USAF Thunderbirds in Madden 10
by 
Given all the news to come in the next 10 days there won’t be a Madden 10 blog next week. In its place will be the coverage coming out of E3. With that in mind lead developer Ian Cummings has just posted up a bonus blog for today following the one that went up earlier covering the run blocking improvements.
The blog covers the addition of the USAF Thuderbirds and how it came about that they would be included in the game. This is a real nice touch to the presentation adding to the feel of the big games and is an example of the type of touches this development team is adding that probably would’ve never been bothered with in the past. You can check the posting out in full here.
Hey Madden fans – just wanted to drop in with a bit of good news and show an upgrade that we’ve added to Madden NFL 10 – and that is the addition of the USAF Thunderbirds! These elite pilots make a guest appearance in our Super Bowl and Conference Championship games, buzzing over the stadium at speeds exceeding 300 mph, leaving a nice trail of smoke in their wake
May 25, 2009 at 11:01 pm
GOTY
May 25, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Wow, that's awesome! Hopefully it's the first of several additions to the atmospheres of big games like the SB and Conference Championship.
May 25, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Wow, that's awesome! I noticed the players have their hands on their hearts, so that could also mean they'll have the National Anthem.
Hopefully it's the first of several additions to the atmospheres of big games like the SB and Conference Championship.
May 26, 2009 at 1:23 am
I think Ian mentioned on twitter that they had to do some paperwork to allow them to have the last few notes of the Star Spangled Banned. Seems like that will be playing as the jets fly overhead.
May 25, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Oh man, just throw in a pregame with Chris Burman and you've got my money!
May 25, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I'd rather have the Fox guys myself.
May 26, 2009 at 1:23 am
trueee say!
i dont like chris burmann (N)
May 26, 2009 at 3:01 am
Used to be good…now he's just a fat guy with an ugly tie. As a matter of fact, ESPN pretty much sucks altogether. I'd rather watch all of the other networks than watch them. They used to be great, too.
May 25, 2009 at 11:31 pm
i hope they have the nfl playoffs logo on the field as well as the nfl kickoff logo in the first week of your season. thats the little stuff that makes it count.
May 25, 2009 at 11:42 pm
IM SO GLAD that they add stupid little crap like this when they cant fix the gameplay its retarded like how many ppl rlly sit there & play franchise
May 26, 2009 at 12:53 am
Obviously you weren't paying attention to the Improvements to Run and Pass Blocking Blogs.
May 26, 2009 at 2:58 am
How many play Franchise mode? Lots. Probably more than bought NFL Head Coach. Enough of the market to address that market share. Just like addressing the issues for those who care about accuracy with uniforms and equipment. To ignore that part of the market share would be…UNWISE.
May 25, 2009 at 11:43 pm
just add towels and hand warmers and this game will the GOAT
May 26, 2009 at 12:33 am
i guess you two don't follow the blogs
May 26, 2009 at 12:34 am
They have that this year lol.
May 26, 2009 at 12:02 am
Ian mentioned that this year they will be able to remove the players' helmets…with the addition of Pro-Tak does this mean the return of jarring hits that cause helmets to come off?
May 26, 2009 at 12:03 am
just add cheerleaders and this will be GOTY
May 26, 2009 at 12:18 am
wow cheerleaders really? Game of the Year for having cheerleaders? wow
May 26, 2009 at 12:33 am
GOTY for having animated cheerleaders hmmm oook. On to the topic now I love this nice little touch.
May 26, 2009 at 12:03 am
Can we get a pro bowl game with individual helmets? When was the last time that happened?
May 26, 2009 at 4:41 pm
In Madden, never….I agree. 2K did it although the helmets looked blurry. Not a huge issue but would be a sweet touch….
May 26, 2009 at 12:04 am
I hope that all of madden's presentation stuff won't be just in the superbowl. I want stuff that you can see every game of the seaon. Not just superbowl patches,jets,or no helmet stuff in one game per season.
May 26, 2009 at 12:08 am
2k5 did this years ago.
May 26, 2009 at 12:59 am
Your Point?
May 26, 2009 at 12:19 am
Anybody know why there has been nothing new about NCAA Football lately? I'm so disappointed in that franchise. They seem to be doing nothing.
