Barry Sanders Wins Madden 25 Cover Vote

After nearly 2 months of voting, starting with 64 players, the Madden 25 cover vote has finally come to an end.  Over 40 million votes were cast in this year’s competition with the winner being announced on ESPN’s SportsNation show live.  Old School fans will be happy to find out that former Lions running back Barry Sanders will be on the Madden NFL 25 cover.

madden 25 barry sanders cover

In the past, fans would do everything they could do avoid their favorite player making the cover of Madden due to the “Madden Curse.”  However, anyone who watched the NFL last year knows the curse has now been lifted after Calvin Johnson Jr. (the Madden 13 cover athlete) destroyed all sorts of records.

Barry Sanders was a 3 seed in the “Old School” side of the bracket, while Adrian Peterson was a 2 seed in the “New School” side of the bracket. Sanders knocked off Ron Rivera, Marcus Allen, Ray Lewis, Joe Montana, and Jerry Rice on his way to the finals.  Peterson knocked off Carson Palmer, LeSean McCoy, Rob Gronkowski, Robert Griffin III, and Arian Foster to reach the finals.

Barry Sanders shared the NCAA Football 13 cover with RGIII last year.  The only thing left for him to accomplish in the video game world was to grace the Madden cover.

EA Sports has been hyping a new feature called, “Run Free” so naturally the final vote would come down to 2 of the best running backs in history.

The first trailer for Madden 25 can be seen below.  The schedule for when the rest of the information will be released can be found here.

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with Madden news this year, the game was named Madden 25 (instead of Madden 14 which pretty much everyone expected) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Madden video games.

Who would have ever expected the Detroit Lions of all teams to have back to back winners of the Madden cover vote?

Madden 25 is still set to be released on August 27th, 2013 on both the PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360.  An official announcement should come in June on whether we can expect Madden 25 on the new XBOX and the PlayStation 4.

Cover Art For NCAA Football 14 Revealed

Even though the cover vote for NCAA Football 14 ended nearly 2 months ago, EA Sports has just now decided it would be a good time to reveal the cover for their popular college football video game.  Former Michigan quarterback, Denard Robinson will be featured on the cover for the PlayStation 3 and the XBOX 360.

Robinson broke all sorts of Michigan records in college and beat out former Texas A&M receiver Ryan Swope in the finals to claim the cover.  The voting process was compromised by fans of each player creating fake profiles in order to cast fake votes for the player of their choice.  The voting totaled 5.7 million votes over the course of a competition setting a NCAA Football franchise record.

Denard Robinson is the 3rd Michigan Wolverine player to grace the cover following in the footsteps of Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson.

It is fitting that Robinson made the cover this year with the huge emphasis being put on making the running game and specifically the option more realistic this year.

NCAA Football 14 is scheduled for release on July 9th.  The only consoles it will be available on are the XBOX 360 and the PlayStation 3.

You can take a look at the covers below.

ncaa football 14 ps3 coverncaa football 14 xbox 360 cover

NHL 14 Cover Vote Begins

Now that the 2 months of Madden 25 cover voting is coming to an end, EA Sports has launched their cover tournament for NHL 14.  60 players (2 from each team) made it into the bracket.  Teammates will play each other in the first round so only 1 representative from each team will make it into the second round.

You can place your vote on the NHL.com website now through April 28th for the first round.  You may vote up to 10 times per day.  On Thursdays, your vote via twitter will be doubled so if you have a strong preference for a certain candidate to make the cover for NHL 14, it would be wise to vote as much as you can then.

The cover vote will conclude in early June.  The game itself will be released on September 1oth in North America and September 13th in Europe.

You can check out the official cover vote trailer released by EA Sports earlier today below.

 

Who do you want to see on the NHL 14 cover?

EA Sports Announces Madden NFL 25 Playbook Timeline

Over the last few weeks, we’ve found out what we can expect from NCAA Football 14 which pretty much guaranteed that this week would be when we find out details concerning it’s counterpart, Madden 25.

The cover vote, which has been going on for nearly 2 months now, is coming to an end on Wednesday so it makes sense for the first Madden 25 information to come out then.  We have the full details below on what to expect over the next few months.

The most notable development today is what seems to be the renaming of “Connected Careers” to what is now be called “Connected Franchise.”  This is likely due to several gamers not realizing that connected careers was essentially franchise mode to begin with and the uproar that ensued from it.

