Football Heroes, Kickstarted a year ago, is coming to fruition. Michael Marzola, one of the game’s developers, showed off an early build of the game with non-final art, but this title already shows promise. It’s inspired by classic arcade football games such as Tecmo Bowl, with a dash of the brutality of NFL Blitz, and World of Warcraft. Wait, what? That’s because the players on a team can be endlessly customized, with skill trees to help make them play better and avoid more tackles. The game has a long way to go still, but expect to play this one during NFL season.

Greedy Bankers Vs. The World was only the beginning for Alistair Aitcheson. Now we have Slamjet Stadium to satisfy our same-screen multiplayer desires. Think football re-imagined by a bunch of aliens who were trying to piece the rules together a couple hundred years from now and you’ll have the basic gist of it.

Where exactly did you pull Slamjet Stadium‘s inspiration from? Not just the wacky-looking gameplay; I’m talking about the physical roughhousing, too. Super-intense family game nights as a young boy perhaps?

Haha, I don’t know really! I’m generally a fairly calm and friendly guy. I was never into rough-housing at all when I was a kid! I am very competitive though, as my friends know – I’ll always be looking for a way to mess up my rivals in any game.

So I wanted to experiment more with this kind of game design. The original prototype for Slamjet Stadium came out of a big batch of experimental multiplayer games I did over the summer and tested out in the pub.

Often you’ll find yourself scoring by spotting a really awesome shot or powerup, so paying attention to the board is really important. Hand-grabbing is certainly a useful tactic, but it’s only one way of doing things. That makes play really dynamic. One moment it could be best to play rough, the next moment you might need to think fast, or play accurately.

While we’re on the subject of the multiplayer, how are you going to influence players to stop being polite?

People tend to jostle as much or as little as they feel comfortable with, and surprisingly that’s usually quite a lot! There’s typically a “eureka” moment when one player realizes they can get in the way of their friend, or use their opponent’s characters instead of their own. The physicality often grows from there!

So I’ve put messages in the loading screens suggesting ways you can “cheat.” The game’s advising you to play foul, so it must be okay! That eureka moment has to inspire creative play, so it’s important that players know that the game isn’t degenerating into chaos.

Would you mind going into a few specifics? Stuff like general gameplay, number of teams, differences between teams (if any), etc.

Each player gets two characters on a team, and the rules are fairly simple. You grab a character with your finger, pull back to charge their engines, and let go to send them flying across the screen. You want to hit the ball into your opponent’s goal, and the first to score five points wins the match.

There are also various power-ups and stage hazards that appear: rage power to smash up your opponents’ characters, freeze power that traps them in ice, multiball release, powerful gusts of wind.

My favorite activates “Last Man Standing” mode, where traps come in from the side of the screen, and it’s up to you to avoid them (or throw your opponents into them); a point is awarded to the survivor!

There are nine different arenas in the game, with different effects and hazards. As for the teams, there are six to choose from and each has different physical properties: shape, weight, boost power and grip.

Are there going to be multiple game modes? Might we be able to look forward to something similar in a future update?

Right now it’s split into Multiplayer and Solo Play. In solo, you take on a gauntlet of computer-controlled opponents over three leagues of increasing difficulty. Beating each one unlocks an extra multiplayer stage, and you can compete via GameCenter over your fastest completion times.

In Multiplayer it’s very much a quickmatch format: you choose your teams and arenas, and can have a rematch or pick new teams after someone wins. I’ll probably add some extra variations and setups in updates; I guess it depends on what players want to see after the initial launch. My focus was on getting players into the action as fast as possible.

All the elbow-slamming, wrist-grabbing, butt-nudging madness of Slamjet Stadium can be unleashed upon your iPad on March 14th for $2.99.

This week at 148Apps, we left our white shoes behind and got ready for some football with Carter Dotson’s round-up of apps for the NFL 2012 season: “Are you ready for some football, in particular the 2012–2013 season of the premier American football league, the National Football League? Well, with the season kicking off tonight with the Super Bowl champion New York Giants playing the Dallas Cowboys, I’ve collected four apps to help make the game-watching and fantasy-football-playing experience better. No matter what, they’re better than the replacement refs are going to be!”

Read all of Carter’s picks for the season at 148Apps.com.

FREE!

