Madden 09 News Post

Madden 09 Interview: GameTap

05:40 PM - April 25, 2008 by iamemmittsmith

GameTap has posted an interview with Phil Frazier, Lead Designer of Madden NFL 09.

Quote:


	GameTap: "How are online leagues going to be implemented in Madden 09?" Phil Frazier: "For the first time ever in Madden, you'll be able to get together with 32 of your friends and participate in a league where you can play through a schedule, play through the playoffs, play your own Super Bowl. There's draft support, there's trade support, and we actually implemented flex scheduling in the online leagues. We've had tournaments before online, but the problem with tournaments is that having more than two or three people together at the same time to complete a series of games is very, very challenging. So with flex scheduling, you can actually play your games in any order. It's more like a round-robin style. We did this because it's online and we wanted to make sure people can actually play through their seasons. If you and I are scheduled to meet in Week 10 but we're both online today, we can just play our Week 10 game now. I know there are possible issues or questions about what happens to the rosters if you get injured, but we're not worrying about that right now. We wanted to set up a system where leagues would actually get used and are very user-friendly in terms of the coordination required. It's all server based. There are no files to manage. There's no data whatsoever being saved on your box."

Game: Madden NFL 09Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 1 Scott @ 04/25/08 05:49 PM

Good read, looks like formation subs are back..

# 2 WDOgF0reL1fe @ 04/25/08 05:49 PM

Thank you. Great interview with some interesting stuff... The stuff about the training drills making the difficulty user customized seems really iffy though

# 3 lilazndood1 @ 04/25/08 05:51 PM

Damn you beat me to it but nice find!

# 4 SageInfinite @ 04/25/08 05:57 PM

Good Read. Can't wait to see this thing in motion.

# 5 SteelerSpartan @ 04/25/08 06:08 PM

Nothing about the turnover fest that was 08 and how they have changed that....fix that and we may be in buisness

# 6 PVarck31 @ 04/25/08 06:13 PM

I just have to say that J rob is one of the best game guys on the net. Great interview.

# 7 countryboy @ 04/25/08 06:16 PM

I am a little more pumped for this game than before. Great to hear that franchise mode got the overhaul it needed.

# 8 Scott @ 04/25/08 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by countryboy


	I am a little more pumped for this game than before. Great to hear that franchise mode got the overhaul it needed.

Thank goodness, since it's the only mode I play.

# 9 countryboy @ 04/25/08 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott


	Thank goodness, since it's the only mode I play.

same here.

# 10 thmst30 @ 04/25/08 06:28 PM

Well at least one EA football game may be good this year.

# 11 SageInfinite @ 04/25/08 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by countryboy


	same here.

Same here.

# 12 SageInfinite @ 04/25/08 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thmst30


	Well at least one EA football game may be good this year.

You know this might be the first year since 05 that Madden is better than NCAA.

# 13 LincSink @ 04/25/08 06:34 PM

Quote:


	We've got Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth as our play-by-play and color guys. We didn't have any in-game stat banners in next-gen at all, but we have a lot of them now. After every play almost, we have banners animating in like you see on broadcast, and I'm pretty sure a lot of our fans will appreciate this level of polish and presentation.

If they really go the full mile and include realistic broadcast camera angles and lots of different post play animations as well it will go a long way in making the presentation closer to many people's idea of "next-gen".

I think what I've felt was lacking in EA's next gen football efforts has been a feeling of being immersed in the game. A nice job with the presentation and overlays can help this. I know this may sound strange but it's almost as if I can visualize other people watching my game on TV and that makes the game feel deeper to me.

And yes I am one of those uber-dorks who does his own commentary during the games (only when I'm by myself haha)

# 14 bad_philanthropy @ 04/25/08 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SageTheInfinite


	You know this might be the first year since 05 that Madden is better than NCAA.

I feel the exact same way, especially since it seems like the debacle that has been next-gen franchise in Madden has been sorted out, since that's the main attraction in the game for most of us around here and has been for over a decade.

The only thing I'm slightly worried about is the ability to bring legends into franchise, I hope they are not just sitting in the FA pool so that we have the '07 mess all over again.

Things look promising for the series, it seems like with Ortiz out the direction has focused away from the more, casual, ritalin generation player and back to the sports sim enthusiasts who built the Madden brand.

# 15 SageInfinite @ 04/25/08 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoSox24


	If they really go the full mile and include realistic broadcast camera angles and lots of different post play animations as well it will go a long way in making the presentation closer to many people's idea of "next-gen". I think what I've felt was lacking in EA's next gen football efforts has been a feeling of being immersed in the game. A nice job with the presentation and overlays can help this. I know this may sound strange but it's almost as if I can visualize other people watching my game on TV and that makes the game feel deeper to me. And yes I am one of those uber-dorks who does his own commentary during the games (only when I'm by myself haha)

# 16 SageInfinite @ 04/25/08 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad_philanthropy


	I feel the exact same way, especially since it seems like the debacle that has been next-gen franchise in Madden has been sorted out, since that's the main attraction in the game for most of us around here and has been for over a decade. The only thing I'm slightly worried about is the ability to bring legends into franchise, I hope they are not just sitting in the FA pool so that we have the '07 mess all over again. Things look promising for the series, it seems like with Ortiz out the direction has focused away from the more, casual, ritalin generation player and back to the sports sim enthusiasts who built the Madden brand.

. IMO online gaming and the tournament play has ruined sports games.

# 17 marshallfever @ 04/25/08 07:07 PM

I'm a person thats easily hyped, and i have to say: I CAN'T WAIT FOR MADDEN 09. That interview sounded juicy as well as great. The holographic intro sounds pretty cool. If the AI is truly that great and adaptive then its a great way to start of the player. Directly kick him into that mode and then the entire game adjusts to them. This is a big thing if the AI sucks, but they've talked about it quite a lot and it seems as if maybe just maybe the AI will be good this year. Its a better idea then just having Rookie-Pro-All Pro- and All Madden. This way it can give a player whose better than all pro yet worst then All Madden somewhere in the middle which would be great.

The shortening of animations sounds great as well. They did a decent job with their branching animation last year, but this year it sounds like it'll even be better. Being able to chain moves is quite cool if the animations are up to it. People might brag that its stupid, but 2K5 did a great job with that and i can see Madden finally being able to do the same.

The Madden IQ thing reminds me a lot of the VIP mode in 2K5 which is a good thing. Also the TV style presentation coming back is ace.

I may just be falling in the hype again, but i can officially say this shall be the best madden this next generation has see.

# 18 Rocky @ 04/25/08 07:11 PM

Meh.....I gotta see it in action first. I got pumped big time last year when they talked about the gameplay enhancements and I won't be fooled again.

# 19 eDotd @ 04/25/08 07:21 PM

Aw damn...I don't want to buy into the hype but I'm starting to feel a little bubbly inside. Just the broadcast presentation and the return of actual commentators makes this an entirely new game (at least for me). I hope it turns out ok.

# 20 SageInfinite @ 04/25/08 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MomentousCeltic


	Aw damn...I don't want to buy into the hype but I'm starting to feel a little bubbly inside. Just the broadcast presentation and the return of actual commentators makes this an entirely new game (at least for me). I hope it turns out ok.

Same here. I hope they bring back the progressive lighting.

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