28th April 2006, 9:51 PM
yes... no one said it was real, it's just fun to look at and imagine what Nintendo and other companies are going to do with it.
get ready for the confirmation:
Blowout Madden Wii Interview
EA's senior VP and group studio general manager gives us the full scoop on its revolutionary new football game. Do not miss this interview.
by Matt Casamassina
April 28, 2006 - IGN Wii recently had the chance to talk with EA Canada's senior vice president and group studio general manager, John Schappert, about the company's upcoming version of Madden developed specifically for Nintendo's Wii. Schappert is a self-admitted Nintendo fanboy who commands a lot of respect. After all, he co-founded Tiburon, the developer responsible for EA's Madden franchise. Now Schappert heads up several major studios, including a dedicated group at EA Canada that is devoted to Wii development. We asked Schappert about Madden for Wii, as well as his thoughts on the machine as a whole, in the must-read interview below.
IGN Wii: Fantastic Madden news. We're excited. Now, what is the official name of the game?
John Schappert: To be determined. We all just learned the official name of the Revolution. You know, it's funny, but I think we're still in the process of naming the game.
IGN Wii: Yeah, Wii is certainly a unique console name.
John Schappert: You know, what else would we expect from Nintendo? I mean, it's different. You expect them to do the unexpected. Sure enough, they surprise us with a unique controller and they surprise us with a unique name. They're just a different company and they do certainly breed innovation there.
IGN Wii: Exactly. We're honestly very, very excited about the console and its showing at E3 2006.
John Schappert: Are you? Are you a Nintendo fanboy?
IGN Wii: Yes, indeed.
John Schappert: I'm a Nintendo fanboy, too.
IGN Wii: Fantastic. Well, tell us about the team creating the Wii version of Madden. Also, why isn't traditional developer Tiburon handling the project?
ohn Schappert: The approach we took was this. When we saw Wii for the first time, it was so different and so unique that we thought about how best to handle that. When we first saw the console and saw how unique the pointing device was, we thought about how best to approach the machine. We wanted a team dedicated just to maximizing the u uniqueness and the innovation of the machine and we wanted it to focus just on making Wii software.
The cool thing is, we looked at the franchises we have and the ideas we have for making games and we started focusing on what was unique about the machine, which is the controller, and how these games - specifically Madden - could be revolutionary and stand out. It's great to have one center of excellence, if you will, to make these games. All of the great ideas and learning they get from one game automatically cascades to the other game. All the focus group testing we're getting and the gesture code work we're doing on Madden right now, and the interpretation code - all of that stuff benefits every one of our Wii titles.
IGN Wii: Now when you talk about the Wii team, are you referring to a group of teams at EA Canada?
John Schappert: It's correct to call it a group of teams. Normally, when you think of a franchise at EA, it's a group of teams that work on different platforms, if you will. What's different about this group is that it's a group of teams - collectively a larger group - that works on a single platform, which is Wii. They're working on very disparate titles - Madden being one and there are some others in development - that are, you know, aligned because of the console that they are on.
IGN Wii: How big is this group?
John Schappert: Well, we're really not talking numbers, but it's a good sized group.
IGN Wii: So it's already working on multiple Wii projects?
John Schappert: Yes.
IGN: What'll you have at E3 2006?
John Schappert: Oh, we're showing Madden for Wii. We're pioneering with that because it's always best to have a flagship title and Madden is our flagship title. You know, working through the intricacies of learning the control and everything. So it was appropriate that this be the first title we show as well.
IGN: When did EA get Wii development hardware and how long have you been working on Madden for the system?
John Schappert: We don't talk specifics on when we receive hardware, but I can say that we've been working with the controller… Nintendo announced that controller last year, didn't it?
IGN Wii: Yes.
John Schappert: We've been working with the controller since last year [laughs].
IGN Wii: Okay, sounds great. Let's get into the guts of the game. How will Madden on Wii be different from the other versions for separate platforms?
John Schappert: Well first, it's a separate code base altogether. The great thing is that we have a long-standing heritage of excellent Madden games. We've got great Madden code that plays a great game of football and has a lot of depth. So we can take from that and make sure we're not spending our time saying, "Hey, let's make sure defense is great." We've got a lot to rely on. So our focus has been, how do we make this unique for Wii? How is this game going to be seen as innovative and, if you will, a Wii original? That's what we focused on.