NFL '13

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-09-09 :: Category: Sports

$2.99

Fantasy Football '12 - for Yahoo/ESPN/NFL.com

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2012-07-23 :: Category: Sports

Over at GiggleApps, Amy Solomon reviewed This Is My Body-Anatomy for Kids, saying, “I have really enjoyed perusing this application, consisting of many sections that cover such topics as how fast one grows, the skin, one’s senses, as well as the different systems of the body, such as digestive, respiratory, muscular, nervous and skeletal, going into a very nice amount of depth for children to appreciate.

As this app opens up, children are given a choice of characters to follow, nicely including boy and girl choices some of which are children of color and an Asian character – lovely inclusions still not seen often enough in the US iTunes store.”

Read more about this fun and educational app for kids at GiggleApps.com.

$1.99

This is my body - Anatomy for kids

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-08-20 :: Category: Education

And stalwart reporter Carter Dotson returned yet again, this time on AndroidRundown, to look at the latest developments from Apple iPad rival Amazon: “While rumors of a new iPad mini spread, and the Nexus 7 enjoys its sales numbers, Amazon has laid dormant until now with the announcement of new Kindle Fire devices.

The flagship is the Kindle Fire HD. This will come in both an 8.9″ variety and a 7″ variety; the specs on the 7″ are supposed to be the same as the 8.9″, but Amazon was more keen to show off this version. It’s got a 1920×1200 screen (true HD!) which is 254 ppi (compared to the iPad retina display’s 264 ppi), to go along with a Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 processor, which Amazon claims can do 50% more floating point operations as compared to the Tegra 3 processor in the Nexus 7.”

Want more? Get more by reading the full article at AndroidRundown.com.

And that’s a wrap of this weekly wrap-up! Join us throughout the week for the latest contests, reviews and news on our Facebook site as well as on Twitter. Until next week, remember – no white after Labor Day!

Are you ready for some football, in particular the 2012–2013 season of the premier American football league, the National Football League? Well, with the season kicking off tonight with the Super Bowl champion New York Giants playing the Dallas Cowboys, I’ve collected four apps to help make the game-watching and fantasy-football-playing experience better. No matter what, they’re better than the replacement refs are going to be!

NFL ’12: The NFL’s official app offers video, including a single screen scoreboard of all the week’s games on the iPad. Get score alerts for individual games. See highlights and analysis videos from NFL.com, along with news stories. Is that significant other clueless about sportball, and expects you to leave the house on Sunday afternoons? Or do you live outside your favorite team’s market, and don’t want to pay for Sunday Ticket, which costs about as much as operating J.P. Morgan’s yacht? Then for $29.99, you can listen to every game from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.

FREE!

NFL '13

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-09-09 :: Category: Sports

NFL Game Rewind: Every fan of their team has plenty of things to say about what they think they saw while watching. However, there’s a reason why NFL coaches don’t eat buffalo wings and drink beer while coaching, because it doesn’t provide them cogent analysis. So sober up, and subscribe to NFL Game Rewind, a service that provides the ability to rewatch past games on a play-by-play basis. The $69.99 subscription offers even coaches’ film, which will provide more in-depth looks at games, with deeper archives available. The $49.99 subscription offers this year’s games, available commercial-free and in condensed forms, to relive games in short time frames.

FREE!

NFL Game Rewind

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-08-30 :: Category: Sports

Thumb: Fantasy football is an integral part of the football fandom experience. After all, nothing makes a meaningless blowout more exciting than when your wide receiver scores a touchdown in garbage time to win your matchup that week. But deciding who to start is a pain. Why not rely on the wisdom of random internet strangers? Use Thumb’s fantasy football section to post simple thumbs-up-or-down questions on whether someone should be started on your team, and watch as the guy you benched scores 3 touchdowns in one game and the guy you started sets the NFL fumbles record your fantasy team is led to victory by listening to the opinions of others!

FREE!

Thumb

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-05-03 :: Category: Social Networking

Fantasy Football ’12: You’re the Ludacris of fantasy football, in that you have fantasy football teams in different area codes, or at least on ESPN, Yahoo, and NFL.com. If only there was one app that could manage teams on all those different sites! There is! Based off of Fantasy Monster, this is designed solely for managing fantasy teams from all across different leagues. Remember, the more fantasy leagues you’re in, the more likely you’ll be able to call yourself a fantasy football champion.

$2.99

Fantasy Football '12 - for Yahoo/ESPN/NFL.com

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2012-07-23 :: Category: Sports

$4.99

Fantasy Football '12 HD - for Yahoo/ESPN/NFL.com

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-07-23 :: Category: Sports

I’m not what anyone would consider a soccer fan, but that doesn’t keep me from appreciating all of the cool stuff players can expect to find in EA’s upcoming FIFA 13. This is, of course, in addition to the expected bullet-points such as improved graphics and such.

