|
 Summer is right around the corner and an old feeling has suddenly returned that I haven’t had for some time.
I’m excited for football video gaming season again. That’s not to say that over the past several years that I haven’t eagerly anticipated Madden 2XXX or even All Pro Football 2K8. However, relatively speaking, I don’t think I’ve ever been this hopeful about the feature sets. To be perfectly honest, EA looks like they are bringing a jaw-dropping amount of features to the table with their three football products due this summer. Online dynasty for NCAA, online seasons for Madden, vintage playbooks in Madden, adaptive AI, new commentary, and many other features gamers have been asking for. Last but certainly not least, NFL Head Coach 2009 also looks to provide a unique football experience the likes of which we haven’t seen on consoles, even adding play creation that can be carried over to the Madden 09 game. Heck, Consolesports.net even knows about some Madden features we aren't at liberty to discuss just yet- but believe me when I say that I’m very excited. Of course, as we are prone to say here at Consolesports, the proof is in the pudding, and feature sets are nice, but if they aren’t balanced and working as advertised, there’s still potential problems. Still, I think EA is doing their darnedest to bring back the “wow” factor to its football franchises, and I’m very happy for that. I know most of us will be quite busy in July, August, and probably throughout the whole of football season, particularly if the online offerings are what we hope they will be. EA is taking some welcomed and necessary steps several months before release to make sure that the online portions of its new football games offer a stable connection throughout the country. That has been done in the past, but its being done VERY early, so if any problems or unforeseen lag issues arise, they may be easier tweaked in the next few months before the games ship.
EA is allowing a consistent trickle of Madden news about the 80+ new features. Gamestop’s own site had some great news on their own “Madden Mondays” blog about the gameplay camera in Madden, which can be found HERE . Apparently, there’s an option for a dynamic camera that pans backward during the passing plays to allow all receivers to be in view. That’s big, because I know I struggled with Madden 07 before I got my own widescreen TV, and I know that widescreen owners had a big “passing vision advantage”. Even with widescreen, you’d often have guys in the flats you couldn’t see, causing such things as screen passes and checkdowns to the backs to be a “leap of faith” in many cases. This panning and dynamic passing camera appears to address that problem in a big way. Unfortunately, that will probably make Consolesports’ own Craig Gonzalez (Bangpow) a bit too happy. You see, Craig is known as “Captain Screen-Pass”. I’m sure making that easier for him is going to make playing him that much more frustrating. He might win more this year…. Maybe. ;)
(Also note: the new passing-cam is optional. Traditional camera is still a profile option for players)
One thing is for sure, I think that even from what little info we have, it appears that the EA football community concerns, posts, and wish-lists are really factored into the upcoming football games. I for one am very anxious to see what the results are once we get our hands 'em. Scott Hemphill
"Quietcoool72"
Co-Founder
Consolesports.net
|
