Madden 09 Full Game Video

I just had to let you know about this video I found over at MyMaddenPad.com.

It's an Alpha build of Madden 09. The game looks real good. Check out the other 3 parts of the game over on MyMaddenPad.com: http://www.mymaddenpad.com/?L=ezine.index&id=38

Madden Community Day Blog - Day 3

11:58pm - Still here

Well, I'm still here and a lot has happened since the last time I checked in. ; I won the Madden Community Tournament on 09 and that makes the first ever sweep as I won yesterday's NCAA 09 tournament. Madden Wars is back up so all the rest of my impressions will be over there along with a new video of a full game once I get it encoded. It's been a long day so stay tuned for stuff tomorrow night. Also check out the other sites for their impressions. Good night.

5:50pm - Checking out the ratings and player stats

So, I know this is an early build but we have to look at some stats just to see where things are. I'm confident that this will adjust before release but it's never too early to talk about team ratings. So here we go:

Team Overall

Bears 80
Bengals 80
Bills 82
Broncos 84
Browns 88
Bucs 91
Cardinals 78
Chargers 95
Chiefs 71
Colts 95
Cowboys 96
Dolphins 67
Eagles 91
Falcons 67
49ers 72
Giants 94
Jaguars 93
Jets 76
Lions 78
Packers 91
Panthers 86
Patriots 97
Oakland 71
Rams 77
Ravens 81
Redskins 88
Saints 87
Seahawks 87
Steelers 94
Texans 78
Titans 89




3:30pm - More playing

I have played two games and have not scored but I am really digging the game. About to write a First Impression Article after my next game.

12:17 pm -

I took a video about the strafe catch. Kobra form VG who knows how to do it well and the defenders defended it well. My initial impression of the rocket catch and spectacular catch is that you can still do it, but the defender is OMG incredible. The DB can jump just as high from what I've seen so far.


11:41 am - Madden IQ

Well we are in the studio playing Madden after a brief presentation from EA Sports Fantasy Football which I have to say looks real good. More on that later. Damon Peterson just did the test and scored a 518. There will be a Madden IQ test posted later.

Madden Community Day Blog - Day 2

12:00pm - Won the NCAA Community Day tournament ..... sort of

Well I made it to the finals in the NCAA 09 tournament. I have been using the Florida Gators all day. I beat sunny from Sportable, then Rhombic, then Will form EA, and met Kobra in the finals. We decided to play the finals on the large plasma screen in the room and that was fine with me. We turned down the lights, turned up the volume and we were set. One problem though, we were playing on an earlier build and although I won it wasn't the build we had been playing on. He gave up halfway through because it just wasn't the same build. I was up 2 TDs in the 3rd. We might play tomorrow on the real build but once I play Madden, it's going to be hard trying to get that game in. He told me to take the win so I tihnk I am. That makes back to back Madden Wars NCAA Titles in the Community Day NCAA Tournaments. There was nothing for winning but it's just good to know you outlasted a number of good players. Tomorrow we will have a Madden Tournament and last year I lost in the finals. Looking to take that also.



7:58pm - Pump Fake

I'm going to try and get a video of the pump fake because I think it's very well done. You can pump fake in any direction by pressing the right analog, whichever way you press the button that's the way the pump fake is going to be. It's awesome. I like it because it's not that easy to do like pressing a button and now you actually have to pump fake in a direction. I used it against Pasta Padre as I faked the out to my WR and he left the TE one on one and he burnt the MLB for a big gain.



7:45 pm - 1st Round of the NCAA 09 Tournament

OMG, what a game. I was Florida and Sunny from Sportable was USC 28. The first quarter was all me as I scored 14 real quick and then cruised to a 28-7 halftime lead. I have to give it Sunny though he didn't quit and actually made a game of it. Tebow got hurt late in the 3rd and that gave Sunny enough time to make a comeback as I committed 3 straight turnovers. I thought I regained momentum with him only down 14 and me getting a big hitstick on his running back which got me the ball back. I end up holding on 28-21 as I held him on 1st goal from my 6 and tipped a pass away on 4th down.



5:34 - PS3 NCAA 09

Just got through playing some NCAA 09 on the PS3 and I'm very, very, very, ..... ok one more, very happy to announce that the game is fluid and is really no different form XBOX 360. It was smooth and the gameplay was very solid. It took me a minute to get back adjusted to PS3 controlling but everything I was able to do on 360 I am able to do on PS3.



5:32 - Community Day NCAA 09 Tournament

The brackets have been made for the NCAA Community Day tournament and I have Sunny from Sportable in the first round. Dan has Kobra .... ouch. I wouldn't worry about Dan too much, he's won this tourney before whereras Kobra has been known to go out early in these tournaments. I think he's just not a tournament guy.



