Archive for the ‘Football’ Category
  • The changes that have been made to Madden NFL 20 following the beta
    by
    Posted July 19th, 2019 at 9:00 am No Comments »
    The brief beta period for Madden NFL 20 in mid-June provided an opportunity for the developers to gather feedback and analytical data that could be put into action prior to the game's release next week through EA Access. Those changes made based on how the beta played out have now been detailed and include the addition of a block and release mechanic for TEs, reduction in fumble chances, improvements to man coverage, and various presentation enhancements. Meanwhile areas people were passi...
  • Ratings revealed for the entirety of the league in Madden NFL 20
    by
    Posted July 15th, 2019 at 8:00 pm No Comments »
    The first look at all the ratings for Madden NFL 20 is especially intriguing this year due to the new system put into place that has spread out the ratings to provide increased differentiation between players and their performance on the field. A lot has changed since Madden NFL 19 and in theory for the better. While the top four players included only one change the shift was initially evidenced in the rookie numbers. Now through the sortable form on the game's official website the entir...
  • One new player rises to 99 Overall for Madden NFL 20
    by
    Posted July 12th, 2019 at 10:00 am No Comments »
    Of the four players to be rated 99 Overall in Madden NFL 20 only one is new to the group. DeAndre Hopkins has received an upgrade from the 97 Overall he finished with last season to become the only offensive player rated 99 in the game at launch. With the move he overtook two other receivers who were rated higher than him heading into the offseason. Hopkins rise is the only surprise from the reveal of 99 Overall players. Antonio Brown had been rated 99 and Julio Jones was also above Hopki...
  • Madden NFL 20’s Rookie Ratings
    by
    Posted July 2nd, 2019 at 1:00 pm No Comments »
    One of the big initiatives with Madden NFL 20 is to make players feel more true to their real skill levels through both X-Factor Abilities and a greater ratings spread. The latter is on display for the first time with the release of the rookie ratings. Winners include Quinnen Williams as the top rated rookie with Ed Oliver, Hollywood Brown, D.K. Metcalf, and Irv Smith rated well above their respective draft slots. Multiple first rounders are not even rated in the 70s but it's the #6 pick ...
  • Breaking down the new player ratings spread for Madden NFL 20
    by
    Posted June 30th, 2019 at 7:00 am No Comments »
    Spreading out the player ratings is something many fans of sports games including myself have advocated for over the years. Doing so would help differentiate the superstars from the solid contributors, from the replacement-level players and especially those that rarely see action. Beyond that though it would also add considerable intrigue into the team-building process in Franchise Mode. This has actually been attempted a few times in the past however developers have quickly reverted to a...
  • Madden NFL 20 – EA Play Presentation
    by
    Posted June 8th, 2019 at 1:30 pm No Comments »
    Electronic Arts this year chose to forgo a traditional press briefing in favor of segmented live stream presentations for just a few upcoming games. Madden NFL 20 didn't reveal anything necessarily new today, however EA Sports expanded on what was already known and included the first, but limited, look at gameplay examples. The EA Play 2019 stream for Madden NFL 20 focused on areas such as Face of the Franchise career mode, Superstar X-Factor abilities, updates to playbooks, and new gamep...
  • How the new RPOs work in Madden NFL 20
    by
    Posted May 24th, 2019 at 6:15 am No Comments »
    Two weeks ago EA Sports went into detail on a variety of gameplay improvements for Madden NFL 20. Now the developers have laid out the work done to playbooks and specifically centered that on the introduction of RPOs. (more…)...
  • More on Madden NFL 20’s Superstar Abilities and various gameplay improvements
    by
    Posted May 9th, 2019 at 8:00 pm No Comments »
    Madden NFL 20 recently kicked off its promotional cycle with the reveal of its new Career Mode and also the introduction of a new element to gameplay intended to better differentiate the superstars of the league from everyone else. That's the biggest gameplay-specific initiative, at least on the surface and in terms of marketing, known as 'Superstar X-Factors.' The just-released developer blog is comprehensive on how these special abilities are distributed, how they play a role in Franchi...