The best Madden 25 players have all sorts of tips, strategies, and defenses that they use in order to succeed.  Here are a few improvements made to this year’s Madden game and how to use them to your advantage.

• The New Run Free Feature – In the past, football video games have been all about passing the ball 50 yards downfield at a time and hoping for touchdowns.  With the introduction of “Run Free” to Madden 25, those days are behind us.  There are all sorts of new juke moves, spin moves, and other combinations you will want to learn before you head into a tournament.  He running game will be more important than ever.  Don’t believe me? Just look at the cover art.  Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is on the PlayStation 4 and XBOX One cover while former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders is on the PS3 and XBOX 360 cover.  EA Sports is signaling a clear change.  If you don’t know how to run the football this year, you will be in trouble.

• The Improved Infinity 2.0 Engine – Essentially “Run Free” takes advantage of the infinity 2.0 engine for running backs, but it has a similar effect on defense.  The hit stick is back and better than ever this year.  Even with the hit stick, you won’t be able to stop a good offense in Madden 25 without a little help. The community at Madden School helps with gameplay tips on how to be effective on both offense and defense.  Once you learn a few of the secrets, the game will become easy for you.

• Purple Zones have been fixed – In Madden 13, it was very hard to run a zone defense because of how ineffective the purple zones were.  The defenders would leave their area and cover any route in the flat before covering the route deeper.  This was obviously a mistake and it has been corrected for Madden 25.  The best way you can use this to your advantage is to use purple zones this year.  They are so much more effective than the light blue zones and should be used as often as possible.

• Minor gameplay improvements – As with any new game, Madden 25 will have lots of little tweaks that will take some getting used to.  These never make any headlines and don’t get mentioned in the media, but they are nonetheless important.  It is the little things that determine champions in sports and the same concept holds true for sports video games.  Master the little details early on, and you will have plenty of success.

Do let us know your own thoughts about the new Madden title and how you feel the improvements will affect actual gameplay in the comments below.

“The great news for me is that EA SPORTS is 100% committed to rebuilding NBA LIVE. There is an enormous financial commitment to the development of the product on Xbox One and PS4, including the size of the team and resources required to give us every opportunity to make a great basketball game that can compete with such a solid franchise like NBA 2K.”

Their most recently released game NBA 2K13 was so successful that it became a record for the franchise NBA 2K.

O’Brien states, “My first priority was to focus on core gameplay. We needed to capture the essence of half-court basketball, providing 1-on-1 isolation both in the perimeter and the post, the 2-on-2 chess match that is the pick and roll, while still offering the gamer the opportunity to push the basketball in transition and have the control required to get the ball into the lane to either take the ball to the rim or find an open teammate if the defense collapses,”

He explains how the upcoming title will be more recent and connected to real life, “I’m also really proud of our partnership with Synergy Sports Technologies. I want to remove subjectivity from how we rate players and have that data provided by Synergy Sports to completely drive how the game plays. I’m really excited about being able to update our game within an hour of something happening in the NBA. We’re going to be making an enormous investment into this connected experience. “

NBA Live 14 should be available this year, around the time the new consoles are released.

EA SPORTS creates connected experiences that ignite the emotion of sports through industry-leading sports video games, including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® golf, SSX™, and EA SPORTS UFC.

With all that being said, college football season starts early as EA SPORTS officially released the NCAA Football 14 demo on the PlayStation 3 yesterday.

Gamers will now have the opportunity to experience a neutral site game as they lead either Alabama or Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in the Georgia Dome.

Gamers can also get a feel for the new Option attack with either Oregon or Texas A&M at Kyle Field, or can take part in one of college football’s greatest rivalries when Ohio State and Michigan square off in The Big House.

The demo also marks gamers’ first opportunity to get their hands on Infinity Engine 2 and see how the power of realistic physics allows them to play true to their favorite school.

A break down of all the match ups and features of the demo from EA SPORTS’ blog is available here.