May 26, 2009 at 1:10 am
They just seem to want to talk about Season Showdown unfortunately. But with E3 there should be a lot of new info and Teambuilder website may be up as early as next week (or within the next few weeks anyway).
May 26, 2009 at 11:55 am
It does seem very odd that Madden has a weekly blog and has all this hype even when the game was months and months away. Here we are a little over a month away from the release of NCAA and it has absolutely no hype. They better unvail something big at E3 because I think their sales are going to suffer this year. I usually buy both games, but unless something really blows me away, I'm just going to wait an extra month and hit up Madden. I have a feeling NCAA is going to be a pass this year.
May 26, 2009 at 12:48 am
Great to see they are taking the "little things" approach The Show does.
It was a compliment to see the Madden devs stop buy the SCEA The Show boards and make a post telling the devs they done a remarkable job on adding "the little things" and making the game of Baseball feel true to life. And it inspires them as well as other sports devs to follow suit.
More "little things" the better IMO.
May 26, 2009 at 12:51 am
I have a question regarding how this may look in retractable roof stadiums like Reliant Stadium, because in Madden 09 I was not able to choose whether or not the roof was open or closed in franchise mode with Houston. It always made me play with the roof closed in franchise mode.
So my question is, will I be able to choose whether I want the roof open or closed while in franchise mode, and if so will the Thunderbirds still fly over even though its a retractable roof stadium?
- Senior Airmen, USAF
May 26, 2009 at 1:11 am
I can ask about open/closed stadiums and try and find out for ya.
May 26, 2009 at 5:32 pm
That would be awesome!
May 26, 2009 at 1:36 am
i like how ea got cool non-gameplay features nd also gameplay features..good work there
May 26, 2009 at 1:38 am
what is all the news to come in the next 10 days??? player ratings????
May 26, 2009 at 2:57 am
Presentation!!
May 26, 2009 at 3:17 am
Probably referring to E3. http://www.e3expo.com/
May 26, 2009 at 2:14 am
Looking better and better everytime I see it. Finally the Madden devs are giving us gamers what we really want or the New head of EA is really getting into their asses to make us better games.
May 26, 2009 at 2:28 am
Has anyone heard what EA is doing with superstar mode in madden? In January they said they look to make some major improvements, but I've seen nothing yet.
May 26, 2009 at 2:59 am
This should be no big deal…
May 26, 2009 at 3:33 am
this is actually one of those things that shouldnt have its own topic on this site its one of those stupid thigns that EA will post on the back cover when this game comes out with the headline…"WE DID IT AGAIN, WE NOW HAVE THUNDERBIRDS" i mean i wanna see some actual gameplay hopefully in the next 10 days we'll get more & if any1 actually thinks this makes Madden look better n heading in right direction, you my friends are complete idiots..goodbye
May 26, 2009 at 5:50 pm
read all the improvements to tackling, WR/DB interaction, pass blocking/run blocking improvements, etc.
they are improving the gameplay, ur just a hater…..
May 26, 2009 at 3:35 am
oh and after seeing that quote from Ian Cummings, EA is definitely gonna blow this stupid thing outta the water
May 26, 2009 at 4:06 am
I sure hope they have the championship and playoff logos on the field to help distinguish it from regular season games…..that would be sweet.
May 26, 2009 at 4:31 am
Geze imagine how hard it would be to post about the little things and people throw a fit about how their not focusing on gameplay, and when they post things on gameplay improvments people say how maddens so terrible because if they can't get the little things right how can they get the important things right?
SHUT UP AND STOP BEING SO BITCHY ALL THE TIME PLZ!!!
May 26, 2009 at 5:50 pm
thank you
May 26, 2009 at 5:08 am
hey pasta will there be commercials and a halftime show?
May 26, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Commercials??? Why the hell would they put in commercials? Realistic, I suppose, but not exactly the most sought after addition to the game.
May 26, 2009 at 9:18 pm
That will be boring to add commercials. I hope they put in a halftime show though. I've heard that their is one. Hopefully the rumors are true.
May 26, 2009 at 5:10 am
hey pasta will justin timberlake and janet jackson preform halftime for us again?
May 26, 2009 at 5:51 pm
lol…. WITH the "wardrobe misfunction".
