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.

Hey Madden fans! It's been a little while since we dropped a post here on the blog, but we wanted to use this opportunity to answer a bunch of the most asked questions that have been showing up on forums, twitter, etc.

We thought we'd try something new though and do the FAQ in video form. It just made it more personal. :)

Some key points before you watch:

- The first title update was completed before the game shipped (in case you are wondering why certain issues didn't make it in)
- We're hard at work on the second title update, focusing primarily on various aspects of gameplay
- We're going to continue to make more of these FAQ videos.

Enjoy! If you have any questions of your own, please drop them here: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/forums/show/3724.page

UPDATE: Here's a transcription, thanks to bgdave39 on OperationSports:

1) What is the first title update?

• Added Super Bowl and Playoff Field conditions for Online Franchise
• Fixed False Start Grieving issues with Online games
• Fixed video player issue where video would hang on latent connections
• Improved uploaded highlight quality
• Switched ranked online games to 7 min Q's
• Fixed random stability issues
• Added Broadcast Cam!

Gameplay Specific fixes:

• Tuned slider effectiveness (Run blocking and broken tackles esp.)
• Changes run blocking slider to not effect special teams
• Made fatigue effect ratings more
• Fixed WR release to where receivers release to both sides
• Fixed incorrect spotting on punts out of bounds
• Reduced/removed holding on kicking plays
• Improved toe drag catch logic
• Improved pursuit angles for outside running plays
• Fixed defenders in pursuit running away from O-Line
• Better play recognition in man coverage
• Fixed double pass online exploit

2) When is the title update coming out?
It is up for approval from MS and Sony, expecting approval this week, and release next week but it's in the hands of third party at this point.

3) What is being done to stop the effectiveness of passes to the flats?
Hoping to adress this in second title update

4) What being done to improve blocking?
We are looking at this issue and hope to find some fixes for title update #2

5) What's being done to fix the replay cutoffs on highlights?
Will be fixed in title update #2.

6) What's being done to improve the accuracy of simulkated franchise stats?
Working to decrease QB yardage and increase RB TD's. Hoping to get this into title update #2.

7) Are there any plans to fix the effectiveness of the PA Qb draw?
We plan to release a video showing ways to contain this play. We don't feel like it's a money play and releasing a counter via video will go a long way towards containing it.

8) Any plans to change pursuit for cpu defenders?
Looking to address in 2nd title update

9) Pursuit for offensive players?
Next roster update will have increased pursuit angles for offensive players that should cut back on defensive TD's.

10) Any plans to get stadium specific sounds working correctly?
We are currently looking at this and hope to get the fix into the 2nd title update as well.

11) Are you working to adding more features to online franchise such as salary cap, contracts, etc?
Absolutely but it won't be soon due to the complexity of the matter.

12) Are their plans to add sliders for online games and online franchise?
Not for Madden 10, will be looking at adding it for Madden 11 though.

13) Any plans to add more auto replays?
Currently working on and trying to get in for 2nd title update

14) Why isn't the ability to choose what you want to challenge?
Priority for this is low since real NFL refs would look to correct more than just what was specifically challenged by the coach.

15) Why so many restriction on Wildcat formation?
We tried to limit exploits by limiting some of the things you are able to do in normal plays. No plans to unlock the formation fully for offline.

16) Why is it so hard to get sacks against the CPU?
Lame duck throws have drastically released sacks since the QB can throw out. We are looking at ways to increase sacks.

- Ian Cummings
Creative Director, Madden NFL 10

Congratulations to EA SPORTS Community Member Ninjames on winning the exclusive Nike shoes. We had a great time tonight competing and interacting with members of the community and we are looking forward to doing it again soon. For those of you who were not able to take part in tonights chat, you can view the entire chat archive here.

Now that everyone has their hands on Madden NFL 10, we thought it'd be a good time to set up a game with the devs night. For those of you not familiar with this type of event, you will have the opportunity to play a game of Madden NFL 10 with members of the dev team along with members of the EA SPORTS Community and Live Production teams.

The event will take place on Thursday, August 27, 2009 from 5-9pm EDT on the XBOX 360 and will feature several members of our team including:

- Ian Cummings (EASPORTS IanC)- Madden NFL 10 Creative Director

- Donny Moore (EASPORTS DonnyM) - Madden NFL 10 Ratings Guru

- Ryan Ferwerda (EASPORTS RyanF) - Madden NFL 10 Development Director

- Will Kinsler (Raczilla) - EA SPORTS Community Manager

- Justin Dewiel (Dewiel) - EA SPORTS Community Manager

- Eric Gray (Emantx) - EA SPORTS Broadcast Producer

- Rob Thompson (SAMamboking) - EA SPORTS Broadcast Host

- Jason Thompson (PrimetimeSA) -  EA SPORTS Broadcast Host

*Please note that each team member's gamertag is noted in parenthesis above. 

During the event, we will be holding a live chat where members of the EA SPORTS Community and Madden NFL 10 dev teams will be interacting with the community. For more details on the chat and to sign up for an email reminder, click here.

While we'd like to play a game against everyone, we realize that we are only going to play against some of you during the event so we are encouraging everyone to play games against each other and upload the highlights to www.easports.com for the rest of the community to see. We will be creating a thread in the Madden NFL forums around the event for everyone to interact as well. On our end, we plan on recording and posting a few of the games we play on the site along with a recap article so that everyone can take part in the event. This is your chance to be the first EA SPORTS Community member to beat an EA SPORTS employee in Madden NFL 10. Don't miss out!

That's not all! On Thursday, August 27, 2009 at 5pm EDT, we will open this thread up for player ratings discussion with Ratings Czar Donny Moore. We are looking for you to make ONE POST and one post only letting Donny know about the ONE PLAYER you feel should get a ratings increase in Madden NFL 10. Make sure you bring some facts to back up your argument, and keep it clean.

Did I mention that Donny is going to pick out the best post and the winner will get these shoes?

Good luck and make sure you are online and ready to go on Thursday August 27, 2009 at 5pm EDT. For those of you planning on participating, let us know and if you have any questions, feel free to post them in the Madden NFL forums or on www.easports.com.

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.