Madden 11 was the talk of the sports side at E3.  EA Sports unveiled several new options and changes for the Madden video game franchise at E3. Madden 11 online team play, faster play calling, and better A.I. are all new features coming to the Turducken of video game franchises.

EA Sports rolled out the red carpet for Madden 11 at E3. It all started with a presentation by Super Bowl MVP and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. Joe Montana was on hand to promote the improved game calling functions in Madden 11. EA Sports promises to make the game calling aspect of the game as real as possible. The play calling system will have players on offense calling plays from a “headset.” It was really hard to get a grasp on how exactly that is going to work. If the hype is true, the game calling will give players on offense a more real-game feel of calling the play in the huddle like your favorite quarterback.

Games will also be played much faster. According to the Madden 11 presentation at E3, full games can be done in half of the time. I don’t understand how that is supposed to be a big deal since you can have a run-off clock now in Madden. My biggest gripe with something like this is that in franchise, the stats won’t add up. Last year you could play 4 minute quarters in the franchise mode where your players won’t have stats reflecting an entire game. The issue is that the stats from all of the other players in the NFL don’t reflect this. EA needs to change this so they alter the stats as if the computer was also playing a game with 4 or 5 minute quarters.

The biggest news coming out the E3 week was Madden Online Team Play. Madden Online Team Play will give three players per team the chance to control individual positions such as quarterback, lineman, running back, etc. The idea is to give players accountability for missed blocks, not getting to the hole in time, etc. One review from E3 stated that there was significant lag time in some camera angles of the mode. With a little over a month to go, EA better get cracking!

The bad news is that it appears that EA will make no improvements at all on the Madden Online Franchise mode. One of the biggest gripes about the online franchise mode in Madden 10 was when it came to trading. The game had no trade logic whatsoever. So if you wanted to trade Chris Johnson for Kevin Kolb and both players agreed, the trade went through. In the franchise mode the computer would have caught that and would have never allowed it. This is something that definitely needs tweaking, although there is no sign that will come in Madden 11.

Madden 11 Online Team Play Preview

The release date for Madden 11 is August 10, 2010. Thanks to Punchjump.com for the tip!

Pre-order Madden 11 at GameStop.com and receive an extended demo early.

Pre-order Madden 11 at Walmart.com and receive a $20 Walmart gift card.

Pre-order the Madden 11 video game for all consoles on Amazon.com.

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Order the Madden NFL 10: Official Strategy Game Guide by clicking here.

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