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December 2007 - Posts
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December 20, 2007 - Today, EA SPORTS unveiled BCSPreview.com, a website featuring NCAA Football 08 simulations of the highly anticipated Bowl Championship Series. The website provides final bowl game scores generated from simulations of the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl and the BCS National Championship game.
The NCAA Football 08 engine simulates the games based on each team's roster and their players' statistics. Using the most current information available, the teams go head-to-head in a computer-generated match up. The final results from these simulations are posted on BCSPreview.com. In addition to scores, exclusive highlight videos of each of the simulations are available on the website.
Fans pledging allegiance to a particular NCAA school will be eager to check out the additional features on BCSPreview.com. Game specific wallpapers are available for download free of charge, plus the website has an absolute must for every loyal fan - the Taunt-O-Gram. The Taunt-O-Gram allows visitors to send emails showcasing their favorite team's colors and logos. Rather than simply typing an email that is read by the recipient, users type a message that is delivered in the form of a zealous virtual cheerleader. The Taunt-O-Gram can be used to hassle rivals or to express excitement for a favorite team.
The Bowl Championship Series kicks off New Year's Day with the Rose Bowl (USC vs. Illinois) and the Sugar Bowl (Hawaii vs. Georgia). The Series continues on January 2nd with the Fiesta Bowl (Oklahoma vs. West Virginia) and the Orange Bowl (Kansas vs. Virginia Tech) on January 3rd. The National Championship game will be held January 7th when #2 ranked LSU goes up against #1 ranked Ohio State.
Visit http://www.bcspreview.com/ throughout the Bowl Championship Series for all of the results and videos from the NCAA Football 08 simulations. BCSPreview.com will be available until January 7, 2008, the day of the final game in the Series.
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Every Thursday, a leader in the community will share a tip or two to help you improve your Madden game. Next up is LBZRules from the Madden strategy website Madden Tips. This week, LBZRules shares an advanced passing tip for the New England Patriots.
Cross Package Concept
We are all about passing concepts. We have been using them the last two years as a way to simplify the passing game for us.. The pass concept is called the Cross Package from a 3x2 formation.
The Shotgun Trips Twin TE is a 3x2 formation that is flexible for our Cross Package. The play we have called here is Curl Flat. Notice the routes on the play. We have a curl/flat concept on the left. The inside WR - Moss in this case is already running a drag. TE #1, Watson is running a post and Brady is running an out route.
The first thing we do here is hot route Watson, TE #1, on the drag route. Then we give Welker a streak route. Stallworth is going to complete the Cross package by running an in route. We would prefer this to be a 10 yard dig route, but we do not have that as an option.
We send TE #2, Brady, on a fade route. Now we have two verticals and several players underneath them to exploit both man and zone coverage. For this write up we will focus on beating man coverage.
Our first read against man is Stallworth. This is basically a hike and throw quickly. If it is man coverage and it is a blitz they will not even get close to your QB. That's how fast we throw this out. It's all about timing. If we get press coverage, we switch our read to the mesh first. This route will be open all day against man coverage.
If we should miss the first read to Stallworth , we move to the second read which is Randy Moss. If Moss gets wide open on the backside. Now this is all about anticipation. The throw to Stallworth that we discussed earlier in this writeup is anticipation. This throw is also all about anticipation. We are anticipating these guys getting to these areas. So we do not spend a great deal of time reading the field. Feel it, anticipate it and
release the football.
Now the Cross Package can be installed into several other formations. We started out with a 3x2 because it is harder to install in those type of formations. It is much easier to install in a 2x2 formation such as Singleback Normal and Singleback Big. It is also good to install in compressed sets, although spacing is a lot more significant in video games so you want to more careful when installing them in compressed sets such as Singleback Bunch.
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REDWOOD CITY, Calif., - December 12, 2007 - Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that Madden NFL 08 En Español has shipped and is available in retail stores today for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360TM video game system from Microsoft. Fully translated in Spanish, Madden NFL 08 en Español features San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo on the box cover. Madden NFL 08 en Español features exclusive Spanish language content, including additional music tracks, and Spanish play-by-play and game analysis voice-over.
Madden NFL 08 En Español is part of a commitment the NFL and NFL PLAYERS share in delivering customized content to a growing Hispanic fan base. Other ways the NFL reaches its Spanish-speaking fans include: NFLatino.com, NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN Deportes, NBC Sunday Night Football in Spanish via SAP, Univision Radio's 30-game lineup, Telemundo specials surrounding Super Bowl XLII, as well as NFL coverage throughout the season on Telemundo's weekly sports and entertainment shows. In addition, NFL PLAYERS reaches Hispanic fans through various player-driven charitable initiatives and community appearances.
Madden NFL 08 en Español features a Read and React system that allows gamers to quickly identify the strongest players on the field, and to make game-altering adjustments to further affect each and every play. Player skill icons identify on-field strengths and weaknesses, providing an immediate read on what an opponent is doing. This icon system complements a deeper gameplay experience that maximizes the skill of the individual NFL superstars, separating them from the role players, and takes NFL football strategy to a new level. In addition, the PS2 and Xbox 360 versions are interoperable with Madden NFL 08 in English for online play.
