| | Operation Sports:Madden: Live and Unleashed!
By Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor, OperationSports.com
The Madden franchise has become more than just a football video game; it's a worldwide gridiron obsession. Now, you can do even more than just play online: The entire Madden NFL 06 world is your oyster on Xbox Live®.
Just like with all Xbox Live games, you have Quick Match and OptiMatch games available, but Electronic Arts and EA SPORTS™ have added some new, powerful features, and even more detail and depth to make your online experience better than ever!
EA Sports Nation
After you sign in to Xbox Live, you're part of the online "EA Sports Nation" with the game and the world at your fingertips. Skill level, record, and reputation (in other words, how much sportsmanship you've displayed online) is atop the screen, and a sports ticker runs across the bottom, showing live sports scores as they happen, along with Madden 06 games in progress that anyone in your Friends List might be playing. It's the nerve center for your online experience, but it's only the beginning.
In the "My Madden NFL 06" menu, you keep up with the latest game news, read the FAQ, download the latest NFL rosters, and even set yourself up to receive an e-mailed stats report at the end of every online game!
There are a few easy ways to find online opponents—through the aforementioned Quick Match and Optimatch menus, or by using the game's Lobby menu. Rooms are sorted by geographical location and skill level, including the "My Skill Level" room, which matches you up with people of roughly the same talent and experience in the game. Create your own room if you're planning to hook up with a few different people.
Play Fair
There are several different ways to play online. The standard game comes in a couple flavors: Ranked (with pre-set rules) and Unranked (where you make your own rules). You can also take advantage of the Fair Play options, which restrict players from "cheesy" play—going for it every fourth down, faking all punts, and all the other silly things that "cheesers" do to ruin everybody's fun. The Fair Play options help ensure that you'll get a game of football, not frustration.
If you don't have time for a full game, then Rushing Attack is for you. It's a quick, fun contest that allows each side to play offense and defense in a fast-paced game—perfect if you only have a few moments for your football fix. If time is all you have, then join a Quick Tournament and get matched up with random players, or host one yourself with the Tournament menu.
Fantasy Football
Last, but not least, if you've joined an EA Sports Fantasy Football league (and if you haven't, you should do it now), you can even choose the "MaddenView" prediction tool to help with your weekly lineup!
The best addition to this year's game by far is the new EA Locker. Within the Locker is space to store Madden files and share them with others. Remember when you were back in college, and you and your roomies had a Madden Franchise that you all played in? Well, with Madden NFL 06 and Xbox Live, get the league back together—no matter where they are now!
Create a Franchise with multiple human owners and upload that file to your Locker. Make trades, sign free agents, and do everything you always could do in Franchise mode—but when it's time to play your buddy's team, use the "Spawn Game" feature. It pulls the game from the schedule so it can be played over Xbox Live. Once you've finished, merge that game back into your Franchise file.
Sure, it takes a little coordination between the team owners to swap the files back and forth, but hey—football is serious business, and you can handle it, right? The EA Locker makes it easy.
On Xbox Live, all your Madden stats are meticulously tracked, trophies are awarded, and you scout any player online using the Leaderboards. With the Xbox® football world at your fingertips, never play against the CPU again—and you won't even miss it. Madden is now fully realized on Xbox Live; it's been unleashed, and thousands of the world's best pigskin players are out there waiting for you. Get a move on, coach; log on and play a QuickMatch, join some Tournaments, play a Franchise online—while you're stalling, they're only getting better.
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