NCAA Football 09 cover reveal event
April 25, 2008 by pastapadre · 41 Comments
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.
Commentators and new Madden 09 features revealed
April 25, 2008 by pastapadre · 69 Comments
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.
DeSean Jackson inadvertently revealed as PS2 NCAA Football 09 cover athlete
April 24, 2008 by pastapadre · 24 Comments
While the news of the PS2 cover athlete for NCAA Football 09 wasn’t expected to come for a few more weeks, Gamefly has accidentally let the secret slip that WR DeSean Jackson from California has gotten the cover. He now joins Matt Ryan (PS3), Darren McFadden (360), and Sparty (Wii) as the console specific covers. The PSP is expected to be shown off in May.
In an interesting coincidence I actually got to play DeSean Jackson in a game of NCAA 09 at the event this evening. Look for some details on that in an upcoming writeup.
Brett Favre is the Madden 09 cover athlete
April 24, 2008 by pastapadre · 83 Comments
He may be retired but Brett Favre is the cover athlete for Madden NFL 09. This is the first time a non-active player has been selected for the cover. The news comes out of an appearance on the David Letterman show tonight (which tapes earlier in the day) and has been confirmed by GameDaily. There is also a show on the NFL Network scheduled for Saturday at 10am ET that will showcase the history of Brett Favre and the Madden franchise. The official press release is expected Friday morning.
It is fitting that Favre will represent the 20th Anniversary of Madden. His long and storied career can be revisted in the same manner that EA Sports will be doing with the 20th anniversary of Madden.
NCAA Football 09 first week alternate jersey screenshots
April 24, 2008 by pastapadre · 83 Comments
As mentioned earlier in the week EA Sports is releasing a new screenshot each weekday showing off one of the 50+ alternate jerseys in NCAA Football 09 on the game’s official website. To recap the ones released thus far I’ve included them here. Click the thumbnails below to view them full size.
Look for West Virginia to be featured on Friday. Any questions regarding what alternates are in the game feel free to leave in the comments and I’ll attempt to check for them (some teams have two alternates but I have yet to see more than two).
Matt Ryan announced as PS3 NCAA Football 09 cover athlete
April 23, 2008 by pastapadre · 48 Comments
Soon to be top 10 NFL draft pick and former Boston College QB Matt Ryan has been selected for the PS3 cover of NCAA Football 09. He joins Darren McFadden (360) and Sparty (Wii) as representing the cover of the console specific versions of the game. The PS2 and PSP covers are still to be announced in the future.
Former college football standout Matt Ryan will join former Arkansas All-American Darren McFadden as a spokesman and cover athlete for NCAA Football 09. Ryan will be featured on the PLAYSTATION®3 cover and as a four-year player, he finished his career at Boston College as the school’s career leader in pass completions and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2007. In his senior season, he helped lead the Eagles to an 11-3 record and a victory over Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl. Ryan was awarded the 2008 Manning Award, which is given each year to the nation’s top senior quarterback.
Ryan seemed like the most likely choice in the breakdown of potential PS3 cover athletes so this doesn’t come as a big surprise and does make a lot of sense.
Other news to come out of the press release is the online dynasty is exclusive to NCAA Football this year and will allow for up to 12 user controlled teams for up to 60 seasons.
A look ahead at the next few days
April 23, 2008 by pastapadre · 8 Comments
With all the events of this week I thought it would be beneficial to make everyone aware of what you can expect over the next several days. Below I’ve laid out my initial expectations. Keep in mind though that things may play out differently depending on the circumstances. If things change wildly then I’ll try and drop a note about it on here.
Despite being tied up with various things at times I will attempt to update the site as much as possible (as I generally do even when away attending a function). However the updates will probably come in flurries and at random times.
Look for more focused type posts (such as listing top rated teams, hardest places to play, top rated players, ect) and some others that will be more game detail and impression focused. When I’m on I’ll be checking the comments that have been left and replying to what I can as time time allows.
Wednesday: I arrived earlier this morning in NY after a red-eye flight. Expecting to get to play NCAA Football 09 throughout the day. I don’t believe I’ll be able to discuss anything about it just yet.
Thursday: Expecting to play during the day. Will be at the NCAA PS3 cover reveal event (Matt Ryan) in the evening but may be back on after that. Late evening after the event may be the first opportunity to post up info and impressions about the game (as soon as I know for sure I’ll update here).
Friday: More posts in the morning and late afternoon assuming we have been given the green light. Attempting to answer questions and requests from the comments. Madden cover athlete will have been revealed by Friday morning so that will be up for discussion as well. Will be on a flight headed back home in the evening.
Saturday: Live blogging during the NFL Draft. I’ll be on updating frequently with thoughts on the draft, NCAA Football, Madden, adding the rookie Madden screenshots as they’re released, responding to comments, and anything else that comes up.
Any questions feel free to drop them in the comments. If they’re related to requests around NCAA Football 09 than leave them in the previous posting.
Madden 09 online play gets first piece of disappointing news
April 22, 2008 by pastapadre · 74 Comments
Madden 09 producer Phil Frazier is continuing to answer questions in the game’s official forum. The most notable piece of info to come out since the set of news I posted on earlier is that variable weather will not be found online. Hearing that doesn’t bring about much confidence that other much needed online enhancements will be coming this year.
Weather will not be available online. It’s clear that many of you are interested in this functionality so it’s already on my growing list of features from the community. Honestly, I’d prefer if we solved the online lag issues before we worry about weather. We will be featuring the live weather feed in Madden 09.
Well so much for the hope that online play was going to be taken seriously for once. That great looking screenshot from the other day? You’ll never experience it in an online game. Seems unlikely then that even night games will be in then. It would also mean that online franchise (if added this year) would have no weather or night games which would ruin part of that whole experience. Get ready for a bunch of stale ideal weather games yet again if you play online at all.
Granted it seems to be asking a bit much for these necessary options to be added when they haven’t even gotten the game to run lag-free or avoid high rates of disconnects yet. However EA Canada’s recent releases (NBA Live, NHL, FIFA) have brought about vastly improved online performance along with added modes and options. Will depth charts transfer online so people don’t have to set them before every game? Will you be able to choose the stadium that is played in? Will alternate uniforms be selectable? Will unranked games be tracked at all? Will there be any form of co-op play? All seem even more unlikely after hearing that variable weather hasn’t made it in this year. Disappointing to say the least.
Hey, but field goal nets have been added to the game (thankfully) so now that one can be scratched off the easy complaint list.
NFL Head Coach 09 will have standalone release
April 22, 2008 by pastapadre · 15 Comments
Just two weeks ago I wrote how the possibility EA Sports would change their decision to make NFL Head Coach 09 exclusive to the Madden 09 Collector’s Edition was still very much alive. Today EA made it official that the game will be out the first week of September to coincide with the opening of the NFL season as a standalone title and will retail for $49.99
This development doesn’t change the value of purchasing Head Coach and Madden together (save $20 plus getting it three weeks early) but it does make it possible for anyone who wants to pick up Head Coach (whether it is because they don’t want Madden or already own it) to do so.
Madden Mock draft picks 27-32
April 22, 2008 by pastapadre · 19 Comments
These final five picks concludes the Madden Mock Draft with only a recap of the entire mock still to come. With the exception of the 49ers all of these teams will go into the game next year as powerhouses. Despite that they can still capitalize on their picks and improve their status in Madden through them.
