Publisher: EA Sports

Developer: EA Tiburon

Release Date: November 2005

You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You tackle the man carrying the ball. Aside from players whining that they can’t feed their family when making $7 million a year (we’re looking at you, TO), professional football really hasn’t changed that much since EA started the Madden franchise 16 years ago.

But sportos don’t wanna hear excuses; they anticipate a major leap forward when the videogame series moves to the next-gen consoles. Luckily, the people responsible for making the Xbox 360 edition have just as high expectations. “It’s all about redefining the NFL experience,” says Senior Producer Jeremy Strauser. And after some exclusive hands-on time with this highly anticipated launch title, we’d say Strauser and co. are reaching their goal.

The Stadiums

Over the past two years, the crew at EA Tiburon has racked up some serious frequent-flier miles. The dev team visited all 32 NFL homes, as well as Aloha Stadium in Hawaii (home of the Pro Bowl) and Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, in order to painstakingly re-create these massive structures. Just how accurate is each football palace? Well, in the Xbox 360 version of San Francisco’s Monster Park, every single seat has been accounted for, and you can even see the sections where the sun has caused the seats to fade in color. “We remodeled the stadiums in ultimate detail,” says Line Producer Rod Moye. “This allows us to put the camera in some pretty interesting places.” You’ll also be treated to working JumboTrons that display SportsCenter-worthy events like sacks and interceptions, plus light boards that instruct the fans (who are now fully 3D) to get off their asses and start cheering.

EA is also paying as much attention to the actual gridiron. “Each stadium will have its own unique field,” says Moye. “For instance, New England’s stadium has vertical mow lines, while Pittsburgh’s grass will degrade faster.”

Seeing is believing: You’re looking at an actual in-game screenshot of Madden NFL 06. It may not instantly blow you away, but it looks much prettier in motion. After playing the 360 Madden for a while, we found it hard to go back to the current-gen edition.

Earning Cred

Like all games for the 360, Madden NFL 06 will reward you for superb play. “We will have a number of achievements—anywhere from 10 to 20—that will be specific milestones in-game, in the interface, or in franchise (mode),” says EA Sports Marketing Director Jordan Edelstein. “Every game [for Xbox 360] has 1,000 cred to give away via achievements, so we have logically broken this down based on the difficulty of the task. Therefore, finishing 30 years of franchise would be worth significantly more than activating a [vision control passing] card.”

Just as in a real NFL game, the sidelines will be littered with players, coaches, cameramen, and pom-pom-waving cheerleaders. But no longer will these out-of-bounds folks stand there like emotionless figurines. “Players and coaches won’t just react when you score,” explains Associate Producer Ian Cummings. “Say you’ve just broken away from the pack on a kickoff return. You’ll run by the sidelines and your coach and teammates will excitingly jump up and down.”

Don’t be surprised if you see NASA thanked in the game’s credits, as EA used those brainiacs’ resources to obtain weather data for each NFL city. This info also enabled the developers to make sure the sun hit each stadium at the appropriate angle, meaning that “shadows actually fall where they do in real life,” says Moye. In addition, expect snow and rainfall (along with the parts of the field that are getting the toughest workout) to now affect surface degradation.

The Animations

The Eagles’ Donovan McNabb pulling back from center to signal an audible, Indy’s Peyton Manning fooling a defender with his double-handed pump fake, Kansas City’s Priest Holmes performing his “can’t touch this” taunt after reaching pay dirt—these are just three of the roughly 4,000 animations in the next-gen Madden (which is about double the amount found in current-gen versions). “We’re rebuilding the animation system from scratch,” says Cummings. “And for every team, we have at least two or three players who have specific animations.”

But it’s more than just a numbers game; this one will also include hundreds of actions that are absent from (or technically not possible in) previous editions. So now you’ll see the offense rush up to the line of scrimmage in a panic to spike the ball, receivers cry for pass interference, and yes, you can finally jump over the pile at the goal line. The list goes on and on....

The Play-by-Play

Sorry, Johnny Ballgame, but it’s time for you to zip it. With the move to a new console, EA has replaced the duo of John “I state the obvious” Madden and Al Michaels with a no-name announcer who’ll call the action like he’s working for your team’s local radio station. And since this guy has ties to your squad, he’ll sound a lot more emotional when you make a spectacular score...or a boneheaded turnover. But the game ain’t totally Madden-free; you can still ask him for advice when picking plays.

The Sounds

“We’re taking you out of the booth and onto the field,” says Audio Director Aubrey Hodges. Using NFL Films’ vault of miked-up player tracks, EA has added sounds that you never hear while watching football on television. So when Peyton Manning calls an audible, you’ll actually hear his voice. When the Ravens’ Ray Lewis makes a presnap defensive check, it’ll sound just like him. And when the Eagles’ Terrell Owens brags to the opposition about how they can’t stop him, well, you get the drill. Yet that’s just part of the audio equation. “Tackles will really sound like tackles,” says Hodges. “Blocking will really sound like blocking.” And if you own a surround sound system, you can hear a chasing defender’s footsteps (and his heavy breathing) behind you. Awesome.

Madden Makeover

The muscles: “We can now adjust how muscular or not muscular each body part is,” says Producer Jeff Luhr.

The equipment: Players will now have different-sized shoulder pads corresponding to their position (so big pads for fatty lineman, itty-bitty ones for skill players).

The face: EA did 3D head scans of 200 key NFL players, plus the head coaches.

The extra gear: Players will sport roughly 200 different accessories (gloves, wristbands, extra-large cups, etc.). Sadly, no hand-warmer pouches. (“Next year,” EA says.)

Why Next-Gen Madden Ain’t All That

Beautiful visuals, all-new animations, a true-to-life atmosphere—how can the next-gen edition of Madden not be the ultimate football prize? Well, aside from the game’s online play and 30-year franchise mode, this version’s feature set is pretty bare bones when compared to the current-gen installment. You won’t find the robust owner or superstar mode here, and forget about a create-a-player option and classic teams. So don’t trade in your PS2, Xbox, or GameCube copy of Madden NFL 06 just yet.

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Electronic Gaming Monthly.