FIFA 13 is indeed a great looking game. Player animations are incredibly smooth and their likenesses are captured eerily well considering this is an iOS game. Although they do have that creepy blank look that so many real world based character models tend to have. A bunch of smaller details will no doubt cause salivary glands to work overtime as well, including balls sporting the proper logos and all the tiny graphics typically found on a player’s jersey. And all of these fine details can be enjoyed up close and personal thanks to the game’s instant replay feature.

It doesn’t stop with tie visuals though. For the first time ever EA Sports Football Club will make its way into an iOS title. Even better, preexisting accounts will be carried over, so nobody will have to start from scratch on their iOS device. Of course my personal favorite addition is the way special skill shots and moves can be controlled via a second virtual stick on the right-hand side of the screen. Simply tap and drag in a given pattern or direction and the controlled player will start with the fancy footwork.

No information is available yet on pricing, but football (football, football) enthusiasts can expect to find FIFA 13 in the App Store sometime this fall.

There’s a little sporting event happening this weekend: I believe it’s called the Super Bowl. Yes, the New England Patriots and New York Giants will square off in the middle American metropolis of Indianapolis this Sunday, and most of America will tune in. But for those with iPhones, iPods, and iPads, these devices need not go unused during the big game! Here are 5 ways to use that device to get analysis and information that the TV broadcasters just won’t provide.

SportCaster: Providing a second screen experience during the game is this app from the developer of TweetCaster. The app aggregates tweets from various sources, and organizes them by topic, so following team-specific tweets is easy with this app.

FREE!

CBS SportCaster

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-08-31 :: Category: Sports

NFL Mobile: What better way to follow the Super Bowl on an iPhone than, to, well, watch it on there? While streaming the Super Bowl will only be available for Verizon customers, this universal app should be perfect for when nature calls, if work won’t stop for the biggest football game of the year, or if a significant other who doesn’t know what this “super ball” is really needs something from the store, right now.

FREE!

NFL Mobile

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-04-25 :: Category: Sports

Sportacular: Can’t watch the game, but need updates on the score and play-by-play updates? Sportacular is a great choice, allowing users to just check up on the game’s status, or to chat with fellow users about what’s going on in the game. By this, I mean “talk smack with random people on the internet,” which is also fun. The app also handily provides the line on the game and the over/under, helpful reminders for those who could be affected financially based on the outcome of the game. 148Apps does not promote gambling, and reminds our readers to do it legally and responsibly, but still – that info’s there.

FREE!

Yahoo! Sportacular

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2008-07-31 :: Category: Sports

Quickish: Not exactly an app, but a fantastic web site for perusing the latest news and opinions in sports – open it in Safari on that iPad for an ideal second screen experience. Curated by internet sportswriting veteran Dan Shanoff, the site is a must-follow during big live events like the Super Bowl, as it provides rapid-fire updates and reactions across social media from both fellow writers and athletes, along with relevant news stories written about the game. Before, during, and after, this is a fantstic way to track what is being said about the Super Bowl from sometimes-unexpected voices.

SB Nation: This network of sports blogs comes with its own app, and the sites are known for thoughtful opinions on sports that go beyond the hysteria of the typical sports media, with an often wry sense of humor – and sometimes a single article will contain copious amounts of both. Why have an app, though? Well, it not only makes it easy to follow specific blogs, such as their team-specific blogs and general football one, but to follow updates on specific stories from one place. Few other sites will provide ‘simulations’ of the Super Bowl where they put the punters in at QB. Keep this one installed for baseball season, too, as their writers and blogs are top-notch on the subject.

FREE!

SB Nation - Sports News

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-08-24 :: Category: Sports

It is that magical time of the year where the leaves are changing colors, children have returned to school, and football season has kicked into full swing.  The magical reappearance of the pigskin also brings about massive amounts of time spent in front of the television screen, most likely being paired with yelling and an adult beverage or two.

But what if you could interact with the game happening on screen, instead of just having to just observe like a bump on a log?  No, this isn’t talking about coaching the team on the field as much as being able to read a coach’s mind.  The new app PrePlay encourages you to do just that, and rewards those that are masters of the precognition.

Competing against friends, the game will completely change the way football is consumed any given Sunday.  There is even a way to smack talk, which will certainly kick the intensity up into another gear.  Give this a look before the season fades away!

