Product Description

Madden NFL 10 epitomizes what fun looks like on the Wii, delivering the most social and dynamic experience from the franchise to date. Completely redesigned and built from the ground up, Madden NFL 10 introduces a unique art style that will redefine the look of sports games on the Wii. All-new player models embody characteristics of your favorite athletes, plus new larger-than-life stadiums showcase the unique details found at each of the 32 NFL stadiums. Madden NFL 10 is the perfect game to play with friends and family, whether you’re starting a cooperative season with the all-new Road To The Super Bowl, or crowning a "King of the Coach" in the brand new Madden Showdown party mode! Whether playing alone or with a living room full of friends, Madden NFL 10 is what fun looks like on the Wii!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #232 in Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Model: 15883
• Published on: 2009-08
• Released on: 2009-08-14
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .59" h x 5.41" w x 7.55" l, .36 pounds

Features

• The Huddle Up co-op mode where players can join forces on the field to attain pro football's ultimate title.
• Intuitive controls aimed at casual gaming, as well as three levels of play calling: All Play, Intermediate and Advanced.
• The Call Your Shots game mechanic that allows players on both offense and defense to change their plays on the fly as needed.
• Spotlight Moments, a reoccurring variety of Wii mini-games that decide hotly contested plays.
• The Madden Showdown, a 1-4 player tournament where players engage in classic 11-on-11 games, to 5-on-5 gridiron battles.

Amazon.com Product Description

Madden NFL 10 epitomizes what fun looks like on the Wii, delivering the most social and dynamic experience from the franchise to date. This year, Madden NFL 10 arrives on the Wii with breathtaking visuals that will captivate both seasoned veterans and new comers to the franchise. Completely redesigned and built from the ground up, Madden NFL 10 introduces a unique art style that will define the look of sports games on the Wii. New graphical treatment. View larger. Easy play calling mechanic. View larger. Madden Showdown 5-on-5 play. View larger. Spotlight Moment mini-games. View larger. In addition, players will enjoy realism like they have never seen before on the Wii platform with all-new player models that embody characteristics of your favorite athletes, new larger-than-life stadiums showcase details found at each of the 32 NFL fields and 4-player multiplayer support. Intuitive Fun Controls The control scheme of Madden NFL 10 for Wii is designed with the casual player in mind. Just point and go with the Wii remote, and you'll be throwing game-winning touchdown passes and grinding out yardage on the ground, or if on defense covering your men downfield and blitzing past the line of scrimmage. Skill Level Play Calling No matter what level of experience players have with the Madden franchise and/or football in general, Madden NFL 10 for Wii makes calling the right play at the right time easy with three play call settings: All Play, Intermediate and Advanced. Within these options players have further flexibility with even more play calling options including: the "Ask Madden" help option, a play types overview and an list of reusable plays recently ran. Call Your Shots Last year's favorite Madden NFL feature is now on defense. With offensive players in motion do you feel the need to switch gears and go for the blitz or drop a player or two back to add coverage in the secondary on the fly? No problem, simply select players and drag them to the spot on the field that you want them positioned. Just remember that your opponent is watching your moves as well, and in local play can see your on-screen pointer, meaning that he/she may counter your changes if you make your move too quickly. Huddle Up Co-op Mode & the Road to the Super Bowl In the Huddle Up co-op mode, a less experienced player has an opportunity to impact individual plays in a big way. Help your teammate by using the pointer to throw an extra block or trip up a receiver. And in the Road to the Super Bowl, play with your friends as a team as you throw you join forces on the field to attain pro football's ultimate title. Players can jump in and out throughout the season as you work together to become the national champs. Spotlight Moments What's a Wii game without a mini-game or two? With that in mind Madden NFL 10 features Spotlight Moments, play-specific mini-games that occur a few times during a game. Often occurring at crucial points, for example as a receiver and defender jostle for position in the endzone, Spotlight Moments are built around zoomed in camera angles and allow players to experience the heightened drama of game-changing plays as action slows down and the outcome of a play and perhaps even the game falls to players' skills at button mashing with the Wii remote. Madden Showdown Madden Showdown is a 1-4 player tournament. Enjoy classic 11-on-11 football or experience the thrill of playing 5-on-5 in this quick, customizable competition, as you and your friends go head-to-head in an effort to become the next Showdown Champion. There are three major feature components to Madden Showdown: Game Changers - The rules of NFL football have remained largely the same for many years with little to no deviation. Game Changers allows you to change all of that with a click of the Wiimote. Users can mix and match between eight different options, each placing a unique spin on the game. Prediction System - Winning on the field isn't everything. The prediction system gives you a chance to predict the outcome of three different categories per game. To top it off, you have the option to risk your points in order to get ahead. If you win, it will positively affect your ranking in the tournament. If you lose, your poor decision-making could cost you the lead or dig you into a deeper hole. Spotlight Moments - Experience the drama of game-changing plays with Spotlight Moments. During critical situations, cameras move in tight and gameplay slows down to allow you to influence the biggest plays of the game. During these moments, micro-games are created that allow players of all skill levels to experience and influence the game's most crucial moments. All-New Genre-Defining Visual Style - Completely redesigned, Madden NFL 10 brings striking visuals to the Wii with all-new player models, larger-than-life stadiums, new animations and a stylized broadcast presentation.

