NFL Head Coach 09 confirmed
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A while back I looked at some of the signs that a new NFL Head Coach game was on the way for the 360 and PS3. Buried within today’s exclusivity news Peter Moore essentially confirmed this in his interviews with GameSpot and Gamedaily although an official announcement has not been made.
-According to Moore, one promising possibility for expanding EA Sports’ NFL portfolio is to resurrect the NFL Head Coach series, which debuted in 2006 but has laid fallow ever since. “Things like Head Coach…well, for me, I love the X’s and O’s,” he said. “It’s something that I would love to do if I wasn’t in this business. When we look at the success of the Football Manager titles in Europe, there’s no reason we can’t do the same thing here. We’ve kind of tiptoed into it so far, but I think you’ll see continued investment in things like Head Coach.”
-You’ve seen things that we’ve done over the years to try to extend the franchise with the Spanish language version of Madden, NFL Tour, which we most recently did, and NFL Head Coach, which we’ll have upcoming.
While the release date is listed in several places as being April 22nd (the Tuesday before NFL Draft weekend) it seems unlikely that EA would not have officially announced it and begun promoting by now it if that were the case. Hopefully some more details are made available in the near future.
February 12, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Tom Stanley
February 12, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I’m not sure how much there is to NFL Head Coach, but I’m not sure why this couldn’t be incorporated into Madden. Perhaps this is my ignorance showing. But can’t I have one game where I have control over players as well as the coaching stuff?
February 12, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Best news I’ve heard all day!
February 12, 2008 at 8:12 pm
[quote comment="13071"]Best news I’ve heard all day![/quote]
On a day like this, that’s not difficult.
February 12, 2008 at 8:37 pm
[quote comment="13071"]Best news I’ve heard all day![/quote]
Let me guess, didn’t play the first one?
February 12, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I played the first one and saw how much potential it had. HeadCoach might live up to it’s potential on the next-gen hardware.
February 12, 2008 at 9:03 pm
[quote comment="13070"]I’m not sure how much there is to NFL Head Coach, but I’m not sure why this couldn’t be incorporated into Madden. Perhaps this is my ignorance showing. But can’t I have one game where I have control over players as well as the coaching stuff?[/quote]
Well if that was the case it wouldn’t be nearly as deep as a potential standalone title would offer. You have to consider how much $ goes into developing something like that. Just to stuff it into Madden with no additional revenue generated they wouldn’t be able to justify the cost of developing such a big project under those circumstances.
Also I think its important to look at how Madden and NCAA Football already offer more value to consumers than really any other sports titles. They already have a mode that could possibly be its own game in Superstar and Campus Legend. Those would probably be better if they were separate too. Interestingly I don’t think they really get credit for including so much compared to years past. Go and add another mode like a Head Coach and it likely wouldn’t improve reviews or sales.
I can’t imagine a $60 Madden that would incorporate dynasty, superstar, and a full fledged head coach mode. I think most people would be satisifed with a better playing game and more fleshed out modes that are currently available. Meanwhile Head Coach could fall into line with the $50 or $40 priced titles that EA has started to move towards.
February 12, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Yeah, I’d considered that about the cost. Makes sense. I actually haven’t had a chance to play them yet – have to wait until after law school and I get one of them there jobs before I can get a console and back into sports games. Madden on the PC just doesn’t look as good – especially with the junker I have.
February 12, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Pass.
February 12, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I dont play this. But, with the off time…if they have been refining the game, it could be good for those who like these games.
February 13, 2008 at 8:26 am
Putting Head Coach into Madden would be like putting Football Manager into FIFA, or EHM into the NHL games, it just wouldn’t be deep enough.
The first game in the franchise had its flaws (and some big ones at that), but there’s definitely potential there. I just hope it gets a UK release, or is at the very least region-free.
February 13, 2008 at 8:42 am
Potential, yes. Actual value? I might pick it up on the cheap, but honestly, with this year’s NCAA and Madden offerings, I may end up just getting NCAA next year.
As far as inclusion in Madden, I believe there is a feature to save your weekly game in a madden-compatible format and play them in the current version of Madden. So yeah, that’s sort of there, at least on the PC version. I don’t know whether console versions offered the same.
February 13, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Very good news. This game has a ton of potential. I can’t wait to see what they do with this next offering.
February 13, 2008 at 1:47 pm
The first title was pretty lacking, IMO. I won’t get excited about this until it’s released and reviewed.
March 13, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Does any1 know weather nfl hc 09 will be released in the UK or in a region free. i fink it will be awsum game and is there a PC version ?