Live blog during the NFL Draft

I’ve mentioned on a few occasions that I’ll be live blogging during the draft on a number of subjects and anything else that happens to come up. From posting the Madden 09 rookie screenshots and pointing to other additions to the Madden draft site, some general thoughts on what is known so far about Madden & NCAA 09 (again I can’t speak to the hands-on time until 5/2), to draft reaction, I’ll be updating it on a regular basis throughout the day. It’ll all start up right as the draft begins at 3et/12pt and run through the first round. Be sure to leave any comments and I’ll post responses to some of them throughout the day.

Also Jon Robinson @ Gametap has posted an interview with Madden 09 producer Phil Frazier which you can check out here. It contains a good deal of new information delving deeper into some of the new features and improvements that will be found in the game this year.

NCAA Football 09 cover reveal event

Some of you may have noticed that my initial hands-on impressions of NCAA Football 09 are no longer up. Apparently there was some sort of miscommunication and we were not informed of an embargo which holds until May 2nd. I’ll have my full gameplay and feature impressions up then.

So I thought I’d throw up a short recap of the PS3 NCAA cover reveal event with some pictures. Jake Long, Matt Ryan, Darren McFadden, DeSean Jackson, Chris Long, and Owen Schmitt were in attendance along with the game on display. I was as able to speak with some producers including NCAA’s Ben Haumiller (the guy behind online dynasty) and Madden’s Phil Frazier along with getting to meet Peter Moore.

The highlight of the night was having the opportunity to play DeSean Jackson in a game of NCAA 09. I had overheard at the event that he was the cover athlete for the PS2 version of the game and he was excited about that. I asked him where he thought he might end up and he mentioned the Cowboys and Bucs. He came across as a really good guy and it made the game a lot of fun. It got quite competitive with a little trash talking involved as well. I took Washington and he went with 6th ranked LSU (by the way the top rated team is Georgia). After jumping out to a 7-0 lead he would go on to score three touchdowns and go up 21-7 late in the third quarter. However I came back and scored the game tying touchdown with about 2:30 left. Unfortunately this is when the game froze on us. It likely was an epic ending we missed out on as the Pastapadre-DeSean Jackson rivalry ends in a draw.

Continue on to view some more pictures.

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Commentators and new Madden 09 features revealed

Thanks to the official press release regarding the selection of Brett Favre for the cover of Madden 09 we now have the first idea of some big features in the game. The likely NFL Network duo of Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth will be featured as the commentators for Madden 09 and online leagues have been added.

Madden NFL 09 strives to take authenticity and depth of gameplay to an new level with more than 85 new features and enhancements, including the all-new Total Control Animation system. This system will allow players to perform combination moves like never before and includes an innovative picture-in-picture playcall window. In Madden NFL 09, the game engine is continually assessing the player’s performance and will adapt a custom experience to every type of gamer, from newcomer to the veteran Madden NFL player.

Madden NFL 09 will also feature a network-inspired broadcast presentation. Players will benefit from the authentic football knowledge of an in-booth play-by-play and color commentary team featuring Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond. In addition, numerous graphical enhancements have been made, including realistic weather and grass, sleeker player models and exterior stadium views.

Madden NFL 09 gives gamers the ability to create online leagues. Fans can now take their rivalries online and compete in leagues with up to 32 teams. Online league play will feature in-depth stat tracking and a flexible scheduling option.

Seems like a good choice for commentators. Regardless of who they went with some people weren’t going to like them but there were some possibilities that would’ve been much worse. After finding out all the details regarding online dynasty in NCAA Football 09 I’m encouraged that the online leagues in Madden will have all the options and flexibility that would be necessary.