• Madden NFL 13 - Share Your Thoughts & Impressions

    Madden NFL 13 will be available beginning Friday at 6 PM ET for EA SPORTS Season Ticket subscribers with the retail launch on August 28.

    Highlighted by Connected Careers and the new Infinity Engine, Madden NFL 13 may be the most anticipated edition of the franchise in years. Once you play the game, share your thoughts and impressions on the game here with the community.
    Comments 331 Comments
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Quote Originally Posted by JeffHCross View Post
      Though it was supposedly patched into NCAA and ... well, doesn't seem to have changed anything.

      Unless I just suck.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      Quote Originally Posted by Playmakers View Post
      I'm playing on All-Madden here's a link to the sliders I'm testing.
      http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/...57#post2117557
      Thanks man I'll give these a try.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      It seems like all the team specific sounds like the Lions roar are gone. I haven't noticed any so I don't know if I haven't been paying attention or they were just removed. If these were removed it just adds to the generic feeling of the game. I think the Dolphins fight song used to be in before but it's not in right now.
    1. gigemaggs99's Avatar
      gigemaggs99 -
      I've always been an NCAA guy, mainly b/c I enjoy the college game in real life a little better, perhaps b/c I was under the influence that college isn't all about the money and I am a psycho Aggie Football fan...the NFL has always been about money, but they have always been upfront about it. In the last years I've come to see the NCAA is more about money, it's just not cool the "spin" they put on it to make it sound like it's not all about the money.

      That being said, I want to play a good football game that to me is more about the strategy of football. I've always enjoyed the NCAA series and I still enjoy playing NCAA 13. I like that it has the options to use different play styles, much more than Madden does. I enjoy being able to use the Flexbone, WCO, Spread, Air Raid, Pro, One back, and others.

      Madden is more about the pro style, some WCO but little to no option running, no flexbone. wishbone, etc.... So I would give the nod to NCAA with regards to different playing styles.

      I like that NCAA has a great disparity in teams but then it also seems overpowering at times. Kent St vs USC should be a no brainer in real life, but it IS supposed to be a game and you are suppose to have a chance. When your receivers are falling all over the field and your QB decides to chunk the ball like he's trying out for the javelin throw it gets to be a bit much. I guess what I'm saying is there is no strategy involved when your players become inept. I can still try to make the proper reads and call a good game plan but if the players just fall off the face of the planet, well there is little I can do about this.

      Madden, atleast so far has not done this to me. I think in the older version i.e. ps2 days where you could play as European NFL teams you would have seen this disparity like you see in the NCAA game. This version '13 you just do see it, so even though it takes something away from the game it also leaves those issues out. The Pats vs the Lions, is not like playing USC vs Kent St.

      I like the Madden game as far as a strategy football game vs NCAA. I have only played my pre-season games and the first 2 regular season games with my offline CCM/dynasty/franchise mode but I haven't seen any of those slipping WRs, or players just forgetting how to play like they do in NCAA (atleast not yet...).

      I like that I can call a seams attacking play vs cover 2 in Madden and it works. NCAA I have to worry if the WR will fall down, if the QB will decide to throw the ball out of bounds instead...I just figure if NCAA is going to be that off kilter they should make me use the PS3 Move controller and make ME throw the ball, then I would throw bad passes, but when I press the triangle one time and hits him in the numbers then next time he throws the ball out of bounds...well it shouldn't be that big of a difference. In Madden '13 I haven't seen this.

      In Madden 13 on defense if I pick a nickel cover 3 vs a 3rd and 15 offense I can usually shut them down and force a punt. For years in NCAA it seems like you're better off with a 3rd and 15+ than you are with a 3rd and 1. 3rd and long or even 4th down in the NCAA game is like GAME ON for the offense. All of a sudden you can throw deep and your WRs make double coverage catches all sorts of wild "WHAT THE HECK just happened?" plays. In madden if I throw into double coverage it gets picked, to me that's how it should be. If I make a mistake I should be punished, in NCAA it seems like you're constantly able to roll the dice.