Customer Reviews

Madden 10 Wii: The first Madden game I have ever enjoyed!!
**UPDATE: MANY REVIEWERS ARE SLAMMING THE GAME BECAUSE IT IS MISSING FRANCHISE MODE... however Franchise and Superstar modes are present in the game, but have to be unlocked. I placed the codes to unlock them at the end of my review!**

Before I even begin this review, let me say that I have NEVER had a desire to own a Madden game on any console before. Ever. Until Madden 10. I am not a big sports fanatic, and thus couldn't care less about trades, drafts, seasons, stats... when I sit down in front of my gaming console I want hours of fun and competitive action... not arguing over stats, gloating, bad sportsmanship, etc. So I have never owned a Madden game on any console, and typically dread playing Madden with any of my friends, because I could never compete with them! Until now...

This year, I could tell immediately that Madden 10 was going to be something different. It seemed to be more designed to appeal to me. Dont get me wrong: I am not the WiiFit demographic. I am a hardcore gamer, male, in my 20's. I just don't fit the typical Madden niche. This year's offering, as other reviews have stated (and SLAMMED the game for!) doesn't include a lot of what the hardcore sports fanatics might be looking for: trades, franchise mode (whatever that is!?), create-a-player (which I would have probably liked), etc... hence their unfavorable reviews. However, that said, the game has lots of features that ARE APPEALING, and I am really enjoying the game. Here are the features that attracted me:

1 - "HUDDLE-UP MODE" - this is a Wii-only mode that sounded really fun and interesting. Essentially, it is a 4-player mode where 2 players (opponents) control the game normally.... but 2 other players (each on one team or the other) can aim their remote at the screen and, using the wii pointer/cursor, help their teammate out by clicking on the opponent's players, tackling them! Your "helper" can tackle any opposing player AS LONG AS THEY DON'T HAVE THE BALL... so if my QB is about to get sacked or if I throw a pass to a receiver and he is about to get tackled... no worries! My teammate can take quickly click on the opposing player and take him out! It is ridiculously entertaining! There was screaming and laughing all at the same time. I had 3 friends over (2 are hardcore Madden veterans, and one other Madden newcomer), and they had a blast. We have dubbed this mode "HATER mode". It really is fun.

