Madden Updates - Plays, Cover Athlete, and Ian Cummings
We have a few Madden tidbits that have surfaced recently.
First, Madden creative director and and community figurehead for Tiburon and Madden Ian Cummings is leaving EASports. This comes as a surprise as Ian was seen as a guy who had a lot of passion and drive for crafting Madden into a great football gaming product. It will definitely be interesting to see the direction of Madden from here on out without his guidance. Here is his farewell post and it can been seen following this link.
“After nearly 11 years with Electronic Arts, I have decided to seek opportunities elsewhere. My time at EA has been an incredible ride. From my days in QA to my recent years as the Creative Director for Madden, I always found myself surrounded by the most talented people in the industry. I’ve had the privilege of helping to create world-class gaming experiences like Madden; a franchise that has touched peoples’ lives. For that I am truly grateful and I thank all those that I’ve worked with throughout the years.
I leave the Madden NFL 12 development team with confidence that it is in great hands. The feature set is something our core fans are really going to appreciate. From the improvements to core gameplay, to the additions to modes like franchise and superstar, and the innovative tech being used to overhaul presentation…Madden NFL 12 will be the best we’ve created yet. I’m amazed at how great it looks and how well it plays at this stage of development, with several months left to tune and polish.
Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to say “thank you” to our loyal and passionate fans. Without you, the Madden franchise would not be what it is today. I’ve always appreciated your feedback and unprecedented passion. Know that the team is now built to deliver the football experience that you all truly deserve. The team is set up only to succeed with the new expansion of the core football gameplay team, continued focus on web and online content, creating deeper career modes, and building games several years in advance. There is no doubt in my mind we will be seeing some revolutionary things from the Madden franchise in the future and I am happy to have played a role in helping steer the ship.
It’s been a true pleasure. Time for the next challenge of my career.”
We are down to the finalists for the Madden cover athlete vote. In a surprising twist, dark horse Peyton Hillis upset Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers to square off against Michael Vick for the finals. Vick getting on the cover of Madden again would seem to be a PR issue. Go here to put in your vote for the Madden 12 cover athlete. The winner will be announced on April 27.
Our last bit of news is the newly revealed Madden 12 plays by Pasta Padre. We get a sneak peek at 4 new offensive pass plays and 2 defensive plays which are 2 variations of a zone SS blitz called Okie Roll out of Dime 3-2-6 formation.
The Jets Slot Post looks to get the 2 wideouts up the sideline and grab the attention of the deep safeties while hitting the slot guy over the middle on a deep post.
A slower PA pass where the main target the TE runs a drag and wheel up the sideline away from the QB boot. Strong armed Jason Campbell will then attempt to complete the big pass play across and down the field to the open man.
The drag and out patterns by the receiver and HB help open up the quick hitch by the TE.
Heavy protection pass play with just the 3 WRs and delayed HB going out for the pass and the TE staying home and blocking. The primary target is the slot guy running it deep up the middle.
A 2 deep zone blitz where the nickel CB and FS roll over the top to be the 2 deep cover guys. The SS and Dime CB are then blitzing off the edge. It seems the upper right side of the field could be vulnerable by a quick Wideout after the area being vacated by the SS.
Similar to the previous play, this version has the DT in a middle zone and a 3 deep coverage by adding the #2 CB deep