When you first play it, it's completely different. When you go to hike the ball, for instance, as opposed to pressing a button you simply jerk the controller up. Boom, you snap the ball. When you want to pass the ball, you gesture a throwing motion while holding the button down to the intended receiver. When you want to stiff-arm left or right, you juke with the nunchuck controller literally. When you want to kick, you gesture the kick motion.
It's not like we said, "Oh, here's a different controller, how can we kind of finagle Madden on it?" It was, "Hey, here's a completely unique controller that we've never seen before. What's the best way to play Madden on this machine?"
IGN Wii: So you're using the free-hand style pointer. How are you using the nunchuck unit?
John Schappert: Well, it controls how you move your player.
IGN Wii: Does you use the trigger buttons on the nunchuck unit?
John Schappert: You know, the buttons are all still being mapped out. It does use the trigger buttons right now. I don't know how much we'll have locked in for you at E3 because we are still working on the final button layout, but it does use the trigger buttons, and it does use the accelerometer in the nunchuck unit as well for juking.
(I dunno what juking means, but Nintendorks was riight!!!!!)
2 entries found for juking.
juke1 also jook P Pronunciation Key (jk, jk) Southeastern U.S.
n.
A roadside or rural establishment offering liquor, dancing, and often gambling and prostitution. Also called juke house, juke joint.
intr.v. juked, also jooked juk·ing, jook·ing jukes, jooks
To play dance music, especially in a juke.
To dance, especially in a juke or to the music of a jukebox.
[Probably from Gullah juke, joog, disorderly, wicked, of West African origin; akin to Wolof dzug, to live wickedly, and Bambara dzugu, wicked.]
Regional Note: Gullah, the English-based Creole language spoken by people of African ancestry off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, retains a number of words from the West African languages brought over by slaves. One such word is juke, “bad, wicked, disorderly,” the probable source of the English word juke. Used originally in Florida and then chiefly in the Southeastern states, juke (also appearing in the compound juke joint) was an African-American word meaning a roadside drinking establishment that offers cheap drinks, food, and music for dancing and often doubles as a brothel. “To juke” is to dance, particularly at a juke joint or to the music of a jukebox whose name, no longer regional and having lost the connotation of sleaziness, contains the same word.
juke2 P Pronunciation Key (jk) Football
v. juked, juk·ing, jukes
v. tr.
To deceive or outmaneuver (a defending opponent) by a feint; fake.
v. intr.
To deceive or outmaneuver a defender by a feint.
n.
A feint or fake.
...LMAO wtf? I bet it means 'jerking' YES! Jerking your Wiimote! Jerk your Wii HARD!
IGN Wii: Perfect. Could you just for clarification purposes give us an idea of how a typical play might work using the controllers?
John Schappert: So, you take the controller, jerk it up to snap. Quarterback now has the ball. Your passing icons are now up. Take the wand controller and you'll see that the four directions on its D-Pad represent four of your receivers; the A button is your fifth receiver. Point to one of those receivers that you want to receive the ball and with your hand gesture a throwing motion to pass. Now, the harder you throw, the more that's going to be a bullet pass. The softer and the more you lob a throw, the more that it's going to be a lob. When you receive the ball, you run with the analog stick on the nunchuck and if you want to juke, you use the nunchuck to gesture it. And if you want to stiff-arm, you use the wand.
IGN Wii: Are you going to be using any force-feedback when you're throwing the ball or when you're getting hit, or anything like that?
John Schappert: Yes, we are. I think it's a little early to talk about how. Right now, these are the core mechanics that we've been working on getting them right. And I think you'll see further refinement there, but I think we're pretty happy with how Madden will be experienced on Wii. <--- OH WHAT THE FUCK SAYS I, TOO EARLY TO TALK ABOUT NOW!!!?!?!?! TIS NOT SIMPLE RUMBLE PEOPLE! GET READY!!!! OH GOD ITS GOING TO ROCK!!!!!!
IGN Wii: Some of the Wii games we've seen can be overly sensitive. Do you, as a developer, have the option to set sensitivity? For instance, can you set sensitivity so that players need to make wide, arching gestures to effect on-screen movements? And alternatively, can you set everything so that minimal movement is needed to play titles?
