Gaming Madden 13

[exe ex machina]

So begins the NFL-like 'off-season' for EA and the next Madden iteration. Where tidbits of info start emerging after the annual "Community Day" event where various video game sites/people get to sit with EA and see the latest developments of the next Madden game in alpha stage, ask questions of EA, and provide suggestions, etc, but can't reveal anything as they're under a non-disclosure agreement.

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Fans again to vote on the cover (video inside): http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/feature/madden2013cover

Just when you thought the late fourth quarter dramatics had ended, a virtual version of Tebow Time crashed the EA SPORTS Madden Bowl XVIII party held at the Bud Light Hotel Thursday in Indianapolis.

Playing in front of a capacity crowd filled with NFL stars, college All-Americans, and the local Indianapolis faithful, the Madden “Clutch Team” featuring Drew Brees (quarterback, New Orleans Saints), Jimmy Graham (tight end, New Orleans Saints), and Tim Tebow (quarterback, Denver Broncos), rallied late to knock off the 2012 NFL Draft eligible “Rookie Team” of Justin Blackmon (wide receiver, Oklahoma State University), Robert Griffin III (quarterback, Baylor University), and LaMichael James (running back, University of Oregon), 16-13, capturing the Madden Bowl XVIII championship.

The classic ending mirrored that of Tebow’s best come-from-behind-moments from the 2011 NFL regular season – with one exception: Tebow took the field as a wide receiver, while Brees was under center during the game’s final drive.

Playing Madden NFL 12 in teams of three, Brees connected with Tebow on a short touchdown pass with 0:10 remaining, spoiling what would have been a game-winning fumble return for a touchdown by The Rookie Team just a few plays prior.

“There’s just something about having him on your team,” said Brees of Tebow. “He’s just brings the magic. There’s no other way to explain it.”

As for the fumble that nearly cost his team the game, Brees admitted that he simply ‘pushed the wrong button at the wrong time.’

“I thought I called a run play, but it turned out to be a play action pass,” said Brees, whose team lost in the Madden Bowl XVII championship game one season ago in Dallas. “Luckily there was still enough time on the clock for us to drive down the field after they scored. Wow. What a fun and crazy game.”
Although the last-second heroics ignited the crowd, the party in Indy was just getting started.

Legendary hip-hop group The Roots took the stage at the conclusion of the tournament, followed by a headline performance by Grammy-nominated hip-hop superstar Nas.

A big surprise came later in the evening when Snoop Dogg busted out with a 45-minute set of his biggest hits, including “What’s My Name?” and “The Next Episode”.

On-hand to walk down the Madden Bowl XVIII Blue Carpet were Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, and Heisman Trophy winners Mark Ingram and Eddie George, among many others.

Pro Football Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders, along with Super Bowl champion Warren Sapp also took part in the Madden Bowl tournament, along with running backs Arian Foster (Houston Texans) and Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville Jaguars), and linebacker Patrick Willis (San Francisco 49ers). All were among the two teams that failed to reach the championship game.

During the ESPN3 broadcast, early details emerged regarding the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote campaign on ESPN’s “SportsNation”, which will kick off on March 7 with a two-week “play-in” round that will pit two teammates, from each NFL team, against each other to determine the 32 player bracket. For more details visit http://www.espn.com/maddenvote. Players for the “play-in” round will be revealed via the EA SPORTS Madden NFL Facebook page throughout the month of February.

Watch a replay of all the Madden Bowl XVIII action on ESPN3 online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to over 71 million households nationwide through an affiliated provider.

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I'm back from community day... And yes, I'm excited - but I can't talk about the game yet. But we can talk about the experience:

First, let me thank everyone who contributed to the feedback thread... On the plane ride to Orlando, I read every word of the thread and listed each item you wanted me to look at. Your input was invaluable to how I approached this year's event and I appreciate every entry - even those directed at other community members. We could not have pulled off our mission without you.

What was most important to me was meeting the development team - to looking into their eyes - to see how passionate they were about creating the best game possible.

I'm pleased to announce that we asked some tough questions - and got some candid, truthful, answers. Some we liked, some we didn't. We were blown away with some things, not so much with others. And at every step of the event they wanted our most honest opinions - good and bad. So we gave it to them. At no point in the process were we told to 'hold back' despite having to hold up on the discussion.

I met the community leaders from around the country. Both my OS brethren and several non-OS Madden community members. I chose to partner up with a fellow online player who loves Fair Play (which I'm against) to talk about what is the REAL ISSUE with cheesers and online play. We argued for two days before - Eureka!

