Upcoming "Madden 10" Video Game Looks to Shake Things Up

While there have been many popular sports franchises in the video game universe that have seen their share of highs and lows, the Madden football franchise has never taken a severe fall in its 20-year history. Sure, there have been years in which the programmers at developer/publisher EA Sports have rested on their laurels and have not given the game's fans significant improvements in their latest iteration of the game, yet year after year, Madden NFL has always been a hugely profitable video game franchise.

With the state of the world-wide economy in the dumper for the foreseeable future, the fine people at EA Sports knew they needed to get their overall game sales up, so they decided to change a lot of fundamentals in this stellar football game franchise, starting with programming much better A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) for the game's defensive patterns and offensive patterns during pass rushes. Anyone who has played Madden NFL in the past knows how difficult it can be to successfully pull off a decent 20-yard pass to one of your main receivers, mainly because the defense closes in on your quarterback so quickly that you are almost immediately sacked, play in and play out.

Well, this year's Madden game will definitely be different. The offensive linemen that will be protecting you in "Madden 10" will actually do their job very well and will much more often prevent that 300-pound defensive tackle from grinding you into the ground in the first few seconds after the ball is snapped to you, thus creating a pocket for your quarterback to take his time in that will allow your QB to study the field while locating the best receiver to throw a pass to.

When your opponent's defense does get around your offensive linemen, as they surely will, the game's programmers have given your quarterback the ability to shed tackles, scramble around the field with a lot more dexterity than ever before and will allow your QB to get rid of the football much more easily, thus avoiding that horrible sack that would end with a 30-yard loss.

Hugely improved graphics will enhance the look of "Madden 10"

As a football fan, I know that watching a game on my HDTV screen greatly enhances the game itself when compared to viewing the same game on an old-fashioned cathode tube TV. The same can be said about sports games: when the graphics are impeccable, it really makes that sports game shine above all the others. EA Sports realized this, so they ensured that "Madden 10's" graphical enhancements would greatly improve the overall gaming experience that football fans purchase the Madden football games year after year for.

This year the designers decided to overhaul the stadium lighting effects and allow the on-field referees to be knocked down by any player running near the ref, whether on purpose or not. The improved lighting effects in this year's game means that all the shadows that your linemen cast on the field are completely dimensionally correct and that when the sun is out, you will be able to see every blade of grass and helmet sweat shine from the sun just like in real life.

From what I've seen of this game's animated tackling graphics, I have been very surprised at the level of improvements in that realm as well. This year's iteration of Madden will allow you to use multiple defensive lineman to tackle the opposing team's running back, lending a realistic quality to this year's Madden game that has never before been seen in the game's franchise history.

Perhaps the best is yet to come?

Although EA Sports actually has it's own blog which informs the game community as to how things are proceeding with "Madden 10", the game's developers have been hush-hush on how the online component of this year's Madden game will change from last year's less-than-appealing online game structure. But they have hinted at drastically improving an online player's ability to compete in a much more multi-faceted way than ever before with up to 8 players competing against each other at the same time.

Overall, "Madden 10" looks to take the football gaming experience to new heights for all fans of the NFL, and the new game might even make fans out of gamers who never picked up a Madden game before. So start firing up those barbecue grills and put the beer on ice...it's time for pro football!