Madden 09 Cover Athlete Announced...

[UmbrellaCorporation]

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/1931/favrecovermk6.jpg

Wow. After all of that, I'm seriously shocked that Favre is on there. Not displeased at all, but I would've thought they would have gone with someone current.

Does this mean the end of the Madden Curse?

Do you think the curse exists?

[Nervous Ferret]

It's not a 'curse'. There is no such thing as a 'curse'. It was an odd coincidence that ran for an extended period of time. VY may have 'broken' the alleged curse anyway

Good move on Favre though, no complaints

[D Mac]

That's awesome. Lets just hope the game is better now.

[KingofOldSchool]

I was expecting Adrian Peterson, tbh.

[DrA]

Are you sure we're not talking about Madden '97 here?

[Kalyx triaD]

Let's see what Madden does to beat the other NFL game- oh wait, they don't have to beat anything.

It still hurts me.

[OssMan]

LOL Brett Favre what. Nothing like a retired QB who was out of his prime for the last 3 seasons. The "curse" will prolly give cancer to his family members or something

[OssMan]

Favre
Vince Young
Alexander
McNabb

wheres a freaking defensive player, sheesh

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>Good choice. I happen to think Favre is coming back anyway so yeah.</font>

[UmbrellaCorporation]

Favre
Vince Young
Alexander
McNabb

wheres a freaking defensive player, sheesh

yeah, really. That's what I was pretty much counting on too.

[RP]

So does this mean EA will focus more on the art of throwing interceptions? Will there be a Interception meter?

[Loose Cannon]

looks like Brett is about to get demolished by Bob Sanders in that picture

[McLegend]

It's not a 'curse'. There is no such thing as a 'curse'. It was an odd coincidence that ran for an extended period of time. VY may have 'broken' the alleged curse anyway

Good move on Favre though, no complaints

You do realize Vince Young got hurt, and played terrible this year?

[McLegend]

They did have Ray Lewis on the cover one year.

[Shaggy]

I like that Favre is on the cover.....

The last time I was actually happy about a cover athelete to a game was when Terrell Davis was on Gameday 99

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>I'd like to say I'll be tempted to get Madden '09 because of the prospect of the Giants being really good for a change.....but knowing EA the other 3 teams in the NFC East will all have ratings equal or above the Giants.</font> :roll:

[RP]

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/1931/favrecovermk6.jpg

-Madden 09 features the unique Mistake Stick. During the course of a game your quarterback will begin to feel that making the " easy " pass just isnt good enough. Once his meter is full, his eyes will light up and he'll begin to grip the ball with only one hand, then make a desperation pass into double and sometimes triple coverage.

[UmbrellaCorporation]

I would like to see the Rex Grossman "Fuck it, I'm going deep" feature where your QB is incapable of throwing short passes.

[RP]

lol

[Ninti the Mad]

If the curse is true, he will die somehow this year.

[WestNZ]

oh well. no mater who is on the cover, im gonna keep with it and hire it forst before i buy. and if its good, ill buy.

[D Mac]

Definatly gonna rent first. The Chiefs will probably be one of the lowest rated teams. :(

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>Supposedly the big feature this year is customizable touchdown celebrations.</font> :lol:

[UmbrellaCorporation]

getcha popcorn ready

[Cooler Tom Schuler]

Hire it forst.

[RoXer]

Madden NFL 09 Preview
The very first details on the perennial all-star. Brett Favre interview included.
by Nate Ahearn

April 25, 2008 - Every single year Madden Football is one of the most celebrated and scrutinized releases on the calendar. It's beloved and hated for the same reason: it's the only professional football title available on today's market. There are those that say that it's simply a roster update from year to year, and then there are those that say, "It's a football game, what more do you want?" Regardless, with the announcement of the "retired" Brett Favre as the cover athlete for this year's (the 20th anniversary for the series) game, the hype train for Madden NFL 09 began to chug this weekend in New York City with a slew of pre-draft festivities, interviews, and celebrity sightings. We were on-hand to soak it all in and pry as many details out of liquored up EA developers as we possibly could.

