RAC's Madden Nation Blog

RAC's blog has moved to a new location..

2006-06-04T15:49:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am no longer posting updates here. My Madden Nation blog has a new location at Madden Nation's Myspace page. Check out our page for the latest news and info for what's goin on in our community and be sure to sign up for blog updates.

RAC's new Madden Nation Blog

NFL Head Coach Career Mode: Part 2

2006-04-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

In part 2 of NFL Head Coach Career Mode, I'll talk a bit about the specific duties and responsibilities you have as head coach.

First Things First

After you start your job, one of the first things you do is have a meeting with the owner. He rehashes some of the goals for the team in a "yearly meeting" that takes place directly following the Super Bowl. In addition to reiterating some of the goals he had mentioned during the interview process, I believe my owner also said something about wanting to improve our red zone offense (this particular meeting was with the Buffalo Bills owner, by the way).

Weekly Staff Meeting

When you take over your new team, you are left to make decisions about who will be kept on from the existing staff. You can take your time in making these changes, but during your first meeting some of the coaches will speak up and say they hope they can stay. The interface during the staff meeting is pretty simple. If a coach has something to say, an icon appears near him that indicates that he would like to speak to you. When you get to the preseason and regular season, some of the coaches may have suggestions for you when you meet each week. After a solid week of practice, the Redskins WR coach told me he'd like to see Taylor Jacobs get a shot at starting. I told him I didn't think that was a good idea and he responded by saying "whatever." I thought this was interesting because it made me wonder how it might affect my relationship with the coaching staff if I didn't listen to their ideas. I'd like to experiment with that some more when I get my hands on the game again. Coaches will also remind you when it's time to re-sign certain players. My offensive line coach let me know that one of our O linemen's contracts was about to run up, and I took care of it immediately.

Scouting Players

I'll be totally honest here and say that this is the part of the user interface that confused me the most. There is a menu where you can set aside time to scout players from not only other teams, but rookies as well. I couldn't figure out how to use it and because of the limited time we had with the game, I skipped through most of this. One thing I did figure out is that scouting players is very important in this game. Because I skipped this during the off-season, I was not prepared for some of the tasks associated with signing and drafting players. Hopefully this is an area where EA will work to fix some of the confusion. I think a lot of the problem here was that the tutorials weren't yet in the game and that it was an early build. Some stuff just didn't work like it was supposed to.

Free Agency

This is an area that I think will take quite a bit of time to complete in career mode. You contact agents of players you'd like to sign or re-sign by using the telephone. What I noticed is that the agent typically has an offer in mind and that you either accept it or respond with a counter offer. During one of my free agency periods, I decided I wanted to re-sign JP Losman as QB of the Bills ( yeah ok, not the best coaching decision). This was interesting because the agent wanted to renegotiate Losman's existing deal for a 1 year deal instead. I offered Losman a 3 year deal with a little less guaranteed money and the agent said he didn't think Losman would bite, but that he'd get back to me. A couple of days later I received an email that said "thanks, but no thanks." It was kind of hard gauging free agency without enough time to complete the whole FA period, but I did get the feeling that agents can be just as much of a pain in the neck as they are in real life. There are no real agents licensed in the game, but there are definitely some "Rosenhausish" ones that you can deal with.

Trades

Trading is one of the things I had the most fun with. This is similar to talking to agents in free agency only you're talking to coaches of other teams on the phone instead. There is more of this offer/counter offer interface, and it works pretty well I think. During free agency I signed Freddie Mitchell (can you tell I have a nose for talent?) because I wanted to see just how hard it would be to trade him to another club. I decided to talk to the 49ers because well, they seem to me like the kind of team that I might be able to pawn him off on. Due to my Madden trading experience, I felt that even though Mitchell was not really well rated, that I might be able to snag a 4th or 5th round pick for him. I mean it's the 49ers, right? In my initial offer to them I asked for a 4th round pick from this year's draft. The 49ers asked me if I was joking. I asked for a 6th and they still weren't interested. For a 7th rounder I was finally able to unload Mitchell. I have to say I was pleased that the 49ers weren't that easy to fool.

The Draft

This is the area I know a lot of people are looking forward to checking out. By now most of you have read that Mel Kiper has commentary for this year's 2006 draft class as well as 39 other classes that are randomly spread throughout your career. Kiper is pretty interesting to listen to during the draft, and he does seem to make some comments that are helpful. Many of the 2006 draft class weren't yet in the game that we played, so this part of the commentary was pretty buggy. You do the draft in real time and are on the clock to make your picks. Rather than skipping through the other teams' picks like some people do in Madden, here you need to use that time to monitor the draft and get on the phone and make trades. I tried this out myself. It was a little stressful because I was trying to work out a trade with a team and their pick was about to come up. There is a definite sense of urgency during this part of the game. I did notice that with regard to trading draft picks, you could only trade picks from the current season, same as Madden. This is something I'd like to see expanded on.

Practice & Drills

Practice? We're talking about practice? In this game practice seems to be pretty important. I did get to training camp and I noticed there were several drills you could try out. There is a non contact inside running drill for the HBs, a pass skeleton drill, a drill that puts receivers 1 on 1 with a DB, and a drill that puts HBs 1 on 1 with a LB. I tried the non contact running back drill and it was a lot of fun. You are actually on the field coaching in real time, telling players what to do. You set up the scenarios, decide who is on the field, everything. I had Clinton Portis run this drill first against the first team defense, then against the third team defense. He totally tore them apart. The WR/DB 1 on 1 drill is the other that I tried. This one was pretty cool too as you get to give the WRs and DBs instructions on the play. If I remember correctly you can also tell the QB to throw deep, short, etc. the same way you do pre snap in the game. Sean Taylor picked off Brunell going against Taylor Jacobs. It was a sight to see.

Wrapping Up

This is the last article I'm posting related to MN's recent trip to EA to see NFL Head Coach. I will continue to answer questions in our NFL Head Coach forum for anyone who is interested. I must say that there is a lot more to this game than what I've posted in this series of articles, and there was just no way in 6 hours for us to find all of it. I think this speaks volumes about the depth of this title.

NFL Head Coach Career Mode: Part 1

2006-04-04T10:36:00.000-05:00

With the last couple of entries, I've given you a glimpse of what the "coach now" mode of NFL Head Coach looks like. With this next couple of entries I'm going to try and address the career mode portion of the game.

Creating Your Coach

You start out by creating your coach and deciding on his physical features and wardrobe. This part didn't have a million options, but I believe some may have been missing in the build we played. There were some problems in the build with giving the coach facial hair and certain other physical attributes, so I didn't get a great look at everything that was available. One thing I found out was that there is at least somewhat of a limit to what your coach can wear because of the NFL's policy on what coaches can wear on the sideline. There is some official head coach apparel made by Reebok that you can go through.

Once you've got down the look of your coach, you have to decide whether his background was as an offensive or defensive coordinator. You also get a chance to choose a voice for your coach, which is somewhat similar to the voice pitch feature in Tiger Woods Golf. Then it's time to pick your offensive philosophy. You can choose from Balanced, West Coast, Vertical, Spread, and Singleback. For defensive philosophy you can choose from 4-3, Cover 2, 46, and 3-4. Once you have completed your head coach, you will take a trip to your office at home where you'll begin the hiring process.

When you want to begin the hiring process you go to your phone. In the phone there is a list of all 32 NFL teams that you can call. If there is a certain team you're interested in, you had better call that one because they will automatically give you an offer. You will also receive offers from four additional teams. This part is not very realistic because you do just one interview and then receive offers from five clubs, but I think EA wanted to steamline it and also make sure that you could start with whatever team you wanted to.

The interview process is pretty basic. There is an interface where the owner asks you questions and several responses are available. The responses aren't"right or wrong" type of answers, but football philospphy questions. There might be a question about whether you like to play it safe or go for broke on offense for example. You are asked questions about which past coaching legends' styles you most respect as well. You'll also get questions on your thoughts about how each position should be handled. Your answers to these questions will shape your coaching attributes in the game. Tthe coaching attributes are as follows: motivation, strategy, work ethic, and, player evaluation. You are also given ratings for the various positions. QB knowledge, HB, knowledge, etc.

After the interview you will get an offer from the team you interviewed with, along with several other offers. Each offer comes in a folder where you can compare the contracts and goals for that team. Some teams have much different goals than others. For example, one person who was trying out the game got an offer from the Texans. Their big goal was to go 8-8. Not exactly reaching for the stars. Other teams aim a bit higher than that. In the couple of careers I started I noticed that there seemed to be some variety in the offers available. I'd get the one from the team I interviewed with, then one from a club that was not very good, and one from a team that was pretty decent. I don't know if this was a coincidence or by design, but it was nice to have options. This part of the game isn't necessarily that realistic, but when it comes to choosing your team I don't think EA wanted people to feel handicapped.

