Today EA SPORTS released the 2nd of 7 Playbook videos that details the changes to Gameplay.  If you’ve read my Gameplay Preview then you know that there has been some significance changes to how the game plays.  New Trajectory, Playaction Abort, New QB dropbacks and more will all be new to the game when you first take a snap.

In this second playbook Mark Schlereth talks with Larry Richart about gameplay in Madden NFL 13 and specifically Trajectory, QB Release Angles, Playaction, WR Control and Defense.

I can’t stress how much I’m looking forward to using the playaction pass this year especially since I can abort it at anytime.  I can finally perform one without getting sacked everytime.

Check out the Gameplay Part 1 Video Playbook:

Make sure you keep it locked here as I’ll have more Gameplay thoughts next week.

Today EA SPORTS released a new video on Madden NFL 13 Presentation.  This one is a lot more in-depth than the ones they did last week. The first of the 7 Madden NFL 13 Playbooks focuses on the Presentation. Presentation is everything you see when you are playing Madden, from when you start up the game to the post game highlights.

In this Presentation Playbook, you’ll get a glimpse of what you will see when you boot up as the game takes you through a 3D cooridor that mirrors what you would see before Monday Night Football.  You’ll also get a brief glimpse of players posing before a game, but even that won’t do it justice, cause it looks really good.  The addition of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms I’m sure will be covered more in Playbook 3 of 7 which focuses on Audio, but to see them in the booth is a site for Madden fans. The whole game is polished as you’ll notice the CBS-like broadcasting presentation throughout the whole game and not just during a game.  The colors and graphics are crisp and really makes you feel like you are watching a Sunday or Monday night football game.

I’ll have a full Presentation blog next week, probably Wednesday night that will be more in-depth, but for now enjoy this video:

Make sure you keep it locked here for more coverage of Madden NFL 13 with previews and maybe some interviews.

Apparently some information was leaked as someone from Operation Sports noticed some information at the bottom of the Madden webpage which read:

Madden NFL 13 is all new from the ground up, including an online Connected Careers mode where you can build your own personal legacy or relive a legend’s, all while each of your milestones gets broadcast in a socially connected universe. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms call the action from the booth, while you call your own shots using Kinect.

This is interesting news as it seems there may be new faces calling your games in Madden NFL 13.

Simms and Nantz have been calling games for almost 9 years and have a great chemistry together. Whoever the broadcast team is we have heard that EA will be using the same technology that FIFA uses and will be an instant upgrade from the broken conversation that has plagued the commentary in the past.

Could this be the broadcasting team in Madden NFL 13?

It was reported by Gus Johnson (March 3) on his facebook page that he was not doing Madden NFL 13 and so that left people wondering who would be doing the broadcast.

Seems like this may give us a hint.  Since then the page has removed the information.

What do you think about Natz and Simms calling the game?

Well here it is, the finals for the coveted Madden NFL 13 Cover is set.  It will be Panther’s QB Cam Newton and Lion’s WR Calvin Johnson aka “Megatron”.

You can vote for either one on ESPN’s SportsNation page found here: http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/feature/madden2013cover

Winner revealed on SportsNation Wednesday Apr. 25, 5PM ET on ESPN2

So who you got?

I got Cam Newton, he’s hot right now.  He had an unbelievable season as a rookie last season and he has been crushing in the votes. Say what you want but Cam is a polarizing figure and I think that will serve him well here. The real question is will it even been close.

If Cam get’s the vote for cover I hope that he does his Superman pose on the cover.  That would be a nice touch.

And then there were 4. We’ve come a long way from the 64 man bracket back in March and now after more than 1 million votes it comes down to today to see who make the finals.  Today ESPN’s SportsNation will announce the final 2 which will include either Cam Newton, Patrick Willis, Aaron Rodgers, or Calvin Johnson.

There is still time to vote: http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/feature/madden2013cover

Let’s take a look at the matchups:

Cam Newton vs. Patrick Willis – I gotta be honest here, I’ve picked against Patrick Willis from round 2 and he continues to push past his opponent each time closely.  This time he’s going against the likes of Cam Newton, who has been by far the most popular pick throughout this cover vote process gathering at least 70% each round.  Winner: Cam Newton

Aaron Rodgers vs. Calvin Johnson – Last entry I said that Aron Rodgers was already on the cover before because I always see him when I boot up my Madden 12 (Title Screen), nevertheless; there is no way Rodgers will beat out “Megatron”.  I talked about Cam being a popular vote, well Megatron has been almost as popular blowing out Gronkowski by getting 63% of the vote in the last round. Winner: “Megatron”

So I have Cam Newton and “Megatron” in the Finals. Make sure you check out SportsNation today to see if my prediction is correct. They will be!

