Madden NFL 10 AFL Legacy Pack is now available via download for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Players get to as the original AFL teams and experience 1960′s style presentation elements.

The pack provides a retro football card-like user interface and classic film grain broadcast camera.

The add-on for Madden NFL 10 is available for 560 Microsoft Points and $6.99 on the PSN. For more information, check out our initial article announcing the release.

Comment below with thoughts and opinions.

Each year, the Madden NFL series undergoes a few changes that make the game just a little bit better–while this makes many people happy, as the sales numbers can attest to, there are gamers out there who feel somewhat cheated, like Madden’s yearly release is just a way to get new rosters out. While that has never been the case–EA has constantly tweaked Madden and tried new ideas to enhance the user experience–this year’s edition, Madden NFL 10, seeks to overhaul the franchise through a number of smaller, more subtle refinements. What makes Madden NFL 10 impressive, and also arguably the best Madden title in its long history, is the fact that the developers enhanced, altered and changed so many things that the title feels the freshest it has in years.

The developer’s goal was to make Madden NFL 10 look and feel like Sunday. We’re used to watching football on television, and we have an idea about what we should be seeing when a game is on–EA took those ideas and put them into the game’s “telecast”, so playing has a much more authentic, NFL feel to it than it ever has. In past Madden titles this generation, you had the realistic visuals, but there were plenty of areas that the game could be improved upon graphically so that while in motion it could be mistaken for a real-life NFL game and not just a video game. For starters, they added in half-time reports with highlight reels and scores from around the NFL, just like during an actual half-time. As long as you’re playing well, this should be fun, as you get to revisit some of your great plays from earlier in the game from different angles, just like you would if a television station was replaying events.

There’s much more than just that though, as the focus was to make the players and coaches also act the part of “real” NFL players in a real game. You’ll notice a lot more attention to detail with coaches on the sidelines, as they do more than just stand around now, and players will react to plays, either vocally or with some mini celebrations–for instance, after a huge gain with a running back that saw him shed a few pursuers and pick up a few first down, he screamed out, “That’s what I’m talking about, baby!” as he ran back to the huddle. EA also cut down the size of the playbook on screen so that these animations–players, coaches, fans, etc.–could be enjoyed while you make your next move.

Graphically, Madden has changed a bit as well–as I said before, in stills, Madden during the HD generation has always looked realistic, but now the game looks better in motion than ever before. The camera work is very fluid, and switches between various camera during play much like during a telecast of a game. Players react to hits by cringing, they look totally bushed when they are fatigued, and they do a much better job of being aware of their surroundings not just in their movements and routes, but visually–you’ll see player’s heads follow the ball and ball carrier, and because of things like this even something like blocking looks more realistic in action.

This realistic look stretches to some of the gameplay changes as well, such as the new Pro-Tak animation system. Pro-Tak allows for gang tackles, with anywhere from three to nine players. You can create a pile that moves with the ball–defense and offense can both push the pile–and depending on the player holding the ball, the pile can stand up for quite some time. If the gang tackle pile stands up too long, the refs will call the ball dead, just like in real life, which is just one of those little changes that serves to make Madden feel that much more realistic. This, along with the ability to fight for fumbles in a button mashing mini-game make the gameplay more interactive and realistic in 2010. The enhancements to gameplay go on and on–your controller will rumble when a defender gets near your QB in the pocket, which has already helped me curb my bad habit of getting sacked as I wait for an opening in the defense, the ratings have been given a makeover so that players are more true to their real life counterparts, you can now assign your best defenders to the best offensive players on the field to help “Lockdown” the offense, you can now choose to play injured players, just like in NCAA, or even just use the accelerated clock so that those of you that pick a play in two seconds can still feel like the clock is moving along at an acceptable pace. The accelerated clock knocks 15, 20 or 25 seconds off of the play clock, making long drives and killing time a breeze, and again, making a game of Madden more realistic than before. Best of all though, are the changes made to the AI–the game is designed to keep you from just running the same plays over and over, as the defense will adjust to your successes. The key then becomes to react to them, so for the first time, when the announcers talk about how running success early leads to later passing success, you can see this happen in real time as the linebackers start to close off the running lanes and leave your tight ends and wide receivers open over the middle.

