Finally the wait is over! Brett Favre has been announced as our cover guy, the new features have been unveiled, and we can finally talk about what everyone has to look forward to with Madden NFL 09. Let me tell you that I have been waiting a long time for this day and it is time to get down to business. By this time you all have a high level idea of the new feature set, but I am going to go beyond the marketing and press release information to give you a first-hand look at some of our personal favorite features.
Our goal over the next few weeks is to hit you with a blitz of new information and features. We have so many exciting additions to the game this year and we want to make sure that the fans know what to expect come August 12th. I personally see Madden NFL 09 as the biggest year to year leap in the history of the franchise- so I am chomping at the bit to start talking about it.
We'll also be releasing a blog about some of the new stuff we are doing on the animation side this year, so check that out as well.
Please keep in mind that we are still hard at work on the game and that the one downfall of us getting such an early start on releasing this type of information is that most of the screenshots won't be final. So if you see something that looks a little unpolished or unfinished-don't be alarmed! Let's get started!
The beauty of having a blog is that I get to talk about anything I want- so while we have many other huge features such as Commentary, Virtual Training Center, and Online Leagues- I've decided to start with something that hasn't gotten a lot of press, but will definitely get the hardcore community excited about this year!
Next Generation Play Call
The Initial Design Goals:
Play Call is arguably the most important screen in the game. You spend the majority of your time on this screen and it is the epicenter of all the important decisions that are made in game. We set out this year with a goal of completely revolutionizing the Play Call screen with a new level of presentation and most importantly interaction. Here were the main goals:
- Make it look totally different- a Next Gen feel
- Use Picture-in-Picture technology to provide On-Demand Content
- Give Hardcore Players More Options including Substitutions
- Provide simpler play calling for less experienced users
- No More Pausing! Integrate pause menu options
- Improve the Bluff System (hiding plays)
- Provide Shortcuts to commonly used functions such as Replay and "Challenge Play"
- Incorporate Instant Replay (this was a stretch goal)
- These goals were pretty aggressive, but we knew that delivering on this would give us a play call that goes way beyond just picking plays and gets people really excited.
The Final Product:
It is always great to shoot for the stars when designing, but usually reality sets in at some point and the design ends up getting pared back due to technical limitations. In this case however a combination of creative thinking and hard work got us to a point of over delivering on this feature. I am very proud of our team for beating the tech issues that we were facing and helping give us a play call that screams Next Generation! Take a look- I think you'll love this!
Madden NFL 09 Play Call
Here is a general shot of the screen featuring Picture-in-Picture content- in this case Instant Replay! That means you can pick plays and view the Instant Replay at the same time, no more having to button through a post play replay and miss it.
Notice that there are a number of tabs in between the PIP windows with a Right Stick icon next to it. This is your control center for On-Demand content right at Play Call:
Ok admit it- you are always pausing the game to look at your player stats or team stats. Don't be ashamed, I have a bad habit of being a stat junky too when I play Madden. With stats on demand you'll have everything you need right at the Play Call Screen- scroll through every player on your team and check out how they are doing:
I am the biggest advocate of bringing favoritePS2/Xbox features over to the PS3/Xbox360 generation. Obviously Formation Subs is on the top of my wish list. This year not only did we bring this feature over, but we brought it over in a Next Generation way by integrating it right into Play Call. Dream come true!
With all these new advanced options, it probably seems crazy to say that we also made Play Call easier this year. The new "Game Style" setting (which can be changed at Team Select or In-Game) provides three different types of play call: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. The Advanced Setting is the customary Madden play call system (which is shown in the pictures above), this is what I expect most experienced Madden gamers to use. The Beginner and Intermediate levels are much more simplistic and something that a less experienced gamer, such as a dad or little brother, can enjoy. Here is a screen shot of the intermediate play call- also check out the Madden Tip in the PIP windows:
Bluff Mode is back by popular demand! No more having to move around in order to hide your play- just hold down LT and a button icon will show up for each play.
Extra Features
That is the general overview of the new Play Call screen, and looking into the future I think the sky is the limit as far as content goes. I know I have tons of ideas about what we could show with this dynamic PIP system, and I'd be interested to hear any ideas that you guys might have. Here are a few extra tidbits about play call that I think you'll like:
Some of the cards (such as Instant Replay) have a shortcut function where you can click the Right Stick to access the Pause Menu option directly from play call. So if you want full replay controls, just click the stick!
Challenge Play is a card that comes up dynamically when a controversial call is made in game. This is basically your coach telling you that he thinks you should challenge and it also provides a shortcut to challenge right then and there.
Bluff is going to be back this year! Holding down LT gives you a different button icon for every play on the screen. This is fast and simple, similar to the PS2/Xbox days.
Different "Game Styles" can play against each other in 2player games. So you can play on Hardcore while your little brother plays on Intermediate. Which goes along perfectly with our new advantage system (we'll talk about that later!)
I hope you guys enjoyed the run down on our new Play Call. This is something I can't wait to get my hands on this year, and I think that you will all feel the same. As always, keep the feedback coming! Don't forget to stop by the feedback thread on the forums to let me know what you think about the play call blog.
Daniel "D-Cas" Castorani
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