As many of you are gearing up for the NCAA Basketball game tonight featuring Kentucky and Kansas, I urge you to take a look at another competition and vote for your choice in the Madden Cover Vote Sweet 16 bracket.  Let’s not have another travesty like we did last year by allowing running back Peyton Hillis win.  Those Ohio fans are rabid but we can do this together, we can prevent that kind of thing but it takes all of us.  There still are some good candidates left and today is the last day to vote for this round so let’s go straight to the match ups.

Cam Bracket

(1) CAM NEWTON vs. (8) ANTONIO GATES – Although ‘Madden’ fans all love Antonio Gates and what he provides an offense in the game, there is no denying the Cam experience.  Gates has fallen off this year and will fall to Cam Newton easily. No contest, Cam moves on to the Elite 8.

(5) LESEAN MCCOY vs. (4) LARRY FITZGERALD -Fitzgerald has already been on the cover.  He avoided the curse while his cover partner, Troy Polmalou; endured it all. I don’t think Larry wants to take that chance again and I see McCoy advancing.

(11) PATRICK WILLIS vs. (3) MAURICE JONES-DREW -

(7) DARRELLE REVIS vs. (2) VICTOR CRUZ -

ARod Bracket -

(1) AARON RODGERS vs. (8) MARSHAWN LYNCH – This is another I can’t let slide.  As much as I love “Beast Mode” I can’t let a guy like Marshawn Lynch be a cover athlete for Madden. Please vote Aaron Rodgers to get past Lynch.

(5) RAY RICE vs. (4) DREW BREES -This is a tough matchup.  Both guys are likeable players among fans, but I’m gonna have to defer to rule #23 in the Madden Cover handbook.  Rule #23 states “If you have already been on the cover within the last two years, you have to win another Super Bowl to get another shot at being on the cover.”  So that leaves Brees out and Ray Rice to continue on.

(6) CALVIN JOHNSON vs. (3) ARIAN FOSTER – My Madden mind tells me that Calvin Johnson (fan favorite of all those in Madden NFL Fantasy Drafts) should be a shoe in to move on but something tells me Arian Foster has something up his sleeve.  He’s been on ESPN a lot promoting the cover so I can see him winning here and being a dark horse to win it all.

(7) JARED ALLEN vs. (2) ROB GRONKOWSKI – Just like Arian Foster, the Gronk is all over social media begging to be the Madden Cover Athlete.  As much as I hate the New England Patriots, I wouldn’t mind Gronk winning over Jared Allen. #maddencurse

Go Vote Now!

By now everyone knows about the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote.  EA SPORTS has done a good job with promoting the #MyMaddenCoverVote on Twitter and you’ve probably seen some of the players on Sports Nation asking for your votes.  Well now EA SPORTS has come out with a Facebook App that let’s you fill out the #MyMaddenCoverVote bracket.  If you fill it out you willl be entered in to win a couple of tickets to Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans.

All you have to do is go to http://apps.facebook.com/mymaddencovervote/,fill out your bracket and you could win the Super Bowl Tickets.  Not only can you win 2 Super Bowl Tickets, but they are also giving away 50 copies of Madden NFL 13.

There are some intriguing first round matchups including:

Tim Tebow vs. Arian Foster – Believe it or not but Tebow is a 16 seed and I think it’s an unfair matchup for Arian.  Tebow Nation should help Tebow pull off the upset.

LeSean McCoy vs. Reggie Bush – This is another intriguing message.  It’s no secret McCoy is a better player and even said that on Sports Nation but Reggie Bush has a boat load of Twitter followers and if he uses his Social Network, he’ll be able to take this one easily.

Just so you know, I have Cam Newton winning the whole thing.

Who did you have in the finals and who did you have being on the cover of Madden NFL 13?

FILL OUT YOUR MADDEN BRACKET!

With the news of Robert Griffin III announcing that he’s going to grace the cover of NCAA Football 13, it’s what his virtual character will be in Madden NFL 13 that will probably make him the best rookie to ever be in the Madden franchise and something that RG3 himself will rooting for.

In an article on ESPN, Robert Griffin III talks about the draft and video games, and sounds more interested in what his ratings may be in Madden NFL 13.  When Madden NFL’s Rating Czar Donny Moore is questioned about RG3′s ratings in Madden NFL 13, he had this to say:

“We could be looking at the best rookie in the history of ‘Madden’.  It’s all about speed in people’s minds, and the way RG3 runs, and with his arm strength, he’s going to be one of the most fun characters to play as this year.”

