I have the game and can answer some questions ...

Hello MS Community,

For those of you who don't know, my name is Shopmaster and I'm an EA Community Leader. EA has sent me the game and I decided to answer any questions that you have. I like MS's site and I want to help make it grow into a striving productive community.

Here are the guidelines though:

1. No player rating questions ... there are tons of places to find that.
2. Make sure you read what the new Madden 09 patch is going to have. I'm sure it's posted on MS somewhere but if not you can read the article here: http://www.mymaddenpad.com/articles/63.php

3. I don't have the Collector's Edition so no NFL Head Coach Questions.

I won't be back on till later today (have a meeting at work, then I can sneak out).

That's it, let the questions begin.

- Shop

Is the game worth buying? I have friend on my list that has it and he said the only good was the gameplay.

um do they drop as many passes as they do in the demo??? shcokey will be wide open and drop it

Ok, first question is "Is the game worth buying?" I have to laugh at this one for a second before I answer.

Now that I think about it, I would say that's probably a fair question. Personally 08 just sucked to me and I won't even get into the PS3 version. The gameplay is more than good, it's very solid. But I have to question your friend if he's saying that gameplay is the only thing.

Let me run down a very short list for you ...

1. Play calling screen - A+ ... most detailed play calling screen ever. You can watch the previous play (replay), you can make substitutions, you can view stats, view your Madden IQ ....

2. Jerseys - Alternate jerseys are in the game. If you take a look at some of the User Highlights I have on MMP you'll see the Bears throwbacks. Not only are the alt unis in but they get dirty a degrade over the course of the game.

3. Lighting - top notch ighting effects in 09, dwarfs what 08 tried to do with lighting

4. Online Random Weather - No more Sunny days for every online game, now you don't know if it's going to be raining or snowing.

5. Do I have to even mention Online Leagues ....

6. All new player control, now you can try to spin, juke, and run out of tackles.

next question.

yo thanks for going over that but do you notice if the wr's catch better than in the demo?

Shopmaster wrote:

Ok, first question is "Is the game worth buying?" I have to laugh at this one for a second before I answer.

Now that I think about it, I would say that's probably a fair question. Personally 08 just sucked to me and I won't even get into the PS3 version. The gameplay is more than good, it's very solid. But I have to question your friend if he's saying that gameplay is the only thing.

Let me run down a very short list for you ...

1. Play calling screen - A+ ... most detailed play calling screen ever. You can watch the previous play (replay), you can make substitutions, you can view stats, view your Madden IQ ....

2. Jerseys - Alternate jerseys are in the game. If you take a look at some of the User Highlights I have on MMP you'll see the Bears throwbacks. Not only are the alt unis in but they get dirty a degrade over the course of the game.

3. Lighting - top notch ighting effects in 09, dwarfs what 08 tried to do with lighting

4. Online Random Weather - No more Sunny days for every online game, now you don't know if it's going to be raining or snowing.

5. Do I have to even mention Online Leagues ....

6. All new player control, now you can try to spin, juke, and run out of tackles.

next question.

Thanks, he said the field doesnt tear over the course of the game. Is this true?

One more question, does the Superstar Mode suck again this year?

THANKS FOR THE INFO SHOP MASTER.

Thank you shopmaster
Are there any new playbooks are there and are there any new plays?

Ok, I got one. Is quick passing and unbumps still as easy to do as it was in 08?

first off, thank you shopmaster from taking time out of your day to answer questions from us ordinary madden players. most guys would not take time out of their day to go to a forum that they barely know and answer questions for the good of our community.

My question is in the online dynasty feature, do you need to have 32 users? or can you play a dynasty with say 15 other friends?

Fudgy wrote:

yo thanks for going over that but do you notice if the wr's catch better than in the demo?

So far so good. I was worried about that also, but I haven't had too many drops.

Shopmaster wrote:

Fudgy wrote:

yo thanks for going over that but do you notice if the wr's catch better than in the demo?

So far so good. I was worried about that also, but I haven't had too many drops.

good i was starting to think that would be last years fumble bug...thaks so much shop

Adam wrote:

Shopmaster wrote:

Ok, first question is "Is the game worth buying?" I have to laugh at this one for a second before I answer.