John Schappert: You know, that's up to the programmers. What you're speaking to directly is all of the iteration time that will make Wii games great. That's what we've been spending time on. We've had these motions in the game since early January. You'd pick it up and it wasn't always as receptive as it should be because our algorithms for interpreting the gestures weren't always right. You'd go to juke right and it'd juke left sometimes. That's the stuff that sounds intuitive when I tell you how to play it. It's actually really hard to get that stuff working right. When I picked it up and I throw the ball, it has to interpret that I'm throwing the ball correctly and it may have to interpret that I throw it differently from the way you throw it. That kind of stuff sounds easy, but it's a lot of work to make sure you get it perfect. That's what we've been working on and that's what we're proud of. I think at E3, hopefully, you'll pick it up and you'll say, "Hey, that's pretty cool - it did what I thought it would." Which means that there's a lot of work under the hood to make it do that.
IGN Wii: Are there any instances in the game where you'll need to turn the free-hand style controller on its side? We've heard of other titles doing this.
John Schappert: Right now, we don't have anything like that in the game. Right now we're using it as Nintendo has shown it in all of their demos. Like a wand and a nunchuck, if you will.
IGN Wii: The Wii's controller lends itself to the ability to design and literally draw your own plays in Madden's playbook. Will the title feature this potentially awesome option?
John Schappert: You know, there is a lot of stuff that we're not yet unveiling. I think you're going to get a great glimpse of how Madden is going to play on Wii at E3 2006. But there is so much, like you're alluding to, that we can do with this wand - stuff that wouldn't be easy to do without the controller. All that stuff is right there and we're looking at it and saying, "What can we get done? What's going to be great and let's make sure everything we do will be great." We've got a lot of stuff that we're chewing on and we're not really telling everyone what we're doing just yet, but there are a lot of good ideas and that's certainly one of them.
IGN Wii: Obviously, Wii is not going to have the graphic horsepower of competing next generation consoles. Some developers have called it a "GameCube 1.5" Would you agree with that estimate and how are you maximizing on the graphic capabilities of the machine?
John Schappert: I don't think I would agree with the GameCube 1.5 estimate. I would say that I think the Wii should be evaluated by itself. I think it's a unique device and I think what makes it unique is the controller. As for graphics, we'll be showing Madden in 480p and 16x9 widescreen mode running at 60 frames per second. I think it looks great. I think it looks really good. It's also kind of hard for me to judge any of these machines before they're final. We get updates to all kinds of hardware quite often as the stuff is being revved and it's always getting better. I can tell you that we had a couple of guys from Tiburon come by and they hadn't gotten hands-on with the controller, aside from some demos. They thought Madden for Wii looked stunning and played great. So my answer is that it's a unique system and we're going to maximize our power for it. I think the games are going to look really good.
IGN Wii: You mentioned that Madden runs in progressive-scan and widescreen modes. Is this something you've been encouraged to do by Nintendo or are these visual options you have pursued on your own?
John Schappert: I won't say that Nintendo so much encourages us. Any help we ask for it certainly gives us. That's just something we're doing. It'll still play in 4x3, if you've got a 4x3 television running 480i. But we think 480p and 16x9 will give it the best showing - to see it in widescreen so you can see your five receivers and to see it in 480p.
IGN Wii: When you talk about the engine for Madden Wii, was it developed specifically for Nintendo's system or is it going to be a port of another engine from, say, the Xbox version, with added functionality?
John Schappert: The port word scares me because that's what I'm trying to avoid at all costs. So we're not trying to do is just take a game and getting running on Wii and then just ship it. At the same, what I don't want to do is having us re-inventing football artificial intelligence. We have great AI. We've got brilliant engineers in Florida that continue to refine football AI and physics, so we will continue to harvest that, as we should. The team's focus in this case is, "How are we making this game, which is football, unique for Wii?" That's what all of the focus is on. You alluded to unique features that could be part of the Wii version and there's already unique control. So that's what this team is doing.
No, I don't consider it a port. Publishers who take the port strategy - the "Hey, here's a game. Get it compiling there. Figure out a way to get the controller working." - I don't think people are going to be happy with the results. I can tell you that you can probably get quick results doing that, but to truly make a native Wii game that uses the wand effectively takes an awful lot of time and planning. You know what? You kind of have to rip the games apart and re-do them from a control standpoint, if you will, to make that happen.
