Breaking Down the First Madden NFL 16 Trailer

Feature Article

Submitted on: 05/13/2015 by Chris Sanner

The initial Madden NFL 16 trailer arrived earlier today, along with the first information on this game which confirms what we first reported — that Madden NFL 16 is going to be focusing heavily on the passing game.

This is all well and good, and the first trailer actually shows a few new add-ons that you might miss if you aren’t paying close enough attention. You can watch the video above or read on below...

Rob Gronkowski Catch: You can see clearly Gronkowski make the catch with Darrin Well’s arm making its way through Gronkowski’s arms. Obviously, getting tangled up is entirely possible in this year’s game. Maybe more pass interference calls as well?

Patrick Peterson Interception: The basic thing you see here is the Seahawks Wideout (Jermaine Kearse) has his hands on Peterson’s back, jockeying for position. Peterson, however, is making the play on the ball and then proceeds to hand a nasty stiff arm to Kearse. Sorry bruh.

Antonio Brown Catch: This is one I actually missed at first, but check the Raven’s defenders left hand and Brown's left hand. The Ravens defender actually separates Brown’s hand from the ball. Brown (presumably) goes on to make the catch, but really — we don’t know that to be the case or not. Which is it?!

Odell Beckham Jr. Catch: First, ugly ball path warping. I mean — why even have that in a trailer? Either Odell Beckham Jr. is a former student at Hogwarts (and all of his catches make sense) or that’s something which needs to be cleaned up. Regardless, you can see Beckham interact with the defender as he falls to the ground after making the catch.

Final Thoughts

All in all, things are shaping up nicely for Madden’s new-look passing game. Wideouts and defensive backs jockeying for position and trying to fight for the ball are going to be new things. The added controls will be interesting to see how they work, but it’ll add a new element and depth into the game which wasn’t there before.

So far, an early thumbs up to the Madden team for the focus on fixing a longstanding series of issues in the game. But there’s much more to come…

Madden NFL 16 Videos

Member Comments

# 1 MHammer113 @ 05/13/15 10:11 PM

How close should I really have to look in order to see new things in the new madden title. Blow me away EA...I'm tired of this bs. You show footage that looks like madden 15 and play some new rap music to make it feel jazzed up...not falling for it

# 2 cowboy_kmoney @ 05/13/15 10:19 PM

Looking good EA. Now to see what this scouting and draft system has to offer.

# 3 Desucof @ 05/13/15 11:00 PM

looks similar to last year, especially graphically, Im assuming a lot of those are canned animations also but of course we dont know for sure yet, just based on history. Havent bought Madden since 2009( Madden 10) and so far not buying but only based on this trailer, still a couple more months to go, well see!

# 4 kjcheezhead @ 05/13/15 11:55 PM

I noticed the cover athlete has full sleeve tattoos, but none in the trailer. Kaep going to be the only one again this year?

# 5 roadman @ 05/13/15 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	I noticed the cover athlete has full sleeve tattoos, but none in the trailer. Kaep going to be the only one again this year?

Depends if the players received authorization from the artists.

# 6 dxyyz1 @ 05/14/15 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	Depends if the players received authorization from the artists.

why does ea need players to recieve confirmation but 2k doesnt?

# 7 SageInfinite @ 05/14/15 12:05 AM

Only new catch is the Odell. The other catches were in the game already, the landing, or interaction after the catch is just changed. You can't build sim on top of arcade. It's never going to be pretty. That's all they're doing, but people love it so hey.....

# 8 CM Hooe @ 05/14/15 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dxyyz1


	why does ea need players to recieve confirmation but 2k doesnt?

EA has been sued in the past with respect to their use of tattoos in video games, notably for including tattoos on players in NFL Street 2 (not sure if it was just the cover art or the software itself, but the game involved was definitely NFL Street 2). They now explicitly require artist permission (and I'd speculate a waiver outright) to use a player's tattoos in the game as to avoid any further litigation.

# 9 CM Hooe @ 05/14/15 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBuddyHobbs


	True, but why is it allowed in other sports games? I'm confused as to why it's only an EA thing.

