First Look at FIFA 09

Gamespot has posted up the first full preview of FIFA 09 and a video has found its way out that displays gameplay along with discussion about the game with producer David Rutter. It also appears that FIFA will join NHL and NBA Live in receiving feature announcements at E3.

Given the great contrast in team skill levels in UEFA, EA implemented an adaptive AI that used realistic team strategies based on the team’s opponent. For instance, a team with less talent may choose to play a defensive game against a more-skilled opponent by dropping 9 or 10 defenders back to defend their goal. The end result is that games with uneven opponents will still offer a challenging experience. This feature will undoubtedly impact FIFA 09 as well. Popular club teams such as Barcelona will find it more difficult to score against less-heralded opponents. In addition, it is EA’s hope that this will encourage gamers to try out other teams.

You can read the full preview here and continue on to view the video.

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Online Dynasty Prediction Contest at VetzBallin

Vetzballin has opened up an easy to enter contest offering to the winner an NCAA Football 09 Xbox 360 faceplate and a copy of Nascar 09 for either the 360 or PS3. DJ Rhude, who is currently involved in the online media dynasty, will be facing EA Community Manager Will “Rac” Kinsler in their week four matchup. While the media dynasty has been a dud so far (maybe all the media sites are saving their thoughts on it for reviews) this looks to spice things up a bit with some trash talking between the participants and getting the community involved. You can check out some of the amusing back and forth in a thread over at Madden List.

The game will take place on Wednesday evening so all entries must be received in before then. All you have to do is post in the comments area of the article at Vetzballin with your pick to win the game and the total points scored by both teams. You can read all the details on it and add your prediction here.

Pastapadre Online Dynasty Update

After the overwhelming response of interest in the official NCAA Football 09 online dynasty for the site it was a very difficult process to determine the 11 that were to be selected. It really crushed me to have to select only a handful when so many members of the community wanted to be involved. I appreciate everyone taking the time to post a comment or discuss the dynasty in the forum.

My hope is that even if you were not selected you’ll enjoy following along with the updates (both on the site and in the forum). Should a replacement be needed I’ll look to the list for who showed interest initially and have have followed the dynasty’s progression. I can assure everyone that there will be other activities coming down the line that can encompass larger numbers of participants.

For those who didn’t get into the dynasty I wanted to suggest a different NCAA 09 online event that may be of interest. A few years back I came up with the idea of the MNCS which allowed for participants to play as many games as they wanted against anyone else within the event over a period of time. There were rankings and Bowl games included. It was a huge success and has since lived on in variations at MaddenWars (MWCS) and MaddenList (MLCS). Check out the details on the MWCS here and the MLCS here.

With all that in mind continue on to view the finalized 12 members and their teams as well as a poll as to which team you think will finish the year ranked highest.

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Pastapadre Online Dynasty

With the release of NCAA Football 09 quickly approaching it is now time to start preparing for the official Pastapadre Online Dynasty on the 360. Here are some of the details on what to expect.

The dynasty will begin the Monday after the game is released. I’ll be featuring the dynasty on the site with regular updates which will include screenshots and highlight clips from EA Sports World. Other participants will be welcome to submit the same in the forum and I will put the best videos up along with my “weekly POD recaps”.

The dynasty will have a limited amount of user vs user games with probably only 2-3 over the course of the season. Because of this teams will need to be spread out so that no conference has more than a few user controlled teams. It has to be this way due to time constraints and working towards a dynasty that can progress at a better pace (hopefully moving through a “week” in the dynasty every 4-5 days). Forum posting will be required for communication purposes and also for those who wish to post up details from their team’s perspective and their screens/videos. I have just added a thread for additional discussion about the dynasty.

As there are only 11 slots I can have filled I do apologize to anyone who would like to participate but aren’t selected. I will keep those people in mind as a replacement if anyone were to leave the dynasty. I hope even for those who can’t take part that enjoyment is found by following along with the developments of the dynasty.

To let me know of your interest leave a comment saying so along with a few teams you would be most interested in. Make sure that the email address used for your comment is correct as that is how I will send out the invites (there is no need to post your email address in the comments).

Update: The sheer number of people interested in the online dynasty have made it an incredibly difficult process choose who will be selected for the very limited number of slots. I actually feel really bad about having to make those decisions, but I can assure everyone that there will be opportunities down the line that can encompass a larger group of participants. The announcement on who is in will be made on Sunday, however continue to discuss the dynasty in the forum or here and leave your notice of interest in case positions open up in the future. You are also free to use the forum for organizing and running other dynasties.