EA didn’t just stick with the core game when it came to revamps, as the online modes also had some work done to them. For the first time ever, there is now two-player online co-op. There is also a “Madden Elite Status” purchasable add-on for Madden ($4.99), which will allow you to access VIP lobbies, leaderboards and a new mode, Elite Gametype. It’s setup in All-Madden difficulty and is meant to appeal exclusively to the most hardcore, die hard Madden fan out there. Best of all though is the Online Franchise mode. You can draft live with friends, there are message boards set up for your league, and you can manage it from either a web browser or through a brand new iPhone and iPod Touch application that went live earlier this month. This is basically like a fantasy version of fantasy football, except you get to play the games. This is honestly the biggest single addition to Madden in quite some time, and it’s very promising; it’s the kind of thing that should make people stick with the game longer. Each new copy of Madden NFL 10 comes with an activation code for online franchise mode, but those who buy the game used can also purchase an activation code from the Madden Shop.

Blast Factor: Madden NFL 10 is the most realistic and in-depth version of Madden yet. The game no longer just looks realistic, it plays and sounds that way too, which makes all of the difference in the world. It’s the best version of Madden that has been produced because of this, and with additions made to online modes like two-player co-op and online franchise, you will be playing it plenty.

Madden NFL 10 is available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles, and retails for $59.99

Madden NFL 10 is a different yet familiar beast on the Wii this year. It’s familiar in the sense that the modes and much of the gameplay you know and love are there, making it in one way similar to its hi-def console cousins, but on the other hand you have a game that is no longer striving for a watered down version of the realism shown in the other versions of the game. Whereas the focus of Madden NFL 10 on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 was on the revamping of realism and how that positively changes the game experience, Madden NFL 10 for Wii is meant to give the system its own distinctive football game that plays towards its strengths and its audience. In that sense, it’s a success, but that does not mean that there are not some issues that should be ironed out for next year’s edition.

If you have been following our coverage, you know about the changes to the look of Madden on Wii. The art director, Tim Spangler, spoke with us at length about the new, arcade looking style, and the reasons why EA Tiburon went that route. Many people may not like the new direction, but if you give it a chance, you will see that there is a lot to love about it. It’s arcadey, sure, but there isn’t any of that out there right now either, and that style helps to make things like Big Hits (the Wii Remote version of a Hit Stick tackle) that much more fun and satisfying. Most importantly, the menus and fields got a makeover, not just the players. The stadiums and fans fit well with the art style, and act as an extension of the direction they were going for with the players redesigns. The menus are also much more polished and are well-presented, thanks to IR support.

Madden NFL 10 Wii also has plenty of its own exclusive game modes. There is Madden Showdown, which lets you play 5-on-5 or classic 11-on-11 in customizable games. It’s a 1-4 player tournament, so it’s great for a quick run of games by yourself of if you want to see which one of your friends is the best at Madden. There are a few things EA Tiburon did that change things up a bit in this mode. First up is Game Changers, which are basically extreme rule changes. There’s Tug of War, which gives you a single down before the ball is turned over, meaning you have to score fast. Fumblitis makes you much more prone to fumbles, All Passing Plays and All Running Plays are self-explanatory, as well as many others including a Random mode that will keep you on your toes. These are a lot of fun if you want to have some laughs while you play, or if you’re just tired of the standard gameplay. Within the games themselves you may come up on spotlight moments, which are dramatic, game-changing moments. A mini-game (much like the fumble pile in the 360/PS3 versions) will come up, and you’ll fight for things like breaking a tackle for a big gain, fighting for the ball, sprinting to the endzone, or avoiding defenders trying to sack you in the pocket.

This mode is fun, but the other new mode that I prefer is Road to the Super Bowl. It’s a season mode with a few new twists. You can keep the 5-on5 gameplay here if you would like, which makes things interesting enough to begin with, but you can also choose a differing season length, or start off right in the playoffs. This mode is 1-4 players and features co-op, but there’s a catch. Completing a pass, catching the ball, running successfully, picking the ball off , sacking the QB, and basically anything else you can think of are worth points, which are tallied at the bottom of the screen. You need to earn points to stay in the game–if you fall below a certain threshold, you will be benched, and your partner will have to buy you back into the game using some of his points. If you’re playing single-player, you will lose, so you need to make sure you pay attention and try to keep your production consistent and avoid costly mistakes. This makes Road to the Superbowl loads of fun if you’re playing with a group of friends, especially if you want to pass controllers around every time one of your buddies gets himself kicked to the curb. In 5-on-5 mode you’re also guaranteed some action, since there are so few offensive options on the field at any time, so you won’t be bored playing co-op.

As for actual gameplay, the best new addition is that of Point-and-Pass. Simply point the IR at the player you want to throw to, and hit A. No more complicated motions that you need to remember to perform specific actions, just point and press A harder or softer depending on whether you want to rifle it in there or lob it over the defenders. The IR usage goes deeper than that though, with Call Your Shots returning on offense–this allows you to write new routes for your players and take advantage of holes or mismatches in the defense–and for the first time appearing on defense. This helps you keep your best defenders where and on who you want them to be, and is much more rewarding than simply calling an audible.