IGN Wii: Do you have an online mode planned for the Wii version of Madden?
John Schappert: You know, we've got lots of great online experience and Wii has Wi-Fi built in, so we are certainly planning for online.
IGN Wii: Is this going to be a Wii launch title later this year?
John Schappert: That is our goal.
IGN Wii: Oh, outstanding. We're really glad to hear that. Madden will make an amazing launch game. Now, let's switch focus a little it and speak a bit more broadly about EA's Wii plans. What do you think about the potential of the console to handle first-person shooters and action games?
John Schappert: I think those are some interesting, interesting questions, aren't they? Our approach when looking at the games we want to make for Wii is, first and foremost, will it make a great game on that platform? Taking into account the controller and how unique it is. Interesting enough, I think some games could be perfect for Wii and might offer the best control of any platform. That's the filter we're using and I think it's certainly got some interesting applications for a first-person shooter. That seems like a very nice path to follow.
IGN Wii: EA's got some big first-person shooter franchises.
John Schappert: Yeah, we do, and we're certainly looking at that. But what you're going to find is that the games we're going to make for it we want to make native for Wii. We want people to say, "Hey, maybe I've played a football game before, but this feels like a Wii original."
IGN Wii: Any final words for Wii fans looking forward to E3?
John Schappert: I hope people are happy with what they see at E3 and I'm hope that when you see our game it becomes one of the must-have pieces of software when you have the Wii this fall.
---
I'm just gonna say it, i'm going to have a heart attack and die when E3 hits and Nintendo unveils this thing. ryan you can have all my shoes, stay away from my wife. DJ, you get my library of personal notes on the world, grumbler you can have all my fisting porn, Eden gets the spitoon, N-Man i want you to make sure i'm cremated and then put me in an iced tea and drink me, together we will destroy the asian canadians. ABF you're already borrowing my die-cast chrome vac-u-lock strap on so just take care of it. new guy, you get the benefit of not feeling my penis inside you (unless I add you to messenger before E3 which is still a possibility, in which case you get nothing). Am i ready for E3?
Wii
get ready for the confirmation:
Blowout Madden Wii Interview
EA's senior VP and group studio general manager gives us the full scoop on its revolutionary new football game. Do not miss this interview.
by Matt Casamassina
April 28, 2006 - IGN Wii recently had the chance to talk with EA Canada's senior vice president and group studio general manager, John Schappert, about the company's upcoming version of Madden developed specifically for Nintendo's Wii. Schappert is a self-admitted Nintendo fanboy who commands a lot of respect. After all, he co-founded Tiburon, the developer responsible for EA's Madden franchise. Now Schappert heads up several major studios, including a dedicated group at EA Canada that is devoted to Wii development. We asked Schappert about Madden for Wii, as well as his thoughts on the machine as a whole, in the must-read interview below.
IGN Wii: Fantastic Madden news. We're excited. Now, what is the official name of the game?
John Schappert: To be determined. We all just learned the official name of the Revolution. You know, it's funny, but I think we're still in the process of naming the game.
IGN Wii: Yeah, Wii is certainly a unique console name.
John Schappert: You know, what else would we expect from Nintendo? I mean, it's different. You expect them to do the unexpected. Sure enough, they surprise us with a unique controller and they surprise us with a unique name. They're just a different company and they do certainly breed innovation there.
IGN Wii: Exactly. We're honestly very, very excited about the console and its showing at E3 2006.
John Schappert: Are you? Are you a Nintendo fanboy?
IGN Wii: Yes, indeed.
John Schappert: I'm a Nintendo fanboy, too.
IGN Wii: Fantastic. Well, tell us about the team creating the Wii version of Madden. Also, why isn't traditional developer Tiburon handling the project?
ohn Schappert: The approach we took was this. When we saw Wii for the first time, it was so different and so unique that we thought about how best to handle that. When we first saw the console and saw how unique the pointing device was, we thought about how best to approach the machine. We wanted a team dedicated just to maximizing the u uniqueness and the innovation of the machine and we wanted it to focus just on making Wii software.