FREE!

PrePlay

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-09-23 :: Category: Sports

Despite being raised in the United States, I am an individual that has a healthy appreciation for the sport that the rest of the world calls “football.”  As much as I much as I enjoy watching a bunch of grown men grope themselves on the gridiron every Saturday and Sunday, nothing can match the thrill of watching a well played match on the pitch.  For this very reason virtually every type of of soccer game that has been released on the iOS has found permanent residence on my iOS devices, and it looks like I will need to make room for one more.

Just yesterday Gamegou, the developer of last year’s Soccer Stealers, announced that they would be bringing their extensive footie experience to the iPad with Soccer Stealers Reloaded.  This is very promising news, especially given that the last entry in this franchise landed a solid review score over at our sister site, The Portable Gamer.

Easily the biggest improvement to the games doesn’t actually appear on screen, because it is the price tag, because now it is completely free.  Even more remarkable is that despite the price drop, there are still more features included in the game.  Here are some of the new things that are in store:

• Customize your character and Dress to Impress: What’s your style: Afro? Buzz? Shaved? Pony-tailed?
• Redeem medals for goodies: Collect medals and trade them in at our very own Gamegou shop
• Real-time match selections allowing you to enter matches currently being played in 3 major leagues: England, Germany, Italy

When you heap this on top of an already solid game, the question really becomes, why haven’t you downloaded it yet?  Anyone who enjoys the fun of a day on the pitch will certainly find plenty to enjoy.  Be sure to let us know what you think about it in the comments after you have taken it for a kick or two.

FREE!

Soccer Stealers 2012 HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-04-13 :: Category: Games

I got the chance to sit down with NaturalMotion CEO, Torsten Reil for a cup of coffee and to discuss Bakcbreaker 2: Vengeance, the update to the best selling iOS football game, Backbreaker Football. Backbreaker 2 brings some of the most requested features to the game and raises the bar by giving the game full Retina display support for iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4th generation. The new features in the game came from culling through thousands of reviews and emails and include Vengance mode (being able to play as the defensive player), new moves, new stadiums, new levels, and Game Center support. Oh, and of course even more showboating!

The option to play as the defensive player in Vengeance Mode really adds an interesting angle to the game. While the gameplay is similar, there are new things to consider playing defense and it requires a slightly different method of play. It also includes a whole new set of challenges. When you are playing as defense you will see the path that the offensive player is taking — you’ll also see an on screen indicator showing you where your tackle target is. The trouble is intercepting or catching up to that offensive player. Depending on the level, you may need to dodge other players or obstacles before you get to your target.

The game has also been upgraded for Retina displays. Seeing the game on a Retina display is just mind blowing. The sweep of the stadium before the game looks more movie-like than anything we’ve ever seen. The players look better, move better; it’s an amazing visual upgrade all around.

Backbreaker 2: Vengeance is a great upgrade and I’m looking forward to it. Look for Backbreaker Football 2 before the end of the year.

American football, for a multitude of reasons, just hasn’t really translated well onto the iPhone. Football mini-games like Backbreaker Football work fine for the most part, but I (and I assume we) want a real football game, with all the same positions and plays that we could use on the real field. I also want this full game to not be hampered by a joystick or funny hand placement on the screen or odd animations.

The problem that I’ve found is that developers are completely stuck on the tried and true console simulation. EA, with its successful Madden franchise, just has no reason to change their formula because it sells. I wonder to myself though why? Why does Madden on the iPhone sell? It’s priced in the realm of the premium games, and I have a real hard time believing that many people put more than a couple of hours into the game before they set it down for good. The game just isn’t right for the iPhone, there’s just no other way to put it.

Identifying what the exact problems are might be the first step to created a better iPhone football game, so let’s run through them:

The virtual joystick (I’m going to list virtual joystick sub-problems as (VJ)) isn’t accurate enough to make precise player movements.

The screen isn’t large enough for all the controls, including the now common receiver bubbles that you have to hit to throw the ball.

Current football games tend to sacrifice game play, and game speed, for unnecessary animations

(VJ) The running game seems like total luck because it’s impossible to make precise movements.

(VJ) Playing defense seems like total luck because it’s impossible to make skill plays. Timing a pick like you would on a console is totally impossible.

(VJ) Because of your hopeless lack of control, picking defensive plays seems like a total wash altogether, leaving me to rely on gimmicks like “Gameflow” that take away any real understanding of how the defense works.