Blood Bowl

I came across this new trailer the other day for Blood Bowl. I had taken notice of earlier screenshots but didn’t really know how much it would apply itself as a sports game other than it incorporated football to some extent. However after watching the trailer it looks like it will come across being a fantasy RTS and sports hybrid. It is difficult to know how much it may appeal to the sports gaming crowd though.

Continue on to check out the trailer and leave your thoughts in the comments. Scheduled to release later this year on the 360, is Blood Bowl something that could potentially interest you?

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Out today for NBA Live 09 Community Event

UPDATE: Unfortunately we have been asked to hold back on posting details from the event until sometime next week. I’ll have a ton of info and impressions to share at that point.

I expect to be away from the computer for most of the day due to the NBA Live 09 Community Event. The schedule is packed full of play time along with producer presentations and interaction. The NBA Draft follows and I’m unsure if I will have an online connection during that time. Continue to drop any thoughts or suggestions you’d like me to consider here and I may be able to take note of them.

In the meantime check out some of the latest screenshots for the game in the gallery, most of which are not very inspiring and one in particular that is terrible. Visuals have been one of the strengths of the Live series the last few years so it is worth noting that the images that EA has released for 09 are not impressing to the same extent. In the end though the more important thing will be how it all comes together during gameplay.

Quick NCAA Football 09 update

Night games in the NCAA Football 09 demo? Apparently there are if you set your console’s date to November or December. Both the standard play now game and the mascot game will take place at night if you do so. Thanks to NCAA Strategies for this info.

EA Sports has released a recruiting guide for NCAA Football 09. The three pages cover the basics of recruiting. You can check it out in PDF form by clicking here. The best addition to recruiting this year should be the “Quick Call” which will trim down on the monotony of and time spent making phone calls.

Madden 09 gone gold clarification

Earlier today came the news that Madden 09 had “gone gold” through an official EA press release. Generally having “gone gold” means that a game is completed, has cleared certification, and is ready to be mass produced. Those announcements tend to come very close to the release date of the game, so hearing that Madden 09 had done so was a big surprise.

Through correspondence with producer Phil Frazier I have learned in that sense Madden 09 has not gone gold. The game is completed (no further changes can be made) but has not yet finished certification with Microsoft and Sony. That process can take several weeks. Then the magnitude of the game in terms of production and shipping to be available at all retailers on August 12th has to be factored in.

So no, the game hasn’t been finished early. The timing of how all of this is happening is not out of the ordinary. However the phrasing used and early nature of this announcement certainly was.

Madden 09 has gone gold

In a surprising announcement today EA Sports has stated that Madden 09 has gone gold. That means the game is complete and can be sent out to be mass produced. Knowing this the game must have been submitted for certification weeks ago. In most cases “gone gold” announcements are made 7-14 days prior to the release date, so this news was not expected a month and a half in advance.

The ongoing producer discussions have made it seem as though adjustments were still being made, though at this point it would’ve been getting close to time to lock things in regardless. We do know that the icons disappearing when a QB drops back to far made it in and the Wildcat formation has been removed. Yet I get the feeling that the toning down of the camera flashes will not have happened to the satisfaction of the community.

With the game complete it appears they’ve shifted some attention to work on the demo which I had news on yesterday. It is quite possible that the demo will actually be based off the release version and not an early build.

Upcoming NBA Live 09 Community Event

Tomorrow the 26th I will be up at EA Canada’s Burnaby studio for the NBA Live 09 Community Event. Time will be had with the game and producers. This is still early in the development process so the opportunity is there for the feedback given to be acted on. Last year the early event proved to be very beneficial which led to the desire to hold it once again under similar circumstances. You can actually look back to that event as the first sign of what has since materialized with EA actively pursuing stronger community involvement.

Compared to the recent football event the time with the game will be much more limited. Despite this it should be enough to get a good feel for the direction of the game and to pass along thoughts and suggestions to the producers. To my knowledge the only thing I will not be able to discuss afterwards will be the feature being touted by EA as “ground-breaking” that will “change the way sports games are made”. That won’t be revealed until E3 (probably EA’s press conference on July 14th).

While I’d like to hold another live blog the more limited exposure to the game may prevent that from being a good use of time. In that case look for a detailed report on the game to come late Thursday night or Friday, however I may be able to drop some preliminary thoughts prior to that.

As always feel free to leave questions or suggestions in the comments. While I can’t guarantee I will be able to address them I do read them and keep them under consideration while at the events.