I have to agree with Donny Moore on that.  He is going to be more electric than I think Vick was when he was on the cover of Madden 2004.  He may not be as fast as I don’t think he’ll be a 95 SPD as Griffin thinks he should be, but his arm and the ratings that go with it will be better than Vick.  He should also have a high awareness?  Here is what I think RG3 stats should look like:

Robert Griffin III  -  86 OVR |  91 SPD  |  93 ACC  |  58 STR  |  78 AWR  |  67 TRK  |  85 ELU  |  94 THP  |  88 SAC  |  84 MAC  |  86 DAC  |  84 RUN  |  73 PAC

RG3 thinks he should be awesome in the game also.  Here’s what he said about Donny Moore’s comments when he was told:

“That would be awesome if the ‘Madden’ guys do that for me.  Sometimes they don’t do that for rookie quarterbacks, but with the way I played last year and with the way I performed at the combine, that should shoot my ratings straight through the roof. I’m excited to see my guy in the game.

I know I have a strong arm, I’m accurate, and my awareness is pretty high out there. My speed will probably be 95 or above and that’s pretty sweet. Not many guys can do that, so that’s really exciting. From there, I just want to work on getting my speed up to 97 or 98 in ‘Madden.’”

Are you kidding me RG3, there is no way you will be a 97 or 98 speed in Madden. I don’t think he knows how unstoppable he would be if he ever got to that speed.

If you disagree with any of it let me know and we can debate but there will be no debate on weather RG3 will make any team he goes to, one of the most used teams in Madden NFL 13.

Hello Madden Fans,

I’m back from Orlando Florida in which I participated in the Madden NFL 13 Community Day.  It’s was more like an event and not just 1 day but 3 days of engaging with the Developers of EA SPORTS about Madden NFL 13.  My main objective when I come to these events is to bridge the gap in communications between the Madden Community and EA SPORTS.  I don’t go down there to for myself, I take down hundreds upon hundreds of notes, items, wishes, and ideas from the community that I have collected over the last two months.

There were about 16 guys down here from all over the Madden Community, all with the passion to do what they can to make Madden NFL 13 the best game it can be.  Here is a list of some of the guys.

SGibs and ZFarlz from Madden Bible and Primamadden.com

Nick from MaddenReveloution.com

K0ACHK from Compete4ever.com

Azureeffect from YouTube.com (THE SIM STANDARD) and Machinima

Russel Giles from Operation Sports

Dave Searles from Operation Sports

Jeff Setzer and Marcus Frieske from TraditionSportsOnline.com

Marc Rollins and Tony from MaddenPlayersofAmerica.com

Coach Ruckus from MaddenNews.com

Day 1

So the first day at the EA Tiburon Studio was all about EA’s vision about where Madden 13 is going, but this also included EA letting us know that they know what was messed up in Madden 12.  Each developer had a presentation that they presented about their vision on that mode.  So we had Michael Young talk about the overall direction of the game. Young started off by talking about the things that they felt they did very good in Madden 12 and then talked about the things they did not do very well and I thought this was a good step as far as opening the talks about things that need to be fixed for Madden 13.

Of course I can’t talk about anything that was told but I can tell you that this is where we basically listen to all the things that they present and save our questions until the end.  But just like always there are always questions during presentation, questions that lead to other questions.

After Michael You did his presentation we had some of the other developers talk about the presentation of the game and thier vision on moving forward.

We then finally after sitting through about 4 hours of presentation we got to get our hands on the game.  Of course the game was not even at alpha probably (I don’t know for sure, just saying from my experience at these things it’s real early.)

So we played up until about 6:30 and we got out of the studio and went to Kobe’s to wind down and just get to know the guys better.  some of the developers joined us so it was time to talk to the about the game a little bit more and also let them get to know us and what we want for the game.

Day 2

Josh Looman – Franchise Developer came in from Austin to give us a presentation on his vision for Franchise Mode.  After we soaked all of it in, we asked Josh questions and he was straight up with us on some of the tough questions we asked.  Now before anyone jumps the gun, everyone has things they wanted addressed in Franchise Mode so Josh got a lot of questions and I think he came out of it with a little bit of a prospective on what the Community wanted.  The great thing about coming out this early is we were able to bring some things to light so that he could go work on things.  When features start coming out, I will share some of the things we discussed at this community day and the impact it had on the development directly.