The games take so long to play that there is no good way to have a multiplayer mode. It just wouldn’t work.

The other issue that developers have completely ignored is that fact that the thing that would work the best on the iPhone, the dynasty mode and the draft (even if all the games were simulated). I know that I’m not the only one that could sit there playing dynasty mode without ever playing a single game. People love stats, they love picking players… they just love tinkering with their team. How do you think fantasy football got so big!

So what I’ve gathered here is that our new, better football game should:

Ditch the virtual joystick altogether

Concentrate more on the coaching rather than the playing. Play calling is really what makes the console version of Madden magic. Sure, womping on someone by juking up and down the field is fun, but if your opponent is on your level, there’s nothing like throwing a cover 2 zone at a guy that throws slants all day.

Add a GM mode to capture all of the fantasy football players out there. I’ve heard that there are around 30 million of them out there.

Find a way to implement a multiplayer mode, and don’t settle for anything less than the sports multiplayer greatness that is Homerun Battle 3D.

With that said, here’s my idea for the next (which would be the first) great football game, NFL RPG. If EA used the idea, it could be called Madden RPG. Tell me that you wouldn’t buy that.

The game, with its emphasis on a dynasty mode and player movement, wouldn’t necessarily even need an NFLPA license because your crop of players would likely change after a bit of playing. It would be nice though, so someone needs to figure that part out. Let’s take a dive into what the game would do.

Game Mode 1: Season/Dynasty

The season/dynasty mode should be the main game mode. The whole concept of a dynasty mode would have to be overhauled though, because even the console versions are becoming a bit much to deal with. Keeping things simple is the key.

The mode would start with either a draft, consisting of all the league players, or the choosing of which pre-built team you want to play with. Some people don’t like the tediousness of a draft, so you can’t make them do it. The draft though wouldn’t just be like a normal fantasy draft though, it would have to be like a $500-$1000 fantasy auction draft, where each player costs a certain amount of money, has a certain NFL lifespan (let’s say 10 years), and you have a set pool of money to deal with. This will make the drafts a bit more intelligent and make monetary transactions later much more interesting. The cost of each player should correlate with their overall skill level, so when a player needs to be re-signed, he should be a set cost per skill rating rather than demand contract negotiations because his player rating became higher.

The GM overview of everything would get rid of all the stadium upgrades and the contract bonuses and stipulations that make things so rough on the console. The biggest thing that we need to deal with in an RPG is player upgrades, so that is the thing that most need to be addressed. Taking a page from Homerun Battle 3D, you should be able to purchase stats for players based on their actions in games. Raising the stats of each player would be a nightmare though, so players have to be upgraded in groups, with groups being the positions. For example, if Randy Moss catches an 80 yard touchdown, the whole WR crew would get X amount of points to divvy out between the players. You could then give them all to Randy Moss, or you could throw a few at Wes Welker (maybe raise his injury rating) and Torry Holt.

Throughout the season, some players will get much better, and some will probably be neglected. That’s just the nature of a point system. When a players contract is up though, it will be impossible to keep dynasty squads because the players prices will change, making many too expensive to keep. Players will have to make use of trades and dumping off medial players if they want to keep their studs, just like real NFL teams do.

In the quest to make things simple, it’s also very important to keep players stats simple. Give each one of them five or six stat categories, and that’s it. For example, a QB should have, arm strength, arm accuracy, pocket awareness, scrambling ability, and leadership. What would these stats do though… we’ll have to step into the game itself.

Gameplay: Offense

This is where things usually fall apart in typical football simulations, so I’m going to turn it a bit on its head.

First off, the view needs to be changed to a much more top down view. The player needs to be able to see every player on the field at once, at all times. On deep passing plays, the view needs to dynamically change to a view that can follow the streaking player.

The offense will set up, per the play call (more on that later), and with a tap you will hike the ball. Players will then run their routes as they normally would (except the receivers would only run their routes as well as their ratings say they will) and the quarterback will automatically drop back into his normal drop back position.

On passing plays, I’ll keep the Madden circle for receiver system that goes from green to red, depending on openness. If your line breaks down, you can make your quarter back scramble, but running will be an automatic process based on the QB’s scrambling skill. Same with the running plays. Since there is no tactile feedback on the iPhone, having the player control the running back is just silly. Make the process automatic and the players should be rewarded for good playcalling, not mad juking that no player on Earth could pull off.