      So, I still have a lot of games to play but strictly saying football vs football, not all the sub menus and other differences, I think Madden 13 is a better football game than NCAA. I guess it comes down to control. I feel like when I win/lose in Madden it's because of what I did with the controller and play calling. In NCAA it is less so, more of me scratching my head saying...ummm yeah right....
    1. Gotmadskillzson's Avatar
      Gotmadskillzson -
      I hate the new ball hawk and super swat feature. Yes people, they added a new super swat feature as well. Just hold down the swat button and you will be deflecting passes like dikembo mutombo. To me it is just more features EA has added to make online play more fair to the masses.

      Kind of like auto strafe, auto sprint, tackle assist. Too much automatic and assisted stuff. If I want the CPU to do everything for me, I would play coach mode. Oh wait, Madden doesn't have a REAL coach mode, they only have auto pass from broadcast cam view.

      Every year they make Madden easier and easier. No skill required, just hold the button down and the CPU will do it for you. I guess next year they will add auto hit stick. You suck at hit sticking people ? We got you covered with our new hit stick assist feature in Madden 14.

      I understand they want to appeal to the masses and make the game pick up and play. But EA goes too far with it. Some where they have to draw the line.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Great mythbuster thread on Madden over at OS: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...-question.html


      Okay, so I see a lot of the same questions popping up on the boards, so I decided to make a thread where you can get all the answers you need in one place. Feel free to add others.

      1) YOU CANNOT EDIT ANYTHING IN CCM. This includes numbers, equipment, positions, and ratings. Nothing. Yes, duplicate numbers are an issue that they are looking into according to Josh Looman's twitter account. No, you cannot control all 32 teams, and there is no coach mode or spectator (cpu v cpu) in CCM. Not sure if this can be patched. *UPDATE* Duplicate Numbers are fixed in online CCMs. *Update 2* Team is "looking into" patching in player editing. Nothing confirmed yet.

      2) SEASON TICKET AND RETAIL ARE THE SAME CODE. THEY ARE THE EXACT SAME GAME. ALWAYS. There is no difference between the season ticket version of Madden and the disc version. This goes for all EA releases.

      3) The menus in CCM are confusing. If you are looking for depth charts, team salary info, etc, go to the "More" tab and start exploring.

      4) There is a patch coming out soon, most likely in September. There's nothing confirmed, but the first release should include some gameplay tuning and some bugfixes, namely...

      5) the weird issues with depth charts in preseason is a bug. The team knows about it and are working on it. *Update* fixed in online CCMs only.

      6) Man coverage has a bug wherein defenders will approach the LOS before retreating into coverage. They are aware of this. Try to avoid hitting the right stick right after a play starts.

      7) Assisted tackles and half sacks are in the game but not registering. They are aware of this, too.

      8) Connected Career is not scripted. The things that play out in the first offseason are more or less consistent for people because everyone is starting from the same base, and the CPU is governed by specific AI logic. So it's not that TO getting cut is always going to happen, it's that he's not a good fit (and old), so more often than not the Seahawks will cut him.

      9) Changing playcalling options in CCM is also bugged. It will revert back to game flow between weeks regardless of what you set it to.

      10) "Coach Mode" and being a coach in CCM are 2 different things. Being a coach in CCM is just like traditional franchise, and "Coach Mode" is a gameplay style wherein the CPU executes the plays that you call. You cannot use "Coach Mode" in CCMs this year.

      11) Just because your CCM is online does not mean it's open to online players. You can play a singleplayer online CC and have the benefits of tuning and using maddencareer.com without allowing people into your league. Just set the league settings to private, max users to 1, and use a password. Online CCM is exactly the same as offline CCM.

      12) The inability to change schemes is a bug that the team is aware of. This was confirmed by Josh Looman on twitter about an hour ago. *Update* This is fixed in online CCM. Not sure about overall coaching schemes, though.

      13) You can be in more than one CCM. I don't think it's unlimited for online (somebody said a max of 5), but offline is unlimited to the best of my knowledge.

      14) Yes, backups in simmed preseason games get no plays in. I've reached out to my contacts to see if they're aware of this. Maybe using supersim will help with this issue.

      15) There will be regular updates to the CCM roster. There was one that came out with the roster update on Friday. In order to use it with your CCM, you will need to start a new CCM after restarting your system. You will be prompted to download the new career rosters, which correspond only to CCM.

      Here's a video showing it working...