Inside Your Office

Once you've accepted an offer, you see a cool ESPN highlight reel of this past Super Bowl and then hear about the announcement that you've been hired. It provides a good bit of atmosphere. Then you go to your new office. The offices are very cool looking and are all done up with your teams logo. We were told that when you become successful several years down the road, your office becomes a little nicer. We didn't get to see that because of our limited time, but it sounded like a neat touch. In your office there is a computer where you do a lot of your daily tasks. There are several options available on the computer. They are as follows:

Calendar: This is where you see your schedule. Each day is mapped out for you with a number of different tasks that much be completed. These can actually be changed which is kind of cool. It's not a rigid set of tasks by any means. You're the coach and so it's up to you to customize your daily plans.

Email: You will be contacted via email by a number of different people. Your owner will remind you of tasks you need to complete early on so that you don't miss anything. There is a lot of ground to cover as coach so these reminders are pretty helpful when you're first starting out. Don't worry, Terrell Davis will never send you a message in this game.

Playbook: In here you can design plays and add and delete plays from your playbook.

NFL.com: This is where you'll find the latest news stories on what's happening in the league as well as any stats, scores, or weekly and yearly awards that have gone to players and coaches in the NFL.

Roster: The roster is where you can see your player roster, depth chart, roster breakdown, injury report, salary cap, and substitutions.

GM Roster: This section is where you handle the hiring, firing, and promotion of your other coaches.

Also located in your office is your phone. This is one of the more important tools you will use in the game. You can phone other coaches to make trades, phone agents of your players and free agents to get deals done, or call assistant coaches from other teams to try and woo them away from their current club. There is also a giant video screen on the wall of your office. If you select this option you can view tutorials about how to get around the game. This part was not completed yet in the build we previewed. Finally there is a trophy case. When we were being shown how to get around the office by Jeremy Strauser before we played, he chose to start a career with the Eagles. All of the trophy cases start out empty, but I thought that it was appropriate that the Eagles didn't have anything in there.

Getting Around on the D Pad

Just like when you're on the field coaching in this game, the D pad is used to get around a little faster so that you can avoid going through a ton of menus. Once again you can press up, down, right or left in order to navigate. Here is what each direction does:

Up (Calendar): This will take you to the very same calendar that is on your computer. The calendar is used an awful lot in this game, so it's nice to be able to do that.

Left (Coach Status): This is a place where you can quickly view your overall status as head coach, level of job security, and your level of trust as well.

Down (Keys To Victory): This is where you can track your goals and how many you have completed towards becoming the greatest head coach of all time.

Right (Legend Status): This is where you can track your status as a legend by your accomplishments in the regular season, playoffs, championships, and your lineage. All of these things become very important in your pursuit of being the greatest coach ever. Not only do you have to win the big games, but when your coaches leave your team for their own head coaching jobs, it's important that they are successful as well.

You now know how to get started as a head coach and the basics of getting around your office. In part 2 of my career mode write up, I'll get a little more in depth as far as what you can do as a head coach. Stay tuned.

NFL Head Coach In Game Walkthrough: Part2

2006-04-02T23:16:00.000-05:00

In part one of our walkthrough, I covered some of the basics of what could be done in game with EA NFL Head Coach. In part two I'm going to try and explain in greater detail some of the on the field coaching features in the game.

Talking To Players On The Field

One of the more useful tools in Head Coach is your ability to communicate with the QB pre snap. You can give your QB just about any instruction imaginable. Included in this menu are orders such as throwing the ball past the first down marker, using touch on a pass or bulleting it in, pump faking, stepping up in the pocket or scrambling when necessary, throwing downfield or looking short, and throwing the ball high or keeping it low. You can also have the QB get rid of the ball quickly or take his time, work the sidelines or middle of the field, and focus on a primary receiver or spread the ball around. Each of these commands can be given to the quarterback for the very next play, the entire series, or for the duration of the game.

The QB isn't the only offensive player you can talk to. Running backs can be instructed to be patient and look for a hole, receivers can be coached how to position themselves and whether or not to break off a route, and O linemen can be given instructions on whether to lead a defender to the inside or outside. When talking to your defense, players can be instructed to try and force a turnover or not to let anyone get past them. DBs also have options for where to direct a receiver and whether or not to go for the pick when the ball is in the air. Defensive linemen can be told to go to the inside or outside when rushing the pass and whether to look for the pass or run. Any player on both offense and defense can be given multiple instructions. You might tell your QB at the start of the game to stay in the pocket for the duration of the game, but to look for the deep ball on the first play if you're trying to get out to an early lead.

Motivating Players

Motivation is another important part of coaching in this game. At any time during the course of a game, you can talk to whatever players happen to be on the sideline at the moment. When motivating players there are two options. One is an encouraging comment that is specifically related to the player and their position. The other is much more harsh and critical. It's the option you'd select if you wanted to chew someone out. You can give these motivational instructions to individual players, or to each personnel unit. Players respond differently to motivation. Some will react positively when being yelled at while others will be put off. Other players seem to do better with the more friendly and encouraging type of motivation. After you motivate someone, a + or - icon appears above their head so that you can immediately see how they will respond. When you learn what works for which player, it may be a good idea to speak to some players individually rather than as a group. This will help to avoid anyone reacting negatively. There is also a motivation rating that each coach has that will affect a coaches' ability to successfully motivate players.

Defensive Pre Snap Controls

In my last entry I covered the offensive pre snap options, but neglected to cover what is offered on the defensive side of the ball. After sending your defensive unit onto the field, you will have the following options available to you:

Audible- Switch to another play the same way you would in Madden.

Line Shift- This give you the same line shift options as in Madden (left right, pinch, spread).

LB Shift- Also the same LB shifts as Madden has (left, right, pinch, spread).

Adjust Coverage- The options here are loose, bump, face up, and safeties into box.

Check back for more information on Tuesday when I begin to discuss career mode. I'll go through the process of creating a coach, getting hired, and all of the basic duties you have to perform as an NFL Head Coach. Sit tight until then and feel free to leave questions in the comments section.

NFL Head Coach In Game Walkthrough: Part 1

2006-03-30T10:39:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've dropped something here in the blog because of some construction we're doing at MN, but I thought I'd stop by and give a bit of an NFL Head Coach update. In this entry I'll try and go in depth as much as I can into how it is you play the game on the field. I played on the XBOX, so any reference I make to controls is using that particular console. Much of NFL Head Coach is spent in your office, in meeting rooms, or on the practice field, but when it comes down to it you still have the opportunity to play through the games. Here's where this title becomes really challenging and even a bit frantic.

Coaching in game is all about multi tasking. The most important thing you need to know is that no matter what you do, the game will continue to go on around you. There is no reason to pause the game (maybe if nature calls) and if you aren't paying close attention to what's going on, it will hurt you because the on field action never stops. Games start out simply enough. You give your team captain instructions on how to handle the coin toss and then have 2 minutes to make preparations. You can skip through this, but it may not be wise because just like in real football, every second you have as a coach is important. Once the kickoff has taken place, the real fun begins.

There are several camera angles with which you can watch the action. One is sort of a diagonally angled, 3/4 sort of view that allows you to see a good bit of the field. Another view is similar to that one, but farther away. There's a blimp view from directly overhead which is great for making pre snap adjustments, and a cinematic view that looks a lot like the view that is shown in Madden when the game is being run as a demo. There is a sideline view that essentially puts you in the shoes of your coach and another sideline view that is from that same angle, but more of a press box level. Finally there is a view that allows you to look at your secondary if you're on defense, but focuses on the offensive backfield if you have possession of the ball. These views can by toggled through any time pre snap or duing the play by pressing the left and right triggers. It's totally seamless and extremely useful depending on the situation on the field. There are no custom camera views.

Calling Plays

The play call screen is different than what you might be used to seeing in Madden. Rather than grouping the plays by formation, they are grouped by down and distance and situation. It's the kind of list a real coach might have on their play call sheet. Included are the following:

1st down
2nd and short
2nd and medium
2nd and long
3rd and short
3rd and medium
3rd and long
goalline
4th and go for it
time management
special teams
2 minute drill
2 point plays

There is a bar at the top of the screen that gives you certain vital information. You can see the score, down and distance, and what happened the previous play. This is very important to keep track of as you multi task. At any time you can also press X and bring up an action menu that will let you call timeout and view an instant replay. The replay is not like in Madden, more of a what a head coach would see looking at the jumbotron. This is where you can challenge a call if you need to. At the start of a new down, your coordinator will give you a recommended play. If you're wearing your headset, this play will be heard as well as appear on screen. You can then decide to pick that play or make your own call. With the headset you will be able to call the play out loud, or you can do it using the controller.

