14 DAY TRIAL // The leader of the sports simulation division inside publisher Electronic Arts admits that Madden NFL has lagged behind other similar franchises when it comes to innovation, but that’s set to change with the upcoming thirteen edition of the game.
Andrew Wilson, who is leading the EA Sports division, tells Games Industry that, “I look at the budget, time and hours going into making those games. I look at the team this year and they made a concerted effort to put Madden right up there with FIFA, NHL and Fight Night Champion.”
He then goes on to say, “They want to leave no doubt with fans that this is the most amazing Madden ever built. Based on what I’ve seen from the reaction I’m seeing from press, I think they’ve come very, very close to sealing that. Certainly by the time we launch, when we finish with the polish and all that, we’ll have delivered.”
Wilson has further offered some inside details by adding that Madden NFL 13 has seen the biggest investment for the series from Electronic Arts and that the extra resources have resulted in about 50 percent bigger gameplay team.
The Madden NFL series has been blamed for a lack of innovation and the developers have listened to the fans and are hoping to meet their expectations with this year’s release.
Madden NFL 13 is the first title in the series to use Kinect for voice commands, with more than 6,000 of them allowing players to quickly navigate the game and issue instructions.
Changes have also been made to the Player Impact Engine and to the way teams behave both on the offensive and on the defensive mode.
Madden NFL 13 will be out August 28 worldwide and will be offered on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii and a number of handhelds and mobiles.
EA Sports will also deliver a Wii U version when the Nintendo next generation console is finally out.