Hat zwar jetzt nichts mit einer NFL Off-Season zu tun, allerdings kommt in knapp einer Woche Madden 2006 in den USA auf den Markt. Sehr interessante Neuerungen wie ich finde, wie z. B. den Superstar Mode oder das völlig überarbeitete Pass-System
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EASports-Homepage
Superstar Mode
By Dino Scoppettone
Imagine the life of an NFL Superstar: you make a ton of money playing football, you get to live in an amazing house, you drive a sweet ride, maybe you get offered commercial roles and parts in movies, and overall, you live a bit like royalty. Sounds like a dream, right?
Well, chances are your favorite NFL player experiences something similar to that every day. Now, in Madden NFL 06, you'll have the chance to at least get a taste of the good life yourself, thanks to Superstar Mode.
For the first time in a Madden NFL game, this year you'll have the chance to narrow your focus from a player to an individual. Create your own custom player or import him from NCAA Football 06 or NFL Street, and take him from struggling rookie to Hall-of-Fame talent through the course of his career as you improve his skills on the field and blow up his rep outside the lines.
"I actually had that idea a couple years ago and someone stole it from me!" joked Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger when he played around with Superstar Mode for the first time while previewing Madden NFL 06. "It's pretty cool… I'm interested to see how it plays out."
Your Superstar's pro career starts with the NFL draft. If you're importing a player from another EA SPORTS football game, you'll have a pretty good shot at getting him drafted fairly highly. Create your own player in Madden NFL 06, however, and it will be tougher for you to be a top pick come draft day – but you can still improve your draft stock in a couple of ways.
When you create a player, you can actually choose your parents – and their combined DNA will help determine which type of player you'll be. Each of your parents has an IQ, a profession, and certain character strengths, and by combining the two, you'll be able to help shape whether you becoming a speedy wide receiver, a gigantic lineman, or a nimble quarterback. You can also control what your player looks like, from hair color to body size.
"I would make myself huge," said Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer when asked how he'd change his body in Superstar Mode. "I'd be like 6-4, 245, some big old calves, big arms. I've got little tiny legs and little tiny arms so I'd definitely make myself buffed."
Once you've created your player, there are still a few things you'll have to take care of before the draft. For one, you'll have to show off your brainpower by taking a short IQ test that will let NFL teams know what sort of mental skills you possess. Answer most questions correctly, and you might improve your draft stock – but if you come up small on the test and struggle getting even some of the questions right, you can expect your position in the draft to drop until the late rounds.
You'll also have to hire an agent, who will help you get product endorsements and even movie roles as your career begins to ascend. If you're expected to be a high draft pick, you can hire pretty good agent right off the bat, but if you're not in demand, not as many agents will take you on as a rookie. Of course, once you've gained some notoriety, you can fire your agent and get a new one if you're not happy with the one you have.
Choose your agent with care: some may be strong in certain areas (say, contract negotiations or interview skills) while weak in others (like endorsements, for instance). The best agents will be strong in most areas and be able to help you reach your potential more quickly, but it's tough to get a great agent until you've proven yourself.
"You want someone who has … a good reputation for getting things done, not only on the field but off the field," said Bengals receiver Chad Johnson about what he looks for in an agent. "What's most important is what they can do for you off the field because football is not going to be there forever, so they have to really care about you off the field, for your well-being and future." After you've hired an agent and prepared for the draft, the big day arrives – and just like a real NFL player, you'll have no control over which team drafts you. Once you've been selected, you'll move into your new apartment, where you'll be able to guide your Superstar's career. A map of your new NFL city lets you head to the barbershop or the tattoo parlor, where you can alter your appearance, or you can hit the practice fields to improve your game – an important part of developing your Superstar's on-field performance.
There are a few ways that you can improve your Superstar's player ratings. Pre-season training camp will give you a long term improvement, but only if you perform well in the drills. If you don't, your Superstar's ratings will actually decrease. Once the season starts, individual Gameplans for each opponent allow you to practice certain plays and increase your ratings for the upcoming game only, but the improvements – or decreases – only last for that game.
While you're playing through your season, you'll receive advice from your mentor, former Denver running back Terrell Davis, who will guide you through some of the features of Superstar Mode and give you some handy tips as you're getting your feet wet. As your career progresses into multiple seasons, you'll have the chance to build your rep, get more exposure in the public eye, and move out of your apartment into bigger homes – even a mansion, if you can make enough money. Speaking of which, if you're not happy with the team that drafts you, you can always jump to another team as a free agent once your rookie contract is up.
Depending on how you guide your Superstar, you'll unlock up to 60 different personas that reflect your status, from Draft Pick to Movie Star to the ultimate goal, Hall-of-Famer. You can retire at any time, but if you want to play out your career to the very end, you can stay on the field for up to 20 seasons if you're good enough.