Pre Snap Options

Once the play has been called, there are several options you can choose. Using the XBOX D Pad, you can press up to make pre snap adjustments, left to talk to the players who are on the sidelines, down to make substitutions and changes to the depth chart, and right for stats. Here is a breakdown of what you can do in each of these menus:

Pre Snap Control

This is where you make adjustments similar to how you would in Madden. Only it's much more in depth. Included are WR progression, slide protection, audible, QB strategy, formation shift, hot route, & motion. We'll get into these a little more in detail in a later article.

Talk To Players

Selecting this option will allow you to talk to players who are currently on the sideline. This means your 2nd and third stringers and any unit that's not on the field at the moment. If you have the ball, you will not be able to talk to your starting QB in this menu because he's on the field. Your linebacker corps however will be available. This is an important area during game play because it's a menu where you can both motivate and strategize with players. This is something we'll also cover a little more in depth in Part 2 of our walkthrough.

Roster

The roster area is fairly straightforward. You can set your depth charts and substitutions here. The best part about this is that it's not from the pause menu. The game is still going on as you make these subsitutions on the fly.

Stats

This is an area where you can quickly look through the same kind of statistics you'd have to hit pause to take a peek at in Madden.

Pay Attention

This pre snap menu has a lot of options for you to use, but since the game is always being played out in real time, you have to manage your time wisely. If you are busy talking to your linebackers and needed to tell your QB to get rid of the ball quickly, that could affect what happens on the field. In fact, you could spend the entire game yelling at players on the sidelines if you wanted to, and your coordinators would send in the plays to the QB. I'm not sure I'd advise this though, as the best head coaches are the ones who are on top of everything.

On the whole, this new method of in game coaching that EA has implemented works pretty well. It's much more intense than simply calling a play in Madden and then executing it. There are several things going on at once and as the coach you need to hurry up and make the correct adjustments on the fly or you'll be in a world of hurt. I'll tell you one thing, the next time I see my favorite team call a timeout when there is confusion on the field I may be a little more understanding. Being an NFL head coach is no walk in the park

Stay tuned for part 2 of our NFL Head Coach Walkthrough, and make sure and check out the info hub at Madden Nation with links to all of our NFL Head Coach content.

An Update..

2006-02-28T11:50:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in some time. We're doing some construction on the MN front page and forums and have suspended some of our content for the time being. Expect new entries and articles here in the near future.

EA Sports Arena Football Initial Impressions

2006-02-03T12:51:00.000-05:00

I received my copy of EA Sports Arena Football today for the PS2. I've had a few hours with the game so far, so just about enough time to get acquainted with the basic features and how it plays. Rather than writing an article about what I think of the game, I'm going to jot down some initial impressions here for you guys to check out. I'll also be answering questions in this thread on the Madden Nation forums.

- Graphically this game is pretty decent for a current gen title. Madden 06 for the PS2 looks pretty average on my HDTV, but this game is a bit better. It's a marginal difference, but definitely something I noticed right away.

- The control scheme is a bit confusing at first if you're used to playing current gen Madden. It seems like sort of a hybrid scheme that's a cross between NFL Street and Madden 360. Speed burst for instance is R1 and you juke using circle. Stiff arm is assigned to square and dive is done using the triangle. This took a bit of practice to get down and unfortunately it doesn't look like there is any ability to customize the controls.

- The game play is pretty consistent with what I expected. I think this game is to AFL football what Madden is to the NFL. It's not a perfect simulation but it's pretty close. I noticed that passing plays near the wall do often end up with someone going over the side. It happens a bit more often than it does in a real AFL game, but the animation isn't too over the top so I don't think it will bother the Arena die hards too much.

- I was playing on All Pro and I felt like I had reasonable time to throw the ball. It's comparable to Madden in that respect. The difference is that because of the small field, a lot of the routes have to be well timed if you're going to complete a pass. You can't just sit back in the pocket and wait because there is a window of opportunity and once it passes, your chances of throwing a completion are pretty slim.

- The playbooks are pretty basic and easy to get down. You can select them from a menu that has pass plays, run plays, and then one that has all of them together. The only thing I don't like is that since all of the plays are grouped together it can take a while to scroll up and down and find the one you want. They are the same for each team though so once you have the book totally memorized, it will probably become a reflex.

- Controlling the WR during the route is a lot of fun. It seems like it's easier to complete deep balls this way because you can turn on the speed burst and fly right by someone. I do feel like I had more success following the route the way the play is drawn up rather than improvising. I'll be interested to see how many people use this feature online.

- I've noticed that a lot of my incomplete passes come from being hit by a defender. That's not to say that I haven't caught passes with someone glued to me because I have, but there have been plenty of times where I thought I made the play and got creamed and dropped the ball.

- Playing defense is more fun than I thought it would be. I'm finding that controlling a DB is the way to go. Because of the rules with the linebackers, there isn't a whole lot you can do with them a lot of the time. Even with the D linemen I felt myself wanting to stunt to get around the O linemen because of my experience with Madden and you can't do that in the AFL. The rules really aren't that complicated though and I don't agree with the couple of reviewers that have said the rules make this game less fun to play. They don't take anything away from the experience and you don't have to be a hardcore AFLer to understand them.

- Running the ball is super hard, as it should be. I don't think anyone is going to be able to play an unrealistic game where they run the ball more than they would in a real life. It's just too difficult and even when you do get past that first line of defenders, there is nowhere to go because the field is just too small.

- There are two camera views. A default view and a classic view which is similar but back a little further. I have found the default view to be just fine. It's cool because since the field is so narrow, you can play a little closer to the action in this game than in Madden or NCAA football.

- The historic teams are not all unlocked at the outset of the game. I've already unlocked a bunch of them though during the course of playing, so I don't anticipate it taking a long time to get all of them.

- The kicking game is easy to get down, but there are no gimme field goals or extra points. You kick by aiming and then moving the right stick down to power up, then straight back up when you want to kick. It's a simple approach but if you get lazy (and I did once or twice) you might not move the stick up perfectly straight and you'll miss a kick you shouldn't. I've missed a couple of XPs myself already.

- Kickoffs are a lot of fun to return. For the most part it's easy to field them, but every once in a while something crazy can happen. In one of the games I played the kick hit one of the uprights and bounced back towards the kicking team into a swarm of players. They recovered and I was pissed, but that's how the ball bounces sometimes in the AFL.

- The cutscenes with the coaches are nice. I'm not feeling the whole "on the field" approach over brodcast too much, but the way the coaches will try and motivate the players is nice. In my first game I was down by two TDs and picked off a pass. The coach came up to the player who picked the ball and said something about that being the break we needed to get back in this. That was pretty cool.

- So far I've seen some impressive plays. Aaron Bailey caught a pass that he first tipped and then hit the wall in the endzone. It went right off his hands, into the wall, then back into his hands for the score. I looked at it 3 or 4 times in instant replay. So far these kind of plays have happened often enough to make things interesting, but not too often to where it's overly arcadish. That's the way it should be I think. Hopefully I'll feel the same way after playing some more.

- I went online real quick to see if there was a roster update. There wasn't one available yet, but I did see something interesting when I signed on. There is a sponsorship by ESPN. You can either let ESPN sponsor your online experience or you can pay $2 via credit card. This is similar to premium pass for Madden 2005 where there is a charge but virtually everyone accepts the sponsorship instead of paying.

- Here are a couple of negative things I've seen so far. There was once where I tried to view the instant replay because of something cool I saw happen on a field goal attempt. Only when I went into the replay menu it showed the play and the football was invisible. I've only seen this the one time so I'll have to experiment and see if it happens often. The other thing I have seen a couple of times has to do with the corner of the endzone. Sometimes when you have a player in the corner of the endzone against the wall, he'll teleport. It's not a situation where he moves really far out of position, but sometimes the guy will magically appear a foot or two from where he just was.

OK, that's what I've got so far. This weekend I'll do my best to try and get some of the season mode done and give some impressions there, and with any luck I'll find someone to play online so I can let you know how that is as well. When I went on earlier I was the only person online, so no promises there. Make sure and drop me some questions on the Madden Nation forums. I'll be in and out today, but I will do my best to get to them.

Is It In The Game Or Isn't It?

2006-02-02T15:19:00.000-05:00

For some time, the EA Sports brand has had the recognizable slogan "if it's in the game, it's in the game." You can find fans and athletes alike repeating this catchphrase in video intros of just about every one of their sports titles. The premise is pretty simple. EA claims to make sports games that accurately represent their real life counterparts. But is this statement true? And to what extent? Until recently fans seemed to be reasonably accepting of this phrase which EA has boasted about all of its sports products. Times sure have changed.

In the 16 bit days, nobody questioned this fantastic declaration. Why is that? Did fans really believe at that time that the games EA was putting out were as close to 100% realism as they'd ever see? Surely they could remember playing ATARI Football or Nintendo sports games that didn't stack up to the product EA had at the time. Was it not logical for them to see that technology would improve and that there would be "more of what is in the game," in the game? Even if you believe in the nearsightedness of fans, it should be obvious that EA knew that the best was yet to come.