Álvaro Martín, the first Spanish-language play-by-play broadcaster for ABC Sports' "Monday Night Football, is featured as the broadcast voice of Madden NFL 08 en Español. Martín has an impressive broadcast background with experience as one of the top Spanish-language play-by-play announcers for ESPN International, with five NBA Finals, two World Series and six Super Bowls to his credit. Madden NFL 08 en Español also features three exclusive Spanish songs, "Los Que Luchamos" by Kinto Sol, "Blame Me" performed by Molotov and "Relax" by Maná, added to the Madden soundtrack. Moreover, the Xbox 360 version has Spanish language sports news delivered by ESPNDeportes.com.
EA SPORTSTM is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® and NASCAR® racing.
Developed in Orlando, FL by EA Tiburon, Madden NFL football, now in its 18th year, continues to stand out as Madden NFL 07 was last year's #1 selling video game in North America with more than seven million copies sold* since launch.
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A couple of weeks back I talked about real life imitating Madden and vice-versa. You'd think I'd take my own advice and apply some of the hard learned lessons I see watching football on Sundays. But like so many real life NFL teams before me, I didn't respect Devin Hester's abilities enough not to kick to him.. and I paid for it dearly.
I've shared some of my Madden league difficulties this year. Despite the fact that I'll likely finish 11-5 and win my division, I have not been able to win a game against a human opponent in league play. My game against the Chicago Bears was my last regular season opportunity and Devin Hester played a big part in my demise.
I'll give myself some credit. After watching Hester run past my entire special teams unit on the first punt of the game I didn't kick the ball to him again. But by then it was too late. I got down 14-0 quickly and couldn't find enough offense to get back into it. I'm now 0-5 against human opponents, while being undefeated against the CPU.
My last three games are against the Giants, Vikings, and Cowboys, all of which are controlled by the computer. And while I'm happy that I'll probably beat all three and host a playoff game after winning the division, I have to ask myself whether or not I stand a chance of being successful when I have to pick up the sticks against my next human opponent.
So this week I'm asking the Madden community to help me out. I'm comfortable with my strategy and gameplanning, but I can't seem to get out of this slump. Send me your own experiences with recovering from a Madden slump and I'll share them here on the site. Maybe they'll help me get back on track As always, I can be reached at footballcommunity@ea.com
See you next week!
-Raczilla
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Gamestop is hosting a $1,000 grand prize Madden NFL 08 tournament at their new tournament center & store in San Jose, California. Head over to the official Gamestop site for more information on how you can participate.
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Every Thursday, a leader in the community will share a tip or two to help you improve your Madden game. Next up is Kobra from the Madden strategy website Madden Tips.
4-3 Over Fire Zone 2
Quick Set Up:
Step 1. Flip the defense.
Step 2. Shift the defensive line to the left.
Step 3. Shift the linebackers to the right.
We all are looking for defenses to being heat on the quarterback without having to do to much before the ball is snapped. The 4-3 Over Fire Zone 2 does just that. It is really easy to set up, plus it provides solid pass coverage. To set up the 4-3 Over Fire Zone 2, first flip the defense at the play call screen. Then shift the defensive line to the left.Next, shift the linebackers to the right. Once the ball is snapped, the center and left guard will block the weak and strong side defensive tackles. The right outside linebackers shoots through the A Gap between the center and left guard to apply pressure on the QB. For you sim type players, this is a good blitz to call for league play.
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Last week I asked the community to send through some suggestions for today's Raczilla Report. MPDamon sent me the following suggestion via EA SPORTS World:
I think I would like to hear about "lunchtime conversations" at EA Tiburon. Who do you head to lunch with? Where do you go? What do you talk about? Work, games you are working on, other games you are playing?. Just a thought.
Thanks for the questions Damon. Lunchtime here isn't probably too much different than at a lot of other places, at least in terms of where we go. I usually go to a restaurant close by. Sometimes the mall. On most days I go with a couple of other people from the marketing group (the same people who keep beating me in our Madden league). Where we go isn't probably as interesting as what we talk about. I think your question is more about what it's like to be in this environment in general, so I'll talk about that a little bit.
In my group here at Tiburon, everyone is a sports fan. This makes for a lot of spirited discussion of any variety of sports related topics. Since our group is made up of people from all over the country, it also means there is a lot of variety in terms of the teams people support. We've got fans of the Patriots, Bears, Redskins, Packers, and Seahawks, and that's just in the handful of cubes right near mine. Depending on who is playing in a particular week, you might hear some trash talk or maybe even see a friendly lunch wager on the results of certain games. I won a can of a certain brand of soup from an Eagles fan earlier this year.
We're also all gamers. I've previously mentioned our 16 person marketing Madden league where I can't seem to win a game against a human opponent. It's going to have to wait until the playoffs now since the rest of my games are against the CPU. Recently we like to play builds of NFL Tour when there's 10 free minutes to get in a quick game. At times we've also hopped online as a group to play Gears of War or Halo 3. Some 13 year old kid from Wisconsin has probably unknowingly wiped out half the EA Tiburon marketing staff with a well timed grenade toss.
This is a great place to be for someone who is a fan or sports, video games, or both. It's hard to get a true feel for what it's like to be here unless you're in the building every day, but I hope this gives you a better idea. I'd like to share more about the culture here at EA Tiburon, so you may see more about it in future edititions of the report. Stay tuned.
-Raczilla
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