Run Free, Infinity Engine 2, & Cover Athlete Winner – April 25th

Unlock the power, precision and creativity of an NFL ball carrier.

Connected Franchise Part 1 – May 6th

Cement your legacy as one of the all-time great NFL players or coaches in the new and improved Connected Franchise.

Connected Franchise Part 2 – May 20th

Take ultimate control of your franchise.

Madden Share – June 24th

The best content from around the Madden NFL universe, right at your fingertips.

Madden 25 Ultimate Team – July 1st

Enjoy new ways to play and build your team in this year’s edition of Ultimate Team.

All-25 Team – TBD

Information and timeline still to be determined.

The release date for Madden 25 is currently scheduled for August 27th.  The demo usually comes out 2-3 weeks before the game.

What feature are you most excited to hear more about?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

NCAA Football 14 Presentation News

The first NCAA Football 14 information was met with cautious optimism throughout the sports gaming community.  Today, EA Sports has announced the improvements to the presentation of the game that is sure to make some fans very happy.  The major changes include neutral site games, faster pre-games, a true broadcast feel, and new stadium music and chants.  Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit will handle the pre-game introductions while David Pollack and Rece Davis cover the halftime show.  The full NCAA Football 14 presentation details are below.

NEUTRAL SITE GAMES

The biggest games of the college football season require stadiums that fit their magnitude, and for the first time ever NCAA Football 14 will allow you to square off against opponents at neutral sites. For instance, start your season with LSU vs. TCU in Cowboys Stadium for the Cowboys Kickoff Classic, or Alabama vs. Virginia Tech in the Georgia Dome for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.

FASTER, LIGHTER MENUS AND PREGAMES

Get into the action faster than ever before with a menu that has a whole new look and feel. See all your options at a glance and get into a game quickly. Dynamic loading screens allow players to review injuries, note key players for the upcoming game, view offensive and defensive rankings for both teams and more, all while the game loads up.

TRUE BROADCAST FEEL

This year marks the inclusion of new broadcast elements, including the ESPN Living Game Clock that provides key stats after each play and a new halftime show featuring Rece Davis and David Pollack. Also, Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit focus on impact players and provide smart analysis on key moments throughout the game.

NEW MUSIC AND CHANTS

Get pumped up with familiar stadium anthems Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes and Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation. Turn up the speakers and chant along with some of the most instantly recognizable and addictive songs in all of sports.

What feature are you most excited about for NCAA 14?  Let us know in the comments section or in our NCAA Football 14 forum.

Incredibly Early Madden 25 Tips

Sure Madden 25 is still months away, but there are certain things that hold true in every Madden NFL video game and this year will be no different.  We’ve put together a list of our top Madden 25 tips without having played the game.  Feel free to add in your own tips, strategies, and thoughts in the comments section.

Become Comfortable With 1 or 2 Teams

While it is completely true that playing with a top rated team like the 49ers will give you a huge advantage, do not underestimate the impact of familiarity with a team.  Pick 1 or 2 teams and stick with them.  Once you become comfortable with a quarterback you can make playing with Blaine Gabbert feel like playing with Peyton Manning.  After 50-100 games you will learn exactly what throws you can and can’t make, exactly how hard to press down the button when you throw, and which way to lead pass.  The same concept applies on defense.  Once you are comfortable with usering a certain player, you know exactly how much ground you can cover and how to bait a quarterback into throwing an interception.

Establish The Running Game

This isn’t to say that you need to grind out 3 yards gains the entire game.  It simply means that you need to mix in some running plays now and then or your will get demolished in Madden 25.  This is a tip that gets overlooked by so many people.  If you aren’t running the ball at least once every 5 or 6 plays, you become predictable and much easier to defend.  Slip a running play into your scheme every now and then to keep your opponent honest.

Don’t Turn The Ball Over

This is a tip that is based just as much in general football strategy as it is in video game strategy.  In a shortened game like Madden 25 with only 5 or 6 minute quarters, turning the ball over a few times equates to an automatic loss in most situations.  If you can keep possession of the ball and either score points or punt to get better field position, you will help yourself more than you’d think.

These tips may seem obvious to experienced Madden gamers, but so few people actually practice these consistently.  It may be worth practicing doing these things at the end of the Madden 13 season to get you ready for this year’s Madden 25 game.  EA Sports is set to release Madden 25 on August 27th, 2013.  We will have plenty more tips leading up to that point and beyond.