As a team we all spent countless hours working with the community over the course of Madden NFL 10 through blogs, forums, Twitter, podcasts, interviews, radio shows, and many other avenues, so we look to continue that momentum this year and keep up the interaction with our fans for the coming year.

From the hiring of Mark Turmell (designer/creator of such massive hits as Smash TV, NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, etc) to the announcement of the fan-chosen cover athlete (via Doritos), there has been a decent amount of Madden-related news swirling around. Knowing this, we wanted to use this first blog as a way to communicate some information out to our fans to keep them in the loop with how things are shaping up for Madden NFL 11, and do so in video format so you don't have to read through 10 pages of information.

The video blog below features a few members of the team as well as some thoughts on Madden NFL 10, Madden NFL 11, and our pick for Super Bowl winners. There are plenty of other people out there that make this game great but these are some of the folks that you may be hearing from throughout the year.

Before you watch the video, I want to be very clear that our vision for the Madden NFL franchise hasn't changed. I know some folks expressed concern that the hiring of Mark Turmell equated to turning Madden NFL 11 into Madden NFL Blitz, but things couldn't be farther from the truth. We are all 100% focused on creating the most true-to life NFL simulation experience as possible - and that's always been the goal (a goal set forth by John Madden himself 20+ years ago). We set a clear vision statement last year and it still holds true for us - "Everything you see on Sundays, see it in Madden NFL". We want to accurately deliver an amazing NFL experience in our game, whether it's through simulating the feel of a broadcast, re-creating the immersion you feel sitting at the 50 yard line at your favorite team's stadium, or making you feel like you're suiting up and putting on your pads again. Madden NFL 10 took great strides in this area but we all know there is more to accomplish. Our best bet towards reaching those goals is staying the course and continuing on our progress that we made last cycle.

We really look forward to kicking up the interaction and information in the coming months. Thanks for reading (and watching), and feel free to hop on over to the official Madden forums to discuss anything related to this blog. Hope you enjoy the game!

- Ian Cummings
Creative Director, Madden NFL 11 (Xbox 360/PS3)

Year in and year out, we on the Madden team strive to deliver the most entertaining and authentic football experience a fan could hope for. Thanks to the online connectivity of the current consoles, we can take direct feedback from you all (the fans) and continue to improve the game after we ship it so you don't have to wait until next August.  This first Madden NFL 10 title update focused on improving online experiences as well as general gameplay tuning, additions, and improvements.

Downloading this update will fix a few random stability issues player's encountered in Online Franchise, address the false start grieving issue, and fix the video lag for players with latent network connections.  Players who have been uploading their highlights to share with the community will be happy to hear that the update will improve the quality of those videos.  Fans will be happy to hear that the "broadcast" camera angle was added to the game after a multiple year hiatus. Also of note, the Playoff and Super Bowl field conditions have been brought over into online franchise.  Finally, based on a ton of feedback, ranked games are now set to 7 minute quarters with accelerated clock turned on in order to get both teams a fair amount of possessions and more realistic stats.

We are also very excited about some of the gameplay fixes included in the update.  We did a good bit of tuning to broken tackles so that a big bull dozing back has a much better chance of running over a tiny defensive back, and smaller, weaker back has a much smaller chance of slipping away from 4 or 5 defenders.  The sliders for Break Tackle and Run Blocking are now more responsive, and you should also notice defenders benefiting from improved pursuit angles (especially on outside run plays). Fatigue will play much more of a factor affecting player ratings, adding even more strategy to managing your substitutions.  Special Teams got a little love too.  We fixed the incorrect spotting of punts out of bounds and adjusted the Run Blocking slider so that it doesn't affect your kick returns.  Holding calls on kicks have also been removed so that you don't end up having to kick 30 yard extra points or miss out on that game winning field goal.

We are fortunate to have such an extremely passionate (and vocal) fan base, and will continue to listen to your thoughts and suggestions as we continue to make Madden NFL 10 all it can be.  This first title update will NOT require you to restart your franchises in progress.

A complete list of the fixes for this first update (and current plans for the 2nd update) can be found on our new FAQ.

One of the biggest opportunities that the Madden NFL Hall of Fame committee had this weekend was to present Madden NFL 10 to the Madden NFL section of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For those of you who have never been to the Hall of Fame or for those who have not been there in awhile, here's an inside look:

It's been a busy weekend and the Madden NFL Hall of Fame committee has made the most of our time. The group including Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson is excited about the direction that we are sending the program in. The foundation has been set and we look forward to sharing all of the details with you soon. For all of the latest Madden NFL Hall of Fame information, click here.

Damon Peterson and I discuss John Madden and his impact on the game:

Damon and Shopmaster, two members of the Madden NFL Hall of Fame committee, discuss Ray Lewis and the overall impact of the Hit Stick on the Madden NFL series:

Raczilla and I discuss Tom Brady and his return to the Madden NFL series after missing most of the 2008 NFL season with a torn ACL:

Keep following us on Twitter as we continue to post updates and pictures throughout this Hall of Fame weekend.

When you think of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, one of the first images that come to mind is of each member's bust that forever recognizes them amongst the greatest in the history of the game. For those of you not familiar with what a bust is, you can view several pictures that I took of them from the HOF here. Until just a little while ago, I had no idea how a bust was created, but thanks to the guys at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, we now know.

What do you think of the process? Is there more to it then you imagined? We'd like to hear your thoughts! Don't forget to keep following us on Twitter as we continue to post updates and pictures throughout this Hall of Fame weekend.