Franchise Mode is, of course, still available to gamers that want to run their own teams – but this year, the individual is getting some attention too. In Superstar Mode, you can now live out your dreams of being an NFL star – the paths you take, however, are up to you.
Vision and Precision
By Dino Scoppettone
Chances are, if you're an experienced Madden NFL gamer, you've spent more than a little time using the Atlanta Falcons in the game – mainly because quarterback Michael Vick can be practically unstoppable, given his amazing scrambling abilities and his knack for throwing well on the run.
While Vick will still be a force to be reckoned with in Madden NFL 06, the rest of the quarterbacks are coming back to the pack, thanks to this year's emphasis on Vision and Precision. For the first time in years, the Madden NFL passing system has been improved significantly, making a quarterback's ability to see the entire field a very important part of the passing game.
Madden NFL 06 gamers will notice a difference from the first snap of the ball. On passing plays, quarterbacks will have a "Vision Cone" which denotes the direction in which the QB is looking. The size of the Cone is dependent upon the quarterback's talent rating, as well as the skill at which you're playing, and the concept is to use the Cone to look in the direction of the receiver to which you want to throw the ball.
This means the days of rolling out right and throwing a blind bullet pass to the left for an easy 20-yard completion are over – unless you make sure your QB is looking to the left before he throws the ball. The easiest way to look at your intended receiver is to hold the R2 button (on the PlayStation®2 console) and tap the receiver button, which immediately moves the Vision Cone towards that receiver, before you hit the receiver button to actually throw the ball. Using the R2 button method, which is basically a double-tap, the quarterback's head can "snap" quickly to look at the receiver before he throws it.
Alternately, gamers can use the right analog stick to manually move the vision cone left and right, allowing them to look back and forth across the field, trying to spot a receiver. Whether using the R2 button or the right analog stick, however, it will be important for gamers to have their quarterbacks looking in the direction of the receiver before throwing, because any balls thrown in a direction where the quarterback isn't looking have a much better chance of being overthrown, falling short, or even being intercepted.
In fact, at the higher skill levels, gamers won't even be able to throw to receivers outside the vision cone after a period of time, because the receiver's passing icons will fade out if the quarterback doesn't look in his direction for too long.
Old-school Madden NFL players will, of course, have the option to turn off the Vision Cone system and use the previous passing system, but the Vision Cone lends a new air of realism about the game – just ask the guys that actually play the position for a living.
"In most video games, you can just hit a button and the quarterback will just throw it wherever he wants. Now, you really have to know what's going on, you've really go to understand the game," said Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer after trying out the new Vision Cone system. "It changes the game and I think it's going to make it more competitive. You can't just go back and hit a button. You've got to know exactly where the receivers are going; you've got to know if they're running a crossing route, an out route, a go route, and you've got to kind of lead them with your vision."
Vision, according to Palmer and several other NFL quarterbacks who have previewed Madden NFL 06, is one of the most important aspects of playing the position.
"That is the the most important thing, in my opinion," Lions quarterback Joey Harrington said of having excellent on-field vision. "You don't have to have the strongest arm, you don't have to be the fastest guy out there, but you have to read and recognize what's going on. Anybody can get out there and chuck the ball 65 yards down the field, but if you don't see the coverage, see where the opening in the zone is, see how the guy is breaking out of his route versus man coverage, you're not going to complete most of your balls."
"Vision is a big thing," added Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. "A lot of times, guys will say 'hey, I didn't see him.' He was wide open, but you didn't see him. Hey, it's your job to see him. You've got a lot of offensive line in front of you, and you've got to find a way."
Another addition to the passing game in Madden NFL 06 is the new Precision Passing system, which gives players greater flexibility as to where they're aiming the ball. By pressing either the left analog stick or the D-pad in the direction you want the ball placed as you throw it, you can aim the ball at a spot near the receiver – high or low, outside or inside, as you try to keep it away from the defensive players.
Precision Passing, according to Jacksonville quarterback Byron Leftwich, "allows you to put the ball where you need to put it. It's low, it's high, right shoulder, left shoulder. The game allows you to throw a low ball and let your guy dive on the ground for the ball so you won't throw the interception or so the ball won't get broken up. EA's doing a great job of making this as real as possible, every year."
Between the Vision Cone and Precision Passing systems, Madden NFL veterans are going to have to add some new skills to their arsenal – but if they choose to use these new enhancements to the passing game when they play, they'll find a level of realism unparalleled in football video game history. Now, it's not just about how fast you are, but how much of the field you see. Stack up a player with a relatively narrow Vision Cone, like a backup quarterback, for instance, against the vision of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, and you'll see the difference.
So say goodbye to the days of Madden NFL gamers wanting to use the Falcons all the time. Vick might still be in demand, but so will Manning, Brady, McNabb and the others that have great vision. And remember: this year, look before you throw.
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