Fans today are different. It's not uncommon to see members of EA fan site message boards proclaim EA's slogan a mockery following a tirade about missing features, lack of innovation, and their outright disappointment with a recent EA Sports release. In the past I've made the case that todays fans have higher expectations and scrutinze these titles much more closely than in the past. I still believe that to be true. Thanks to the Internet, more information than ever before is available about what's not right with games. I'll even go so far as to say that on some level fans want to find something to be disappointed with and don't have any trouble grasping for complaints which have only partial validity.

I don't believe that EA's slogan is any less true than it's ever been. There has always been room for improvement in their sports titles. They aren't any less real than before. I've had concerns with their games right from the first time I'd ever played one. I have had ideas for features that I'd like to see implemented, and eagerly awaited the next iteration to see if they made the cut. I think the difference now is that many hardcore fans go into each year thinking more about what won't be in the game than what is. We want to have something to complain about. That's now a part of the fan experience. We know that the games are better than ever, but we aren't going to be satisfied until we get everything we want. The bad news? That will never happen.

Are there valid reasons to be disappointed with EA Sports and how they handle their titles? Sure. There are few people who would agree that an exclusive NFL license is good for sports gaming. The business of gaming has forced fans to endure some growing pains in recent years. Nobody wants to hear that gaming is about money, but in order for EA Sports to stay on top some shrewd business decisions have been made. At their core though, EA is the same as they have always been. There was never any truth to the implication that everything in the real game was in the video game. It was and still is a catchy phrase that resonates with fans around the globe.

The difference today is that many fans use this phrase to criticize rather than celebrate EA Sports' body of work. Is it EA's fault that fans don't feel the same way they used to about their titles? They certainly hold some responsibility. They make the games, right? Is it the fault of fans who are overzealous and expect games that come out annually to be revolutionary, when in reality they can only be evolutionary? I think there is some truth to that too. Whatever the reason, this fan remembers the day when people who played EA Sports titles were genuinely appreciative of what went into making those games. When we heard "it's in the game," we believed it to be true even though we knew in wasn't. I hope that some day we reach that point again.

Madden 360 A Piece Of Cake?

2006-01-28T16:41:00.000-05:00

A few entries ago I lamented about the missing Madden 360 features that were pushing me towards the direction of starting a franchise on current gen Madden 06. Last week the dam finally broke and I couldn't resist playing a franchise with imported draft classes and several of my other favorite features. But missing features aside, there was something else about Madden 360 that was bothering me as well from a franchise standpoint. The computer is just too damn easy to beat.

I'm not the best Madden player on the planet. On current gen I typically hand the computer a defeat while playing on All Madden, but my most recent next gen Madden games haven't been the least bit competitive. I had been running a franchise with the Titans, a team that has enough holes that I thought I'd be able to get a good game out of the computer. I went so far as to sign a sentimental free agent, Eddie George. I figuered it would be some kind of challenge winning games with a half back who is on the wrong side of 30. I was wrong.

With an aging running back and quarterback I was able to destroy my opponents, racking up about 150 yards a game with George on the ground and many more with Steve McNair. I checked the cover to make sure I wasn't playing Madden '99 and was disappointed to see that this was indeed Madden 06 that was humming inside my 360 console. To make matters worse, the computer was incapable of putting together any kind of decent offensive effort. It didn't matter that I had loaded my team with rookie defensive players at key positions. They were unstoppable.

One thing that people used to complain about a whole lot with the current gen Madden games is how they felt that a computer opponent would sometimes be unstoppable or that there was some sort of a mysterious "comeback mode" that would allow the computer to get back into a game where they were being slaughtered. Playing Madden 360 franchise mode has almost made me wish I'd get some sort of a tough break that would benefit my AI opponent.

Madden 360 plays a heck of a game of football, but for a veteran like myself it's just not enough of a challenge as far as the computer is concerned. Maybe I ought to hop online and get my butt kicked a few more times by players much more skilled than myself. In the mean time, I'm going to see what Vince Young can do with a Miami team that went 1-15 after a simmed season. That should be enough challenge to keep my interest.

Backwards Confusability

2006-01-04T15:34:00.000-05:00

It's kind of an exciting time for fans of EA Sports football video games. Two new titles, EA Sports Arena Football and NFL Head Coach are due for release in the comings months and I for one am pretty psyched. But there is something unknown about these games that could play heavily into whether or not they become a part of my regular gaming rotation. Will they be backwards compatible with the XBOX 360? So far there are no definite answers, and that's troubling to say the least.

When these titles were announced several months back, I made the assumption that there was no way that we would not be able to play them on our newest hardware. Surely EA would figure out a way to get their newest titles to fans who have ditched their old consoles for the XBOX 360, wouldn't they? The fact is, we still don't know. Having spoken with a number of members of our community, I have observed that there are a significant number of people who are interested in these new titles, but many traded their PS2 or XBOX in so that they could afford a 360. This could leave some gamers with no way of playing several new current gen EA Sports games.

If you take a look on the official XBOX site's list of games that are currently backwards compatible, you will notice that none of the Madden or NCAA series of EA Sports football games are listed. This is not a good sign for those of us who were looking forward to trying out future iterations of EA Sports Football titles. Whether or not they will eventually be added or whether or not we can expect the new titles to play on the XBOX 360 remains to be seen. If we do not see these games reach the 360, who is at fault? Is Microsoft not doing enough to make these titles playable? Does EA not have enough interest in making the older games playable? Or is it a technology issue that's kept the words Madden and Football off the list?

What we do know about these issues isn't much, but the coming months should be very telling in terms of what we should be prepared for when it comes to backwards compatibility with our favorite sports titles. Madden Nation eagerly awaits news on the upcoming games, and we'll be certain to do our part to straighten out the"backwards confusability" that has people questioning their future football gaming purchases.

Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone

2005-12-30T17:34:00.000-05:00

Last night, after having the XBOX 360 Madden for over a month, I finally got the urge to play current gen Madden. I love my XBOX 360 Madden game, but as I continued on with my Browns franchise which was several years in, I started to miss those familiar features that current gen Madden has to offer. I wanted to relocate my team. I wanted to redesign the uniform and build a new stadium. I had the urge to use a draft class that had real players' names. Oh, how we take these things for granted until we no longer have them.

I am not a die hard franchise guy, but I play it enough that these features have become pretty important to me. The 360 Madden does have a couple of nice, new wrinkles in franchise mode when it comes to how it tracks the statistics, but the missing features for me where more of a priority. I can't hate on the 360 Madden game. It's the best game play experience I've had with a football game ever. At the same time I find myself longing for the features that have made Madden franchise mode the best in football gaming over the last few years.

I decided not to start a Madden current gen franchise last night, even though the urge hit me pretty hard. Instead I did a new Madden 360 chise, which I ended up playing and enjoying through several preseason games. I imagine I'll probably continue that one for a few seasons or until those ugly Titans uniforms really start to bother me. It's hard to say which might come first. It's a difficult thing sitting on the fence between great game play and great features, but for me the in game stuff is going to win 10 out of 10 times.

Even though the 360 has only been out for a little over a month, Madden NFL 07 can't come soon enough. These missing features are certainly tolerable for those who like myself care first and foremost about game play, but some days it sure is tough to deal with. My favorite features will undoubtedly make their return to Madden, and I'll be able to enjoy doing the things with the game that I love and have the great graphics and game play that the next gen consoles have to offer. But not just yet. There are about 8 months before that will happen. August sure does seem far... at least I've got Arena Football and NFL Head Coach to look forward to.

The Proud Dad

2005-12-28T23:33:00.000-05:00

Something unexpected happened this afternoon as I was spending some time with my two little girls. My 5 year old daughter asks me about twice every day if she can play my XBOX 360. I've let her play a couple of times before, but today was different. Today she played Madden for the very first time. Normally I like to let her play something simple like a racing game because the controls are easy for her to remember. And that's exactly how we started out. I popped in Need For Speed: Most Wanted and she slowly made her way around the track, knocking down every lamp post and trash can in sight. She was a little frustrated with her performance and she told me that she's much better at football games and would probably do better if she were playing Madden. "But Haley," I said. "You've never played Madden. It's a lot harder to learn than this racing game. Why don't we stick with this?" "No dad. I want to play Madden." And so we did.

As soon as I put the game in I began to think about the best way to approach teaching a 5 year old how to play Madden. She doesn't have much of an interest in football and doesn't even know the basic rules, so I figured she'd be disappointed with how difficult it was. I let her have the Colts against the Texans, giving her the best possible chance to do well. At the same time I had her play on All Pro because it was unacceptable for any child of mine to play on a difficulty level any lower than that. Before we started she asked a bunch of questions. "What button do I push to throw the ball? When do I get the ball? How do I make a touchdown dad?" There were no simple answers. I told her to be patient and we began.