May 26, 2009 at 5:16 am
i think they need new announcers i hate chris collinsworth in madden 09 seems to cocky ….nice to see this addition
May 26, 2009 at 5:52 pm
yea he acts like he was a great player but i didn't even know he was a player until i heard him say it like a month after i got madden.
May 26, 2009 at 5:36 am
this is pretty awesome
May 26, 2009 at 8:09 am
wow all this fluff,you think they can improve on so called next-gen graphics & gameplay!!!
pasta,do you think they will have subsitution packages this year,or will we have to wait for madden 20??
like for instance in the i-form package i can have Brandon Jacobs and in the spread formation i can have Ahmad Bradshaw?? or is that just 2k5 you can do that in!!??
May 26, 2009 at 8:23 am
Uh…Are you paying attention or do you just have time for taking shots? The graphics HAVE improved greatly. 09's graphics were a big improvement over 08, and 10's graphics are a nearly equal upgrade over 09.
Now gameplay?…You've got an argument there. There are SEVERAL areas where the gameplay needs to improve. Amazingly, the gameplay was much better on previous-gen. It is hard to understand how you can have more horsepower, yet regress in every facet of the game except graphics.
Is it just 2K5 that you can do that in? Dude, now you sound like a whiny 2k fanboy. You could do that in 08. I think they took that out of 09 to a certain degree to help with online cheesers. Now in 09, you may not be able to manually assign players for specific packages so that the personnel will be set for formations, but you can change the personnel packages for each play. So if you call a spread play, you can substitute out Jacobs for Bradshaw with a few clicks. It's already in the game, but they need to go back to the previous format, as it was superior.
May 26, 2009 at 6:33 pm
who wants to do all of that?? every time i want to change/sub a player i have to pause the game then do all of that,please,thats a joke!!!
i'm not taking shots,i want what EA promised back in 05 that's all!! take a look at the original preview for MADDEN 05 then tell me the graphics in 09 or 10 even come close!!! fam,they can't even put in different camera angles!!
May 26, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Graphics!?!?! are you serious?!?! madden has AMAZING graphics and the sub packages were in 09 so quit complaining and 2K5 was a crappy game so shut up.
May 26, 2009 at 6:36 pm
once again,take a look at the original preview for MADDEN on the 360 back in 05 or 06 whenever the 360 was coming out.. then you tell me if the graphics even compare to what we have been getting!!!
May 26, 2009 at 12:05 pm
2k5 was how many years ago? I think 2k5 is a great game, but get over it. I'm as pissed as anyone that Madden has been crap the past few years, but can you really play last gen games after playing games (not just sports) on current gen? I mean to each their own, but I feel like I'm playing Nintendo games when I play last gen sports games – even more so after being spoiled by games the likes of MLB The Show. For as good as 2k5 was (it has it's place in football gaming history, along with Madden 05) it's time to realize that 2k is not coming back for another 5 years at least!
May 26, 2009 at 7:06 pm
You need to quit drugs. I hear what you're TRYING to say, but XBOX-One is certainly not a huge step down and playing 2K5 is not the equivalent of having a Genesis and playing 10 yard fight.
2K5 was superbly done and it still holds its own, because the game has soul. Something Madden hasn't had in a long, long time.
May 26, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I would rather have the pro bowl helmets done instead of this.
May 26, 2009 at 2:35 pm
I agree with the guys that tell most of you TO SHUT THE FUCK UP. These arent instead of add-ons…theyre not leaving shit out because they added this stuff. You are RETARDED and cant think for yourselves. They dont release info all at once so you little bitches living in your mothers basements are all snuggled in tight at night….they give info to strike up anticipation. Fuck off people. When someone gives you information take it for the topic and what it is…period…stop asking for info on other topics…I would rather have a fucking lap dance from a super model too but its irrelavent…which most of your guys' comments are. Youre dumb…D U M B…..mommy will be home to wipe your bums soon…FUCK let the devlopers give us the info they can…BTW iTS called marketing grow the fuck up retards
May 26, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Why do you feel the need to curse and degrade people to get your message across? It's so easy to vilify and posture bravado online isn't it.
