Sometimes, just playing football isn’t enough. The die-hards who crave the ability to micromanage every aspect of the game, just like a real NFL head coach would, need something more than a mere Madden game. So EA, as the owners of the NFL exclusivity license, tried to put gamers in the shoes of head coaches with 2006’s NFL Head Coach, but by most accounts, the game was something of a failure. Not only did it feature many inaccuracies — deadly when you’re trying to create a football sim — it just ended up being boring as well.
In the interim, EA Sports has decided to give it another go. On February 26, they announced the upcoming release of NFL Head Coach 09 (so one would assume that, pending its success, EA will turn it into a full-on franchise with annual installments). The game will provide “a unique NFL experience that gives gamers the power to make decisions that define their career and ultimately the fate of their franchise as a head coach in the NFL”. Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, will grace the cover of the game.
Check out the first six screens of the game below, as well as the cover artwork. Frankly, I don’t think they make the game look very fun or interesting, but you might have a different opinion. The full press release from EA can be found after the jump, and more details on the game are available at its official Web site. NFL Head Coach 09 will be out this year for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
EA ANNOUNCES THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF NFL HEAD COACH
Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy Will Grace the Cover of NFL Licensed Strategy Game
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., - February 26, 2008 - Put on your headset, grab your clipboard and see if you have what it takes to be a head coach in the National Football League. Today, Electronic Arts Inc, (NASDAQ: ERTS) announces NFL Head Coach 09, featuring Indianapolis Colts' head coach Tony Dungy on the game's cover. Released under the EA SPORTS™ brand, NFL Head Coach 09 is a unique NFL experience that gives gamers the power to make decisions that define their career and ultimately the fate of their franchise as a head coach in the NFL.
"In NFL Head Coach 09, the gamer has complete control of their franchise?s destiny," says NFL Head Coach 09 Executive Producer Jeremy Strauser. "From draft day to game day, the gamers' decisions impact their team’s success and make or break a team's road to the Super Bowl."
In 2007, Dungy became the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl when the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI. Since Dungy's arrival to Indianapolis in 2001, the Colts have earned six playoff berths and have won more than 70 regular-season games. Dungy has an impressive .661 winning percentage as a head coach over the past 12 seasons.
NFL Head Coach 09 provides a complete NFL experience, offering a variety of different ways to control an NFL franchise, on and off the field, in-season and off-season. With strategic game planning features, NFL Head Coach 09 places gamers in the coach's seat by allowing gamers to comprehensively scout the opponent, build playbooks, and develop a team that will adapt to the philosophy and system of an NFL franchise.
The sideline is your playing field in NFL Head Coach 09 - gamers can make adjustments to plays and game strategies in an instant. The outcome of every game depends on game-time decisions made on the sideline. Success depends on proper preparation and knowledge of the opposing teams' strategies, as well as expert and timely play calling.
Developed in Orlando, Florida by EA Tiburon, NFL Head Coach 09 will be available for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360™ video game system from Microsoft.
EA SPORTS™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer, NHL hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAAFootball, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR and NASCAR racing.
Contest:
11:58 PM on 02.26.2008
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But this game will still fail. I can't imagine anybody wanting to play this.
@Fronz: What can I say? My New York sports bias shines through in all my writing.
LMAO..Nice try but I GOTCHA!!
LA vs. NY
*sits and waits for a fist fight*
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HOW??????
you meant Aliyah lol
why not just package this with madden as an extra feature? At least people wouldn't bitch for at least one year about how madden never changes but once ever console generation
In the U.K/EU we've had the Football Manager games series for a while now. A lot of my football friends play them. They let you control all aspects for running a football team (ie buying selling player, where your money gets spent etc.
Beyond Fifa or Pro Evo, these management style games let you do all those things that you would do if you managed you favourite team. They might not sound as action packed as playing actual football but are a lot of fun.
With you guys now into fantasy football too, this new EA game is the next step in that chain. I bet EA will clean house with this NFL cut and you mericans will love it. One for you Friday Night Lights fans out there.
Its just a shame that none of the rest of the world deems American football to be worthwhile as you could be having someone like Sports Interactive (Now part of Sega) making you a managment game. They're who "Cowboy TTop" mentioned about making Football Manager, which usually on a yearly basis breaks the sales records for PC gaming.