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81zNn...e_gdata_player

      16) Playing as a solo player in an online CCM will allow you to get some updates to CCM due to online tuning patches. These may be small hotfixes. Offline CCM's will have to wait until the official patches come out to get any updates. UPDATE: So it looks like this works by pushing out server side updates to the code present in online CCM. You won't notice when things are updated (there's no "downloading tuner") but some issues should be fixed and will continue to be.

      17) Confirmed via Josh Looman's twitter that there will be no fantasy draft patched into CCM this year. He did say though that they are "looking into" allowing some editing of players.

      18) If you click through an instant replay, the UI does not load completely, only the playcalling screen. This is why you don't see the down, distance, and score. Pause the game and unpause to fix.

      19) Accelerated clock doesn't work in user vs user games in online CCM's. I've tested this with a half dozen people now in every configuration possible, it simply doesn't work. Your cpu games it will work fine but if you're in a league with a few other guys when you go to play a human vs human game no accelerated clock

      20) There's a bug that prevents you from signing free agents in preseason week 1. This has been fixed for online CCMs but will need to be patched for offline ccm.

      21) There is a bug in CCM where your auto subs will be set to 51-49 for every position. Not sure of the gameplay implications. Haven't heard anything about a fix yet.

      22) Overalls are different in CCM than they are in Play Now due to schemes. The game takes into account the type of player on the roster and the type of player the coach wants in that spot, and rates them up or down accordingly.

      If there are any others that you can think of, feel free. Maybe this will help keep the same threads from being made over and over.
    1. gigemaggs99's Avatar
      gigemaggs99 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Gotmadskillzson View Post
      I hate the new ball hawk and super swat feature. Yes people, they added a new super swat feature as well. Just hold down the swat button and you will be deflecting passes like dikembo mutombo. To me it is just more features EA has added to make online play more fair to the masses.

      Kind of like auto strafe, auto sprint, tackle assist. Too much automatic and assisted stuff. If I want the CPU to do everything for me, I would play coach mode. Oh wait, Madden doesn't have a REAL coach mode, they only have auto pass from broadcast cam view.

      Every year they make Madden easier and easier. No skill required, just hold the button down and the CPU will do it for you. I guess next year they will add auto hit stick. You suck at hit sticking people ? We got you covered with our new hit stick assist feature in Madden 14.

      I understand they want to appeal to the masses and make the game pick up and play. But EA goes too far with it. Some where they have to draw the line.
      I don't play many random lobby games for the obvious reasons. I like a good game of football, not a hope match that I don't get paired up with a cheezer. So I play my buddies or in leagues where people play realistic football.

      I like that they give us the option to turn those features off, you can turn off auto-strafing, auto-sprint, etc...I guess you can't do that in the lobby but I've never EVER heard raving reviews about lobby play. It really seems like the lobby isn't the place to go if you want a good game, it's more a place to a) practice your gameplan, b) find people that cheat and make you pissed off, both seem like a waste of time to me. I'd rather practice against the CPU or my buddies that I know aren't going to play silly.

      In the end it's all up to you (I'm speaking to everyone in general, not the OP). If you like playing the game online only with RANKED games then you have to understand that it has it's pros and cons. If you want fun realistic football play your buddies, unranked if need-be. I could care less if someone tells me they have a super high lobby rank, they will also be the first ones to complain about cheezers and glitchers and how much it sucks when someone quits on them and messes up their record or wastes their time. I say, don't play them if you are worried about that, it's only going to happen and you'll be the one getting upset.

      Play the CPU and play your friends, have fun it's a game.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Game planning is broken in Madden resulting in cpu running way too much. It can be fixed through editing but that only works for Play Now. It will not fix anything in franchise mode. Ugh. This is a game killer if not patched.

      http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2044088300
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      Game planning is broken in Madden resulting in cpu running way too much. It can be fixed through editing but that only works for Play Now. It will not fix anything in franchise mode. Ugh. This is a game killer if not patched.

