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Attention world, Madden NFL 2011 is out and it is abso-freakin-awesome. This has got to be the greatest Madden to date. The gameplay is so smooth, the players are so realistic and the gameplay is so entertaining.

The franchise has done away with play calling, a change that i love. The good people over at EA Sports have realized that gamers were spending the majority of their time selecting plays, limiting the amount of on field action. To fix this, they have done away with play calling. In its place is a new gameflow system where the computer automatically picks plays for you. The greatest part of this feature is that you can select certain plays for the computer to call for you in certain situations. Additionally, it is uber-easy to audible and make adjustments at the line of scrimmage.


Furthermore, the PS3 allows you to hook your Madden up to your bluetooth headset, which means you can hear the offensive and defensive cordinator chirping in your ear and calling out blitz packages.

Anywho, enough shameless plugging for EA, and more talk directed towards the 49ers.

After a weekend long binge on Madden, which has severley cut into my time spent writing on this blog, i have learned a few important things about the 49ers upcoming season. A lot of thought and accuracy was put into the game and it does a great job of replicating the real life action.

Here is what i learned from Madden:

1- Dont forget just how good Frank Gore is

There has been a lot of talks about Smith and Davis and Crabtree, but i feel like we can never talk to much about Frank Gore. The dudes a beast and it show in the game. Now that the 49ers finally have an adequate offensive line to run behind, it will mean a big season for Gore. The other underated skill of his that i rediscovered in Madden is his pass catching ability. He is very strong out in the flats and is shifty enough to get open in the middle of the field for dump passes.

2- Alex Smith is good, not great

I know i have harped on Alex Smith a lot on this blog, however i Madden reiterates my stance on Smith. In the game he is an adequate yet not spectacular QB. He can make almost all the throws when there is not much pressure, not highly accurate, but he can get there nonetheless. I will throw one thing out there, in Smith's defense; We may have forgoteen about his running abililty. The dude is a legitamite threat with his legs, as i was able to pick up numerous third and shorts with Davis stretching the defense and Smith scrambling out of the pocket for short yardage.

3- The linebacking core needs to stay healthy

In the second game i played Takeo Spikes when down with an injury in the first quarter and it killed me. Scott McKillop was his replacement and the dude could not hang. What makes things worse is Scott McKillop is currently on IR with the club, meaning i have no idea who the actual backup will be this year. Willis, Spikes, Harylson, Lawson need to stay healthy for this team to make it to the playoffs, especially considering that backups ahmad Brooks and Mckillop are already dealing with injury issues.

4- I dont care what you say about Taylor Mays, dude is a beast!

Taylor Mays is a beast in Madden. The guy is so big, so fast and he can absolutley light people up. Yes his awareness is very low in the game, and he is often out of postion, but i dont care, he is like another linebacker out there, only in the backfield. He is going to make an impact on this team one way or another and its going to be a positive one.

Thats it for now. Possibly more updates in the future. For now i gotta find more places to bum a game of madden or pony up and buy a PS3 for myself