I personally spoke with devs in several areas, but my favorite was the time I spent breaking down plays with Anthony White. I never get tired of chalk talk. Marking up the dry erase board, talking about coverages, and technique. WOW. Through it all, JD packed a ton of material in bite sized portions so we could get our hands on the game and digest it...

While I can't talk about the game... I'm glad this dev team is working on Madden 13 and look forward to the finished product!

Later

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EA looking to make playing defense fun again: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/02/21/ea-exec-madden-nfl-13-to-focus-on-defense.aspx

GameInformer recently sat down with Richard Hilleman, Electronic Arts Chief Creative Officer, as they discuss Madden NFL 13's focus on making defense fun again.

What are you hoping to see on the defensive side of the ball?

Electronic Arts chief creative officer Richard Hilleman says the new leadership group at EA Tiburon is focused on making defense fun again.

Hilleman is no stranger to the Madden franchise, having designed the original game alongside Scott Orr and John Madden back in 1988. When I sat down with him at DICE, one of the big questions on my mind was what fans should expect from Madden NFL 13 given the large turnover at the top of the development team. Hilleman seems optimistic.

"They are doing big things this year," he said. "They're making big changes. Those are big changes that are going to break a lot of stuff, and they know that. What we're after is a better defense that's more fun to play."

The defensive side of the football has been long overdue for a revamp. The last major change to the defensive controls came in Madden NFL 05 with the introduction of the hit stick. Hopefully this retooling will also address the poor awareness demonstrated by the secondary in last year's game and mark the return of true gang tackling. If the new approach to defense was developed by EA Tiburon's shared technology group, there is a chance these features could extend over to NCAA Football as well.

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The Sim Standard @ Community Day...

 

[exe ex machina]

I think they don't realize how much it fits the standard pattern of the past. I can't remember anyone ever saying anything bad about the game's state at Community Day, even dating back to the horrific 07/08/09 years. It's always:

- Game looks good/great at this early stage
- Devs are great guys/working hard/have great ideas
- All the community guys are great guys
- Some stuff I liked, some I didn't
- Can't say anything because of the NDA, but some really cool things coming

Then when video starts releasing there's:
- Game has changed from what it was at CD
- I told them [new addition] was going to be a problem and they didn't listen

I think it's safe to say every Madden dev team cares about the game and about putting out the best product possible. And that we acknowledge the Madden teams of the past have tried to address community concerns - that's not new either. And I'm pretty sure Madden 13 will improve on Madden 12. I'm curious to know how this team's approach will differ from the previous ones. The problem has always been how well they implement their ideas and address the game's issues. I didn't listen to the entire video, but didn't like that early on the guy was already making vague references to "the suits" possibly having negative influences on the game. The "suits" are always being set up as a potential fall guy.

I know there's the desire with some to say how great a time they had but given that no information is going to be released probably for another 3-4months and given the track record of past CD events, it seems it's better to keep quiet about it until something substantive can be released.

.......

 

[MarcusP2]

Better Superstar mode or GTFO.

 

[jonesy86]

I havent had a new madden since '10... thinking of getting '13 but EA superstar (my player in 2k) was so pox in '10 that it put me off for quite a while.

Hopefully they have improved it.

 

[FootyJunkie]

is it a game really worth getting each year, are there really a lot more differences/improvements/new features?

 

[PP34]

Better Superstar mode, smarter AI in Franchise mode but to be honest the whole gameplay engine needs to be overhauled. Players steps are massive on the field. The players need to be made smaller and actually realistically move on the field. Right now their steps are huge.

 

[Dirty Bird]

I'd simply get back into it if defenders didn't go superman on you.

You have a guy wide open 30 yards down the field, you drill it, and in the blink of the eye, the linebacker firstly, breaks physics with his reaction time, and secondly, breaks physics with his jump to pick the damn thing.

Still finished the year with the Superbowl trophy, but it was on the back of the defence, Julio Jones and Turner. I think Matt Ryan went 20TDs and 30Ints that season or something stupid like that. (and I still won the TO battle )

Also, if you have a curl called, if you throw it before the break they treat it like a steak. HOW CAN I PICK APART THE DEFENCE IF I CANT THROW IT TO BE HITTING HIM ON THE BREAK?????? Now it gives the CB time to cut back and close it down.

I basically find that game you have to do 3 things vs the CPU.

slants.
A shit load of running
And the odd deep playaction pass (not too regular then the DL/LB carve you up expecting it)

 

[smiths]

It will be tough to top Madden 12 (the greatest game of all time).