It's a decision EA has made at a corporate level, presumably, as to avoid inviting more lawsuits. EA's been sued plenty enough in the past decade, lol.

I can't answer as to why 2K hasn't been sued over NBA 2K player tattoos because I don't know. Maybe Visual Concepts actively seeks out a waiver / has a long-standing policy in place (whereas Madden didn't)? Maybe 2K avoids getting sued because it flies relatively under the radar whereas EA is a multi-billion dollar behemoth of a corporation and Madden is one of the publisher's prominent crown jewels? Unfortunately I don't really have a good answer to this question, only speculation.

# 10 dxyyz1 @ 05/14/15 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBuddyHobbs


	True, but why is it allowed in other sports games? I'm confused as to why it's only an EA thing.

ea used a tattoo artist's copyrighted work and the artist wasnt aware and he sued

# 11 michapop9 @ 05/14/15 12:26 AM

the only thing that will make this overpowered is if the qb accuracy is overpowered, which given the history of the series is more probable than not

# 12 roadman @ 05/14/15 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Smif


	Can you explain to me why UFC and NBA Live don't seem to have an issue getting permission for tattoos?

It's the NFLPA that is demanding and requiring the players to get their own waivers. Each league might be different, but THQ was getting sued as well.(ie UFC)

Maybe the NBA players union isn't as strict?

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles...o-get-you-sued

# 13 CM Hooe @ 05/14/15 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Smif


	Can you explain to me why UFC and NBA Live don't seem to have an issue getting permission for tattoos?

No, not really. I can speculate that EA was able to acquire art waivers for each UFC competitor individually on account of a small roster and the NBA possibly has a policy in place about the matter given that NBA 2K and NBA Live don't have issues with tattoos, but I don't know for sure.

Really, tattoos aren't something I care about, to be honest. You're barking up the wrong tree to that end. I just know EA got sued for including tattoos in an NFL game years ago, and Madden is a very high-profile game and thus a ripe target for lawsuits.

Here's an article from Polygon from last year about the matter: http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/5/5782...lin-kaepernick

# 14 roadman @ 05/14/15 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBuddyHobbs


	I think after watching this we can probably rule out gang tackling and good looking WR/DB with more than 2 people.

I hope this trailer wasn't wha you see is what we get from now till the game goes gold, I hope there is more to that than the trailer.

# 15 Don Jon @ 05/14/15 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	I hope this trailer wasn't wha you see is what we get from now till the game goes gold, I hope there is more to that than the trailer.

How many years have we fooled our-self's saying this? I remember madden's first year on ps4, what was it madden 25? Some dude was on this forum saying "just wait guys, i know someone from ea and they said madden 15 will wow us, its the game we've all been waiting for", then disappointment (imo) shipped out last august. Its always been like this for madden, "I hope this, I hope that", i'm over it with this development team, it's obvious they don't value the sim as much as the arcade. That's their prerogative how they run their business but if your waiting for them to change you might as well get comfortable

Just going to leave this in here...

How come fifa and ea ufc came close to this trailer, but live and madden are laughably nowhere even close?

# 16 undrafted @ 05/14/15 01:26 AM

What an impressive, outstanding, convincing ... use of the NFL license

# 17 Dixie353 @ 05/14/15 04:38 AM

If tattoos was the only problem I would be happy, when oh when do we get play by play broadcasting like NBA2K series? Current Stats, better AI, better side line graphics all i see is what we should have gotten with the last Gen consoles! Madden is aways a generation away from where it should be� Still hoping for the best Madden since 2005

# 18 Find_the_Door @ 05/14/15 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBuddyHobbs


	I can't get over the OBJ catch. The CB used the same old I'll just jump in the air animation and not finding the ball.

Seriously Hall isn't even playing the ball he's just doing an animation that allows for OBJ's to play out. Same old Madden.

# 19 stalefsh @ 05/14/15 04:58 AM

Anyone else think the Jr. celebration looked terrible? I feel like graphically Madden isn't even trying.

# 20 JMD @ 05/14/15 07:05 AM

I love how the ball morphed and changed direction right into Beckhams hand. So glad that's still in the game, cough cough.......I'm done

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