The Texans elected to receive and she was taken to the screen to kick off the ball. Before I could tell her what to do, Haley eyed the visual instructions on the screen to hit the a button and lined up a pretty good kick. I was sort of taken aback by this, but she acted as if she'd gone through this scenario 100 times before. Given how many times she's sat next to me as I've played, maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised. As she started out on defense I explained to her about not going offsides and that she should just try and control the defensive end Dwight Freeney and rush the quarterback. She understood and did a decent job of this, never going offsides and pressuring David Carr a couple of times on the Texans first possession. They didn't get much of a drive going and were forced to punt. We started out on offense.

I called out the plays to Haley and explained which ones were running and passing plays, and that we wanted to "get past the yellow line on the screen" so that we could keep our drive going. Then I walked her through the different receiver icons and how they corresponded with the buttons on the controller. She nodded indicating that she understood. I told her that she only had so much time to throw the ball. She nodded once more. We were ready. Haley hiked the ball on the first play and completed an 8 yard pass to Dallas Clark. Then a hook route to Harrison. Then a run up the gut for a first down with Edgerrin James. Was I really seeing what I thought I was? My 5 year old daughter was moving the Colts offense just as well as Peyton Manning himself? She got to about the 15 and couldn't convert a third down. She kicked the field goal with no help and went up 3-0. Were the Texans that bad or was my daughter that much of a natural at Madden? I didn't care. I just wanted to keep watching her play.

We teamed up over the next 3 quarters. I was the coach and she ran the offense to perfection. Ok maybe it wasn't quite that way, but she did score another touchdown before all was said and done. I didn't even mind that she missed the extra point. Through all of this I found that I was more excited about this game of Madden than I had been since I was a kid myself. My daughter was enjoying the same game that I grew up playing...the game that helped teach me football...the game that I still obsess over today. Several high fives and a few scores later, we had to quit the game early because she had a visit scheduled with grandma. She was down 10-9 at the time due to the missed extra point and another missed field goal, but I couldn't believe that she was playing a game of Madden on All Pro and may have very well won if we had time to finish.

She went off with my mom for a visit and I was left to digest everything that had just happened. I was completely amazed with how well she'd played. Granted her kicking game needed some work and she always let the computer catch her passes, but she also threw a touchdown and manually sacked David Carr before recovering a fumble. Today's events really piqued my curiousity. I wondered if it was a fluke. I wondered if maybe All Pro is just too easy, even for a 5 year old first time player. I thought that maybe all of my years of playing Madden in front of her somehow helped her pick up the sticks out of the blue and play a solid 3 quarters. Mostly though I was proud. That's a weird thing to say, that you're proud of what your daughter did in a video game. Proud the first time she takes a step? Sure. Proud of her good grades in school? Absolutely. But proud of her stick skills? I think I was just as surprised at my own reaction as I was at her ability to play the game.

I don't know if my daughter will ever get into Madden the way that I am. She had a lot of fun and so did I, but football has never been a great interest of hers and that's just fine by me. But today she did something that absolutely amazed me. Today I saw something in her that really got to me. Today I saw myself almost 20 years ago picking up ATARI real sports football for the first time. I could see the way it drew me in, remembering the intoxicating feeling of self satisfaction I had when I was able to score on my opponent. With all of the talk these days by Madden fans about glitches and cheese and things that are wrong with the game, it can be easy to lose sight of what the game is really all about. Having some fun. That's exactly what we did today.

As a father, when I look back at today it will probably be pretty insignigicant in the grand scheme of things. After all there are more important events in my daugher's life than the first time she played a certain EA Sports video game. But as a fan of Madden, I'll remember today a little differently. I'll remember today as the day my daughter taught me something about gaming. I'll recall how she reminded me of the joy I had at her age when video games were a lot more simple, but just as much fun. Today my daughter learned a little bit about how to play Madden. So did I.

To Cheese Or Not To Cheese?

2005-12-14T13:00:00.000-05:00

As I was watching episodes 3 and 4 of the Madden Nation tv show last night, I was struck by some comments that cast member Sherm Sticky made. The topic of "cheesing" came up as is expected in any kind of tournament where a significant amount of money is involved. Sherm made no excuses and was happy to consider himself a cheeser. He said that if money is a factor and he has a chance to win it, he won't hesitate to exploit AI flaws in the game. And who can really blame him? With a shot at $100,000 cash, there are few people who wouldn't do the same. The issue of cheese is a sensitive one with Madden Nation's sim community of players. It always has been. But at what point do we realize that this is a part of the game and accept it?

Every year we see the same complaints on the various sim forums. People show up on the message boards and post a grievance about a game they played with someone in the east room. "He cheesed me. I was glitched! He pulled the plug. He was playing with the Colts. I threw 5 interceptions so he must have been cheating." If you've heard one of these complaints, you've heard them all. There is no question that anyone who has experienced questionable play online has a right to be frustrated. Now if only there was a way to avoid people who look to cheat or exploit the AI when playing online.

But wait, there is! And there always has been. As early as Madden 2003 there were several sim sites where you could go and find a good, clean game of Madden. Today there are enough of these communities that you can always find a sim style Madden game. There are hundreds of leagues with similar rules and values, so why are we still complaining about cheese 3 Madden releases later? I'm starting to think that maybe some of us like doing it. Some of us like to be able to have an excuse when we lose. Some of us would rather critique others' games instead of making our game better, and that's a shame.

Don't be that guy who is the member of a sim style community but still shows up on the boards and complains that he was cheated. Your fellow members are enjoying competitive sim Madden leagues and tournaments, while you're whining about something that you have no control over. Don't expect cheesers and glitchers to go away any time soon. As long as there is money involved, there will be people who cheat to win. No matter how hard EA works to fix these problems, there are people who are working just as hard to make sure they have a shot at winning the Madden Challenge or another big money tournament. Sim communities have been around for years now, let's stop complaining and start using them for a change.

Thoughts On The First Two Madden Nation Episodes

2005-12-07T22:44:00.000-05:00

I don't think anyone knew exactly what to expect before Madden Nation premiered Tuesday night on ESPN2. What we did know was that this show was a huge opportunity to put our community on display for all to see, and that those who watched would form an instant impression of the hard core gamers that make up the Madden Nation. The responsibility of this impression fell on the cast members who were selected, and in the first hour of air time they didn't disappoint. ESPN chose a solid mix of gamers from around the Madden community and each of the differing personalities had something unique to offer. From the perspective shaping words of wisdom of NJ Maddenballer to the aneurysm inducing antics of Sherm Sticky, the characters shined.

That's really what our community is about, isn't it? As much as fans of Madden are alike, we are also different. We come from all backgrounds and cultures. We are made up of every age, race, religion, and economic status imaginable. That's one of the things that makes us special. And that was very much evident as the show contestants met one another in the lobby of EA's Redwood City, CA headquarters. The gamers sized each other up, some recognizing familiar faces from EA Challenges past, while others met new friends who would quickly become their Madden adversaries on the way to $100,000. Some of the contestants also stood out immediately as the stars of the show because of their colorful behavior.

Everybody needs a villian. On the Madden Nation TV series, Sherman “Sherm Sticky” Jameson was happy to fill that role. He danced, taunted, and "pop, pop, popped" his way through the first two episodes and was instantly loved and hated at the same time by Madden fans across the country. He represented an equally flamboyant receiver in Chad Johnson, and even had the audicity to trash talk the NFL superstar in his own living room. Oh yeah, he's pretty good at Madden too.

In addition to all of the varying personas, there was some heated competition during the first two shows. Probably the most impressive moment was when free agent baller Antoin “Pretty Boy” Williams defeated Christopher “Action” Jackson to gain himself a spot on the tour bus. With his NFL player representative Larry Fitzgerald watching intently, Pretty Boy won the game on a kick off return for a touchdown in overtime that he predicted moments befored it occurred. These type of moments make for good TV, and they also make for a pretty damn good game of Madden.

Next Tuesday can't come soon enough for this Madden fan. Who will try and make their way onto the bus next episode? Will Pretty Boy make any more predictions? Will someone lose their cool and strangle the life out of Sherm Sticky? If the first week of Madden Nation is any indication, we will have plenty to look forward to. Make sure and tune in 11 PM eastern on ESPN2 to find out what's in store.

The Madden Nation TV Show

2005-12-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

Next Tuesday at 11 pm Eastern, ESPN2 will begin to air their new reality series called "Madden Nation." The show follows several Madden players as they go across the country and compete with one another in pursuit of some sort of prize. Coincidentally, Madden Nation the show shares its name with Madden Nation the site. Although we're not involved with the show, we are very interested to see how ESPN portrays the Madden community. Personally, I want to see some competitive Madden play highlighted. We always see the outrageous offensive styles and high scoring games that plague the Madden Challenge, so it would be nice to see some real sim ball for a change. I guess we'll find out shortly.

