THE GAMER

THE MORE, THE MADDENER

This year's game gets closer yet to the real thing.

By Jon Robinson

Rex Grossman rifles the ball into double coverage, and Packers CB Al Harris plucks it out of the air. Again? Not this time. The press of a button allows you to rewind, in effect erasing the pick. Call it a Madden mulligan. Explains 09 producer Phil Frazier: "A feature called Backtrack highlights what would have been your best option following broken plays. It also gives the success rate of the play you called against the defense you called it against."

The game also arms players with a variable number of rewinds—0, 1, 3, 5 or unlimited—that enable them to attempt a play again. Rewinds are available to your opponent on the other side of the ball, too, granting the ability to do over, say, Devin Hester's 80-yard punt return so the ball can be booted out-of-bounds like it should have been in the first place.

That's not the only way EA is leveling the field. Each gamer's profile is assigned a performance-based IQ that accounts for everything from QB efficiency to the number of picks logged by your defensive backs. "When you set up a game, you're no longer picking a skill setting," says Frazier. "Instead, the game adjusts its difficulty to your ability. Best of all, the individualized IQ number puts an end to the I'm-better-than-you-in-Madden debate. Now you can know for sure whether your opponent is even in the same league."

What's an IQ to fear? "You start with 300 points," says Frazier. "When someone has 600 or higher, you know he can play."

LET IT RIDE

NFL players have been known to bet major cheddar on Madden. We asked some former cover athletes what they've wagered playing as themselves on the virtual gridiron.

Daunte Culpepper "Ain't nothing to bet $15,000 on a game. I've won and lost mortgage payments over the years."

Marshall Faulk "One time, I lost my Bentley for a week. I didn't think anyone could beat me. I found out the hard way."

Ray Lewis "I don't bet money. I bet push-ups on demand. When I tell you to, you get down and do as many as I say. I might make you do them at dinner, on a date, wearing a suit, I don't care. My little brother owes me 2,500."

THE LINEUP

With this, the 20th edition of Madden (Aug. 12), EA claims it has programmed the best football simulation to date. What else is it going to say? Then again, some of the new stuff is pretty cool.

MADDEN MOMENTS Replay the hottest games of 2008, like Week 13's slugfest between the Ravens and the Pats. Maybe you can coax a stouter fourth-quarter D out of Baltimore. How often do you get the chance to reverse history?

WEB WARFARE Join up to 32 gamers in leagues that let you make trades, track stats and organize playoffs. Flex scheduling allows you to play games out of order depending on who happens to be online.

FEATURE FRENZY Formation changes on the fly, slide protection and the ability to return missed field goals are three of the game-play improvements. Plus, you can upload movies of your team's best plays. Now the world can see that 99-yard run by Adrian Peterson you've been bragging about.

TIME FOR AN IRISH STEP DANCE From the Lambeau Leap to the goalpost dunk, users can control touchdown celebrations by sending players to hot spots on the field. You can even steal opponents' celebrations, giving TO the chance to mock the Eagles by flapping his arms.

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