In the backgound, everything that is happening would be based on an average system. A pass would be a calculation of QB throwing speed and accuracy + WR catching ability – DB covering ability/interception ability. Calculations would need to be made for each position battle in the game, as well as every event. Battles would include such things as OL vs. DL, WR vs. DB, RB vs. whoever tries to tackle him, WR vs. whoever tries to tackle him, and QB vs… yeah, you get it. In a way, each action battle, which would be automated and in the background, would be like a combat scene in a typical RPG.

Like RPG’s, there would also be bonus scores for smart things that you do. For example, WR’s would get an extra % chance of catching the ball if you throw it to them when they are open. These bonus scores would be very apparent on the defensive side of the ball, which will be all about coaching.

Gameplay: Defence

Since there will be no virtual joystick, there will be no controlling of the defense. Your skill will come in your ability to call a good play. It’s a fact that certain defensive plays work against certain offenses, so it will be up to you to figure it out. At the beginning of your defensive play, you will see what formation the offense is in, and you will be able to pick a play based on what you see. Different plays will give your players different bonuses during play, or minuses if you pick the wrong play.

For example, playing dime defense against an obvious running play would result in negative stats, while goal line D on the goal line would give you bonuses.

Now that the game’s worked out, all that’s left is the multiplayer.

Multiplayer
As you progress through your seasons, you will piece together all sorts of player combinations, all that will emphasize different play types. If you tend to run the ball a lot, your RB will get better and better, same with the passing game, or on the flip side, your defensive cover game or your ability to blitz. With your master team customized over time to your playing style, you can take them online to play against other opponents.

Like Homerun Battle 3D, it’s necessary that online sessions are seamless and fast. Instead of playing a full game though, you’ll play an NFL Playoff overtime. For more on what the playoff overtime means, read this article from ESPN.

This will allow for quick games, with the occasional surprising outcome. If possible, there could definitely even be leagues and tournaments organized to make things a bit more interactive. I’m not sure how feasible this is, or how it would work, so that would be up to the developer.

It’s Over Folks

Whew, well I guess that’s the extent of Football RPG. I really feel that the game that I have laid out would work extremely well and would generate a ton of buzz if implemented correctly. So hurry up developers, I want to play my game!

EA held their studio preview today and we were one of the few mobile sites there to take a look at their coming games. First up, and the most anticipated, is Madden NFL 11. This year is will be available on the iPhone and the iPad with the iPad getting a couple exclusive features.

The Hot Routes feature has been expanded and enhanced this year. Hot routes allow you to draw the path that the player takes on the screen pre-snap. You have greater control over them in both offense and new this year, defense. You can also save your custom routes as a custom offensive play.

Madden NFL 11 gets a few new features carried over from the console versions. This includes Total Defense Control — this year defense is given much more attention giving you most of the same control of players you have on offense. This includes the ability to program hot routes for defensive players. For defense you also can slow the play down while it is in action and adjust the routes.

On the offense, new this year, and carried from the console, is GameFlow. This is basically an automated play calling system created to speed up the play of the game. Instead of needing to run into one of the 30 playbooks to pick a play, the computer will pick one for you and it does so intelligently. It watches the game and how you play and will pick an appropriate play. You can of course override the play or turn off GameFlow at any time. GameFlow makes considerable sense on the more casual mobile device.

The game gets a little prettier this year too. Graphics both on field and off look much better. This includes higher definition players, fields, and even moving crowds that are unique to each stadium. Also included are different weather effects based on the stadium location and date of the game.

Some iPad specific features include on-screen optimizations for the larger screen like a passing wheel under your right thumb. The passing wheel shows you all receives on the play and their status in a single location letting you select them very quickly. One unexpected new game type is added as an exclusive for the iPad as well. Remember the old electric football games where you place the weighted player pieces on a large metal board that when turned on vibrated them around? Well a mid-season update to Madden NFL 11 will allow you to play this fun mini-game in the app — and even with voiceover from Gus Johnson.

If there’s one disappointment it’s the lack of online multiplayer. Still missing from EA’s in-house lineup, this feature will really take this game, and other EA games, to the next level. There is local Bluetooth multiplayer included in both the iPhone and iPad versions. But you may only play against another user on the same device type.

EA took some heat last year by charging for roster updates in Madden NFL 10 for the iPhone. They have seen the errors of their ways and the roster updates will be free this year!

If you’re a Madden fan, you won’t have to wait too long. Madden NFL 11 for the iPhone and iPad will launch alongside the console version on August 11th. Hit the jump for a few more screenshots.