The cool thing is, we looked at the franchises we have and the ideas we have for making games and we started focusing on what was unique about the machine, which is the controller, and how these games - specifically Madden - could be revolutionary and stand out. It's great to have one center of excellence, if you will, to make these games. All of the great ideas and learning they get from one game automatically cascades to the other game. All the focus group testing we're getting and the gesture code work we're doing on Madden right now, and the interpretation code - all of that stuff benefits every one of our Wii titles.
IGN Wii: Now when you talk about the Wii team, are you referring to a group of teams at EA Canada?
John Schappert: It's correct to call it a group of teams. Normally, when you think of a franchise at EA, it's a group of teams that work on different platforms, if you will. What's different about this group is that it's a group of teams - collectively a larger group - that works on a single platform, which is Wii. They're working on very disparate titles - Madden being one and there are some others in development - that are, you know, aligned because of the console that they are on.
IGN Wii: How big is this group?
John Schappert: Well, we're really not talking numbers, but it's a good sized group.
IGN Wii: So it's already working on multiple Wii projects?
John Schappert: Yes.
IGN: What'll you have at E3 2006?
John Schappert: Oh, we're showing Madden for Wii. We're pioneering with that because it's always best to have a flagship title and Madden is our flagship title. You know, working through the intricacies of learning the control and everything. So it was appropriate that this be the first title we show as well.
IGN: When did EA get Wii development hardware and how long have you been working on Madden for the system?
John Schappert: We don't talk specifics on when we receive hardware, but I can say that we've been working with the controller… Nintendo announced that controller last year, didn't it?
IGN Wii: Yes.
John Schappert: We've been working with the controller since last year [laughs].
IGN Wii: Okay, sounds great. Let's get into the guts of the game. How will Madden on Wii be different from the other versions for separate platforms?
John Schappert: Well first, it's a separate code base altogether. The great thing is that we have a long-standing heritage of excellent Madden games. We've got great Madden code that plays a great game of football and has a lot of depth. So we can take from that and make sure we're not spending our time saying, "Hey, let's make sure defense is great." We've got a lot to rely on. So our focus has been, how do we make this unique for Wii? How is this game going to be seen as innovative and, if you will, a Wii original? That's what we focused on.
When you first play it, it's completely different. When you go to hike the ball, for instance, as opposed to pressing a button you simply jerk the controller up. Boom, you snap the ball. When you want to pass the ball, you gesture a throwing motion while holding the button down to the intended receiver. When you want to stiff-arm left or right, you juke with the nunchuck controller literally. When you want to kick, you gesture the kick motion.
It's not like we said, "Oh, here's a different controller, how can we kind of finagle Madden on it?" It was, "Hey, here's a completely unique controller that we've never seen before. What's the best way to play Madden on this machine?"
IGN Wii: So you're using the free-hand style pointer. How are you using the nunchuck unit?
John Schappert: Well, it controls how you move your player.
IGN Wii: Does you use the trigger buttons on the nunchuck unit?
John Schappert: You know, the buttons are all still being mapped out. It does use the trigger buttons right now. I don't know how much we'll have locked in for you at E3 because we are still working on the final button layout, but it does use the trigger buttons, and it does use the accelerometer in the nunchuck unit as well for juking.
(I dunno what juking means, but Nintendorks was riight!!!!!)
2 entries found for juking.
juke1 also jook P Pronunciation Key (jk, jk) Southeastern U.S.
n.
A roadside or rural establishment offering liquor, dancing, and often gambling and prostitution. Also called juke house, juke joint.
intr.v. juked, also jooked juk·ing, jook·ing jukes, jooks
To play dance music, especially in a juke.
To dance, especially in a juke or to the music of a jukebox.
[Probably from Gullah juke, joog, disorderly, wicked, of West African origin; akin to Wolof dzug, to live wickedly, and Bambara dzugu, wicked.]
Regional Note: Gullah, the English-based Creole language spoken by people of African ancestry off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, retains a number of words from the West African languages brought over by slaves. One such word is juke, “bad, wicked, disorderly,” the probable source of the English word juke. Used originally in Florida and then chiefly in the Southeastern states, juke (also appearing in the compound juke joint) was an African-American word meaning a roadside drinking establishment that offers cheap drinks, food, and music for dancing and often doubles as a brothel. “To juke” is to dance, particularly at a juke joint or to the music of a jukebox whose name, no longer regional and having lost the connotation of sleaziness, contains the same word.
juke2 P Pronunciation Key (jk) Football
v. juked, juk·ing, jukes
v. tr.
