Madden, NFL Head Coach, and NCAA Football 2009

[fazzle]

So am I the only one who thought the Madden demo was COMPLETELY horrible? Sure, it looked pretty, but it played like ass.

 

I might end up gameflying the game, but that'll be about it. Do you have to do the Madden IQ bullshit in the game, or is there an option to turn it off? Cause if you have to, that'll just KILL the fucking party game atmosphere of the game, waiting for everyone to do 10-15 minutes of testing before you can play them for the first time.

[Agent_Bond34]

I haven't even downloaded the demo, and I doubt I'm going to. I'd rather just wait for the game to release.

 

Also, I finished my game against UCLA and am ready to advance. Sorry for the delay.

[Guest Vitamin X]

So am I the only one who thought the Madden demo was COMPLETELY horrible? Sure, it looked pretty, but it played like ass.

 

I might end up gameflying the game, but that'll be about it. Do you have to do the Madden IQ bullshit in the game, or is there an option to turn it off? Cause if you have to, that'll just KILL the fucking party game atmosphere of the game, waiting for everyone to do 10-15 minutes of testing before you can play them for the first time.

 

I'm, like, 100% sure you can turn it off and just do the normal difficulty settings.. the Madden IQ thing is just a new thing they made this year for single-player games, like franchise and all that. I severely doubt you'll have to do that for everyone.

[NoCalMike]

So does the Madden IQ option render itself useless online when you are playing another person?

[Broward83]

Its supposed to even out the playing field a bit.

 

Most people online play at the two highest tiers of difficulty. If you're "my skill" is below your opponents, the game adjusts to your skill while it does the same for your opponent. Instead of having to play on All-Madden and get blasted you use "my skill" and stand a chance.

 

..atleast that's how I think it works from watching the Dev. video's at work all day.

 

Edit: With everybody dropping out of the dynasty, I might as well just wrap it up after this one season, yeah?

[Matt Young]

Well, to be fair, I didn't drop. My game just stopped working.

 

Somehow I missed this. From an ESPN Video Games article:

 

Recently, no-shock news broke that, finally, Madden would feature online leagues. But the fine print isn't so promising: There'll be no divisions. That means teams will be ranked 1 to 32, and the top tier will make the playoffs. Developer EA Tiburon has designed it this way to up league-completion rates, but divisions are a must. And the clock's ticking.

 

[Mike wanna be]

Should've been given as a choice. Then again, we all know the average Madden player would never choose it...then again, we all know the average Madden player would stop playing once they were out of the playoff race and that happens faster when separated by conference & division than by 1-32 ranking...

 

While I have the most recent post, a quandary:

Should I invest in the Collector's edition now, or do you think I'll have luck picking it up on the cheap in full later on? I'm semi-interested in the new Head Coach that comes with it, but with NCAA & Madden problems the last couple years I'm hesitant to make a big investment right off the bat.

[Matt Young]

I have no idea how rare or not the CE will be, but Head Coach will be released as a standalone product in September.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'll probably look into getting Head Coach later on, then. I think all the stupid little extras that come with the Madden CE aren't worth throwing extra money at. Isn't Head Coach like $20, anyways?

[AlaskanHero]

I believe it's only $20 if you get the CE with the stand alone game being full price.

[Mike wanna be]

Amazon's listing Head Coach for $50 as a stand-alone...which means you'd be kinda dumb to spend $110 to buy them separately as opposed to $90 to get them together along with the other stuff in the Collector's edition.

[Matt Young]

I figrued at the lowest, HC would be $40, but no way it'd be $20. The $50 price point is probably accurate.

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Here's some more information on the leagues:

 

http://www.pastapadre.com/2930/madden-09-o...gue-impressions

 

Really burst my bubble reading this and what Matt said earlier about how the online 'LEAGUE' works. I'm trying to work out why I thought it would be a multi-year Franchise type of deal. Did I ever read that? Or did I just assume.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Wow the online leagues in Madden DO look LAME as fuck. So it's not even a franchise or anything online, it's just fuckin around with your buddies online? I'm not sure if I like that so much. I was expecting something like online dynasty in NCAA.

[Matt Young]

Sounds like the leagues for NHL 08. You could choose a number of games up to 11, although I wasn't aware it was the number of games against each user.

[Darthtiki]

I'm going to the Maddenpalooza launch event tomorrow. I may have an extra ticket, if anyone is interested.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe]

Can anybody clue me in as to how the Wii version will play vs. the PS2 version? I just got a Wii and I'd like to find out more.