Now that I think about it, I would say that's probably a fair question. Personally 08 just sucked to me and I won't even get into the PS3 version. The gameplay is more than good, it's very solid. But I have to question your friend if he's saying that gameplay is the only thing.

Let me run down a very short list for you ...

1. Play calling screen - A+ ... most detailed play calling screen ever. You can watch the previous play (replay), you can make substitutions, you can view stats, view your Madden IQ ....

2. Jerseys - Alternate jerseys are in the game. If you take a look at some of the User Highlights I have on MMP you'll see the Bears throwbacks. Not only are the alt unis in but they get dirty a degrade over the course of the game.

3. Lighting - top notch ighting effects in 09, dwarfs what 08 tried to do with lighting

4. Online Random Weather - No more Sunny days for every online game, now you don't know if it's going to be raining or snowing.

5. Do I have to even mention Online Leagues ....

6. All new player control, now you can try to spin, juke, and run out of tackles.

next question.

Thanks, he said the field doesnt tear over the course of the game. Is this true?

One more question, does the Superstar Mode suck again this year?

No the field does not tear up over time but the uniforms get dirty. I do believe that the second Madden patch will take care of field degradation.

I never liked Superstar mode, so I'm not a good one to talk to about that. I may try it later though.

Fresh prince wrote:

Thank you shopmaster
Are there any new playbooks are there and are there any new plays?

No new playbooks, but there are plenty of new plays.

have you played with the eagles at all shop? if so, can you let me know how they feel like when playing (ie: how far does mcnabb's cannon arm throw)?

Modrewgnu wrote:

first off, thank you shopmaster from taking time out of your day to answer questions from us ordinary madden players. most guys would not take time out of their day to go to a forum that they barely know and answer questions for the good of our community.

My question is in the online dynasty feature, do you need to have 32 users? or can you play a dynasty with say 15 other friends?

I don't think you can play online franchise, just leagues. I do know leagues can be between 2 and 32.

have you played online yet? still havent heard if the menu/gameplay tend to lag

Shopmaster wrote:

Modrewgnu wrote:

first off, thank you shopmaster from taking time out of your day to answer questions from us ordinary madden players. most guys would not take time out of their day to go to a forum that they barely know and answer questions for the good of our community.

My question is in the online dynasty feature, do you need to have 32 users? or can you play a dynasty with say 15 other friends?

I don't think you can play online franchise, just leagues. I do know leagues can be between 2 and 32.

ya i meant to say leagues. i just got it confused with ncaa dynasty. thanks for the answer shop

wats good shop...yo my question is will blitzing be better and man coverage more reliable unlike ncaa?...im not a blitzer but would like to pick that part of my game up.

Fudgy wrote:

have you played with the eagles at all shop? if so, can you let me know how they feel like when playing (ie: how far does mcnabb's cannon arm throw)?

Ok, I just played the Eagles and Asante is rediculous. McNabbs arm is good I didn't see any problem with it and I was actually suprised that the CPU took a couple of shots deep when it was one on one coverage.

JB0B0 wrote:

have you played online yet? still havent heard if the menu/gameplay tend to lag

I haven't had any lag in any of my online games. The menu either, but lets remember there is only 30-50 people online right now. Lets see what happens this first week.

It has been said that strafe catching is outta the game. Is that true?

Can you play a ranked game if you got it early and will it reset every thing ounce we get it or will the guys who got it early still have a head start or will they Erase everything so that everyone start even.

bigbuddah wrote:

wats good shop...yo my question is will blitzing be better and man coverage more reliable unlike ncaa?...im not a blitzer but would like to pick that part of my game up.

The defense is such an upgrade than ncaa. Blitzing is a lot better and man coverage is a lot better in the fact your DB will stay with the WR on outs, ins, and even zags. I think this is going to be the year of the zone, you heard it here first. Linebackers are so much smarter and don't drop back 15 feet for a yellow zone.

Can the linebackers still jump up really high and intercept passes down the field? For example, my wr will run a deep crossing pattern, like 20yds downfield and the LB will be like 5yds from the LOS but jump up and get the INT.