2 - THE CONTROLS AND PLAYBOOK - As I mentioned, I am new to playing Madden, but I am not new to gaming. The "ALL PLAY" controls are still an option, which have very simple controls for people who may have a harder time playing with the more advanced control scheme. I play with the advanced controls, which work really well. In addition, you can select whether you want the "ALL PLAY" playbook, an Intermediate playbook, or an ADVANCED playbook. This feature is REALLY nice. The All Play playbook is VERY simple... even a child could go in and select an appropriate play. The Advanced playbook looks like a NASA manual to a newcomer like me....way too intimidating! So, I selected the Intermediate playbook, which has lots of options, but far fewer plays than the Advanced. My nephew came over, and when he selected the Advanced playbook, I knew what I was in for... an old fashioned beat down. But surprisingly, I was able to hold my own, since EA did such a wonderful job balancing the game. Typically, with a game like this, a newcomer would have NO CHANCE IN THE WORLD against a seasoned veteran (seems strange calling a 16 year old a "seasoned veteran" at anything...lol)... but this game has done a wonderful job bridging the gap.

3 - "ROAD TO THE SUPERBOWL" - Again... I do not care about stats, trades, franchises... in fact, when I first started the game and it asked me to select my favorite team so it could use that team's colors and logo on my home screen, it took me like 15 minutes to decide on my favorite team, since I didn't have one! So, obviously I would never sit down and actually play through an entire season. I bought this game mostly for playing with other people. So, the "Road to the Superbowl" is a really well done mode of game-play. Essentially, you can go through an entire season... or half a season... or you can jump in at the playoffs... or you can EVEN BEGIN RIGHT AT THE SUPERBOWL. Also, you can start off your "Road to the Superbowl" alone, but other players can jump in at any time. So if I start the playoffs by myself, and one of my buddies comes over the next day, he can jump in with me and join me. You can even have several seasons or "Road to the Superbowl" saves.... so I can have one whole season that I am working on, and then create a new one that starts at the playoffs. This is a really well thought out way of doing things.

4 - ONLINE - I own this game as well as EA's "Grand Slam Tennis"... both games use EA Nation rather than Nintendo's online system. This means NO FRIEND CODES, and it also means that EA maintains the servers, ensuring they have the appropriate updates/maintenance, as well as that there aren't any hackers online. You can invite anyone you play to be added to your friend list, and it even has an instant messenger (I've never used it, but it's there). The online play just plain works. Period. THE ONLY thing that could have been done better is if they had implemented WiiSpeak for voice chat! This game, as well as Grand Slam Tennis SHOULD HAVE HAD VOICE CHAT!!! Other than that, it is perfect.

5 - GRAPHICS - Granted... the game does not look "realistic". But as a Wii owner, I have come to expect less than realistic graphics, and I am OK with that. I would trade fun gameplay for lesser graphics any day! I loved the art style used for Grand Slam Tennis, and this game used a similar "cartoony" style, and it looks great. It is a really good looking game. And the art fits the type of game it is: FUN.

This game is what it is: A really well done, deep, and compelling Football game. I am having a blast with it, and I think EA was smart to change up the formula a bit: it has tapped into a crowd that previously had no interest in the Madden offerings. Here is a quick review of the game overall:

Gameplay: 9/10
Controls: 10/10
Presentation: 8/10
Graphics: 8/10
Online Play: 9/10 (would be 10/10 if WiiSpeak was included!)
Replay Value: 10/10 (GREAT multiplayer modes for when friends come over!)
Overall: 9/10

Here are the unlock codes that, when entered at the EA Extra's menu, will unlock the hidden modes like Franchise Mode, etc:

Franchise Mode: TEAMPLAYER
Superstar Mode: EGOBOOST
Situation Mode: YOUCALLIT
Super Bowl Stadium: THEBIGSHOW
Pro Bowl Stadium: ALLSTARS
Master Code (unlocks everything): THEWORKS

Incomplete but fun
Looked long and hard into getting this game reading every preview and review I could find. I finally decided to buy it. My only other experience with Madden on the the Wii was Madden 08.

