The iPhone has proven that it has the capability to compete with the other big boys in the mobile gaming space. With flagship titles such as Assassin’s Creed and Tiger Woods, developers are not shying away from the brainchild of Apple. However, when EA released this year’s version of Madden 2010 on the device, I was fearful. Fearful that a franchise with such a strong following, and one that just released possibly the best console version this year on the PS3 and Xbox 360, was going to fall flat on its face with an under performing version on the iPhone. Well, after playing through one season with the dominant Miami Dolphins (yeah, I said dominant) I can safely say that EA delivered another great addition to their Madden library.
Whether you like them and their antics or not, Brett Favre and Michael Vick will be added in today’s Madden NFL 10 roster update. As expected, their ratings have decreased, but they still aren’t too shabby. Vick won’t be a starter, so you’ll have to modify your depth charts to get him in the game.
What’s uncertain at this point is how these additions will affect their respective team ratings. Will the Vikings become more of a powerhouse? Will Philly’s playbook have more prominent Wildcat additions? We’ll have to wait and see after we play the game with the roster update (which should be live now, according to a tweet from EA). For now, I’ll go back to destroying people with the Giants power running game.
What in the world is possibly better than enjoying a free game? How about a free AAA game? I really can’t think of too many things off the top of my head that trump that? Well, as long as the game isn’t Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 3 or Ice Road Truckers! BLEGH! I would definitely take free cake and a ZJ (whatever that is) instead of those two games. The cake and ZJ might just edge out the free game, but you heard that right, Wolfenstein COULD be free for all of us if we save our receipt after purchasing it in August when it comes out.
The catch? There is no catch! That’s awesome right? (Good times!)
Well, I don’t think there is a catch? (Semi-good times!)
Okay. Just one. (So-so times!)
It involves Madden NFL 10. (We’re listening to the not-so-good news.)
Wolfenstein has to beat the August NPD numbers for Electronic Art’s Madden NFL 10. (Awww crappers!)
The middle of August has been synonymous with many things: sweltering heat, jellyfish down the Jersey Shore, and Madden on the shelves. The yearly football juggernaut has arrived and those of us lucky enough to get our hands on an early review copy have not put this game down since we got it last Thursday. This is the best Madden of this or any generation. The title may have changed, but the product has remained the same. You won’t need to look any further for football on a console this year. Madden NFL 10 has arrived.
Amidst the myriad of changes in Madden NFL 10 to enhance realism, EA Sports added the ability to change the game speed. The Default, Slow, brings things closer to the actual speed on the field. However, it’s a bit too slow for a video game. Luckily, you can change this setting to customize Madden to your liking.
The first thing I recommend doing when you pick up Madden next week is going into the Settings menu and changing the Game Speed to Normal. This brings it back closer to last year’s game. It still feels slightly slower than that, giving you a touch of added realism, while keeping a balance with being fun. You can set the Game Speed to Very Slow, Slow, Normal, Fast, and Very Fast.
I haven’t had a chance to play around with all the speeds yet, but based on the ones I’ve tried (Slow, Normal, Fast), the “Very” settings have to be overly dramatic changes to the speed that you’ll only want to try after a few beers with your friends.
Make sure to check back Monday at 3pm ET when the embargo lifts on Madden reviews. You’ll be able to read our thoughts on this year’s iteration and see if it’s worth your cold hard cash.
I fired up a review copy of Madden NFL 10 for the first time today. As usual, one of my first stops was checking out the Achievement list. This year, there are 24 Achievements, most of which have a fairly high degree of difficulty. Each requires you play on the All Pro difficulty setting, which may be too much for the normal Madden player. You have to remember that Madden sells millions of copies every year to people who many would consider casual players. Most of these Achievements will go unrewarded to the majority who aren’t comfortable playing on All Pro.
A couple that jumped out at me include tackling Adrian Peterson for a loss 3 times in a game, tackling Antonio Gates inside the 5 yard line, forcing Kurt Warner to fumble on a sack, intercepting a pass intended for Randy Moss, and intercepting Peyton Manning 3 times in a game. A lot of these will remain unlocked on large number of consoles.
Sports game Achievements have run the gamut from too easy (the early titles of this generation) to way too hard (Madden NFL 10 could fall into that category). At this point in the life cycle of Achievements and Trophies, I would have thought developers could narrow in on the sweet spot, but it seems that hasn’t happened in the sports gaming world just yet.
We told you a while back about Madden NFL 10 preorders getting a different demo for the game than the general public. EA fielding too many questions about that, so they’ve decided to clear the air.
On July 23rd, those who preordered the game will be able to get the demo featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals (Super Bowl XLIII rematch) with 5 minute quarters. Again, this is only for people who preordered the game. Then, on July 30th, anyone will be able to download a demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace or PlayStation Network where you can play a night game in heavy snow with the Dallas Cowboys against the New York Giants.
All clear? I personally don’t see any reason to preorder a Madden game. You can walk into any Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, or wherever you want (except GameStop) and pick up the game on launch day. I’ll probably buy Madden this year after I took the ‘09 edition off. I’ll just need to decide whether to get the game for Xbox 360 or PS3.
If you head over to GameStop and plunk down $5 to preorder Madden 10, you’ll get an extra special demo. We already knew about the demo bonus, but ShackNews pinged EA to find out what kind of demo everyone else would be getting.
We will also be issuing a demo via Xbox LIVE and PSN that features the Giants vs. Cowboys with 2 minute quarters. The GameStop demo is exclusive in terms of content. For example, the GameStop exclusive demo features a rematch of Super Bowl XLIII featuring the Steelers vs. Cardinals with 5 minute quarters.
I don’t see much point in preordering Madden, especially for a demo. It’s not like you won’t be able to walk into any store and pick up Madden the day of release. For me, I’ll wait it out.
Madden…Online Co-op? Could this work? I for one love Co-op games. They don’t always translate well into sports though. I like how Madden is trying to make the game more than a modest graphical game with updated ratings and rosters. You have my attention.
My pants are not sizzling, so there must be something wrong with this trailer. Madden 10, like every other previous iteration, is supposed to be leaps and bounds better than the predecessor. And like every other year, I have my doubts. Some new tackling and on-field referees look to be the bread and butter this year. Check out the gameplay trailer EA released and let me know if you start sizzling.
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