FOX Sports Q & A with Madden 11 insider

Yes, I am a 24-year old sports editor living in Los Angeles.

Yes, I will make the 25 minute drive into the San Fernando Valley on late Aug. 9 to wait in line and pick up Madden 11 at 12:01 a.m.

No, I am not ashamed.

Fact is, like many of you, I learned what a prevent defense was when I was eight years old playing Madden ’94.

In its 22nd season, Madden 11 promises to be simpler, quicker, deeper.

I had the chance to talk with Anthony Stevenson, senior product manager for Madden 11 about some of this year’s new features and some details about the game.

FOX Sports: Hey Anthony, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself and how long you have worked for EA Sports and, specifically, the Madden series.

AS: This is actually my fourth Madden launch, so I have been here for a little while now. I have been playing Madden pretty much since the Nintendo 64 and (original Playstation) days. I’m really excited about Madden 11 and all the new features.

FS: So right now, I can only imagine what a hectic time this is for you guys. Have you ironed out all the wrinkles in the game? Are you guys ready for the launch Aug. 10?

AS: I work really closely with our (public relations) team and development team. Our development team is ready to go. The games are wrapped. The game is in the factory being produced and manufactured as we speak, so we’re really excited about that. Quite honestly, our team is already getting our heads around Madden 12. There is a very short turnaround to put out a game on an annual basis that has a huge fan following as Madden does. They don’t waste a single second.

FS: How do you guys stay motivated to come up with new ideas that will keep the seasoned Madden gamers to keep coming back for more?

AS: It’s not as hard as you would think. Like I said, there is a short turnaround. There are always more ideas than time for us to execute them. We’re one of the franchises that has such a loyal fan base, like the Call of Dutys, Halos, and Grand Theft Autos. Our fans are extremely passionate, they’re very vocal on our forums and are always giving us feedback on the game. Even in the NFL, the game has evolved — like the Wildcat formation—those are always the things that we need to make sure we have in the game. We attempt to make the game as authentic as possible.

Also the technology aspect of it, every year we are able to expand and make the game more efficient. Like in last year’s game, we were able to have a two player co-op mode. This was a way for us to get our feet wet in this aspect and it was very important to us. This year, with a year of experience under our belt, we really blew it out with 3 vs. 3, where you can have up to six different people playing on six different consoles playing against each other. On year 22, we were able to take the gaming experience to the next level, so there is always room for innovation, there is always things we wish we could have gotten in. So, it’s really not that tough to stay motivated. On Aug. 10, when we see the millions of people rush out to stores at midnight to pick up the game, that is really all the motivation we need. I won’t lie to you, this time of year I am pretty drained, but when I see people’s faces and how excited they are it makes all the hard work worth it.

FS: The 3 vs. 3 sounds like a really cool feature. Can you expand on it and tell me how people will be able to work together on offense and defense to be a cohesive unit?

AS: Yeah, this year it was a really unique design. A lot of EA Sports’ other titles: NHL, FIFA they have had team play for a few years now, but it’s a little different for an NFL style game. There are always 22 players on the field and each one of them has a very specific goal, right? If you’re an offensive lineman, your goal is to not give up a sack.

FS: Of course.

AS: But that is not the wide receiver’s goal or the quarterback’s goal. For the other games there is a single goal, put the puck in the net or ball in the goal, make a basket. So, every players goal is pretty much the same, so if you or one of your friends makes a mistake you are easily able to counteract what just happened.

In Madden it’s different, you and your teammates need to be on the same page so that for a wide receiver a route isn’t broken off when it’s not supposed to be and the quarterback won’t be able to throw in an open passing lane. So what we had to do was design something that allows everyone to know their responsibility and that is what our online team play is about.

It’s called squad based. So if me, you and one of our buddies we’re on the same team, we can take on three other guys. You might decide you want to be the quarterback and call the plays in the huddle. I’ll take the wide receiving corps and my other friend will take the running backs. This allows us to work together as a team. Now, what is great about it on the defensive side of the ball, it would cause a lot of problems if three people were playing and switching to players that were nearest to the ball. It would cause some confusion as to who is switching where. In this mode, you would know, Hey, I am playing as the defensive line, my buddy has the linebacking group, and my other friend is controlling the secondary. So, as I am playing as the defensive line my whole motive it to create pressure and sack the quarterback. Our other buddy that is playing with the secondary knows to protect against the deep ball and cover the wide receivers. It’s about accountability and knowing what your group is responsible for, three and outs become much more rewarding because you are working with your team on a single common goal.

