Madden 10 Intro Video

Returning from last year is the Gamestop weekly blog for Madden 10 which apparently will offer a new posting each Monday until release. At this point it is uncertain whether they will be replacing the Inside EA blogs and given that most of the info on the game is already out there the value of the Gamestop offerings will likely be limited.

The first blog reveals the intro video for the game which you can check out here. It features the cover athletes Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald and highlights of theirs courtesy of NFL Films.

Madden 10 Franchise Q&A

Last week we got a Q&A about the Online Franchise mode in Madden 10. This week brings a general Franchise mode Q&A that goes into more of the basics of what has been worked on. You can read through the entire blog posting here.

As I’ve mentioned before my goal was to clean up the logic and get this mode back to where it needed to be. I’ll repeat my favorite analogy for those of you who haven’t heard it before: If you found out you had termites in your house, would you build on another addition or clean up the foundation so that you could build on the house in the future? That was exactly our attitude and my sole focus since I joined the Madden team halfway through the development cycle. I enlisted the help of one of my top programmers from NFL Head Coach ’09 (Jeff Keyek) and worked with the rest of the Madden team to address many of the core aspects of the mode that really needed fixing.

While there may be a lack of revolutionary additions to the mode (outside of the interface redesign) it seems as though they’ve been able to accomplish a good deal in getting the base of it to where it should be. It is just unfortunate that many of those areas that have been addressed such as free agency and trade logic won’t come into play in the Online Franchises.

Gamestop Preorders Get Extended Madden 10 Demo

Gamestop has just updated their Madden 10 product pages to include information on an exclusive demo being offered to those who preorder the game. Basically it sounds as though people who don’t preorder will still be getting a demo, but it will offer abbreviated quarters or be something similar to the “Madden Moment” that made up the demo last year. And actually that is what will happen as the public demo will be Cowboys vs Giants with two minute quarters.

Reserve Madden NFL 10 and receive the GameStop exclusive Super Bowl XLIII rematch demo with full length quarters. The demo will feature four 5-minute quarters between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. Available for online and in-store customers while supplies last.

This continues to be a disturbing trend having demos linked to preorders. At least in this case it appears that everyone will have access to some form of a demo at the same time unlike Fight Night Round 4 which withheld it from everyone else for several weeks. According to the info the demo will be out in late July.

Madden 10 Player Ratings

Update: EA has requested I take the ratings down.

After responding to a ton of Madden NFL 10 player ratings requests in the previous posting I took on the task of putting them all together in a document. Included are the full rosters, overall ratings, and at many positions the speed and acceleration ratings.

I am really looking forward to seeing how the spread out ratings affect the game. It makes the strengths and weaknesses of each team apparent and depth becomes more important. Users will have to strategically consider each team’s personnel. It should really open things up with the games better resembling what would be seen in the NFL.

Extended Madden 10 Gameplay Videos

Last week I was able to offer up a bunch of Madden 10 videos from E3. Now lead developer Ian Cummings has posted up a full quarter video of the game captured in HD featuring the Falcons @ Chiefs on All-Pro difficulty.

He has since posted up a full game’s worth of videos on the Inside EA Blog which you can check out here. Continue on to watch the video and leave your thoughts in the comments.

Read more

Madden 10 Online Franchise Q&A

The latest blog posting for Madden 10 offers an Online Franchise Q&A. Questions were submitted via forums and Twitter in regard to the mode. Given that this is a brand new endeavor this is a good opportunity to find out some additional info on it and get a better understanding of why certain decisions were made. Read through the full posting here.

So this week we wanted to take the opportunity to answer some of the most common questions that we’ve been seeing from the community and from the gaming media. Not everyone has a 100% clear idea of what all is included in the mode, and we have also noticed that some folks have expressed frustration over missing features. With that being the case, we felt it imperative to explain a.) why we made the decisions that we did and b.) our plan for the future developing on this new platform.

It looks like a lot is going to fall on having a strong trustworthy commish. That does allow for many of us to get the full experience out of the mode. I still hold a lot of concern for people joining public leagues or with ones that will die out due to an unreliable commish. In its first year Online Dynasty for NCAA Football did incredibly well due in part to being invite only which took out much of that uncertainty by limiting the chances people would run into poor experiences.

Madden 10 Team and Player Ratings

While at E3 I was able to grab the team overall ratings for Madden 10. I also have access to the player ratings. These may not necessarily be final however they will provide at the very least a good idea of what to expect. A while back Donny Moore stated that the Pats, Steelers, and Eagles were the top three teams however in this build the Giants have overtaken the Eagles.

Continue on to check out the team ratings. Leave any requests for specific player ratings in the comments and I’ll reply there. Please limit it to no more than two players per comment. Users with Intense Debate comment accounts or utilizing Facebook Connect will receive priority in response.

Update: EA has requested I take the ratings down.

Read more

E3: Madden NFL 10 Impressions

The improvements to Madden 10 were quickly evident at E3. Many of them are visual which means you’re immediately exposed to them and they are impossible to miss. Others such as the game speed are readily apparent as well. That suited it well to the environment that E3 offers where time with the game can be limited and the crowds can affect the experience. Reaction to Madden has been overwhelmingly positive for the most part and it received multiple “Game of E3″ nominations while there. Continue on for my impressions from the event.

Read more

Madden 10 Brings Online Franchise

As hoped for the big online announcement for Madden 10 was the inclusion of Online Franchise mode. Rather than if  Peter Moore would be revealing Online Franchise the main question going in centered around whether it would be as fully featured as consumers would associate with a mode by such a name. Based on the trailer shown at the EA press conference and the audience reaction it appears this will not be a let down.

Announced on stage at the EA E3 2009 press conference, Madden NFL 10 Online Franchise features a robust feature set, including live drafts, player transactions, league message boards, and more – all manageable from your console, remotely through a web browser, or via a custom iPod Touch Application. Your Madden NFL 10 Online Franchise is always just a click away.

Last year it was Online Dynasty that made NCAA Football 10. This year NCAA has the creative Teambuilder feature to add on to that. However Madden may be stealing back some of that thunder with Online Franchise. The prospect of playing within an NFL franchise mode of up to 31 other people is incredibly intriguing.

Trades and the draft sound like so much fun when competing against other users. The live elements of the Online Franchise were a hurdle that they’ve apparently overcome and done so by offering multiple ways to complete them such as drafting on the web. Essentially it could be just as easy as completing fantasy football drafts.

Don’t worry about being tied to your console for your upcoming Online Franchise live draft. You and your friends can all participate simultaneously from your game console or online, via an Internet connection and web browser. Set your depth chart while waiting in line at the grocery store, and it will automatically be updated for your next game. Have access to your Madden NFL 10 Online Franchise 24/7, 365.

If you have questions about how the mode will work leave them in the comments and I’ll address them on Tuesday and Wednesday at E3. The mode will not be playable on the floor or even reachable through menus but it is open for discussion. I have a bunch of questions in mind but would appreciate anything else that would be interesting to report back on!

EA Sports MMA in Development

Long rumored and now confirmed with the announcement at the EA press conference, EA Sports MMA is in development aiming for a release next year. The question becomes how will they produce a game for a sport that is so strongly identified with UFC? A license that is locked into an exclusive and multi-year deal with THQ. It’ll be interesting to see how they go about that. While the sport is growing most casual fans simply identify UFC as MMA.

One thing that does make sense is for EA to do alternating years with their fighting titles. One year brings MMA with the following year offering Fight Night. That would allow them to advance each title with extra development time while not cutting into sales or hype.