EA Tiburon has also added All Player defense this year, so for those inexperienced or younger players, you now have things a bit easier on both sides of the ball. There’s also a Huddle Up mode which can work for father/son or boyfriend/girlfriend duos, since one player uses the IR remote rather than a player to change things on the field. If dad’s tossing a pass but he’s going to get smoked by a lineman, Little Timmy can use his IR pointer to knock that guy right over and give dad some space in the pocket. It works for opening up holes in running lanes, clearing pass routes and anything else you can think of. Obviously this makes the game a bit easier, but it’s good for people who want to introduce the game to inexperienced and young players that may not be able to enjoy the full version of Madden yet.

The last major change to All-Play also benefits more hardcore Madden devotees. There is now Skill Level Play Calling, which lets you choose from All Play, Intermediate and Advanced play calling menus. Ask Madden is still around as well and as useful as ever if you’re in a pinch, though he’s a lot less chatty than he used to be.

You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned any of the traditional modes yet, like Franchise and Superstar. They are in the game under the Classic Modes section, and they received the same gameplay and visual updates to the players, stadiums and fans that the brand new modes received, but there is a little something amiss with them presentation wise. They still have the bland, boring menus from the 2009 version of Madden, and lack the polish that the new menus do; even the way you select things changes, as the IR function no longer works. While this does not affect the gameplay experience, it’s just kind of odd to see, given the attention to detail everywhere else. Hopefully this will be changed in the 2011 version of Madden, and hopefully they won’t be modes you have to unlock either.

Blast Factor: The new Wii exclusive modes are great, and make this more of a “party” Madden than any other. It accomplishes this without sacrificing the gameplay you love either, and in fact makes it easier for even those who aren’t familiar with Madden–or even football–to play and play well. The new visual style won’t work for everyone, but trust me when I say it will grow on you as you see it in motion. It’s a shame that the classic modes weren’t given the same attention as the new ones, but given Madden Wii is in a transition phase, we can give it a pass on that and hope for better things next year.

Madden NFL 10 is available on the Nintendo Wii, and retails for $49.99

Madden NFL 10 is now available in stores nationwide. The latest entry to the football franchise will be available on Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PS3 and the PSP. We will soon have a review of the game on the website so keep coming back to find out what we thing about the game. Until we post our review however, feel free to comment below on your thoughts.

For those of you who will be going on the hunt to purchase Madden NFL 10 at midnight, I suggest going to Walmart. Walmart is twisting things up so that you can enjoy the release of the manliest sports game on the planet and keep your girlfriend happy, albeit slightly neglected. Walmart is setting up a flower station in the Electronics department so that men who purchase the game can also buy a dozen roses for their significant other. Since many of you will be playing this game religiously, I strongly recommend getting something for the lady to hold her over in between each game. Also, to appease your loved ones you may want to pick up a razor from Walmart while you’re at it so that when you finish playing, you can look good for all your loved ones (or hide the fact that your main focus was the game and not appearance). So get up with “Madden Madness” and get with the program! Walmart is not only willing to keep your girlfriend and looks maintained, they are even willing to go the extra step and maintain your tough talk for when you’re with friends and playing online. Check out the video that will teach you to talk like a pro.

Now, if you can’t make it to the event, there is still hope for you to get the game quickly. While we can’t guarantee loss of girlfriend or looks, we can guarantee that you’ll get a $10 eGiftcard to Walmart if you buy a copy of the game (eCards available while supplies last). So what are you waiting for? GO GET A COPY.

EA Games is planning a very special promotion in for the latest release in the Madden NFL Series. With Madden NFL 10 being released in Stores on August 14^th, EA is preparing to promote the game during “Monday Night Football” and a special event called the “Madden NFL 10 Pigskin Pro-Am.”

In the week leading up to the official release of Madden NFL 10, numerous television networks will be airing the Madden NFL 10 Pigskin Pro-Am Game, a match-up pitting two teams of mixed NFL legends and Hollywood celebrities in a flag football game. The two teams will be lead by Joe Montana and John Always and feature NFL legends like Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders. Celebrities including Jeremy Piven, Maria Menounos, Kevin Dillon and Allison Sweeney will also be on roster. ESPN2 will cover the game August 13^th at 11 p.m. EST, VH1 will cover it on the 15^th at 7 p.m. EST, and the NFL Network will show the game on August 17^th at 8 EST. Spike TV will support the launch with behind the scenes interviews with the players and celebrities.