We've been discussing the show in the following thread on our forums, and I think everyone is curious to see exactly what it's all about. Who will we see on the show? Some recognizable names and faces? Madden Challenge participants? Some people from the online community maybe? What NFL players will be involved? There haven't been too many ads on tv for this program, so it leaves a lot of the imagination. Since this show is about Madden, I think it would benefit the community to put some support behind it. I'll be watching to see what ESPN has to offer, I hope you do too.

Madden 360 Likes/Dislikes

2005-12-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in getting up a new post. I was under the weather and went out of town for a few days and I'm just now starting to get caught up. Today I want to share some of my basic likes and dislikes when it comes to Madden 360. Now that I've been able to get in some significant playing time, there are several things I love and a few things I could do without as well.

I Like:

- The stadiums. Never has an NFL game made me feel like I am playing right in the middle of Fed Ex Field or Texas Stadium. This is for sure one of the highlights of the new Madden.

- The new play calling system. When it's 3rd and 7, I like to go to Santana Moss. Now I could choose a play where he's the primary receiver without having to search too hard.

- Big plays feel like big plays. Just like in the NFL, a big play can happen in Madden at any time during the game. When you do see one this year, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I don't know if it's the better player models or the crowd, but there is a definite difference here.

- The graphics when played on an HDTV. Nuff Said.

- Online play is fun again. I haven't enjoyed playing games online this much since Madden 2004 hit stores. Nearly every single game I have played has been really competitive and had an amazing finish. It's cool that you can sometimes see a replay online as well. There are some moments where my opponents and I have marveled in what has just happened.

I Don't Like:

- Suction blocking. It happens a lot of times on outside running plays and causes dbs to get pulled towards the guard, allowing a huge run to happen when it should have been containable.

- No challenges. I wouldn't have a problem with this if the right call really was made every time. But I've lost too many close games because about 50% of my fumbles should actually be an incomplete pass.

- Superman dives. For the most part this game looks very realistic, so when I see a guy lay out like he's wearing a red cape and go flying across the screen, I want to pull out what little hair is on my head.

- Idiot dbs. The majority of the time, dbs react how they are supposed to. But every once in a while I'll see a defensive back do something like stand at the line of scrimmage and not even attempt to cover his receiver. It's a quirky thing, but it does happen.

- The missing individual defensive coverage audibles. Gotta get these back in the game fellas, I feel naked without them.

Too Old For Video Games? Not This Madden Fan

2005-11-09T13:33:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, my mom always used to talk about the day I would grow out of playing video games. Today I'm 24 years old, and Madden still garners the same attention from me as it did when I was 12. You might even say I'm more into Madden than I was at that age. When I was 12 all I did was play the game. Now I not ony play it, but talk about it on web sites and the Madden Nation radio show. I have known people who said they grew out of video games. Some guys that I knew when they were younger who used to be avid gamers have since put their controllers down and moved on to other things. Is this a sign that I haven't reached the same level of maturity they have, or is there another reason why some of us continue to play while others don't? Could I too one day wake up and decide that I'm too old for this?

From my experience in the Madden community, I have seen a wide variety of gamers. Male, female, as young as 9 years old and as old as 50. There is no question in my mind that older people do still enjoy video games. I recently read an article about an 80 year old woman named Doris Self who plays the old school classic Qbert on a competitive level. Surely she's not immature for her age. But what is it that keeps someone like Doris interested in games, while some in their mid 20s have decided that it's just not for them? I'm not sure I'll ever find out the answer to this question, but I do think I know what it is that will keep me playing video games into my 80s like Doris Self if I'm fortunate enough to live that long. Realism.

At the time I started playing sports games, they weren't really an accurate representation of the sport that was being portrayed. Twenty years later I'm using real sports strategy in order to learn how to be a better Madden player. With Next Gen upon us we are entering a new era of realism in video games. Player models in Madden will now look so real that you can recognize certain players just by looking at their face. Anyone who saw the shot of Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander a few months back will agree. The realism of video games may now attract people to gaming that weren't even all that interested in the past. Football looks so real in a video game setting that football fans who aren't gamers may become gamers. People who have certain interests may find that there is a game out there that realistically depicts their hobby. And these are people that aren't already gamers that we're talking about, not someone who is already an avid Madden and gaming fan.

The closer that Madden comes to looking like a real football game, the more I want to play it. I have seen the game improve by leaps and bounds in the time that I have been playing, and it gets better every year. With all of this improvement in technology and the strides made towards realism, how could I all of a sudden put the game down? I'm definitely not going to stop following football and if Madden continues to look more and more like real football then it doesn't seem likely that I'll want to stop playing. I'm not just a fan of Madden, but all kinds of video games. The extent to which gamers are being immersed into what can sometimes seem like a realistic world is incredible. We're on the cusp of some amazing things when it comes to video games, so when I talk to someone who says they just don't have time for that any more I just can't relate.

When I was younger, a lot of people still felt like video games were for two groups of people. Kids and nerds. But as I sit here and type this message to you, video games are for everyone. There is something out there for just about any type of person you can think of. Games allow people to exhibit their competitive nature, show off their creativity, live out their fantasies, and even vent frustrations from time to time by going on a Grand Theft Auto shooting spree. This is a time when more and more people are picking up controllers to join in on the action. How anyone who has a history of playing games can call it quits now is inconceivable. One thing I am fairly sure of is that no matter how old I am, I'll always be interested in where gaming is headed and want to be a part of the gaming community. There is no age limit on fun as far as I'm concerned. I think Doris would agree.

Madden Nation Contest Winner

2005-11-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

This past week, we held a contest inspired by the upcoming EA NFL Head Coach video game. Contestants sent in entries where they pretended they were the coach of a team about to play in the Super Bowl. They had to give their best motivational speech to inspire their team to be victorious. The writer of the best entry is the winner of a PS2 copy of NBA Live 06. Congrats to MN member LV Radio Guy, who sent in the following speech and won the contest.

Sit down men...

It has been a great year fellas. We have fought through the adversity of injuries, the skeptics that didn't even think we would taste the postseason and our rowdy fans to make it here. It is time to prove that you are champions. Forget about what happened earlier in the season, it is all about tonight. This is the game you have put your heart and soul into for most of your lives, since you were in the Pop Warner leagues at age five. This is your chance to reach your ultimate goal. That team across the field, do they respect you? NO. Those pampered announcers in the booth...do they respect you? NO. It is time to show that you are the real deal.

I am sure that there are millions of people betting against us, cheering against us and praying with every ounce of energy that we get killed out there. But you know what? Screw them. This is our time, our team, our dream and we are not going to let those critics and doubters keep us from getting it. I know, you know, and your teammates know what we have in us and what we are made of. We have the heart, we have the persistence to get our job done. We are a team and don't you forget it. You get out there and leave it all on the line, give up everything for your teammates.

If you don't then get out. I want the men that are going to give me 200 percent no matter what the situation is. It could be preseason or this blessed game of the Super Bowl, you give it all for your teammates. Men, i have watched you this whole season and you have made me proud. It would be a shame to go this far and come up short. You guys have what it takes to win it all. Men, it is our TIME, our DESTINY. I want you to close your eyes right now and think about the men who have played this game before you and have not had the chance to play in this game, the legends who did, and then your teammates. Think about it, just think about it....

Open your eyes....

Men, IT IS OUR TIME!

ARE YOU READY TO GET OUT THERE AND SHOW THEM WHO WE ARE?! ARE YOU READY TO PROVE YOURSELVES ON THAT FIELD?! ARE YOU READY TO KNOCK EM DOWN?!

THAT'S RIGHT!! WE ARE READY, MEN!! SO LETS GET OUT THERE AND WIN THIS GAME!

Is There Such A Thing As Too Many Football Video Games?

2005-10-27T09:21:00.000-05:00

In a word. No. I've always felt the more football games were out there, the better that was for me as a fan. This year EA is introducing two more football games to their line up. Let's see what we've got here. Current Gen Madden & NCAA, Next Gen Madden, NFL Street (taking this year off though), Arena Football, & NFL Head Coach. Did I forget anything? That's an awful lot of football from one gaming developer. My earliest days of playing video games involved football, and for a long time I owned mostly sports titles. As a football fan it's a treat to have all of these options.

The only problem I have is figuring out which game I am going to play. Since there are so many of these games, I find myself ignoring some of them.. at least for part of the year. Madden is the one constant. Even if I take a break from Madden for a few weeks there is no doubt that I'll end up picking it back up. NCAA take a bit of a back burner when Madden hits stores, but usually I'll end up going back to that and running an NCAA dynasty in tandem with my Madden franchise. This year I haven't done that so far, mainly because of the huge difference of playing with the vision cone in Madden, which isn't in NCAA. It's just too much of a change for me.