      http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2044088300
      So bascially half of the features are bugged and half don't work correctly. Combine this with all the missing features... sports game of the year winner??? Honestly I like the gameplay in Madden 13 but this CCM mode is fundamentally broken.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      The gameplay is nice. I really enjoy the passing changes the running game is pretty decent too. This Madden has the potential to be the best Madden ever. But way too much crap is broken. If I have to wait for an October patch so that the teams run/pass ratios are correct I will be beyond pissed. How did anyone miss this? Oh yeah. They spent all their time playing against other users and not testing the game for us offline guys against the cpu. This is why the cpu remains stupid and sliders don't always work. All of the focus has shifted to offline play, DLC and MUT to make more money. I feel completely bent over right now.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      The gameplay is nice. I really enjoy the passing changes the running game is pretty decent too. This Madden has the potential to be the best Madden ever. But way too much crap is broken. If I have to wait for an October patch so that the teams run/pass ratios are correct I will be beyond pissed. How did anyone miss this? Oh yeah. They spent all their time playing against other users and not testing the game for us offline guys against the cpu. This is why the cpu remains stupid and sliders don't always work. All of the focus has shifted to offline play, DLC and MUT to make more money. I feel completely bent over right now.
      Rudy my friend, you are a better man than I. Every years since 05 I have purchsed Madden. However, this year I have not. Trust me, a huge part of me wants to... BUT... I just can't. Now I can overlook all the bugs; I can overlook all the glitches, I can even deal with losing custom playbooks, import NCAA classes, etc. but regardless of gameplay I just cannot get over losing editing and picking the cpu uniforms. I agree that the gameplay is superior to NCAA. It's just too bad that CCM... an awesome idea, at this point is a total distaster.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Quote Originally Posted by jaymo76 View Post
      Rudy my friend, you are a better man than I.
      I am not better. I am weak! I thought the demo was pretty good despite the lousy presentation replays. I read some bad things before release and I shouldn't have gone through with my purchase I guess. I did get a good trade in offer and didn't spend any money renting.

      But if the cpu gameplan of calling far too many run plays isn't fixed soon (ie first patch in two weeks, not the second patch) I will be selling this and re-buying a cheap copy of Madden 12 or passing on football altogether. Madden 13 is a coaster for me with how teams don't behave like they do in real life. It was one of my biggest pet peeves about NCAA - that teams felt way too similar. Madden 13 is even worse now.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      Just for reference, only Oakland ran more than they passed last year and 15 out of 32 teams passed at least 60% of the time. Definitely not in the game EA.

      http://pick256.wordpress.com/2011/10...-2010-vs-2011/
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      It looks like player progression may be broken. I'm sure this can be tuned but this is an issue as much for the cpu as the user.

      http://www.operationsports.com/forum...on-broken.html
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      I guess the Infinity engine doesn't apply to height, weight and strength on All-Madden. This guy created a 5'0" 160 pound LT with 5 for strength and 5 in all his pass block categories. Facing 272 pound Courtney Upshaw of the Bears he stone walls him on pass protection every time. Funny but sad. EA does need to account for weight much more but this is why I stay away from All-Madden. The pass blocking starts about 2:00 in.

    1. skipwondah33's Avatar
      skipwondah33 -
      And that doesn't happen on Rookie, All-Pro in practice mode?

      I don't play practice mode so I wouldnt know but I've heard different things occur in that mode than in a game for some reason.

      Playing another User it is the only way to go ill continue to say
    1. gigemaggs99's Avatar
      gigemaggs99 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      I guess the Infinity engine doesn't apply to height, weight and strength on All-Madden. This guy created a 5'0" 160 pound LT with 5 for strength and 5 in all his pass block categories. Facing 272 pound Courtney Upshaw of the Bears he stone walls him on pass protection every time. Funny but sad. EA does need to account for weight much more but this is why I stay away from All-Madden. The pass blocking starts about 2:00 in.

      Yeah but he has good technique and he's ALL HEART!

    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      All heart lol!
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      I guess all the stadium sounds are listed in the credits but most aren't playing. Markus from EA said they are looking into it. Hopefully it's a quick fix to get those playing again.
    1. rufusone's Avatar
      rufusone -
      I agree with you all, Madden and NCAA are dead, stale, and boring to me anymore. Sames stuff different year,, with a few extras thrown in, gameplay seems to matter to noone. I never play on-line in NCAA and Madden I'm about dynasty and franchise, thats it.

      What will EA do with these sports titles when the new Xbox and Playstation consoles come out the Fall/Winter of 2013, how will they react and butcher the titles then, and what will be there excuse's, and will they start out totally generic for the 1st year of the console cycles. I hope not. I'm 55 years old and I'm still waiting for really good football game that runs in HD.