Becoming a complete field general with the Kinect in Madden NFL 13

 

Hello Madden NFL fans, I’m Steve Williams (Coach Ruckus) from the EA SPORTS Game Changers and Maddennews.com and I want to talk to you about how Kinect works with Madden 13. First of all, guys, if you're sitting down, stand up...and if you're standing up, sit down. It probably sounds like I'm a little mixed up and it's true...It's been a few days since E3 and I'm still shaking my head in shock from what I just saw. Since I've been back, I've been on the phone and chatting online nonstop telling everyone with a headset about the all new Kinect feature for Madden 13.

Have you ever wondered what the Madden experience would be like if you could be a true field general by using voice commands to tell your defenders what to do? Well I'm here to tell you that day has come with Madden 13. When I went behind closed doors at E3, I didn't know what to expect when meeting EA developer Victor Lugo. Victor is an avid gamer whose past experience with EA has included Game Play/AI designer for EA SPORTS MMA and New Technology Designer for EA SPORTS. What I heard him describe for Madden 13 hit me from left field Then I saw it...and I can assure you this will drastically change the way you play Madden Football online. EA has now integrated play calling with the Kinect.

Some of you are probably sitting there thinking – “Wow, another gimmick.” Not this time guys. Now you have the ability to control every aspect of your offense and defense with your voice. This, in my opinion, is the most phenomenal addition to Madden ever. Imagine how your Madden experience will change with this Kinect feature. The ability to use your voice coupled with the controller will excite even the hardcore sim players who in the past have complained they weren't given enough time to add those extra "wrinkles" to their defensive play when they go against guys who run hurry up offense.

Personally, my biggest frustration with Madden was always when playing defense on previous versions of Madden. It always seemed like you never had enough time to go to every player and give him an individual assignment, especially if you were playing a person who ran hurry up all game. But now with the Kinect all of that changes with a simple voice command. I wanted to mention that you can use the Kinect to call offensive plays as well but I think this new feature will affect the defensive side of the ball the most. Regardless, I have listed below some examples of ways to use the Kinect on either side of the ball:

Using the Kinect while playing Defense in Madden 13

I was immediately wowed by how seamless everything was in response to my voice! By using a player’s name or position he will instantly react to your voice commands. There are three ways to command the defense now with Madden 13. Using the joystick, calling the player by his name, or by calling the position. Playing defense will never be the same! While you use your voice for those added features, you can use the controller simultaneously to do the normal D-Line, LB, and DB shifts. The Kinect will give you an extra edge over the regular joystick user because it gives you the ability to quickly create new defenses, adjust faster to the hurry up offenses, and give users total control of the team before the ball is even snapped. Unsuspecting opponents will swear you're cheating because you can essentially erase your opponents best player play after play because the amount of defenses you can call are almost limitless. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Don't forget that when you're on defense you can still use the joystick like previous Madden games, but the Kinect really does add that little extra to feel just a little more like the real coaching experience. For instance you can come out in any formation and before the ball is snapped you can change the whole entire play. Every quick call selection has another subset of available options. Here are a few examples of defensive voice commands you can say with the Kinect;

You can say “Audible” to view the full list of possible Audible Commands. You can say “D-Line” to view the full list of possible D-Line Shift Commands. You can say “Linebackers” to view the full list of possible D-Line Shift Commands. You can say “Coverage” to view the full list of possible Coverage Audible Commands. You can say “Individual” when calling a Coverage Audible to apply a specific coverage to any receiver on the field. You can say “Hot Routes” to view a full list of possible Hot Route Commands. You can also instruct any defensive player to play Man coverage on a receiver by saying “Man” followed by the receivers.

Madden 13 is finally a defensive player's dream. You will no longer get caught on the wrong player because you were attempting to change his coverage. The defense has been upped tremendously by this unbelievable feature. I myself truly can't wait to see what nightmares I can create for opposing offenses.

Using the Kinect while playing Offense in Madden 13

How many times have you watched Peyton Manning walk up to the line and bark out line protections and routes and wished you could do it? Well now you can when you're on offense with the Kinect addition to Madden 13. Playing offense in the game is pretty much straight forward but amazing nonetheless. You can bark your audibles, protection and hot routes with ease. Just like the defense, you have three ways to call plays. The joystick, calling the players name, or the player's position. You no longer have to take a long time making changes, thus giving yourself away and allowing your opponent more time to counter. Let's not forget the playclock factor. Everyone knows that you only have 15-20 seconds to make changes after each play due to the accelerated clock. While that was difficult before, now your voice coupled with the controller will allow lightning fast changes before the snap. Here are a few examples of offensive voice commands you can say with the Kinect;

You can select any receiver on the field by saying their name or their position. After you have a player selected you can issue a Hot Route, Blocking Assignment or Motion him to the other side of the field. You can command the Offense to hurry up immediately after the play has ended by saying “Hurry up”. You can say “Audible” to view the full list of possible Audible Commands. You can also say any Audible in the Custom audible list by saying the name of the play. You can say “Line” to see a full list of possible Protection commands.

I can go on and on about this feature but I really just suggest that if you don't already have a Kinect, go get one. The Kinect feature will turn defensive heads into mad scientists who will constantly try to come up with new schemes and offensive heads into field surgeons who will carve up defenses with delicate but lethal precision. August 28th has been seared into my brain. One last thing. It's on!!!