Over the past couple years there has been some disappointment over how certain stats weren't being tracked in Madden. The two main ones have been half sacks and assisted tackles. This obviously isn't being made out to be any sort of big announcement, but Madden 2010 will have these stats included. So while this week's info doesn't have the same punch as the one about the shift in ratings philosophy it does go to show another community request that has made it into the game.
Excerpt: "After talking about technology and philosophy for the past few weeks, we thought it was a good idea to actually show you a new feature this week. Now being that it's so early in the year, we obviously can't show big grandiose new features, so we wanted to show something that is in the game that came directly from community feedback and wishlists."
The United States Supreme Court has delivered their opinion in American Needle v. NFL, the antitrust case surrounding the Madden NFL series of games. The Seventh Circuit had previously ruled that the NFL, if it wishes to promote its brand (in this case, football), it must do so as a "joint venture" rather than in a competitive environment, allowing them to limit sales of NFL products to only a single outlet: something that could affect sales of Madden games. The Supreme Court, however, firmly rejected this idea, thus preserving the Madden series for sale at outlets other than NFL.com. The court highlighted the danger faced by the Seventh Circuit's ruling, had they not overturned it: "There would be nothing to prevent each of the teams from making its own market decisions relating to purchases of apparel and headwear, to the sale of such items, and to the granting of licenses to use its trademarks,” Justice Stevens said.
Avault writes: "It's Sunday. It's halftime and the Bears are down by 24. Cutler has already thrown three interceptions, but you still have hope for a strong second half. Your phone rings. It's your fiancé. She wants you to pick her up at the airport. You have to leave in 15 minutes, but you need to know how the game is going to end. You think to yourself, "I need a simulation. I'll play Madden and see what happens." You don't have time for a full game of Madden so you decide to play Madden NFL Arcade instead. You win by a landslide, and your hopes for a Bears comeback soar. Unfortunately, in real life you can't turn your opponent into a block of ice or make your receivers fast as lightning. You get home from the airport and find the Bears have lost by 40."
EA SPORTS has today announced that Madden Ultimate Team is now available for download as a free update to Madden NFL 10 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Europe. Just throw in your Madden NFL 10 game disc (with an Internet connection) and you'll receive the latest title update.