Josh’s presentation was good and I’m hoping live presentations will be available for others to see when they announce the feature sets because I really think fans want to hear it from the developer and not just in a blog.  I think showing a live presentation will connect the fans a little bit more than just some writing.  One thing I can say is that these guys care about making the game better.  I feel they get a bad rap for decisions they have no control of and it’s always someone like Ian Cummings who gets blamed when a title goes bad instead of the execs who say something like ” so and so feature is not good for sales, so let’s not do it”.  I’m just saying … lol.

I also was invited upstairs to be on the EA SPORTS Madden NFL podcast.  So I was with AJ, Donny Moore, Justin Dewiel, and the lovely Jennica Pearson.  I was able to plug the Game Changers Radio show and give my impressions of how Community Day was turning out.  You can catch the show here: http://bit.ly/zpcCHs  It was a good time doing the show.

Got some more time with the game, and wrote down a lot more feedback.

Day 3

Day 3 was just more one-on-one talk with the developers.  I got to sit and talk with Brian Ferwerda who is charge of the online and talk to him about some of the things that I and the community would like to see in Madden NFL 13 when it comes to Online.  We talked about Online Communities in great detail as well as head-to-head, online franchise, and just little small details like communication within online franchise mode.  I also proposed a way to have trophies for Online Communities.

We also participated in a very cool thing that I’ll be able to go into detail later but I must say that it was great.  I just love the tease … lol.

I will say this, it’s hard playing a new Madden and then coming back and playing the old copy of Madden.

Please make sure you check out Game Changers Radio Tuesday Night as we will have some of the Community Guys on having a Community Day recap.  You can get more details here: http://gamechangersradio.com/2012/02/21/game-changers-radio-show-37-madden-community-day-recap/

I’ll have more details on the show.

- Shop

“A Voice for the Community”

Hey guys, it’s Shopmaster and to start things off right for 2012 I’d like to share with you 5 new features I want to see done for Madden NFL 13.

We all know about the things that need to be fixed in Madden NFL 12 to make it a better game, but that’s for another entry. This entry I want to focus on the 5 New Features I want to see in Madden NFL 13. Now when I say new features, I mean things that are not in the current version. Of course adding more options for Online Franchise Commissioners and more options for Online Communities are high but those wouldn’t be considered new features, those to me are fixing up old features. So without further ado here is my 5 most wanted features for Madden NFL 13:

5. Social Network Integration – In a world where everyone is following you on Twitter, tagging you on Facebook, or “liking” your status; there has to be a better way to share our games with our family, friends, and opponents. I have to give credit to Will Kinsler aka RAC for this idea when he brought it to my attention a couple of weeks ago. Right now if I wanted to share my winning TD run on Facebook, I have to save the highlight post-game, upload it to EA SPORTSWORLD after I exited the game, log in to EASW to get the embed code, and then place that code on Facebook. It should be much easier than that. I should have my facebook account or Twitter account synchronized to my EA SPORTS account. Have you noticed that almost every website now has the option to login via your facebook account? This should be no different. After the game, I should be able to tweet a highlight, or post game stats on my opponents wall for all to see. One click and “Boom” out there in Twitterverse. I don’t think this is something that’s difficult to do. If RAPTR can tweet your achievements in game then why can’t EA SPORTS tweet your stats while still playing. Example Tweet: “Shopmaster just ran 75yards for a TD score to make the score 35-17 in the 4th qtr. with 2:56 left vs. Sgibs”. I hope that was 140 characters … lol.

4. Export Online Franchise Teams – So I’ve always wanted to play with some of my Franchise teams against my friends who had franchise teams in other leagues. What we used to do was just create a team with all the players we had on our online franchise team and just play each other, but as you can imagine after the first year and new rookies coming in, we were unable to duplicate the teams. I’m not asking to play ranked games with these teams, just be good to play games with my team outside of the online franchise mode. I’m in 5 different franchises and there is one team in particular that I really need to practice with but there is no way to export that team and practice with them. Just let me export my team so I can shut up my friend who always says he can draft the better team.