Rewards are also plentiful this year, as anyone who completes any of the three match ups (win or lose) will receive a free card pack for use in the brand-new NCAA Football Ultimate Team mode. Gamers can earn a second Ultimate Team card pack by sharing the demo with friends.

In addition to the in-game match ups, those looking for a leg up on the competition can begin learning new game mechanics and refreshing their abilities in the new Nike Skills Trainer.

This new training mode provides full video tutorials as well as gameplay drills for football elements such as how to effectively run the Triple Option, dominate the air with Total Control Passing, win the turnover battle as a Ball Hawk, and much more.

NCAA Football 14 gives players more control over their fate on the field or as a coach than ever before.

The introduction of Infinity Engine 2 allows you to play true to your team with gameplay tuned with the college game in mind, while new Coach Skills and Power Recruiting create the most engrossing Dynasty experience in a generation.

Add in the all-new inclusion of the fan-favorite Ultimate Team mode, which includes a large number of former NCAA stars, and you have the most feature-rich entry in the history of the franchise.

College football enthusiasts can get more news by tweeting with the hashtag #PLAYTRUE.

On the PS4, it’s a glimpse into the future. With new gameplay, visual engines, and a brand-new step-based locomotion system, Electronic Arts believes the pigskin action will never be the same.

“There’s that wow factor when you pick up the controller,” said Electronic Arts Football General Manager Cam Weber. “It feels amazing.”

A celebration of 25 years of the franchise, EA Sports spent significant time developing a next generation football game they felt would change the genre. The IGNITE gameplay engine will have approximately 300 “live” characters on both sidelines, reacting to the action, as well as a crowd that looks more “real” than the cardboard cut-outs and static virtual fans gamers have become accustomed to seeing over the years.

The new True Step Locomotion system also promises a better rushing game. Madden 2013 focused heavily on passing and True Step, combined with the enhanced A.I. offensive linemen, as well as defensive players. The end result, Weber says, is a more authentic and instinctual game of football, with authentic route running, more realistic downfield blocking, and better moving player models.

“Every individual step in our game is calculated,” Weber said. “In previous games, there were a lot of looping and repeating running animations, without a lot of fidelity in terms of what each individual step would do. Now, with the power of the new consoles, we can make a lot of calculations with every single frame. There will be a precision to every footstep.”

But what about the current consoles? Regardless of the effort the company has put into the next generation version of Madden, EA Sports said all the work on the PS4 edition actually helped refine what may be the last hurrah for the series on the PS3.

Weber said that the run-blocking and locomotion system on the PS3 will be markedly improved because EA was able to transfer over “tidbits” of the new technology to the current generation version. With those improvements and the new and developed gameplay modes such as the “Connected Franchise” and “Owner Mode,” EA Sports is confident they haven’t left PS3 owners out to pasture.

“We wanted to deliver on the promises,” said Weber. “We wanted to add all the depth and polish. 25 years of innovation make Madden 25 the most polished experience we could.”

Gameplay Trailer:

Hands On E3 2013 PS3 Demo:

Rumor has it that the game may also be revealed for the next gen Xbox that is to be released in a matter of hours. The game was to be released by EA last fall but was cancelled for some unknown reasons with the promise that it would make an appearance in 2013.

As announced, the game is set for release later this year. Keep posted as the next gen reveal is looming and more news is on its way.

EA has released a brand new trailer for FIFA 13 to celebrate their presence on the gamescom showfloor. The trailer opens up with some amazing dribbling skills on display by Messi, and goes on to give you a glimpse at the various new features the game will offer this time round. Check it out below.

 EA Sports have prepared a demo of Madden NFL 13, ahead of its release in a few weeks from now. The demo, which is to release on August 14 consists of two matches,  the Seattle Seahawks versus the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants versus the San Francisco 49ers, as announced by EA Sports blog post.

The games Kinect controls and all others important features like  Total Control Passing and Ball Hawk are available.

The game is slated to release on August 28 for PS3, Vita and Xbox 360. Check out a sneek peek of the demo below.