First things first; there are online leagues. That means that you and up to 32 of your closest compadres can play through a full NFL schedule including playoffs, championship games, and Super Bowl. There's also flex scheduling which will allow for you to play games out of order to accommodate a heated rivalry in Week 8 that needs to be played at the beginning of the season for convenience sake. There will be trades, a draft, signings, and pretty much everything else that you remember from the season mode of Madden, but now it's all online.



Another key point that EA Sports is trying to hit home with Madden 09 is the idea of increased accessibility. It's actually something that we should have seen coming as Peter Moore recently spoke about how Madden needs to widen its already massive audience by allowing for the game of football to be dumbed down, for lack of a better phrase, so those not familiar with the sport can get into the action. The first of two features that aim to achieve that goal is known as the Virtual Trainer. This goes beyond simple drills and training camp games by actually testing your knowledge of Madden and how the game of football is supposed to be played. Based on your performance in the Virtual Trainer, the game will adjust the difficulty to meet your skill level. Whatever that may be. You'll also be assigned a Madden IQ so you can actually compare your proficiency in the sport of football against your buddy's.

The second piece to the accessibility puzzle is what's being called EA Sports BackTrack. Essentially through Madden's replay system the game will be able to point out holes that you should have hit on that last running play or an open receiver or soft spot in the zone on a passing play.



Presentation is another aspect of Madden 09 that is said to be revamped from years past. First of all, Larry O'Brien, the bloke who voiced the radio personality that we've had to suffer through over the past few seasons, is gone. Replacing him is Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond from NFL Network and should provide the commentary that we've come to hope for from a Madden game. Aside from that there will also be camera shots from outside of the stadium, real weather effects with snow that actually accumulates on the field (and sideline) and is impacted by players running through it, and there's also said to be redesigned grass. Not exactly sure how "new" grass can look, but we'll have to wait and see. There's also a new look to the player models which is actually supposed to be more in line with the teaser from Madden 06 that caused such a stir in the industry. Again, we'll have to wait to see for ourselves before we believe it.

EA is also making a slight control change to this year's football duo (NCAA Football 09 included). In Madden 09 it's being called Total Control Animations and one of its features is bestowing a newfound sense of control when using the left analog stick. Now you'll no longer need to wiggle the right stick in conjunction with the left to pull off a juke. Now a simple left stick maneuver will be mimicked on-screen and should allow the runner to be more evasive than in previous years. We got to test the system for ourselves with NCAA Football 09, but for those impressions you'll just have to check back next week.

There are other little additions that were revealed to us as well like realistic field goal nets, the ability to return a short field goal a la Devin Hester, a new lighting system, and smart routes for receivers. We were told that Madden 09 houses a whopping 85 new features, though we're still waiting on the full list from EA Sports. Rest assured, as soon as we get the skinny, so too shall you.



NOOOOOOOOOOO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Everything else is alright but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to Chris Collinsworth.

[D Mac]

Is Collinsworth the play by play guy or color guy?

[D Mac]

We will be starting a TPWW online league BTW

[D Mac]

Read this on Gamespot.

Fans who want the full football experience will probably want to shell out the 90 bucks it will take to get the collector's edition of Madden NFL 09,which will also include a packed-in version of NFL Head Coach 09. Players will be able to create and plays from scratch in Head Coach and Madden 09 will be able to automatically append those created plays to your Madden playbook. So far that sounds like the only interaction between the two games but the collector's edition of Madden 09 will also include an emulated version of John Madden Football '93, as well as some custom videos that will only be found in the collector's edition.

:eek:

[OssMan]

Def doing a TPWW Crossrine league. Cris Collinsworth :| :| :| :|

[OssMan]

Gonna get one of they head coach headsets for the 360

[OssMan]

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/images/game%20images/nflheadset2.gif

lul tight

[OssMan]

NVM the speaker and mic is on the left ear, impossible for me

[D Mac]

Yeah since it has online leagues i'll probably get this the day it comes out.