3. Fair Play – Ok, I know “Fair Play” is not a brand new feature but it’s not in Madden NFL 12 and it should be. I know some hardcore guys that would just love “Fair Play” to be put back in the game and I feel the same way. I’m not saying that it should be mandatory for every game mode, but it definitely should be an option especially inside of Online Franchises and Online Communities. I also think that in the interest of the casual gamer that “Fair Play” should be invoked for their sake. Here is the typical online gamer who just got Madden and wants to play some football. Jump online, pick their favorite team, it’s 4th and 12 on their 30 and they go for it, get stopped and then give up a touchdown. 2nd possession they are down 7-0 and it’s 4th and 2 from their own 15. They get stopped again and their opponent scores and it’s 14-0 and it’s not even half way in the 1st and they are ready to quit. On top of that now his opponent is going for it on 4th too and kicking onside kicks that he can’t recover …. time to quit. And this is why people hate playing online as a casual gamer, they can’t get out of their own way. Well if you make people punt on 4th down it would probably save a lot of people from easy scores and thus making the game a little closer and thus more enjoyable. No one enjoys a blowout. “Fair-play” is not only for guys who keep converting 4th downs but it’s also prevents you from making a bad football decision. Understand that I’m not all for not be able to go for it cause there are situations where I really do think it’s a coaching call but early in the game, long yardage on 4th, going for 2 unnecessarily, constantly kicking onside kicks …. those are some of the things that can be regulated. I also think the “fair-play” should be customized in franchise settings. For example, one franchise I’m in doesn’t allow you to go for it on your side of the field on 4th down, where another only allows you to go for it on 4th down if it is inside your opponents 40 yd. line. The question is not who’s right or wrong, it’s how you prefer to play the game. Some other things that people have considered “fair-play” good for is limiting audibling down or not allowing hurry-up in certain situations. All of these are debatable and we’ll get into that in another post, but let’s get “Fair-Play” back in Madden NFL 13. I guarantee you less people will be frustrated playing online.

2. Online Practice Mode – Hear me out on this one before you judge me. For years, I would just go to practice mode to get comfortable with my offensive playbook and to see what works well against certain coverages or defensive fronts. I still do that but I’ve become more interested on the defensive side of the ball and finding out what coverages work well to defend certain routes. With that said it’s so hard to practice defense by yourself in Madden NFL 12. The offense snaps the ball too quickly, they don’t throw to the WR you want them to throw to and they never put someone in motion like a real life opponent. Try motioning someone and trying to out user yourself with two controllers, you can’t do it. Online Practice Mode would solve all of that. Now when we go and lab, we can go and lab and not play a game. Have options to set the time, score, down and distance. Not only would this make labbing more effective and efficient but commissioners can use this to set up scenarios when games get disconnected. I think this new option would be used heavily. When you have some time take a read of my article last year that dealt with “6 Things That Would Make Practice Mode Better in Madden NFL 12“.

1. Spectator Mode – There is no question that Spectator Mode has been one of the most wanted features since online came to the Madden NFL franchise in 2002. We’ve come close to being able to watch Madden games online before. In Madden NFL 07, they had what they called GameCast where you can jump into the gamecast of someones’ game and actually watch the plays that were called and the results as if you were on the ESPN website gamecast. Madden NFL 07 Gamecast even had a web portion where you could go back and see every play called in that game on both sides of the ball and what the result was. It was great but I’m afraid under utilized and thus scrapped from later versions.

Gamecast in Madden NFL 07

Some believe if we don’t have it now, we’ll never get it but I’m an optimist and I believe we are closer than people think. Think about this if you will, there are already games that have spectator mode like Capcom vs. Marvel and even within EA with EA SPORTS MMA. So the technology is out there. Now as far as even more proof; and I’ve gone on record to say this, we are pretty much there already in Madden 12. Think about it. We already have Madden OTP which puts 6 people in a game at once. Just take the control from 4 people and now you have 4 people watching two people play. So we already have a piece of Spectator Mode already working, they just need to fine tune it so that more people can watch. I’m not asking for 50 people to be able to watch a game, but at least start out with 10. I know people will scream for more, but I’m only asking for 10. If 1 of the 10 can stream for everyone else then it’s a hit for Online Franchises and leagues everywhere. I have a Hauggauge HD PVR and I just started streaming some of my games about two months ago and the response is tremendous. I mean people I don’t even know will sit and watch me play. Some will chat and some will even challenge me ask me to play with their favorite team. I have one friend who insist that I text him everytime I stream cause he just loves to watch me play. He doesn’t play Madden but he’s been thinking about getting it just because he’s watched me play online. I’ve streamed some of my Online Franchise games and it’s been great for people to watch and do some scouting on the opponent and myself but I don’t mind. Until we get spectator mode, come watch me play here: http://www.twitch.tv/mymaddenpad I stream every now and then and am always willing to chat and give out some tips when I can.
Now I have no inside track on if any of these features will make it into Madden NFL 13, but at least you know these are things I will be talking to the developers myself and making sure they know what I and others are looking for. Once again this is not a list of things that I believe need fixing for Madden NFL 13 but what brand “New” features I would like to see in the game.

If you have a feature that should be in my top 5 please leave a comment and let me know. Who knows, I may end up revising my list but do know Spectator Mode will still be in it.

- Shopmaster
“A Voice for the Community”