However, the real draw for this is the coverage that will be given to the game during Monday Night Football. On August 13^th, during the game on ESPN, Madden NFL 10 will receive numerous promotions throughout the broadcast including extensions on-air, online coverage and coverage through social applications. The game will be tied to the special Thursday pre-season kick off with footage taken directly from the game and spread throughout the broadcast with advertising spots and other features.

Viewers will even be exposed to custom billboards and mini-mercials throughout the day on SportsCenter and NFL Countdown.

Madden NFL 10 will be available for Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, Wii, and PSP August 14^th. Feature phones will be able to play the game in September, with purchase.

SAN DIEGO — With the newest edition of Madden NFL coming out in just a few weeks, EA had it at the ready for media at San Diego Comic-Con. We were able to check out the game and play a bit with EA Tiburon’s Art Director Tim Spangler, and we took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about the title’s major visual overhaul.

BLAST: In the past, Madden on Wii was visually behind its hi-def console cousins. What prompted the complete overhaul of the look and style?

Tim Spangler: One thing we wanted to do with the Madden product coming back to [EA] Tiburon was to create a unique visual style that would stand out among all of the other Madden’s out there. As soon as you pop in our disc, you’ll notice a lot of changes from a visual standpoint. You’ve got all new character designs, all new stadiums, all new fields, all new interface presentation, and all of it specifically designed to make the most of the Wii hardware.

BLAST: It looks kind of arcade-y to me, but in a good way. You have this realistic game attached to an arcade look. What inspired you to go down that road?

TS: In terms of visuals, there was a Coke commercial that came out around the time of the Olympics, and it had LeBron James and Yao Ming on it. They went into this festival thing that was all about the matchups, and basketball, and the Olympics, and it was this comic book looking, stylized characters, and we looked at that, and at the same time”¦it’s not right when Team Fortress did it, but Team Fortress was getting huge around that time. We looked at that, and our goals were to differentiate. Team Fortress had very similar challenges, being a stylized first-person shooter in a genre that’s known for a lot of realistic gameplay. So, we look at those two as our two main inspiration points. We also looked at toys, graphic novels, films, stuff like that.

BLAST: With Grand Slam Tennis, EA showed a willingness to go with style over realism. Now that a flagship title like Madden has been altered in the same way, can we expect this to be the norm on Wii in sports games?

TS: I can’t really speak for EA Sports as a label, but I know in general we’re trying to make a real strong presence on the Wii console. I would say that if titles like Grand Slam Tennis and Madden do well, and people enjoy them, then we will make more products like them.

BLAST: Let’s hear some details about specific changes, like the player’s bodies. What are they like now?

TS: In years past, you couldn’t really tell the difference between Brian Urlacher and Peyton Manning from the silhouettes, they looked the same. In our game, we tried to say, across the board, what types of body types would you need to excel at certain positions. ‚ So what we did is we studied that frame at pre-play, and then we said, “Okay, we need wide receivers and defensive backs.” With those guys, we wanted a tall, thin, think of a Randy Moss. He’s the prototype kind of guy that plays the position. Then inject some personality into them, like big hands, colorful gloves, big feet. Then you’ve got your quarterback, he’s kind of your broad shouldered, classic pocket-passer, the leader of the team. You’ve got your linebacker, he’s the muscular guy that will knock your block off. You can tell as soon as you see him that he wants to knock your head off. You’ve got your linemen, they look like a hulking mass. They are your blockers, and they are guys you don’t want to get hit by either. And also, with the running backs, we wanted to have a guy you could look at and say, “Hey his legs are kind of big.” Someone like LaDainian Tomlinson, Michael Turner type guys. They are still kind of big, but at the same time they are fast and elusive and low to the ground. So we took that philosophy, and tried to emphasize that in the art with the curves and an overall design that would emphasize those characteristics.

From there, we built our environments around those characters. So we can inject that same personality into the stadium. You can see the Broncos stadium here, they took that same horse and then stylized it so it felt like a natural extension of the overall look.

BLAST: Tell me a bit more about the stadiums.

TS: All of the stadiums were built from the ground up. Every stadium has some type of design element”¦the Broncos have the horse that sits up there and the mountains that surround it. So we took those, and stylized the mountains, stylized the horse. The Bucs have that pirate ship, we took that, injected a bit of personality into that, increased the scale so it dominates that end of the field, did a little play on the palm trees, stuff like that. So we really tried to find those points where the architects had design elements, bring those elements into our world and make them a natural extension of what we’re doing with the players.

