement of who will be on the cover of Madden 25. Until that time comes, we are going to take a look at what this game looks like from the standpoint of ‘what is already known’.

The first aspect of Madden that most fans are interested in is whether Connected Careers Mode will be updated and fixed. CCM was a step in a somewhat new direction for Madden and while it provided many gamers with a new wave of interest in playing multiple seasons it also presented new problems and brought into focus (yet, again) some of the biggest short-comings of Madden.

Trades Are Still Broken – In case you haven’t noticed, you can trade away your draft picks and easily get between seven and ten future first round draft picks. Player for player trades are a bit more difficult to pull off but that isn’t enough to save the atrocious draft pick trade logic that still plagues this game.
O-Line/D-Line Interaction – Every time I play Madden it feels more like I am playing Tecmo Super Bowl and the linemen are going through the suction motions. This is certainly one aspect of gameplay that 2K mastered back in NFL2K5 and All Pro Football 2K8.
Commentary – Phil Simms is a jack-ass. Okay, this isn’t something limited to Madden (as he exhibits this in every broadcast in ‘real life’) but his commentary is often out of place and even hypocritical. When a Quarterback gets sacked from the blind side (Enter your Sandra Bullock joke here) he will say one of two phrases “Boy do they hurt” and then he will say a few plays later “They don’t hurt at all”. Which is it Phil?… or rather – Madden Devs?
Injuries – One of the most annoying aspects of Madden is that it doesn’t have realistic injuries. While the NFL is trying to make it seem like football is safe, we know otherwise. EA needs to make a decision as to whether they are going to make a representation of real football or some sort of football farce.

Keep your eyes and ears open as Madden 25 starts the annual hype machine. You are destined to get excited and eventually let down by the beginning of September. If you want a sports game that will make you feel like Madden is lacking – go get MLB 13 the show next week.

What Does The Madden Name Change Mean?

What’s in a name? Apparently EA Sports thinks the 25th anniversary of Madden is deserving of a trip to the social security office for a tweak in the name.

Madden 25 was just announced to be the official name of the only NFL game coming out this year (just like it has been since Madden 06). The only thing that might have made people happy was hearing that the developer was working on Madden 2K14. Keep dreaming.

Chances are good that Madden 25 will also signify a change-over in consoles just like the switch from Madden 2005 to Madden 06 also greeted the next hardware generation. The idea of a new console is always exciting because of the possibilities in graphics and physics; but if one thing is certain we can expect one thing to dull our expectations for new software – bare bones games.

Madden 25 for the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 will most likely prove to be another slight tweak or change from Madden 13. Maybe there will be a few new animations or the ball will be a shade darker or smaller. Otherwise, you shouldn’t expect much to change. The new consoles that are rumored to be coming out this Christmas will most likely be priced between $400 and $500 with a pipe-dream hope of $300. The unfortunate truth is that most of the games that will be released with the consoles will be bare bones in their offerings. If you played Madden 06 or any of the other games that came out with the current generation you will notice how lacking they are in features. Also, many of them don’t take advantage of the graphical capabilities of the console.

This isn’t a complaint at all. It is merely a point to be raised in order to lower expectations for the next generation. Not to mention the cynical view that Madden hasn’t changed many things in the 25 years it has existed.

Would love to hear from the fan boys out there. 2K and Madden alike.

Keep it civil.

Madden 25 (aka Madden 14) Gets A Release Date

Well, it is ‘Facebook Official’. Madden 14 is coming out on August 27, 2013.

Also, it is actually being called ‘Madden 25’ according to many media releases. What’s in a name? Hopefully some substantial improvements.

EA Sports has released a banner promoting their next iteration of Madden.

What are your thoughts? Going to jump in and get it on release day or will you be skipping out on what seems like the same game every year?