NFL Street is a game I really love. I think maybe I like it a little more than most of the hardcore fans. If you can get a couple of friends over at your house, it's one of the best multiplayer games out there period. It's not too bad online, but having 3 or 4 buddies take the controls in person is even better. The Arena Football and Head Coach games of course are new. I'm not even discouraged by the fact that these games are going to be current gen titles. AFL football is so different that I think I'm going to be running a franchise on there regardless of how much better Madden 360 looks. Head Coach is probably going to be a PC pick up for me. That is a title I see myself spending a lot of time with. The best part of these titles in my opinion, is that they come out in the NFL offseason. That's when I need my football fix the most.

That of course leaves us with Next Gen Madden. As a huge fan of the series this is a no brainer as the one that I'll likely spend the most time with this year. I don't have a clue what to expect and while that does worry me a little bit, there is a definite feeling of excitement. The last couple of releases of Madden have been anticlimactic for me personally, because at that point I have already played the game to some extent. This time I get to just be another fan again, which I think is pretty cool. I'm going to be up all night with the rest of my Madden Nationers, probably playing a ot of those guys online.

Ultimately a couple of these titles will probably have to take a back seat. I won't be sure which ones until I play all of them. It's good to know though that I have so many options available. The times where I burn myself out playing Madden I can go and try some of the other games. I never get completely burned out when it comes to football in general, so having that opportunity to try something new this year is one I am really looking forward to.

Being A Madden Rookie Is Hard In 2005.

2005-10-23T10:46:00.000-05:00

Like a lot of you who are members of the Madden community, it's been a long time since I've been a bona fide Madden rookie. I started out on the earliest version of the game available for the 16 bit consoles, so I wasn't alone when it was time for me to learn the ropes. I have played Madden every year since then and for the most part it's been a pretty gradual process where I learn the new features with each iteration of the game. The one time I experienced a bit of a rude awakening was when Madden went online for the consoles in late 2002. I used to think I was the best Madden player in the world because nobody in my neighborhood could beat me. Then I got online and played against some tough players right off the bat. It took me a while to adjust to this new level of competition, but I did ultimately overcome that challenge. For Madden rookies today though, it's not so simple.

Think for just a minute about the close knit community we have. While we are growing rapidly, we're still small enough that you can go from one Madden fan site to another and find the usual suspects. We spend a lot of time playing in leagues and talking about Madden and when it comes to well educated fans, we are right up there with the best of 'em in the world of gaming. It was intimidating enough for me as a 10 year Madden vet when I went online with Madden 2003. Imagine how tough it is for Madden rookies these days to assimilate themselves into our community. Madden is not a game that you can pick up for the first time and be competitive with. At least not against someone who knows what they are doing. In the world of Madden Football, there is no such thing as beginners luck. You can only become a solid Madden competitor by putting a lot of time and effort into your game.

In addition to the competitive difficulties that face Madden rookies, there is also the factor of what I like to call "The Madden Culture." Just as any other culture has customs, so too does the Madden community. Whether it's the unspecific and sometimes confusing guidelines that make up "sim style play," or not openly calling out another community member on the forums during a dispute; Madden fans have their own unique set of rules. Those of us who are Madden veterans are sometimes frustrated when we encounter someone who isn't in the know. New community members ask questions on the forums which are obvious to most of us. They may also not know what is expected of them when playing a game online. Their ignorance can be frustrating for some, but it's to be expected. Certainly we shouldn't expect someone who just started out with Madden to be aware of all of the nuances that make the Madden community what it is. This knowledge only comes with time and patience, and sometimes that's a tall order in these parts.

Unfortunately, some Madden rookies barely get their feet wet before they become discouraged and decide they'll stick to playing the computer on the rookie or pro levels in franchise mode. It's not easy being beaten to a pulp for an extended period of time before they can pick up enough know-how to come out on top against a die hard Madden vet. In the worst cases, a Madden rookie may not even find a fan site and is not only beaten but cheated by an online east room vulture. No, it's not easy being a Madden rookie. Not these days. There aren't too many people who want to invest some time into helping new community members adapt to the Madden culture and focus on their game to reach that high level of play. There are some exceptions of course. Madden Nation's own Russell 05 started a "Madden Boot Camp" to share some of his knowledge with people who wanted to up their game. VG Sports has always been a good place for Maddenites to gain superior knowledge that will help them on the virtual gridiron. But outside of these rare cases, Madden rookies just don't have very much assistance.

Yeah, being a Madden rookie is hard in 2005. Next time you come across someone who is new to the game, put yourself in their shoes. Think about how intimidating and difficult it must be for them. Think about the effort it's going to take for them to achieve the same skill on the sticks that you already have. Those of us who have been there since the very beginning sometimes take for granted the opportunity we've had to improve our game over the course of time. 15 years is quite a head start if you ask me... but it's not something that a little bit of lab time and help from the community can't fix. We often have the tendency to want to make our community exclusive. Our strict sim guidelines and sometimes condescending attitudes build up barriers between us and potential new community members. Let's open up the doors and create an inclusive community that can be built upon. Let's help these guys out. Yeah, being a Madden rookie is difficult in 2005, but Madden vets can do something about that.

Ignorance Is Bliss: The Evolution Of The Madden Fan

2005-10-20T11:42:00.000-05:00

It used to be so simple. Back in the early to mid 90's, fans of Madden eagerly anticipated the latest release of the top NFL Football video game franchise. I was one of them. Much of the time, I didn't know a whole lot about what to expect when I got my hands on my copy of Madden. I read all of the video game magazines and had some idea of the basic features, but there were no videos to look at and no IGN or Gamespot with several dozen screens. So when I picked up my copy it was my first really good look at the game. Whatever flaws Madden might have had at that time were unknown to me. It was a great game every year and I enjoyed it with little criticism or thought about what else EA might want to add in next year. I was always content to wait and see and trust them to come up with some great new features, and as far as I was concerned they always did.

Times sure have changed when it comes to how Madden fans approach EA's latest gridiron incarnation. These days people study the videos and screens with the hope of making some kind of educated guess as to how Madden will turn out. They argue with one another on Internet message boards about decisions that EA has made and sometimes accuse one another of being biased in their assessments. The Madden fan of today is much different than when I was a kid. Hell, they are much different than they were even four or five years ago. What's all of the fuss about? Why all of the criticism and why the high level of expectations? Are they too high? Are they unreasonable? Are we hoping for something that is essentially a pipe dream and won't happen? Is this era of the "new Madden fan" a positive thing or a negative thing? What caused this to happen?

At the time Madden 2002 was released, I was more or less that same guy who used to check out the gaming magazines for all of my information about the game. There were now a few Internet sites where I could get some extra screens and opinions about the game, but the way I viewed EA and Madden was the same as it always had been. Things changed because of Madden 2003. Madden 2003 was the first Madden game that was available to play online with the consoles. It's true, there had been some Madden fan sites around before Madden 2003, but because of the element of online play there was an explosion within the Madden playing community that caused it to grow exponentially. People started online leagues, there were several new fan sites that popped up and grew rapidly, and people started to communicate about the game like never before. This new ability to interact with other fans was like a Madden utopia for many at first. We'd be able to get information about the game before its release each year, talk Madden strategies, and rumor had it that EA even visited these sites so they were a place to share ideas as well.

Then reality hit us. There was no Madden utopia. Anything this positive was going to have its drawbacks. People started to talk about flaws and glitches in the game. Online players would relate stories of opponents cheating them or pulling the plug during the middle of a game. We all found out what we had never thought possible. Madden was not a perfect game after all. Determined to make it better, we all posted our thoughts about what could make the game better. We started to see that not everyone agreed on things. Some people were more interested in Franchise mode, others were more interested in online play. Some cared about minute details such as having accurate uniforms and stadiums, while others just wanted a game that played well. The one thing everyone seemed to agree on was that Madden had too many flaws, that it needed to be improved. EA had built this reputation for making solid games, and now they were slacking off. Now they were putting out something that was nothing more than a roster update with a few new features. Or were they? Was it EA that changed how things were being done? Or was it us who changed the way we saw things?

Fast forward to 2005. A new generation of gaming is upon us. It's been 5 years since this last happened, and boy last time we were really excited. This time cautiously optimistic is probably a more appropriate description of how people feel. One day we read all of the great things the gaming media has to say about the upcoming XBOX 360 Madden title, and the next we read something that says we should be wary of the first round of next gen EA sports titles. We argue with one another about what we think will be the likely outcome, and by now many of us are critical of EA and how they operate. We criticize their decision to pick up the exclusive NFL license. We don't even necessarily believe all of the things EA is telling us. When they tell us that Madden for the 360 is being built from the ground up, we're skeptical. We've seen the videos with some familiar looking animations and it makes us wonder. Even after we've heard or seen evidence that points to a totally new engine, we aren't 100% sure we should believe EA.

