Put down Viva Pinata (game save first) and your too pink controller, because it's time to man up with some football roughness. EA just released a new Madden NFL 09 "Tackle Animations Trailer" that showcases this year's new tackling engine and a bunch of ... well, tackles. The game's tackling animations aren't bad at all and are some of the best Madden tackling animations to date. But we think the problem lies in with the fact that they are animations. Where's the oh so enjoyable ragdoll physics? Give us Euphoria-style goodness in Madden and we may actually support this new fangled "football" thing.
Posts with tag EA-Sports
Video: Man tackle with Madden NFL 09
Put down Viva Pinata (game save first) and your too pink controller, because it's time to man up with some football roughness. EA just released a new Madden NFL 09 "Tackle Animations Trailer" that showcases this year's new tackling engine and a bunch of ... well, tackles. The game's tackling animations aren't bad at all and are some of the best Madden tackling animations to date. But we think the problem lies in with the fact that they are animations. Where's the oh so enjoyable ragdoll physics? Give us Euphoria-style goodness in Madden and we may actually support this new fangled "football" thing.
FaceBreaker video: meet Steve, ninja boxer
Fight Night Round 4 announced, Mike Tyson included!
Two years since the last title in the series, and the closing of the development office responsible for the franchise, EA has announced plans to release Fight Night Round 4 sometime next year for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Few details on the new release exist besides the mention of a new physics and gameplay engine (will it bare the Freestyle brand too?). The most interesting addition to the series is the inclusion of former World Champion Mike Tyson, his first videogame appearance in
[via Joystiq]
EA reveals casual sub-brand, Freestyle
Attempting to appeal to a more casual audience, Electronic Arts announced in a press release the introduction of a new sub-brand of EA Sports called Freestyle. Focusing on making sports titles more accessible to a wider range of gamers, the Freestyle brand logo will signify that a game includes simpler control schemes for casual players.
"The launch of EA Sports Freestyle is an exciting milestone in the evolution of the EA Sports brand," said Peter Moore, president of EA Sports. "EA Sports Freestyle will be a perfect complement to our core portfolio of games that our loyal fans are deeply passionate about, and will provide compelling opportunities for new audiences looking for a lighter gaming experience and an easier entry point into EA Sports."
The first title to include the new Freestyle branding will be EA's cartoon-mischief style boxer Facebreaker which releases on the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii later this year.
Customize your Nascar 09 experience
With the popularity of customization in Forza Motorsport 2 and the Need for Speed series in mind, EA Sports has decided to allow gamers to customize their rides in the upcoming NASCAR 09.The all-new Paint Booth feature allows fans to customize every aspect of their vehicle from paint down to sponsor logos. Fans of the series will also be happy to know that all vehicles will be available for online play and will be visible in their complete customized form.
NASCAR 09 from EA Sports ships this June.
[via GameStooge]
Madden 09 adds ability to return missed field goals
Favre: Some young players better at Madden than the real thing
Recently announced Madden NFL 09 coverboy, and retiree, Brett Favre was vocal on his future and video game honor in an interview with the Associated Press last Friday. The three-time NFL MVP discussed his future off the field along with his legacy and was very candid when the Madden honor was mentioned. "I'm not savvy enough to play this game," Favre said. "Most of the younger generation has no idea [John Madden] coached."Favre ended the Madden discussion by taking a quick shot at the younger generation of NFL Pros. "Some of our guys play Madden better than they play on Sundays. And they spend more time talking about playing Madden." Well, based on Green Bay's 2007-2008 playoff record, the team clearly didn't spending time talking about beating the New York Giants. Ba-zing!
EA spikes Madden NFL 09 details
Aside from knowing who would grace the cover of Madden NFL 09 we could only confirm that the latest entry in the franchise was in fact based on the sport of American football. However, thanks to an in depth interview with gamer designer Phil Frazier by GameTap, there are new details regarding the 09 season.
New additions to the popular football franchise include:
- Real Football Intelligence: tracks your skill as a player and provides helpful feedback
- EA Sports Backtrack: Think instant replays meets tutorials in real time
- Online leagues are in for up to 32 players including full stats and, trading
- Player Weapons return!