FS: Another new feature I was intrigued by was the GameFlow technology that you are launching this season. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

AS: This is something I’m very excited about and feel that it will make the more seasoned Madden gamers along with the casual players a more unique, authentic experience. In the Maddens before this year’s, when a player was faced with a down and distance they had over 300+ plays to look through and choose. This new feature allows you to build both an offensive and defensive gameplan. You will choose what plays you like to run on a third and short and you will hear your head coach choose the play for you. This feature will allow a player to cut its game time in half and have much more focus on the execution of the play rather the strategy of selecting the play. After talking to John Madden and all these NFL coaches they said, look, we call plays based on certain situations. When developing this this technology, we took a step back and did some research on what plays users gravitate towards. In our findings, we found out that an average of only 13 plays were being selected out of the whole playbook. Part of the reason we think this happened was just like NFL coaches, if you find a play that works, they keep running it until the defense can stop it. We also knew that games were just taking too long to play. On average a game would take nearly 63 minutes to play. So now with the GameFlow technology, we have cut game times in half. Which is a huge reduction, you can now play two games in the time it used to take to play one. There’s not all that time wasted during the game, start, stop, start, stop.

If you are a casual fan and a fan of the Saints, the plays that will be called are the ones that coach Payton would call in a real game. Now, we realize that there is the hardcore fan base that is very passionate about the game and love the element of choosing which plays and when. We will never take that aspect away, but now it allows the ability to add a gameplan for your game. So, week in and week out you can alter your style and choose the best way to take down your opponent.

FS: You kind of touched upon a topic I wanted to talk about. Are you guys pretty hands-on with NFL personnel and do they give their input on the game?

AS: Hands-on would be an understatement. We are referred as the 33rd franchise in the league. Every week we get the black box briefcase with all the official game tape. We look at all of the plays to make sure our formations are completely accurate and that are play art is right. We go even further than that. Every single year we bring in assistant coaches and head coaches to play as their team. We ask them if their team has the right feel and if there is anything we can improve on. And every year we go to the owner’s meetings to make sure the game gives an accurate feel to how the game is played. We are very involved, with not only the coaches, but the players as well.

FS: I also saw that you guys are launching the locomotion dual stick control. Could you tell me more about that?

AS: This is by far the greatest ‘under the hood’ improvement we made in this year’s game from the animation standpoint. Our players in the game would strictly run upright, and if you know anything about watching an NFL game that’s not how players run. When the running back is trying to find a hole and avoid being hit or bracing for a hit, he will turn his shoulders in and out. With locomotion the game gives the user that ability to plant your foot and make cuts more precisely. Also, runners wouldn’t have a process of acceleration. Once they would get the ball, they would go from zero to 60 in a split second and wouldn’t allow for blocks to develop. One example I like to give when explaining this feature is, when you are running full speed and you try to do a spin, you’re turning radius is going to be much wider because you are running so fast. If you are running in a more controlled manner and plant your foot and then do a spin move your turning radius is going to be much tighter. It accounts for the momentum.

FS: What always impresses me is the details in the game. The stuff that usually goes unnoticed is the stuff that really excites me. In former Maddens there would be the speed, strength and agility ratings. This year there is the ‘swagger’ rating. Tell me a little bit more about this and how it will translate into the game.

AS: The swagger rating is pretty cool. There are some players on the field that they just have a certain aura about them. Ray Lewis or a Tom Brady in the fourth quarter he exudes that sort of confidence. The higher swagger rating allows them to showcase their feelings. A Chad Johnson would be a lot more likely to celebrate when he scores a touchdown because that’s his swagger, that’s his swag, that’s what he does — same with Ray Lewis. Now someone that is more reserved like Peyton Manning, he wouldn’t have the exuberant celebrations because he is that more even-keeled type of field general. That is just a minor detail that we brought to the game, that won’t completely impact the whole face of the game, but its presence will be felt.

FS: Talk a little bit about the audio and commentary of the game.

AS: It’s funny. Last year we were watching all the Week 1 games with John Madden at his house and the only close game at the time in the morning was Denver and Cincinnati. There was that Brandon Stokley play, and commentator Gus Johnson just completely goes crazy and you could hear the passion in his voice. Right then and there we were like, we need to get him for the game. And so we did, this year he will be in the booth joining Cris Collinsworth. You will hear and see the changes almost immediately when the user turns on the game.

Another thing we did was add crowd chants and stadium music. When you go to a Jets game, you better hear the “J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS” chant. We want it to be like you are on the field and in that stadium. So say, Steelers tight end makes a first down catch, you will hear the crowd say, “HEEEEEEEEAAATTH!” We account for every detail because it’s very important to us. The thing is no matter who the player is, say they are the fourth-string wide receiver on the Lions we make sure that every detail is as close to perfect as possible because that is someone’s favorite player. Another detail that is really cool, is how the commentators compare quarterbacks. If you were playing with Philip Rivers against the Ravens, they will talk about how Joe Flacco and Rivers are two up-and-coming, young quarterbacks leading playoff teams to win a Super Bowl. It’s all relevant information that you would hear on a Sunday broadcast and we wanted to make sure that we have that in the game. There are 900 different scenarios explaining the QB matchups. Gus and Cris do such a great job really making you feel that you are watching a live broadcast.

FS: Alright Anthony, like I said I know you are pretty busy so I wanted to thank you for having a quick chat. Looking forward to the game release Aug. 10.