On the other hand there are people who act as if it's still 1994. They don't want to hear people complain about the player models. They don't want people to bellyache over a minor feature not making it to next gen. They just want to play the game like they always have. They want to enjoy it and they don't care what anyone else thinks. We label them fanboys. We are critical of them because they don't put as much effort into analyzing the game as we do. But who is enjoying the game more? What's really important here? Should we be picking the game apart to the point where we can't even enjoy it any more? Is ignorance truly bliss when it comes to being a sports gaming fan?

Today fans of sports gaming are lined up opposite one another, with differening opinions about the extent to which their favorite games should be criticized. Some don't want to get into the finer details of the problems that Madden may have, while the rest say they are "tired of making excuses" for EA. Are either of these groups right? Are they both wrong? I think that its these two groups that provide a neccessary balance to our community. In order for us to have the best possible experience imaginable, we do have to be somewhat critical of EA. Not critical in the sense that we see them as an adversary, but critical in the same way that a coach might be critical of a player in order to get the best effort out of him. We need to encourage EA to continue to be innovative. We need to let them know when we have issues with the games. Those who are on the more critical side of the spectrum constantly remind us of this. Conversely, people who just want to play Madden and be happy are able to remind us not to take ourselves to seriously. They show us that after all, we are supposed to be having fun.

Yeah, times sure have changed since I first became a Madden fan. I now realize from my experience in the community that there are some issues with the game each year. At the same time I'm not going to have unrealistic expectations and be overly critical of EA when they aren't able to meet 100% of my expectations. I see EA as a company who has put out some of my favorite games in the last fifteen years. I want to work with them and not against them to make Madden the best game that it can be. The pressure of this new criticism and scrutiny they are under will help them to make better games. Everyone is watching and everyone has their opinion about what EA needs to do. They are now aware that every move they make is under the microscope, and by now they realize just like I do that the Madden fan of today is not the Madden fan from ten or even five years ago. Our expectations our higher. We demand a better game and if we don't get one we're sure to let our voices be heard. That is exactly what will push EA to take it to the next level. That's why we have a bright future of sports gaming ahead of us. And that's why being a Madden fan is not only different, but better than it was ten years ago. We're helping to call the shots now. We're getting involved and EA is hearing our voice. What could be better than that?

EA Announces NFL Head Coach

2005-10-18T07:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, EA announced NFL Head Coach , a new game that will put you in the position of building your NFL franchise from the ground up. I think fans of Madden have been wanting something like this for a number of years. With Madden, there has always been this feeling that the game focused mostly on game play and not neccesarily the coaching and other off the field football activities. Sure, you can play the game in sort of a coach mode by using the total control simulation feature, and you can make your offseason moves and do some franchise oriented things in owner mode as well. But what you can do in Madden has always been limited because for the most part it's a football game where people just want to pick it up and run a game.

One of the most interesting things about the EA press release is that it says "a simple conversation system and an engaging 3D graphical interface allows users to immerse themselves into the lives of an NFL head coach." When reading this I envision being able to yell at players during practice, giving some type of motivational speech during halftime of a crucial game, and all of the other situations where a head coach deals with people. Now those thoughts may be a bit of a stretch, but all the same I'm excited about the possibilities of what this could mean.

I really like the whole role playing element that has entered into Madden and the rest of sports gaing in recent years. It was a huge part of this year's Superstar Mode, where you were being put into the shoes of an NFL player in order to experience pro football through the eyes of those who play it. Now instead of simply adding a coach version of Superstar Mode to Madden, EA is creating an entirely new game for people who don't care as much about getting on the sticks in order to win games. Football fans have needed more of a sim/GM style game for a while. They familiar ones of years past are no longer around, so someone had to step up to the plate. With EA Sports holding the NFL license, it was up to them to be the ones to do it. It's also curious that John Madden is not commentating in the upcoming next gen Madden game. He did coach in the NFL for 10 years. Could it be that we'll see him play a role in this game?

There is a real opportunity here for EA to be really unique and creative, so I hope they take some liberties and try some things that haven't been done before in football gaming. So far I really like what I see, but as always it's all speculation until we have some in depth information from EA. The best news about this game? It's coming this Spring which is when I am having serious NFL withdrawal. You can bet I'm going to be playing this and the Arena Football League game in order to hold me over until Madden 2007.

Madden Therapy

2005-10-16T19:23:00.000-05:00

If you have been an NFL fan for any significant period of time, you've no doubt by now experienced the agony of defeat. After watching my Washington Redskins lose a tough one on the road at Kansas City today, I had a very strong urge to boot up my XBOX and avenge them by playing Madden 06. I could make the plays the Skins weren't able to make. I could limit the mental errors and coach the game the way I thought it needed to be coached in order to win. Heck, I could even start Lavar Arrington, who has been riding the bench for weeks, much to the dismay of many Redskins fans.

For me that's part of the beauty of Madden, and of sports gaming period. It doesn't matter who your team is or how good they are. The winless Texans are about to play in a few minutes against a pretty tough Seattle Seahawks team. I can't help but sit here and think about what it must like to be a fan of that team. They have been in the league a few years now and have still had relatively little success. But as a Texans fan when you put that that Madden disc into the console, none of that matters. David Carr can hit his receivers despite not having a great offensive line, and thanks to the hit stick the Houston D can look like the 2000 Ravens defensive unit if you've got the stick skills.

I wonder if fans of unsuccessful teams have more of an appreciate for Madden than those whose teams are winning games on Sundays. I also wonder if fans of those teams play Madden more often than those who don't have to get behind a video game controller in order to see their hometown squad win one. I know that during my 20 or so years of sports gaming, the Redskins haven't always been a very good football team. I've endured Heath Shuler at quarterback, a couple of head coaches who didn't know their head from their you know what, and maybe a couple of decent Skins teams that just fell short. No matter how they were doing though, I always able to look to Madden to take out my frustrations and change the course of history, or at least in my own mind.

I'd better get going now. Santana Moss and I have some unfinished business to handle...

My New TV

2005-10-15T16:26:00.000-05:00

With XBOX 360 around the corner, they say you've got to have an HDTV. I've been putting off buying a nice tv for a while myself. The couple of TVs I have here at home that I play Madden on are both really old. Neither of them is an HDTV because as far as I know, there was no such thing when they came into our possession. So I knew with the XBOX 360 just a few weeks away from release, that I'd have to get something that was up to par. I am not technically inclined and that made this whole process a learning experience. There is a lot of talk about tvs on the Madden Nation forums as we as various video game media sites. I was able to get the important things down and ended up buying this Sony tv. It's going to be delivered in a couple of days. I'm pretty excited about it now and it makes me anticipate the release of Madden for 360 that much more.

New Madden Nation Tee Shirts

2005-10-14T15:43:00.000-05:00

I have been looking into getting some new MN tee shirts done up. We had some before through Cafepress, but I wasn't happy with the quality. I found another site that appears to have a little better quality and some more options for designing them. They also have different color shirts instead of just white. I had to make a new logo for the different color shirts, because apparently those shirts can only have logos with two colors on them. For whatever reason though the design is still not being accepted, so I'm still messing around with that. At the very least I'm going to order a couple of shirts with the new design and check out the quality. I'll post some pictures when I have the shirts in hand. In the mean time, let me know what you think of the new design.

Fred's Blog

2005-10-14T15:31:00.000-05:00

Fredsmooth21's blog is now up as well. Check it out. Cick here.

10/13/05 Madden Nation Radio Recap

2005-10-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

Last night's show had some pretty good discussion. We got to talk a little bit about the importance of the role the Madden community plays in how Madden turns out. This year it's critical that we get a Madden Wish List out to EA in a timely manner. We're going to shoot for the first week of December to send them everything we have. Right now we're in the process of organizing the different categories by which we'll break down the wishes. Then can start to assign volunteers to work on each section. If you're interested shoot me an email at RAC@maddennation.com.

We also talked discussed the phenomenon of all of the knee jerk reactions people have when reading articles or looking at screen shots and videos of Madden for XBOX 360. There was a perfect example of this after last night's show when an article was posted that praised the game. That really got people pumped up and they were feeling better about the final product. Not more than an hour or two later there was another article posted that said people should be wary of purchasing EA Sports' Madden 360 titles. The very same guys who were feeling great an hour before were then up in arms once again about the game. That is the rollercoaster we go through every year with the release of Madden.

Kobra came on as usual to talk some strategy, and we also had a contest last night giving away a Madden Nation Mixtape and Shellshock Nam game courtesy of PS Nation Online. If you missed the show you can check it out here

Madden Nation's Exclusive Madden Next Gen Screen

2005-10-14T01:46:00.000-05:00

Welcome...

2005-10-13T18:11:00.000-05:00

RAC from MN here. I am creating this blog in order to give people a cool place to read some thoughts about on going things relating to Madden Nation and the Madden community. I'll post some thoughts about various Madden issues (both past and present), and post links to things that are going on around the community. This will be a good spot to check out for daiy information about what's happening in the Madden world. Look for a lot of posts in here very soon.

-RAC