- Total Animation System: Brand new animation system, go figure!
- New holographic training center
- Induction of Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth as the new play-by-play and color commentators
- Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions run at 60FPS
- Brett Farve is in the game but not on the Packers roster
[via Joystiq]
Brett Favre named as Madden NFL 09 cover athlete
Confirming an earlier report that appeared on GameDaily, Brett Favre announced he would be honored as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 09; the 20th Anniversary of the series.The announcement was made during an interview by Late Show host David Letterman. While news may come as a surprise considering Favre recently retired from the sport, his accomplishments alone warrant the appointment.
In his career Brett Favre was awarded one Super Bowl championship, 3 AP NFL MVP awards, was a Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection 9 and 7 times respectively and holds over 7 NFL records, including most career passing yards (61,655 all-time yards).
Finally, a cover athlete that can end that silly Madden curse. Unless Favre falls off his fishing boat this summer or something.
Madden NFL 09 is set to release on August 12.
[via Joystiq]
[Image via GameSpot]
EA lets you be a Head Coach without Madden
Previously, it was announced that the Madden NFL 09 Collector's Edition would, among other goodies, exclusively include NFL Head Coach 09 as part of the bundle. And even though that hasn't changed, EA has changed their minds on how to approach Head Coach 09, now deciding to release it as a stand alone game as well. According to EA, "after listening to fans and the Madden NFL community" they decided to make Head Coach 09 its own retail game which is now set to release on September 2nd for $49.99. We never knew Head Coach fans were so passionate about seeing Tony Dungy on his own retail box.[Via Game Stooge]
Vote for your favorite Madden NFL cover athlete
On April 25th the Madden curse will claim another victim when EA announces the football star who'll grace Madden NFL 09's cover. And to prepare for the glorious announcement, Xbox.com is hosting a semi-scientific poll asking Madden fans which year had the best Madden cover athlete. You can check out all the athletes (and John Madden too) after the jump, gawk at the Madden cover victims, select a favorite, then jump over to the forums to vote. Currently, Mr. Madden himself is leading the pack, but Ray Lewis (and his legally questionable past) is a very close second. Heck, while we're at it, tell us who you think User-Controlled Celebrations debut in Madden 09
GameStop's gaming blog (since when did they get into the blogging circuit?) is starting up a new weekly feature called Madden Monday where, every Monday, they plan on exclusively revealing a new Madden NFL 09 feature. And to kick-off (ha!) the fun, they just revealed Madden 09's new User-Controlled Celebrations. The UC Celebrations feature allows players the chance to semi-control their player's TD celebrations with the press of a button. Each player, stadium and Hot Spot location in the end-zone will have its own celebration. You'll even be able to steal the other team's patented moves. It's an interesting non-gameplay Madden feature addition that just may just be this year's BIG Madden formula change. Though, we hope it isn't.[Via NeoGAF]
Madden NFL 09 set to hike August 12th
NHL 08 updates roster, adds 6v6 online
Yesterday EA announced on their forums that they have dropped an update for NHL 08 that included an updated roster package and an online boost, upping the player count from 6 players (3v3) to 12 (6v6). While the online mode upgrade is much appreciated, to what is probably the best simulation sports game of 2007, it would help if the mode worked properly.
The original Team Play mode (3v3) was plagued with connection issues and according to the official NHL 08 forums the March 18 update has brought those problems back with a vengeance. While we wait for the issues to be corrected, a list of roster changes can be found after the jump.
[Thanks, Murph]
UEFA Soccer 08 stadiums revealed
Another UEFA tournament equals another UEFA game of course! While that may seem like the extent of our math skills we can say for sure that Electronic Arts have released 8 screens of the stadiums being used in UEFA Soccer 2008. So far it looks as if EA has successfully recreated the stadiums from the Austria and Switzerland hosted event. All we can say is, GOOOOOOOOOOOAL! Sorry, we had to.
Gallery: UEFA Soccer 2008
