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Madden NFL 06

 
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Madden NFL 06
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Although thousands of them already line up each August to catch the latest edition of gaming's most recognized annual title, it's safe to say that football fans and sports gamers will have an even harder time passing on the "06" version of Madden NFL. This edition of the long-running series introduces a few changes and additions, designed to make the challenges of executing on offense feel more realistic than ever before.

The most obvious changes to this year's edition come in the passing game, which introduces a gameplay features based on quarterback-specific attributes. Most notable is the new "Vision Cone," which simulates the QB's field of view with a highlighted cone that fans out in the direction of the current intended receiver.

The feature is designed to force the player on offense to commit earlier in the play, and to telegraph his passes much more realistically than in earlier versions of Madden, making those improbably easy no-look completions a thing of the past. The range of the vision cone is based on multiple factors, including the quarterback's "talent" attribute rating and the difficulty setting at which the game is being played.

Madden NFL 06 also brings a new "Precision Passing" system to the series, which allows quarterbacks some direct control over the accuracy of their passes. By bumping the left analog stick or D-pad in the desired direction as the ball is passed, QBs can aim high, low, in front, or behind their receivers, allowing them to lead the catcher away from coverage or make use of height advantages.

Other features, more familiar to gaming's most popular sports series, are also present in Madden 06, along with new replay camera angles, animations, and other presentational upgrades. There's also an offensive answer to last year's defensive "hit stick" mechanic, which allows ball carriers to try to plow through oncoming hits and blocks with a flick of commitment on the analog stick.

As usual, this edition of Madden is designed to offer a highly customizable game of football, and players who prefer the more forgiving play design of earlier editions can simply turn off the Vision Cone -- or nearly any other element that conflicts with their personal style of play. The game also includes all the teams, stadiums, and players of the real-life NFL (thanks to an exclusive NFL license which takes effect for the first time this year).
~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

With each new edition of the Madden football franchise, the developers at EA Sports try to make their game a little bit more complex and a little bit more enjoyable. The previous year's new features focused mostly on the defensive side of the football, so this year it's the offensive side of the ball that gets the tune-up, with the passing game getting the biggest facelift. The other major adjustment to this year’s version is the addition of a superstar mode that allows gamers to take control of a single player from birth to retirement. Both new additions are ambitious and show promise, but both are ultimately disappointing.

The most dramatic change to this year's game is the brand new vision control, a wedge of light that represents the quarterback's field of vision. Now QBs actually have to look at the receivers to make an accurate pass. This adds a great deal of realism to the game, but controlling the vision cone is a clunky affair that adds as much frustration as it does realism. Other additions to the offensive gameplay come off much better. The new precision passing allows for pinpoint accuracy on throws, and the new "truck stick" lets running backs lower their heads and smash into defenders. Overall, gameplay is typically great, but the iffy new quarterback vision outweighs the positive additions.

The franchise and online modes are great, and remain the primary attraction in the Madden series, but the new "superstar" mode is also worth a try. Unfortunately, a single try is basically all the superstar mode is worth. It's essentially a cross between the create-a-player feature and the franchise mode, but it lacks the bells and whistles to make it more than a novelty. Both the superstar mode and the new passing controls are disappointing, but they are good ideas that can be expanded upon and improved in the future. Madden NFL 06 retains the addictive gameplay that makes the series great, but the lackluster additions essentially leave gamers with last year’s game and this year's rosters.
~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

Gameplay is the hallmark of the Madden franchise, and it remains spectacular in the 2006 version.
~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Serviceable, yet unspectacular graphics. Realistic animation that is not particularly crisp or detailed.
~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

Very realistic sound effects, and innocuous commentary that is mostly lifted from Madden 2005. Typical pop music soundtrack with a few pleasant surprises.
~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

Online and franchise modes provide excellent short-term replay value while long-term replay value is practically nonexistent once a newer version is released.
~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

Experienced Madden players can jump in without consulting the manual. The new vision cone controls require some research as well as the finger dexterity of a classical pianist.
~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide
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Wikipedia: Madden NFL 06
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008)
Madden NFL 06

North American cover art for PS2
Developer(s) EA Tiburon
Budcat Creations[1]
Publisher(s) EA Sports
Series Madden NFL
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Xbox 360, Windows, Windows Mobile, PSP, Game Boy Advance, DS, Mobile phone
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Sports
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer, Online multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: E
OFLC: G
PEGI: 3+

Madden NFL 06 is an American football video game which was released on August 8, 2005. It is also a launch game for the Xbox 360. It is the 16th installment of the Madden NFL series by EA Sports, named for noted color commentator John Madden. It is tight. The product features Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb on the cover. It is the first Madden game for the Playstation Portable and Xbox 360.