 

[drd23]

is it a game really worth getting each year, are there really a lot more differences/improvements/new features?

Generally no but I believe that Madden 13 is getting a new game engine so it could be sufficiently different to justify the $60+ a new game will cost.

There are quite a few people that just alternate years between NCAA and Madden (i.e. buy NCAA 10, then Madden 11, then NCAA 12 etc) because there generally isnt much difference from year to year

 

[PP34]

It will be tough to top Madden 12 (the greatest game of all time).

Troll?

 

[BomberWatson]

NFL 2K5 is STILL the best, 8 years later.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Troll?

Look who you're quoting.

It's not even the best football game of 2011, let alone best game ever full stop.

 

[smiths]

sirius black

 

[nobbyiscool]

i'll never understand why they scaled back the manager mode from the greatness of Madden 06. that remains my favourite Madden game of all time, and both the superstar and manager modes being a shadow of what they once were is why i much prefer their NCAA games now.

Madden (and FIFA for that matter) are examples of gaming companies stripping back their single player modes because they think everyone is playing online.

 

[Buzzasto DaSilva]

Tebow for the front cover? Would have to be a strong chance!

Will depend on whether the Broncos get Peyton I would think, but can you imagine the meltdown if he was?

 

[exe ex machina]

It's only a matter of time before Roger Goodell is the cover boy.

 

[stugots]

Rog was not impressed

 

[exe ex machina]

Victor Cruises into final 16 of the Madden 13 cover athlete fan vote.

For those who believe in the Madden curse, Victor Cruz is one step closer to getting onto the cover.

He destroyed Washington's Brian Orakpo in the first-round voting matchup by 82% to 18% to easily advance to the Sweet 16. Next up is the Jets' Darrelle Revis. So if you are a Giants or Jets fan who fears the curse, you can vote for the other guy in hopes of avoiding the curse. Or, if you think the curse is silly and want to see a Giant on the cover of the video game, you can vote for Cruz.

Something tells me Cruz is going to advance to play the winner between Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew and San Francisco's Patrick Willis. After that, Cruz could potentially face Carolina's Cam Newton, San Diego's Antonio Gates, Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald or Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy in the semifinals.

My guess is a Cruz-Cam semifinal showdown and frankly, I think Cam is the best bet to derail Cruz for all of you who believe in the curse. So let's hear it, are you guys worried yet? What do you guys want to happen? Tell us below.

You can vote here

.

 

[jefffff34]

Come on Beast Mode!

 

[exe ex machina]

Screenshots of Madden 13 in relation to the new Nike uniforms...

High-Res

High-Res

High-Res

High-Res

 

[exe ex machina]

EA Voted Worst Company in America

Ouch. Electronic Arts, maker of The Sims, Mass Effect, Madden NFL, among other games, won the title of “Worst Company in America” in a recent online bout that also included Google, Apple, Facebook and PayPal.

In its seventh annual March Madness-style tournament, The Consumerist pitted 32 companies against each other, which were selected by the blog’s readers. (The Consumerist is part of the same organization that publishes Consumer Reports.)

Some could only be expected: The Occupy movement’s target, the banking industry, made the cut, with Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank and Chase all in the lineup. The telecommunications companies, such as AT&T and Comcast, several airlines and retailers were also among the contenders.

Silicon Valley was also well represented: Google and Facebook were nominated because of their respective privacy flaps, while PayPal was dinged for poor customer service, Netflix was cited for last year’s streaming debacle and Apple was picked not so much for its manufacturing practices but for the premium it forces customers to pay. PayPal and Facebook made it pretty far to the elite eight while Apple triumphed over Google to advance to the sweet sixteen.

Interestingly enough, EA was making its first appearance in the competition. But clearly gamers are steamed at the Redwood City company for milking them for all they’re worth. Voters ultimately crowned EA the champion over Bank of America.

In a response, EA said in a statement to Kotaku, a gaming news site, ”We’re sure that British Petroleum, AIG, Philip Morris, and Halliburton are all relieved they weren’t nominated this year. We’re going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide.”

 

[Dirty Bird]

The final for the cover is Newton vs Megatron.

This is the first time here I've voted against who I like the most.

Need to keep the best player in the league healthy while hurting a divisional rival withthe curse don't we

 

[Broken]

I heard the Packer fans were using that same strategy (voting AGAINST Rodgers).

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

I hope Megatron wins. Wouldn't mind either.

 

[aussiedude]

article on ESPN.com http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/tech/post/_/id/321/madden-nfl-13-redesigns-passing-game

looks like they might be using the CBS presentation

some more info at the madden website and a new video