The last head coach had all of the charm of an excel spreadsheet. I don't see that changing here.
It's especially amusing to me that this is only going on the HD consoles. Like more detailed graphics would solve the problem of EA taking the most boring aspects of madden and making a separate game out of it.
Also please give us online leagues, and if they do, do you think we could get enough d-toiders to put a league together Samit
Once we get a better look at the game, I bet sales will be high. Remember, nfl fans at dtoid are a chip of the iceberg.
Yeah I was a little rough there. Just that online Madden peeps rank with online Halo peeps in annoyance factor.
@ everyone who might be interested in Head Coach,
Grab the older version from EB/Gamestop. It's dirt cheap. Like 3 or 4 bucks. That way you know if you'll like it or not. Probably not though.
Actually, I'd skip the first one. As a concept, its great, but as an actual "game" experience, and can honestly say that the first one was pretty shameful. The way that everything required a loading time to progress, coupled with the fact that the game was indeed buggy, not to mention the interface was ridiculously clunky.
My hope is that this new one will just fix all that, and I'll have my Franchise mode without awkward stats that take into account my inability to play a halfback or cornerback effectively in the Madden game.
METER
GRAM!
I do like the nerdy side of sports and my favorite part of playing franchises is building a team, etc., but the last Head Coach was just ghetto as hell. I mean, the in-game action was terrible...every pass would fly about six million feet in the air as if launched out by a rocket, etc. The real trick with this game is how they can give it some personality and not make the whole thing so damned sterile and dull. The life of a real head coach/gm isn't dull because there's ALWAYS issues to deal with: guys fighting on the practice field, asshole agents to deal with, pr nightmares when your star RB "makes it rain" in yet another strip club...unfortunately these things would NEVER make it into an NFL game. Thus, this game will likely be completely bland and lacking any personality.
Any insight?
I will attempt to provide some insight. My retort is two-fold. First of all, not everyone may play games for the same reason as you. Also, sports games still provide escapism. I can run up and down the court at the YMCA with some old guys, and toss up a few jumpers, but that doesn't mean I can ever have the experience of playing in the NBA Finals or throwing down a 360 dunk. Plus, sports nuts are sports nuts, period. There are plenty of college and pro athletes who want to play sports video games even though they play for real all the time, just cause they love sports. Just one of those things, I guess.
I personally love sports games, although not as much as I used to. One overlooked thing about sports games is the replay value they provide. People rag on EA Sports for supposedly issuing the same games year after year, but someone who plays several seasons of Madden 08 is getting a lot more value for their dollar (quantity-wise, at least) than someone who puts 10 hours into BioShock and then sets it on a shelf for the rest of their life.
To be fair, I don't know much of anything about american football, though. Maybe the reason soccer works as a sim is because it's so insanely complicated... there are literally thousands upon thousands of playable teams in the game, there are even over a hundred in just England alone. And the way that the leagues work in England, any team of fat pub blokes playing between drinks can eventually, with the right tactics and management, can become a top flight team in a mere couple decades. That's just impossible in a league like the NFL, where people try to come in last for the top draft picks.
Why don't American sports have promotion/relegation? It means no matter what, any game you go to see is important.
Thank you. That was a really great answer. I don't understand the draw of these games, but you did a damn good job of explaining it and I can see why others might.
I love, LOVE the idea of promotion/relegation. I think it's great. I'd love to see the NFL as a three-tiered league with ten teams per tier slugging it out. However, I'm in a distinct minority and there's no way the league would ever do it because of money.
After all, the NFL isn't going to have some of its teams playing in a lower league, because the fickle-ass fans will simply stop supporting said team. If you look at how minor league teams in any sport fare in the U.S., you can see how this may be a problem. Half the time, piss-poor sports teams in, say, the NBA can still have decent ticket sales because Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady or Lebron James come to town often. If all the crappy teams played each other, fans would likely not even bother.
Besides...doesn't relegation only happen to the bottom team in any division? If so, then there are a bunch of teams still that are not near the top of the standings but pretty safe from being relegated...so I'm not sure about the "every game counts" thing.