Madden, NFL Head Coach, and NCAA Football 2009

[Matt Young 0]

I saw this news several days ago, but (A) forgot to post it and (B) figured it was too early for a thread. But, while I am still playing Madden 08 and others likely are as well, I'm starting the discussion as per 909's pinned thread.

 

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/mad...eatures;title;2

 

NFL Head Coach exclusive to Madden bundle

Gridiron management sim will be available only as part of a $90 bundle with Electronic Arts' 20th anniversary collector's edition of Madden NFL 09.

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot

Posted Mar 27, 2008 11:09 am PT

 

Last month, Electronic Arts announced that it was working on NFL Head Coach 09 and that the game would star Indianapolis Colts skipper Tony Dungy on the cover. Now it seems the game might not have a cover for Dungy to grace.

 

EA today revealed that NFL Head Coach 09 will be available only as part of the Madden NFL 09 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition, a premium-priced bundle for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 that will also include Madden NFL 09 and assorted bonus video content. The $89.99 package will go on sale in North America alongside the stand-alone versions of Madden NFL 09 on the just-announced release date of August 12.

 

Besides giving players two different takes on the popular American pastime, the latest installments of Madden NFL and NFL Head Coach will interact with one another. EA is letting players draw up plays in the stat-heavy management sim and export them to Madden for use in custom playbooks.

 

Both Madden NFL 09 and NFL Head Coach 09 are being developed by EA's Tiburon studio in Orlando, Florida.

 

I thought the original Head Coach game had a lot of promise, but it fell flat, especially for a $40-50 game. I'm pretty sure I'll be purchasing this collector's edition, though. The normal CEs of Madden are $70 anyway, so $20 more for Head Coach seems like a good deal.

 

What kind of features are you all hoping for? At the top fo my list is online franchise.

 

[Mike wanna be 0]

I'm going to wait on reviews. Madden's the kind of game that depreciates incredibly quickly (I got 08 for $20 in mid-October...granted, no case or manual, but it isn't like I'd get more than a dollar in trade-in anyway) and I can't justify $90 for two games that may be great that I could pick up months down the line for a lot cheaper.

 

I will be watching Head Coach 2, though. I thought the first one would be great...then played the demo. That helpless feeling watching your players bumble along is ten thousand times worse than seeing your own controlled players screw up.

 

EDIT: NCAA 09 claims online dynasty, so hopefully Madden gets online franchise to match.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I was really looking forward to NFL Head Coach until this announcement. What a rip-off. I can't justify spending an extra $30 on what amounts to be a fancified play creator/editor for Madden. That's way too much for a freakin' video game.

 

I'll just stick with the Madden itself, thankyouverymuch. Online franchise can be cool. We could set up a TSM League.

[Matt Young 0]

I was really looking forward to NFL Head Coach until this announcement. What a rip-off. I can't justify spending an extra $30 on what amounts to be a fancified play creator/editor for Madden. That's way too much for a freakin' video game.

 

I'll just stick with the Madden itself, thankyouverymuch. Online franchise can be cool. We could set up a TSM League.

 

But how will we determine who gets the Packers? Fight to the death with butter knives between you and me?

[Broward83 0]

Ya'know, if we're honestly going to set up a TSM league, I'd hop on and be the Texans.

 

0-16, here we come!

[Agent_Bond34 0]

And then I'd join in as San Francisco and finish with the same record.

 

Anyway, online franchise would be a great feature, especially if NCAA is gonna have the online dynasty.

 

I've been waiting for years for something like this to finally be included.

[Broward83 0]

I'm calling it now, if NCAA gets an online dynasty, I've got the Univ. of Texas (at Austin)

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

I'd be up for an online Franchise like, would be the biggest addition to a Madden game in YEARS - if not ever?

I'll go with Browns if this happens.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

If we do college, I gotta be the Oregon Ducks... If we do the pro's, I'll take the Chargers...

 

If we're doing it... if THEY'RE doing it.

[Matt Young 0]

Well, we have a while to wait. I'm sure all the features will be announced, at the very latest, at E3, since it's held a month before the game's release.

[TheTomster 0]

I'll just wait 3 months, and buy both of them seperately at GameStop for the price of 1

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Is the PS2 era over?

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

If we do college, I gotta be the Oregon Ducks... If we do the pro's, I'll take the Chargers...

 

If we're doing it... if THEY'RE doing it.

 

Like hell you're taking the Chargers. But if you're taking the Chargers, I'll go with the Bears. Can't imagine AoO having a Xbox 360/PS3.