5:27 - Kobra Show

Well we just are finishing playing Head Coach 09 and it's a very good game. I'm not going to get into detail but you can go to PastaPadre.com later tonight, he'll have something. I just finished labbing with Kobra on NCAA 09. All we were doing was gthrowing deep and trying to strafe catch and you can do it, but at the same time you could also do it with your defender if you have enough stick. Kobra is a offensive genius as he showed me several plays that if the defense isn't paying attention could get me some good yardage as well as maybe a base as to how I'm going to run my offensive team this year in NCAA. We also just talked about scheming in general and as we were going over games I was blown away by his knowledge of the game and his stick skills. Kobra works for VG Sports and does the voice over and breaks down plays for Madden over there. The guy is really good.





4:07pm - Head Coach 09

We are playing Head Coach 09 and it's pretty good. I'm not a big franchise guy but if you are you are going to fall in love with this. It's not like the old HC from 06 it has more depth, substance and just overall fun. A detailed presentation fo the game will be show here in about 20 minutes or so.

Here is a NCAA 09 Collection of Videos from Community Day:


http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1579839896



1:30 - NCAA Time

Ok I have played a full game in NCAA Football 09 and have totally enjoyed myself. Now before I give it the 2 thumbs up I'm going to need some more time. Everytime we come out to these community days and we always leaving that this is the best game ever, then we get home and get online and feel like we have been betrayed.

- Online roster sharing: You can now share rosters online.

- No FG Nets

I beat pasta padre in my first game and am about to play Dan. Be right back.



11:10am - Tiburon Studio

Well I had a good night sleep and I'm ready to go. I'm going to skip the whole brakfast thing and the ride to the studio and just jump into the NCAA coverage. We'll be playing this for a while. I just played a whole quarter and there are a couple of things I want to list that I saw.

- New Bluff mode: where you can show the play art other than the one you ran.

- I saw a sweet tackling animation where the running back hurdled a defender and then got leveled

- Seen some sweet one-arm tackles that didn't work out to well for the defender

- Formation Audibles

- You definitely have more control over the man you are controlling

- You can still strafe catch

- After a timeout you can coach up your players. A screen comes up where you can select on defense (tackle better, get the ball back, put pressure on the qb, etc ....)

- After you thow a pick they ask you what coverage the defense was in and if you get it right your QB keeps his composure, if you get it wrong your QB can get rattled.

Well that's it for now, check back in a few for some video and screenshots of NCAA 09.

Community Day Blog - Day 1

10:30pm - Sheraton Hotel

We just finished having dinner and it was great seeing everyone again. Let me just run down the people there. Will Kinsler (EA Community Manager), Russell, Dan (Madden Wars), Tim Turner (Madden University), Scott Hemphill, Sunny (Sportable), Kobra (VG Sports), Mad Scientist (Madden Matrix), AndyP (Madden Planet), Boza, Bobby (Gametime Philly), Justin Diewel (EA guy who works on EA Sportsworld), PastaPadre, and Chris (Utopia Sports).

We talked about what we are looking forward to tomorrow while we shared stories, drank, and ate a lot of food. I had some shrimp cocktail and a Angus Burger. Now we are going upstairs to play some Madden 08, might be the last time I play it ... .lol.



3:23pm - At the Sheraton In Orlando

Whew, I finally made it to my hotel room in Orlando and can finally sit down and rest. My flight was ok, but I have to tell you the story behind my rental car. I had already reserved a compact car at Budget and was destined to get a Ford Focus. I wasn't thrilled about getting a Ford Focus but at $13.95 per day I was really happy about that. So after I got my bag I went to the counter and told the lady I had a reservation. She looked up my information and asked me if I wanted to upgrade to a Sebring Convertable for just $10 more per day. I declined knowing that I'm going to be spending all my time playing games at EA, no need for the nicer car. So she made a few calls to see if there was a Focus available. She finally came back and told me I could go get the car, it's in parking space 526. I took the keys and headed down the parking lot. In space 526 was a grey Cebring Convertable. I thought maybe there was a mistake, so I looked at my paperwork and sure enough she had given me the Sebring anyways. Must have been my charming smile .... lol. The only thing is I can't get the top down. I press the button but it goes halfway and stops. Maybe there is something else I have to do. Anyone have a clue? I don't want to break the thing ... lol.

Also at the hotel I've seen Mad Scientist from Madden Matrix and Tim Turner from Madden University. We are all supposed to meet up at 7:00pm. I'll check back later with some pictures.

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9:17am - Airport

Well this is not really day one but what we call a travel day. We will not be playing any of the games today ...... boooooooooo. Anyways, I'm at the airport right now waiting for my 10:30 flight so I thought it would be a good idea to talk about what will be happening these next 3 days for me and what I'll be looking for. I plan on getting a lot of answers to the questions I have been asked the last couple of days form Madden fans everywhere. I've received messages on my XBOX Live, on Madden Wars, on MyMaddenPad.com and on other boards like Madden Goats. The following is a list of questions I have received the most.