Contents

Significant changes

 This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

One of the touted additions to the 2006 version of Madden is Superstar mode, which allows the player to create and take control of an NFL player from his rookie year all the way to retirement. An athlete can be created by evaluating pairs of parents — judging, based on their IQs, occupations, and hobbies, whether their child would excel in the NFL — or by importing a player from NCAA Football 06 or NFL Street 2. This player is 21 years old at the start of his career. Superstar mode is essentially Madden's Franchise mode seen through the eyes of this athlete. Rather than manage the team's front office, the player manages the career of his athlete: selecting movie roles, accepting product endorsements, and improving the athlete's attributes through practice. This addition has met with mixed reviews from video game reviewers. Although the idea is considered great in concept, many found the actual execution of the mode to be lackluster. Madden NFL 06 also features the new QB Vision Control. A cone, appearing as a spotlight emitting from the quarterback, simulates his field of vision. To make an accurate pass, the quarterback must have his intended receiver in his field of vision. Passing to a receiver not in the cone reduces pass accuracy significantly. The size of the quarterback's vision cone is directly correlated to his Awareness rating; Quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Tom Brady see nearly the entire field at once, whereas a mediocre quarterback such as David Carr, Aaron Brooks or Kyle Boller will see only a sliver of the field, however this has been very criticized by many fans because it may resemble some bias that EA Sports and the Madden series itself is, frequently accused of (for example many players say that Ben Roethlisberger's stats were, to some extent, deflated). A player can shift the vision cone with the right analog stick, or focus the cone on a specific receiver by holding a shoulder button and pressing the button assigned to that receiver. (On the highest difficulty level, once a receiver completes his route, his button label disappears; to make it reappear the quarterback must look in his direction.) This change also met with lukewarm reception. Although the passing system adds a whole new level of realism, it also makes the game significantly more difficult for players playing teams with less-aware quarterbacks. These players will be forced to improve their reflexes in order to be competitive, as throwing outside the QB vision cone results in a very weak and inaccurate pass.

Accompanying QB Vision is Precision Passing. Pressing the directional button or left analog stick in a certain direction as you pass the ball will make the throw over the receiver's head (Up), behind him (Left), in front of him (Right), or at his knees (Down).

Perhaps the most critically acclaimed new feature is the truck stick, which functions like an offensive version of the hit stick from the previous year. When running the football, a player can push forward the right analog stick to run over the defender, at the cost of risking a potential fumble. Several features from previous titles return such as hot routes, playmaker features, and franchise features.

Xbox 360 version

  • During Franchise Mode, the user is not able to build a new stadium, hire/fire coaches, or switch to a new team.
  • You are not able to edit a players rating or appearance.
  • You can not create a new player
  • You can not challenge plays

Soundtrack

Reception

While the game received a generally positive reaction, some reviewers criticized the game's lack of new features and lackluster soundtrack (a recurring complaint), claiming the game plays very similarly to Madden NFL 2005 if the QB Vision cone is turned off. GameSpot reviewed the game with an 8.2 out of 10.

Madden NFL 06 was 2006's only NFL-Licensed football videogame, due to the 2004 deal between the NFL/NFLPA and Electronic Arts. The deal grants EA exclusive rights to the likenesses and names of all players, stadiums, logos, and jerseys. Electronic Arts also signed a long-term deal with ESPN, complicating the game's relationship to its titular announcer. In early 2006, Madden — at the time under contract as color commentator for ABC's Monday Night Football — moved to NBC to join their Sunday night NFL coverage beginning in the 2006 Season. The Xbox 360 version of Madden 06 features neither Al Michaels nor Madden in the announcing booth. Criticism was also added because several features were cut out of the Xbox 360 version of the game, although this was likely due simply to the fact that EA rushed the game so it could be released as a launch title for the new system when it debuted in November 2005.[citation needed]

Awards

E3 2005 Game Critics Awards: Best Sports Game[2]

References

  1. ^ "GameZone: Madden 05 PC". http://pc.gamezone.com/gamesell/p23924.htm. 
  2. ^ "2005 Winners". E3. http://www.gamecriticsawards.com/2005winners.html. 

External links

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Madden NFL video games
Madden NFL series
John Madden Football (1988) · (1990) · II · '92 · '93 · '94 · '95 · '96 · '97 · 64 · '98 · '99  · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · '06 · '07 · '08 · '09 · '10
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