In the next season of Madden, Electronic Arts promises surprises that will substantially improve the American football experience. The first step, announcing retired Brett Favre as cover athlete of Madden NFL 09 (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PSP, Nintendo Wii, DS), was already taken. Now, a couple of designers talk about the most interesting features this year.

First up, the sought after Online League will finally be introduced in Madden NFL 09. Up to 32 players can choose teams then go online and endure an entire season. It may sound difficult to put together, but Ryan Ferwerda and Daniel Castorani from the Madden Design Team explained how to orchestrate these dream leagues.

Devs stated that AI won't be employed to replace actual players. Online League was intended to offer one-on-one experiences, so it's only possible to begin a league other humans. To make sure you won't be stuck staring at the online lobby when looking for matches for too long, there's the Flex system.

Here's how Ferwerda and Castorani explained Flex:

Flex scheduling is cool for a multitude of reasons. First off, flex scheduling is what we refer to as an 'open schedule' with no set order. What this means is that if you log online and ten members of your twenty member league are online, you can play any of your opponents that you have remaining games with.

The nice thing about this is that it doesn't allow for leagues to get stale or held up waiting for others to play. If the stars align, and you have all of your opponents online, you can, in theory, knock out your entire league in one day.

The next big addition is the Virtual Training Center. For newcomers, it holds drills and other training exercises. Madden NFL 09 devs did clarify, however, that the hardcore can enjoy this facet with the inclusion of Hard difficulty. "I definitely don't think anyone will be complaining about the Hard levels being too easy," said one of the devs.

Not overwhelming enough? EA also unleashed the first gameplay video of Madden NFL 09, and you can find it below. You'll find the interview by following the via link.

 

Buy: [ Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360), (PlayStation 3), (Wii) ]
Buy: [ Madden NFL 09 (PSP), (DS) ]