To deceive or outmaneuver (a defending opponent) by a feint; fake.
v. intr.
To deceive or outmaneuver a defender by a feint.
n.
A feint or fake.
...LMAO wtf? I bet it means 'jerking' YES! Jerking your Wiimote! Jerk your Wii HARD!
IGN Wii: Perfect. Could you just for clarification purposes give us an idea of how a typical play might work using the controllers?
John Schappert: So, you take the controller, jerk it up to snap. Quarterback now has the ball. Your passing icons are now up. Take the wand controller and you'll see that the four directions on its D-Pad represent four of your receivers; the A button is your fifth receiver. Point to one of those receivers that you want to receive the ball and with your hand gesture a throwing motion to pass. Now, the harder you throw, the more that's going to be a bullet pass. The softer and the more you lob a throw, the more that it's going to be a lob. When you receive the ball, you run with the analog stick on the nunchuck and if you want to juke, you use the nunchuck to gesture it. And if you want to stiff-arm, you use the wand.
IGN Wii: Are you going to be using any force-feedback when you're throwing the ball or when you're getting hit, or anything like that?
John Schappert: Yes, we are. I think it's a little early to talk about how. Right now, these are the core mechanics that we've been working on getting them right. And I think you'll see further refinement there, but I think we're pretty happy with how Madden will be experienced on Wii. <--- OH WHAT THE FUCK SAYS I, TOO EARLY TO TALK ABOUT NOW!!!?!?!?! TIS NOT SIMPLE RUMBLE PEOPLE! GET READY!!!! OH GOD ITS GOING TO ROCK!!!!!!
IGN Wii: Some of the Wii games we've seen can be overly sensitive. Do you, as a developer, have the option to set sensitivity? For instance, can you set sensitivity so that players need to make wide, arching gestures to effect on-screen movements? And alternatively, can you set everything so that minimal movement is needed to play titles?
John Schappert: You know, that's up to the programmers. What you're speaking to directly is all of the iteration time that will make Wii games great. That's what we've been spending time on. We've had these motions in the game since early January. You'd pick it up and it wasn't always as receptive as it should be because our algorithms for interpreting the gestures weren't always right. You'd go to juke right and it'd juke left sometimes. That's the stuff that sounds intuitive when I tell you how to play it. It's actually really hard to get that stuff working right. When I picked it up and I throw the ball, it has to interpret that I'm throwing the ball correctly and it may have to interpret that I throw it differently from the way you throw it. That kind of stuff sounds easy, but it's a lot of work to make sure you get it perfect. That's what we've been working on and that's what we're proud of. I think at E3, hopefully, you'll pick it up and you'll say, "Hey, that's pretty cool - it did what I thought it would." Which means that there's a lot of work under the hood to make it do that.
IGN Wii: Are there any instances in the game where you'll need to turn the free-hand style controller on its side? We've heard of other titles doing this.
John Schappert: Right now, we don't have anything like that in the game. Right now we're using it as Nintendo has shown it in all of their demos. Like a wand and a nunchuck, if you will.
IGN Wii: The Wii's controller lends itself to the ability to design and literally draw your own plays in Madden's playbook. Will the title feature this potentially awesome option?
John Schappert: You know, there is a lot of stuff that we're not yet unveiling. I think you're going to get a great glimpse of how Madden is going to play on Wii at E3 2006. But there is so much, like you're alluding to, that we can do with this wand - stuff that wouldn't be easy to do without the controller. All that stuff is right there and we're looking at it and saying, "What can we get done? What's going to be great and let's make sure everything we do will be great." We've got a lot of stuff that we're chewing on and we're not really telling everyone what we're doing just yet, but there are a lot of good ideas and that's certainly one of them.
IGN Wii: Obviously, Wii is not going to have the graphic horsepower of competing next generation consoles. Some developers have called it a "GameCube 1.5" Would you agree with that estimate and how are you maximizing on the graphic capabilities of the machine?