[Darthtiki 0]

Dibs on the Pats

[Guest Vitamin X]

I was really looking forward to NFL Head Coach until this announcement. What a rip-off. I can't justify spending an extra $30 on what amounts to be a fancified play creator/editor for Madden. That's way too much for a freakin' video game.

 

I'll just stick with the Madden itself, thankyouverymuch. Online franchise can be cool. We could set up a TSM League.

 

But how will we determine who gets the Packers? Fight to the death with butter knives between you and me?

 

Well, obviously I'd get the Packers, but I'll settle for the stupid Seawhos since they're the NFL team georgraphically closest to me, and they're not so bad...

 

Or I'll settle for my second favorite team (a distant favorite), the Steelers.

[Matt Young 0]

We'll just have to play each other.

[Mike wanna be 0]

If we're calling teams (which apparently we are), dibs on the Panthers and the Orange. I don't know why I keep picking Syracuse, they keep being bad and don't even run the option offense any more. I just don't particularly want Florida State...at the moment.

[Agent_Bond34 0]

Is the PS2 era over?

 

No, they are making it for PS2.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

If we do college, I gotta be the Oregon Ducks... If we do the pro's, I'll take the Chargers...

 

If we're doing it... if THEY'RE doing it.

 

Like hell you're taking the Chargers. But if you're taking the Chargers, I'll go with the Bears. Can't imagine AoO having a Xbox 360/PS3.

 

I just picked them because I live in SoCal now. You can have them. I'll take The Lions.

 

The Deeeeeeeeeetroit Lions.

[Matt Young 0]

My suggestion: Calling teams 4 months prior is senseless. I say that we should wait till, at the very least, online franchise is confirmed. But probably, it would be best to wait till the game's out, see who will run the league, then pick teams in order of sign-up and/or play each other if 2 people want the same team.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Good call, and is everyone getting this on 360 or PS3?

[Matt Young 0]

360. Sports games always run smoother than their PS3 counterparts, and the online is much better.

[Broward83 0]

Fuck you Matt. I'll call the god damned Texans months before I even know anything about how horrible Madden 09 is going to be. You can't stop me.

 

...but yeah, probably waiting til a bit more comes down the pipeline is a good idea.

[Thoth 0]

Is the PS2 era over?

 

No, but the Xbox and GameCube era is. Actually, I was surprised Madden 08 came out on those systems at all. Although Madden got games on PS1 well into the PS2's lifetime.

[Agent_Bond34 0]

Madden 08 was the last game on Xbox, as it turned out. Even NCAA Football 08 got an Xbox release. Dubiously enough, I own both of these games.

 

Why did they drop Xbox support so suddenly last year anyway? Weren't they gonna support it until this year?

[Mike wanna be 0]

Once they killed off their backwards compatibility department, nobody had reason to make an Xbox game. Would they still be around if, like original PS3s, they had full Xbox hardware support? Maybe.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

They forced me into getting an X-Box 360 by killing Madden and NCAA on the original.

[Matt Young 0]

Brett Favre is the Madden cover boy!

 

GameDaily BIZ has discovered that Electronic Arts is preparing to announce recently retired Green Bay Packers quarterback and three-time AP MVP Brett Favre as the cover athlete for the upcoming Madden NFL 09, which is slated to hit store shelves on August 12.

 

According to the Facebook page for Madden NFL 09, the cover athlete is expected to be announced on April 25. Moreover, a quick check of the CBS schedule for Late Show with David Letterman shows that Favre is going to appear as one of Dave's guests tonight (April 24). For the past few years, EA has used late-night shows to announce the Madden cover. Last year Jimmy Kimmel's show was used to announce Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young for Madden 08.

 

Related: History of the Madden Cover Curse

 

Choosing a retired player to cover the game is certainly an interesting choice, but this year's Madden represents the 20th anniversary of the popular football franchise, so perhaps EA wanted to do something unique. And Favre is unquestionably one of the best to ever play the game, leading the Packers to two Super Bowls, in addition to compiling records for most career NFL touchdown passes, most career NFL passing yards, most career pass completions, and most career victories as a starting quarterback, so it's hard to argue with EA's choice.

 

At least Favre can't be affected by the dreaded Madden cover curse, unless of course his retirement package suddenly falls apart...

 

We've pinged EA for confirmation and are still waiting to hear back.

 

Also, it was announced that NCAA 09 will feature online dynasty mode for 12 players, up to 60 seasons.

 

Can one of the mods edit the thread title to Madden, Head Coach, and NCAA 09?

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Guess that's kinda cool, can't think of who else it could be really.

[Matt Young 0]

Rumors were Adrian Peterson or Eli Manning. Brett fits with the 20h anniversary edition theme.