IGN's got the goods, folks: this seven-page interview reveals more about Madden Wii than every past publication on the game combined. The interview covers the exact passing controls, special moves with the Wiimote, defensive manuevers, graphical capabilities, the kicking game...it's quite a read.
Of note is that the Wii version won't be "dumbed down" as the initial 360 version was; it contains every single mode and feature that long-time fans of the franchise have come to expect. It also contains some new features, such as the "two-on-two" minigame, which re-enacts the classic quarterback/receiver vs. rusher/safety playground game complete with "Mississippi" counting. It truly is a goldmine of information on the game, and the interviewee is extremely candid on most everything...except, strangely enough, online play. He absolutely refused to speak a word about it. Hmmmm.
[Update 1: Fixed a small typo.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-13-2006 @ 8:52AM
Michael Pastore said...
"the interviewee is extremely candid on most everything...expect, strangely enough, online play."
Expect? Except? that is an important word to mess up... Should we expect online play or did he not talk about it at all?
PROOFREAD YOUR FREAKING POSTS
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9-13-2006 @ 9:38AM
Jason Wishnov said...
Uh, thanks for the catch, but be a little more constructive next time, okay? Spellcheck didn't catch it, as it still falls in the realm of proper grammar, and we make mistakes. I'll fix it now.
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9-13-2006 @ 11:47AM
TheDave said...
Very interesting read. The thought that EA put into this actually makes me want to rent this game. I've never been one to like the Madden series of football games because they've been the same rehashed games but with this Wii verison I'm interested to see how it plays. I especially love the line "Our B button is kind of our fake button throughout the game." Just like in the interview, with the Wii version you can really sell a pump fake or fake hike. If EA can make this work I think some players might be swayed to start picking up the Wii version of EA Sports.
Some of the screens of the game don't look half bad, either. Some of the player models and shadows look a little off but the backgrounds look really nice. This game could bring the Wii some credit when it comes to 3rd party support because if EA starts to love the Wii, it just brings in more developers that were skeptical about the wii-mote.
TheDave
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9-13-2006 @ 12:43PM
Joe said...
The thing that bugs me is that I had hoped that it would be more like precision passing in the Xbox version. He says that currently, if you want to use precision passing, you use the joystick to direct the ball as you're throwing it. This has never made sense to me though, because usually it makes your quarterback run in that direction as well.
I was hoping that on the Wii version, you would be able to aim the pass to the side you wanted to throw it to as a precision passing feature, but according to the interview, you only control the strength of the pass like this.
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9-13-2006 @ 12:46PM
Joe said...
Oh, and as for online play, I really don't mind if the launch third party games don't include it- I think that Nintendo wants to test its capacity for their servers before they give out the wifi libraries and thats fine with me. I'd rather have fewer wifi games at first that work well than a ton that always have server errors.
Now, off topic, but could anyone remind me what time this conference is tomorrow?
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9-13-2006 @ 12:52PM
vidGuy said...
I LOVE the passing control! You select your receiver with the button, then throw. "it feels a little slower than passing in the other versions of the product, but it also makes you think a little more about where you're throwing." I think that's pretty neat.
Fake snaps are awesome. "But in order to do a hard count, or a fake snap, what you do is hold the B button on the trigger of the Wii remote and then you do the snap. And so to somebody who is sitting on the couch watching you, it looks like you've just snapped the ball."
So I'm not sure if all games are going to achieve the "simple" control Nintendo is looking for, but look how many actions Madden has. This control method is definitely looking like a lot of fun. I'll probably be picking this up at launch.
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