First, I appreciate the new look. I'm glad to see that EA has figured out ways to make games playable on the Wii. The menu redesign reminds me of the new look in Tiger Woods 10 which I think is great. Frankly I am tired of playing games on the Wii that have menus and text you can't read and I'm glad EA finally is addressing this. I thought the frame rate during gameplay on Madden 08 was sub par, but with Madden 10 this does not seem to be an issue. Yes, the players do look "cartoony" in closeup shots but the graphics I think are very sharp with clean edges. During gameplay, you really don't notice that your linemen are roughly 7 times larger than your running back.

The presentation during the game does not feel like a TV broadcast like other games have done. All the screens are done in the overinflated and colorful style of the game. The commentary is adequate but they really need some variety in describing touchdown celebrations. There weren't any replays or cut scenes in the games I played. On a side note, I couldn't find where to change the weather when staring a game, just the wind and time of day.

This really is a "no frills" sports game even though it is targeted for casual fans. There are no animated scenes between plays like you've grown accustomed to except for an occasional look inside the huddle. I didn't even see any defensive celebrations after tackles or big plays. Player animations are smooth and believable nonetheless. In spite of the design and look that is reminiscent of arcade games like NFL Blitz, it does not feel or act like an arcade game in most modes of play. I am honestly shocked that they didn't extend the arcade look more into the actual gameplay.

Most of the game modes are designed for multiple and quick play. They are fun, but don't pack a lot of punch. My favorite game mode, Franchise Mode, is "locked" at first and must be unlocked with by entering a code. I found out when looking for that code why this happened. It seems EA Sports didn't get a few things finished in time and instead of cutting them from the game they just hid the features. When you get into Franchise or Superstar mode, you'll find that they are essentially unchanged from Madden 08. In fact, the menus and even some of the menu controls have to be directly taken from Madden 08. The only difference I saw was once I finally got into the game and returned to the new look.

I really appreciated the "All Play" controls because I never quite caught on to the controls in Madden 08. I also really like the use of the pointer in passing. This is surprisingly intuitive. The only thing for me was that I was trouncing my computer opponents even at harder difficulty levels. I played a game with five minute quarters that I won 63-0 in spite of turning up the difficulty as high as All-Pro and putting in my third string on offense. I wasn't exactly scoring at will, but I could easily complete enough passes to march down the field. I could not seem to run inside for any success but had some success running sweeps and tosses to the outside.

Bear in mind that this game is targeted for the "casual gamer", something I am quickly becoming. It is a great game for that audience, but lacks the punch a more serious gamer desires. It makes a great party game that players can just jump into and enjoy. I have my doubts about its long term playability. For someone like me that might play a couple of times a week I think the game is great.

I really like the redesign done to make the game more Wii-friendly. The work EA did along these lines in Tiger Woods 10 was phenomenal, but in Madden 10 it is incomplete. The fact that things like Franchise mode were left untouched during heavy reworking of almost every other feature is strange. The work that was done to rework the graphics and gameplay does greatly improve the overall experience on the Wii.

I hope in Madden 11 that EA Sports will fix the "classic modes" to be like the updated look and feel of everything else in Madden 10. Some cut scenes and other animations would be nice. I think more could be added to the presentation of the games - even if it doesn't have a broadcast feel some replays on big plays would be nice. Hopefully next year this year's release is a stepping stone to a great overall game next year.

Madden 2010 Wii is Great!
I am not a gamer. I simply enjoy NFL football and I enjoy playing the Wii with my son. If you are into entertainment alone, this is a great game. I think the graphics are great! No, they are not as good as XBox or PS3 but they look great enough! The All-Play is wondeful and allows my 6 year old to kick my butt! It really allows interaction with all family members while still keeping my interest with the great players of the NFL. Playing on line is a real treat! I love this game and the people who are bashing it must really be looking for an Xbox or PS3. Maybe they should have thought about that before they went out and purchased the Wii! Go buy a PS# and close your mouth! Wii Madden 2010 is a lot of fun!