 

Yesterday getting warmed up for the new game, I did a fantasy draft in '06 (the most recent Madden game I have), and had the 32st/1st pick. I built the team on a wall O-line and a two back system on offense and a young+fast secondary and a mean pass rush on defense. I simmed the season and went 13-3 and won the Super Bowl. First time I ever pulled that feat off.

[KingPK]

Like most all Wii games, it's geared more towards casual and younger players, with simplified point and click playcalling, minigames and something called "Call Your Shot" that lets you tell a receiver where to go.

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

The Wii Madden 08 had this cool action replay 'Andy Gray' style drawing version on it. Where you could highlight players on replays with little squiggly lines.

[MarvinisaLunatic]

Im just glad EA is offering a free download cover of Favre in a Jets jersey for those with problems with him still in a GB jersey.

 

 

[Matt Young]

Meh. So, when's everyone getting their copies? It shall be midnight on the east coast in an hour and 20 minutes. I won't have mine till early tomorrow evening, however.

[CanadianGuitarist]

Sounds like the leagues for NHL 08. You could choose a number of games up to 11, although I wasn't aware it was the number of games against each user.

 

That's kinda disappointing. The legitimate leagues in the 2k series were phenomenal. I did both a football one with some guys I didn't know, and a hockey one with six buddies. I'd like to see something more like that, but VX killed that horse already.

 

Since I haven't received my pay from last week, I shouldn't get it tomorrow. I'll probably cave and pick one up, though.

[KingPK]

I'll probably stop in to work tomorrow to get mine. If not, definitely Wednesday.

[Jericholic82]

I put aside a CE and a reg PS3 copy at work, since I haven't decided yet. I'll pick it up when I next work, Wed.

[MarvinisaLunatic]

Can anybody clue me in as to how the Wii version will play vs. the PS2 version? I just got a Wii and I'd like to find out more.

 

Yesterday getting warmed up for the new game, I did a fantasy draft in '06 (the most recent Madden game I have), and had the 32st/1st pick. I built the team on a wall O-line and a two back system on offense and a young+fast secondary and a mean pass rush on defense. I simmed the season and went 13-3 and won the Super Bowl. First time I ever pulled that feat off.

 

IGN seems to be real positive about the Nintendo version. They seem really high on the Call Your Shot mode as well:

 

The number one reason to pick up Madden 09 though, is the new Call Your Shot mode, and if EA realizes what an incredible gameplay addition it has on its hands with Call You Shot, you'll see dozens of features based on it for next year. Call Your Shot allows for active, IR-made hot routes during any passing play, so a simple tap of the A button lets you re-draw any receiver route pre-snap, and decimate the competition. I've had whole games where I use just Play Action and Call Your Shot to destroy a defense (a quick click can set up buttons, slants, deep routes, screens, or even reversal-like backfield routes), and once you factor in already-tricky plays like the HB Pass, Flea Flicker, or option plays, you've got a never-ending list of plays to call, and it's fast.

 

Even in its most primitive form, Call Your Shot is a huge leap forward for Madden Wii. With the right backing, it could offer Wii owners something other consoles could only dream of having; total control of every player, on every play, in every situation.

[Jaxxson Mayhem]

Played this tonight and WOW. It's a HUGE step up from last year's madden. They pretty much fixed all the problems i had with last year's madden. The only thing that took some getting used to is the new camera.

[Darthtiki]

I got to play some during the Maddenpalooza and that custom setting is gave me a good challenge, no more 80-3 beatings with the Pats. The event was mediocre though.

[Urban Warfare]

Tom Hammond is dull as fuck, but Cris Collinsworth is a real highlight of the game so far. The new camera pissed me off alot, so I ended up reverting back to the old one. And EA really went over the top with the camera flashes during the game. Good game so far, looks and plays much better than last year.

[Guest Vitamin X]

This is good to hear.

 

I'm going to go ahead and retire from the dynasty tonight guys, so I can go ahead and pick up Madden tomorrow evening. I have a final exam and when I get out of there at 4:30 or so, then I'm off to go play Madden for the rest of my summer. The girl who works at Gamestop told me that she hadn't seen anywhere near as much hype this year compared to past Maddens, which I found really odd because they're going all-out this year with the marketing, from what I see. And the game looks, plays, and feels incredible from what I see.

 

I'm going to trade in MLB 2k8 as well since I haven't played it that much since, oh, June or so. It's still worth enough in trade-in that I'll get Madden for free, so that's good. I'm actually totally fine with having just Madden and GTA IV in my collection since I just play what I really like obsessively.

[AlaskanHero]

I spent some time with Head Coach and it's not bad from the little I've played. Though I haven't figured out how to resign the guys on my team, so the guys I want to keep on just up and leave on me.