1. Is the spectacular catch toned down for 09?
2. In NCAA will the QB still be able to pitch the ball even though he is nearly down or engaged in a tackle?
3. Will there be formation shifts, formation audibles in Madden?
4. Will you be able to play hardcore ranked games online?
5. Can you still strafe catch?
6. Does the PS3 run at 60fps and does it look good?
7. Let me know which version is better between the 360 and PS3
8. Will your 08 record show up for the start of 09 like last year?
9. How are online dynasty work?
10. Will you be able to text in-game online?

So those are just some of the things I will be looking for in the next two days as I play Madden 09 and NCAA 09. If you have more questions, please go here.

Also those of you who are interested in a Madden Wars' Dynasty look out for a special announcement sometime in the evening of Community Day 2.

Check you guys later.

Look out for NCAA 09, Madden 09, and Head Coach Updates ....

So I got my itinerary from EA today, basically outlining what's going to be involved over the next couple of days. I thought I'd share it with you because it doesn't look like I'll be seeing any Madden 09 stuff until day 2 and I know how geeked up some of you guys are about the new Madden. I think it will be good to play NCAA and Head Coach first because I think if we did Madden first some of the guys there would not want to get off and will neglect the other games. So it looks like on Thursday we will arrive at EA around 10:30 or so and will play NCAA 09 for a couple of hours and then move into Head Coach. I don't know why it's only a couple of hours but that's what it says, so I'm not going to argue. Then we will be playing Madden from then on until 5:00 and then we can play either NCAA or HC until 10:00pm or until they pry the controller out of my hands.

I love it. I don't think we have ever had this much time on the game as Friday is all Madden from morning to midnight. Kind of sucks for me because I have to actually fly back home Friday evening because of a previous commitment. I'll be leaving around 5:30 Friday while everyone else will be playing until midnight. That's why I'm glad Moos (Dan) is going because he will definitely get details on the game that I'll miss. So make sure you check back on Madden Wars sometime Thursday May 29th to get some details on the game. I plan on doing a live blog from the site on my experience and try to answer some questions.

Later

- Shopmaster

Invited to EA to play some Madden ....

I received good news yesterday as I got an email from EA Sports saying that they want me to fly down to Orlando to participate in a group of people who will get a chance to play early builds of Madden 09. Along with Madden, I will also be able to play NCAA 09 and Head Coach 09. Now this is not my first time going, in fact last year they invited me out to LA to play the game early and to also take me to the ESPYS. That's right I got to get on the red carpet with all the sports stars and participate in the taping of the ESPY. That was a sweet deal and out of all the things EA has done, that was definitely the cooles thing they have ever done.

I'm not the only one going, Moostache from my site was invited also. Moos is a passionate gamer who is very long winded when he gets a chance to sit down and write. I'm going to ask him to cover the NCAA 09 side of things while I cover Madden. The dates are from May 28th to May 31st, with the 28th and 31st being travel days. So that leaves 2 days to "bang hard" on the game and give our assesments. The cool thing about this event than the others I've been too is that this will be the earliest that I've been able to play the Madden and it will enable us to give direct feedback to the developers so they can continue to tweak the game and improve it. We've been asking for this opportunity for a while now because in recent years by the time we've had a chance to play it, it was too late to make any changes.

The downside to playing the game this early is one, it's not finished yet; but I think it's going to be stressful on us that go because I think there will be a lot of things that we can't tell you guys. New features that haven't been spoken about that we have to keep underwraps. I know a couple of things right now and it's killing me not to say anything, because I see people asking about it.

There are a number of others that are going also, CDJ from NCAASTRATEGIES.com and Bobby Morgan from Gametimephilly.net. I think there are about 13 overall and not all of them have websites you can go to but I'm sure they will find somewhere to post their impressions.

These events are a lot of fun and EA really treats us like honored guest. They fly us in, pay for our meals, and fly us out. Last year when I went I think we ran up like a $400 plus bill as we had shots of patrone and some more stuff. It was great. Those are the times that really make having a community a lot of fun.

I'll update you guys later on the event.

Can't leave home without it .....

So, I'm went out of town to Detroit Michigan to visit my grandmother. Of course I had to bring my 360 just in case I have some time to play. Now is that too much? As delicate as these 360s are why do people keep toting them around? It's because I'm a junkie and I rarely go a day without turning on my 360. I know I'm not the only one, plus I can't let my friend get too far in Grand Theft Auto IV without me. I should be able to sneak some time at night, hope for an internet connection so I can jump on Gears of War with my friends but even without that I still have GTA.

So I guess the question of the day is how many of you still carry your 360 with you out of town?