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Madden NFL 09 (
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Posted
Aug 08 2008, 11:29 PM
Before I head down to Pasadena for Maddenpalooza, I wanted to share with you our new 60 second TV spot for Madden NFL 09.
Created by our talented in-house advertising team and our agency Weiden & Kennedy, the ads are probably a departure from what you have seen from
EA SPORTS on television in recent years.
To all of us who have played video games and watched sports over the past 15 years, “It’s In the Game,” is one of the most familiar signatures in television advertising. EA SPORTS iconic sign-off and stylistic advertising has defined the EA SPORTS brand and you, its fans, for nearly a generation. But as the business changes and the demographics of gamers evolve, so too must EA SPORTS’ advertising creative.
Beginning a few weeks ago with the launch of NCAA Football 09, and carrying through the majority of EA SPORTS advertising for the remainder of the 09 season, a new brand campaign will better reflect the brand and the face of gamers everywhere. This new campaign includes nearly two dozen television spots and more than 50 web vignettes, as well as community, mobile and other extensions.
No longer speaking exclusively to “boys in their bedrooms,” EA SPORTS will bring forward the new faces and voices of real-life gamers in an authentic, unscripted vision by legendary filmmaker Errol Morris. The campaign features YOU - real gamers of all types - young and old, male and female, celeb and athlete – speaking in their own voices.
While the essence of "It's In the Game" and the ubiquitous EA SPORTS medallion remain unchanged, this new campaign replaces that familiar sign-off with a range of voices from within the EA SPORTS community in their own words. I truly hope you enjoy the spots, and that you appreciate how we are trying to bring to life the unique faces of sports video gamers by sharing your stories and passion for our franchises.
Enjoy…
Posted
Aug 08 2008, 01:46 AM
As we all know by now, Brett Favre is a New York Jet. And if you believe the simulation we ran using the Madden NFL 09 engine, Jets fans should get ready for the playoffs. Our prediction has the Jets winning 11 games, their most since the 1998 season, and New York earning a wild card berth in the playoffs. It’s going to be fun to see Favre in the AFC East, but I’m sure my fellow Patriots brethren will tell you that we’re still not scared of the Jets.
Get a look at #4 in green and white. Going to take a while to get used to this, huh?
Meanwhile, our team is in LA making final preparations for Maddenpalooza. We can hardly wait to get down to the Rose Bowl for next week’s launch.
Chris Erb, our director of marketing for Madden and the brains behind the incredible flurry of launch activities, checked in earlier today with these pictures to give us a sneak peak from the Rose Bowl, where we’re expecting thousands of fans to turn out on Monday to see Good Charlotte, Busta Rhymes and buy their first copies of the game. Most importantly – admission is free. Get there early.
A couple of other important announcements we made today:
• An online roster patch featuring Brett as the Jets starting QB will be available by launch day, and hopefully even Monday Aug. 11. As we’ve said before, the final packaged version of the game that you can buy in stores beginning next week will feature Brett on an “NFL Greats” roster. In Franchise Mode, players can transfer Favre to the free agent roster pool, and pick him up on any of the 32 NFL teams for the 2008 season. Or, go online and download new rosters (that include other changes as well) after you buy the game on Tuesday.
• As we’ve previously confirmed, Madden will hit stores on Aug. 12 with Brett in his Green Bay Packers uniform. We don’t plan to re-issue the game with new packaging, but will offer a free downloadable cover in the coming days on easports.com featuring Brett Favre in a Jets uniform. Fans can print this new cover out and insert it into the case of Madden NFL 09. Look for it by Tuesday.
• The Madden demo is now available. We’ve been reading lots of feedback on it. Make sure you download it and preview the new Virtual Training Center and Madden IQ test. Our producers are in the forums answering your questions, and they’ve posted this story for anyone wanting more about the demo.
Read article
See you next week in Pasadena.
Posted
Aug 07 2008, 12:06 AM
On the road this week for business, I was excited to pick up my copy of USA Today this morning and see a terrific story on the history of Madden.
Click here to read it.
As I’m quoted as saying in the story: “We don't so much as launch Madden any more, we celebrate its arrival”, and it’s quite a celebration at Tiburon this week. Our Madden development team has put together a truly breakthrough game this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this great franchise – something we’re extremely proud of. And it's nice to see the critics agree. Madden was named best sports game of E3 in the official “Game Critics Best of Show Awards” that were announced yesterday. Congrats also to EA’s other nominees for this category, including: NBA LIVE, Skate It and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR.
And so much for what I said in yesterday’s post about welcoming Brett back to Green Bay. As we all continue to watch this saga unfold, reports have Brett heading to Tampa Bay next year. Who knows. But since I’ve had many people asking, I just want to set the record straight – Madden NFL 09 will hit stores next Tuesday with Brett wearing his Packers green and gold, as we celebrate his legacy as one of the great QBs to ever play the game and someone’s who’s been with us from the early days of John Madden Football. But what’s most important is what’s in the game – and by the start of the season, we’ll have a roster patch that will ensure that, in the game, Brett is on whatever team he’s playing for this season.
Who could have imagined the offseason would be this fun?
We’re under a week to go until Madden launch. Don’t forget to look for me next week at Maddenpalooza.
Posted
Aug 05 2008, 07:31 PM
What a fascinating story that continues to unfold with the cheese heads in Green Bay.
We’ve obviously been close observers of the ongoing Brett Favre saga that has now been unfolding for weeks, so it’s with great interest that we stay glued to ESPN.com to learn the latest on what’s happening at camp today after last night’s long meeting with Favre and Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy.
Interestingly, you might remember from a previous post that I mentioned that there was controversy even within the halls of EA about putting Brett on the cover of the game. Ironically, there was concern that once he announced his retirement that he would return home to Mississippi and never be heard from again until he showed up in Canton to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. How wrong we were! Looking back to the day we announced Brett on the Late Show with David Letterman, it was clear then he was not totally convinced that he would never step foot on another NFL field in uniform.
All the drama aside, here’s what you really need to know about Brett Favre in Madden:
Brett is in the game. Just as we do every year, we’ll release a roster patch the day before the game hits stores with all the changes that have been made in the offseason since the game went final. Thus, Brett will be a Green Bay Packer when rosters are updated on Monday, just as Jason Taylor will be a Redskin instead of a member of the Miami Dolphins. We’ll also release another roster update before the start of the regular season.
Here’s hoping things get resolved one way or the other for one of the game’s true legends.
PS. Don’t forget to let me know if any of you are coming to Maddenpalooza, so that we can meet up…
Posted
Aug 04 2008, 04:03 PM
A couple of years ago, many of you might remember a Madden NFL “target” video that we produced, showing the proposed graphical fidelity the development team was aiming for with the new generation of hardware. Admittedly, we were not quite able to reach the lofty goals we had set for ourselves with that original video – until now. What you will see below is all game-play footage, and proving that I finally have some clout around here, is exclusive to my blog! (until marketing figures out the puny numbers that frequent this site and decide to get some real coverage…).
The Madden demo is up on both PS3 and Xbox 360 – it’s really different, and I’d be interested in your feedback (yes, even you EF).
Manny moving to LaLaLand leaves me feeling sad and Big Papi is now exposed in the line-up. It’s time to cowboy up again, Sox. Hard to argue with Jason Bay’s start. What a classy welcome over the weekend at Fenway. Now the Sox hit the road and we see what they’re made of.
Robbie Keane to partner with Torres feels like the missing piece in the puzzle for Liverpool. This could be the year the drought ends…
See you all at Maddenpalooza on Aug 11? If you are going, add it to your post and we’ll figure out if we can meet there.