John Schappert: I don't think I would agree with the GameCube 1.5 estimate. I would say that I think the Wii should be evaluated by itself. I think it's a unique device and I think what makes it unique is the controller. As for graphics, we'll be showing Madden in 480p and 16x9 widescreen mode running at 60 frames per second. I think it looks great. I think it looks really good. It's also kind of hard for me to judge any of these machines before they're final. We get updates to all kinds of hardware quite often as the stuff is being revved and it's always getting better. I can tell you that we had a couple of guys from Tiburon come by and they hadn't gotten hands-on with the controller, aside from some demos. They thought Madden for Wii looked stunning and played great. So my answer is that it's a unique system and we're going to maximize our power for it. I think the games are going to look really good.
IGN Wii: You mentioned that Madden runs in progressive-scan and widescreen modes. Is this something you've been encouraged to do by Nintendo or are these visual options you have pursued on your own?
John Schappert: I won't say that Nintendo so much encourages us. Any help we ask for it certainly gives us. That's just something we're doing. It'll still play in 4x3, if you've got a 4x3 television running 480i. But we think 480p and 16x9 will give it the best showing - to see it in widescreen so you can see your five receivers and to see it in 480p.
IGN Wii: When you talk about the engine for Madden Wii, was it developed specifically for Nintendo's system or is it going to be a port of another engine from, say, the Xbox version, with added functionality?
John Schappert: The port word scares me because that's what I'm trying to avoid at all costs. So we're not trying to do is just take a game and getting running on Wii and then just ship it. At the same, what I don't want to do is having us re-inventing football artificial intelligence. We have great AI. We've got brilliant engineers in Florida that continue to refine football AI and physics, so we will continue to harvest that, as we should. The team's focus in this case is, "How are we making this game, which is football, unique for Wii?" That's what all of the focus is on. You alluded to unique features that could be part of the Wii version and there's already unique control. So that's what this team is doing.
No, I don't consider it a port. Publishers who take the port strategy - the "Hey, here's a game. Get it compiling there. Figure out a way to get the controller working." - I don't think people are going to be happy with the results. I can tell you that you can probably get quick results doing that, but to truly make a native Wii game that uses the wand effectively takes an awful lot of time and planning. You know what? You kind of have to rip the games apart and re-do them from a control standpoint, if you will, to make that happen.
IGN Wii: Do you have an online mode planned for the Wii version of Madden?
John Schappert: You know, we've got lots of great online experience and Wii has Wi-Fi built in, so we are certainly planning for online.
IGN Wii: Is this going to be a Wii launch title later this year?
John Schappert: That is our goal.
IGN Wii: Oh, outstanding. We're really glad to hear that. Madden will make an amazing launch game. Now, let's switch focus a little it and speak a bit more broadly about EA's Wii plans. What do you think about the potential of the console to handle first-person shooters and action games?
John Schappert: I think those are some interesting, interesting questions, aren't they? Our approach when looking at the games we want to make for Wii is, first and foremost, will it make a great game on that platform? Taking into account the controller and how unique it is. Interesting enough, I think some games could be perfect for Wii and might offer the best control of any platform. That's the filter we're using and I think it's certainly got some interesting applications for a first-person shooter. That seems like a very nice path to follow.
IGN Wii: EA's got some big first-person shooter franchises.
John Schappert: Yeah, we do, and we're certainly looking at that. But what you're going to find is that the games we're going to make for it we want to make native for Wii. We want people to say, "Hey, maybe I've played a football game before, but this feels like a Wii original."
IGN Wii: Any final words for Wii fans looking forward to E3?
John Schappert: I hope people are happy with what they see at E3 and I'm hope that when you see our game it becomes one of the must-have pieces of software when you have the Wii this fall.
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I'm just gonna say it, i'm going to have a heart attack and die when E3 hits and Nintendo unveils this thing. ryan you can have all my shoes, stay away from my wife. DJ, you get my library of personal notes on the world, grumbler you can have all my fisting porn, Eden gets the spitoon, N-Man i want you to make sure i'm cremated and then put me in an iced tea and drink me, together we will destroy the asian canadians. ABF you're already borrowing my die-cast chrome vac-u-lock strap on so just take care of it. new guy, you get the benefit of not feeling my penis inside you (unless I add you to messenger before E3 which is still a possibility, in which case you get nothing). Am i ready for E3?
Wii