May 27, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Its so easy to be smug and and point out how much better you are than them with out getting a head butt online isnt it? I feel the need to express myself this way because there are too many idiots that have shit for brains on here and makes interaction almost completely useless…such as yourself…Im not arguing a point, Im arguing the people…they are simple…so I make simple points…now go back to wearing your mothers skirt and brush up on that chess game….I could beat you at that too….as for a comment about Madden 10…it looks good…the info they released thus far has been pretty decent and more will come…if people want to critize the game before it even comes out or gets a decent preview..theyre just not being productive and making it hard to get info to the rest of us..
May 26, 2009 at 5:14 pm
WOW, I see why its so hard to get into the gaming world!! As customers, we never can appreciate what they give us. They work long and hard for a whole 10 months and we complain. I have never created a video game, but my roommate in college majored in Graphic Design so I have a new found respect. He struggled on simple assignments. He was genius too. They aren't taking away from Gameplay, trust me. They are giving us new additions for atmosphere. Run Blocking, Pass Blocking, new Hit Stick, all that is Gameplay. Enjoy the additions and quit complaining. They gave us a lot that we asked for in 10 months. Be Happy!! I always hear people say "Time Flies". Well keep that in mind when you are trying to start over and design a brand new game for a bunch of people who are never satisfied.
May 26, 2009 at 6:11 pm
I agree with you to some extent. They don't start over from scratch though…they try to build on the things they already have in place that are solid. i.e. They might build the character models for 09' but they don't scrap the whole model to do a new one for 10'…I believe they tweak and work with the foundations. But youre right about them giving alot in 10mos.
May 26, 2009 at 6:35 pm
On the subject….Little things entail Greatness…so this is a great addition. Attention to detail adds replayability to the game and those of us who enjoy the NFL or Football in general clamor for Authenticity in the ONLY NFL Video game on the market….while it is a lot asked of the Dev. team…It was also the responsibility of EA to deliver when they forced 2K out of the market with the exclusive rights deal.
Now truth be told, they could withhold all they want to and develop everything we ask for in the last year of the contract to keep us around and re-up the deal…because I mean…who is going to challenge Madden? I think they said it themselves..they judge Madden against ALL games….they want GOTY as much as shooters, RPGs , etc.
May 26, 2009 at 6:36 pm
So with that said…that's why we ask for excellence out of them…because they chose to be the Big Dog…and their slogan is "It's in the game"….and true enough people will always find SOMETHING to complain about. It's just like if they have helmets off on the sideline..somebody will say.."T.O. has diamond stud earrings…why doesnt he have em on when his helmets off"…to me..that's a ridiculous gripe( even though 2K9 did tattos and signature shots)..that's on a smaller scale though as the NFL has a 53 man roster as opposed to 15 NBA players per team…but a gripe about "Rookie Scouting or Halftime shows"…I find that to be reasonable because it's been done before on a less powerful system…
May 26, 2009 at 6:36 pm
That's just how it goes…if you are in the market and you knowingly shutdown your competition which offered a different variety…the consumer is going to look to you to fill that need sooner or later or look elsewhere….and the "Depth" crowd desires depth in Franchise, presentation, Draft, Halftime & pregame because it adds to the game…otherwise it's like playing at the Arcade….same thing everytime….
"With great power comes great responsibility"…..With that said…I love what I'm seeing from the Madden 10 team as it seems leaps and bounds over 09 for 10 mos….but it has so much more potential…..NFL Live, Todd McShay, Chris Berman, NFL Network…..the weapons are at their disposal to offer great depth.
But keep up the great work guys….Love what you're doing!!
May 26, 2009 at 7:09 pm
there is co-op on madden 10 also heard it on ea sports live
May 26, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Does this mean that there will be a National Anthem? I noticed that their hands are on their chests and helmets are off.
May 27, 2009 at 4:54 am
I was wondering that too, and in the full article they say the licensed they last couple of lines. I guess you'll hear that and then the jets will fly over.
May 28, 2009 at 6:01 am
It seems like EA is finally listening to what true madden fans want in their game…It's the lil things that count…from hand warmers..new gloves…improved route running and pass blocking..I even noticed they brought back colored cleats…that means alot to me it's the details that make the game look real…As long as they have the right pro bowl helmets and I would love to see long socks….like most DB's and WR's wear like charles woodson calvin johnson and ocho cinco this will be the best game ever….And changing a player's hair style would be cool like the old madden just in case a player cut's his dreads or grows dreads during the season you could change it on the game…Thanks!!!!!