[Mister Sinister]

Yay, I get to relive the Dolphins season last year in our online league I will be joining and go...1-15

[Gonzo]

Good I'm the Giants, chalk up that Super Bowl W.

[OssMan]

Nah I call Giants

[OssMan]

:shifty:

[DrA]

I don't even have five compadres, much less 32. How am I supposed to start a league?!?

[Kalyx triaD]

Read this on Gamespot.

Fans who want the full football experience will probably want to shell out the 90 bucks it will take to get the collector's edition of Madden NFL 09,which will also include a packed-in version of NFL Head Coach 09. Players will be able to create and plays from scratch in Head Coach and Madden 09 will be able to automatically append those created plays to your Madden playbook. So far that sounds like the only interaction between the two games but the collector's edition of Madden 09 will also include an emulated version of John Madden Football '93, as well as some custom videos that will only be found in the collector's edition.

:eek:

I wanna hate that obvious cash-in, but somehow I actually dig the integration. Head Coach should still be in the core series, though.

[Gonzo]

Nah I call Giants

f u beat you to it. It is etched in stone babyyyyy

[OssMan]

It would be dum if all 32 people had to choose a different team anyway, people prolly kin pick the same team

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>I wonder if you can do a fantasy draft league? That would be pretty awesome to get 32 people together for a huge Madden fantasy draft.</font> :o

[D Mac]

So is Chris Collinsworth the play by play guy or what?

[LoDownM]

So is Chris Collinsworth the play by play guy or what?

Umm, no, the article says it's for the EA Sports radio shit, not the play by play.

[D Mac]

Presentation is another aspect of Madden 09 that is said to be revamped from years past. First of all, Larry O'Brien, the bloke who voiced the radio personality that we've had to suffer through over the past few seasons, is gone. Replacing him is Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond from NFL Network and should provide the commentary that we've come to hope for from a Madden game

That does'nt really say it's going to be more radio shit. It just says they are replacing him.

[Cooler Tom Schuler]

I wonder if you can do a fantasy draft league? That would be pretty awesome to get 32 people together for a huge Madden fantasy draft. :o

You can do a fantasy draft, but not live. You basically make your draft board offline and it goes automatically.

PS- I call Green Bay.

[LoDownM]

That does'nt really say it's going to be more radio shit. It just says they are replacing him.

Come on now D-Mac..it says it.


Larry O'Brien, the bloke who voiced the radio personality that we've had to suffer through over the past few seasons, is gone

Replacing him


is Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond from NFL Network

More than likely, the "commentary" they are talking about is the pointless talking that takes place on the franchise mode menu.

[D Mac]

We'll see LOWdownM :p

[OssMan]

I thought Tony Bruno was that annoying EA Sports radio guy who talks when you are at the franchise mode menu. Today we have Brandon Lloyd on the line! But I thought that whole thing was gone in Madden 08

[LoDownM]

We'll see LOWdownM :p

:rant:

[LoDownM]

I thought Tony Bruno was that annoying EA Sports radio guy who talks when you are at the franchise mode menu. Today we have Brandon Lloyd on the line! But I thought that whole thing was gone in Madden 08

*shrug* I haven't done a franchise mode on 08 yet, just sits there under Call of Duty 4 and Assassin's Creed.

[UmbrellaCorporation]

I thought Tony Bruno was that annoying EA Sports radio guy who talks when you are at the franchise mode menu. Today we have Brandon Lloyd on the line! But I thought that whole thing was gone in Madden 08

yeah, it's gone. kinda surprised they're bringing it back actually, but I'm not upset. Having no one talking in the franchise menus in 08 kinda made me miss something.

[Gonzo]

I don't recall the 360 ever having someone talking during the franchise menu but I may be mistaken.

They really need to address the presentation and make the franchise mode worth playing.

[road doggy dogg]

I just read the first like 10 replies to this thread and the ignorance made me laugh too much to read anything further. That is all.
crossrine