BLAST: The stadiums look huge, they just have this big open space and it looks like there are 200,000 people sitting in the stands. Let’s talk about the menus a bit. That’s the team select screen”¦ do all of the menus and interfaces look different like that now?

TS: Yup. So for all our new modes for this year, we’ve gone with a big, bold, polished look that’s pointer-friendly, very colorful, and easy to interact with. We took that approach when designing the interface for this game.

BLAST: With a revamping of the visual style, it’s clear the hope is to attract more people to the Wii version of the game. What do you think will resonate with gamers new to the series, as well as veterans?

TS: For new people, we tried to make it easy to pick up and play. There’s not a huge, steep learning curve here, but at the same time there’s enough depth where we have our different play modes and different levels of difficulty that veterans can enjoy it too. One thing we did for passing, where in years past it was a lot of complicated gestures that you would have to memorize, we tried to simplify that down. With point-and-pass this year, you press A to hike the ball, point at a receiver to lock onto him, and tap A to lob it or press it and hold real fast for a bullet pass right to him. It’s pretty easy to pick up and play. Also, for the new people on the franchise, we’ve got a co-op mode called Huddle Up. There, that’s like a father/son game. They don’t need to know much about football, they can pick up and play without worrying about complexity. Their kid can jump in and knock down pursuers with the IR. It’s the same thing on defense, you can knock down defenders to take them off of their route, knock blockers out of the way.

Also in new game modes we have Road to the Superbowl. It’s similar to a season, it’s all about getting to the Superbowl, but you can customize how you want to play. You can play that standard 11 on 11, or you can play 5 on 5. You can play half a season, a whole season, or start right in the playoffs. We give you those opportunities as well. We also have Showdown mode, to see who is King of the Couch, see who is the best player in the room. And there we have game changers, which are different ways to play the game: fumbleitis, always turbo, it’s alive, different ways to customize the game for how you want to play.

BLAST: So you have got an arcade product with realistic properties we’re used to from Madden in the same package. That gives people with access to more than one platform reason to pick up both or just the Wii one.

TS: Yes, exactly.

Thanks to Tim Spangler for answering our questions. We will have a preview of Madden NFL Wii for you in the near future. Look for our review of the title around launch as well.

The demo for Madden NFL ’10 hit Xbox Live today, and unless you’re already 100% sold on this year’s rehash, at 1GB, it isn’t the lightest demo we’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely do-able, if you need for Madden fix.

From EA’s mouth: “Experience a night game, in heavy snow, with the Dallas Cowboys at the New York Giants. The full, four quarter demo includes new Madden NFL 10 features such as the Pro-Tak‚  technology and broadcast-style presentation.”

If you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber you can download the demo today, and if you pre-ordered at GameStop, your download code will work today for a different demo, one revisiting last year’s SuperBowl showdown pitting the Steelers against the Cardinals.

As is now standard, PlayStation 3 has been shown no love, and you guys, along with Xbox Live Silver participants can get your hands on the demo a week from today on July 30.

Start your download here (even if you’re at work or school!)

It’s finished! The code is done, and now all that needs to be done is to put it on a magical disc so you can take it home and play it on August 14. EA wants you to know, that not only is it finished, but a demo with four five-minute quarters between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, last year’s Super Bowl opponents, will be available on July 23 for those of you that preorder the title at Gamestop.

In case you haven’t heard, Madden NFL 10 on Wii this year is going to be a bit different. I know that normally that makes you think that something was taken away from the game, but EA has built this from the ground up for the system with a brand new and stylized art style. I’ve warmed up to it the more I look at it, as it isn’t cartoony, it’s just stylized. Realistic football with an arcade look to it is something I can get behind; check out the screens we’ve included for your viewing pleasure, and tell us what you think.

The addition of an online-franchise to Madden may be the biggest achievement of the series in a long time. You can check what is supposed to act like a legitimate season, complete with playoffs and a Super Bowl, at any time through a web browser (or an iPhone application, if you’ve got one of those). We’ve got a video for you to watch, so I’ll shut my yap and let you listen to the folks who made it.

Wii owners psyched for Madden NFL ’10, the latest in the famed series aren’t getting a sloppy port, rather a highly stylized visual experience.

Sure you’ve seen Peyton Manning and Larry Fitzgerald in their muscled and toned bodies, but have you seen them with oddly proportioned frames?‚  Check out our gallery at right for the cartoonish screens of‚  the mighty gridiron aficionados.

With PS3 and 360 versions of Madden ’10 creating eerily perfect body builds of the behemoths of men, this stylized Wii version is oddly alluring, could be just me though.‚  Have a look for yourself.

Madden NFL ’10 is due out on all systems August 14.