When you mention football NFL fans have the tendency to cringe at the thought of the lockout continuing for the whole season – when you mention Madden, NFL fans should smile amidst the bountiful improvements implemented in the upcoming 18th installment to the Madden series (not counting the previous John Madden versions). In Madden 12, EA has taken a new approach in development – focusing more on improvements to the games current features, with a new few additions here and there to provide a more realistic experience for users.

Some of the improvements are updated small features that seem so miniscule that it’s safe to say most wont notice a change in a 15 minute game. When users do have a nice hour to sit down and enjoy a game – they’ll notice that they are now unable to zoom in freely as they used to. Cameramen now have a more realistic feel, forcing users to obey rules that cameramen in the NFL have to obey when taping the players and the games.

Speaking of more realistic things, the NFL cameramen were created using motion captured so that users can pick up the smallest of actions; such as how a cameramen tries to limit their breathing to keep still. Along with the many improvements to the camera, EA has also implemented a much updated to team jerseys, making them a whole lot “Sexier”, as well as shrinking the ball size for a more realistic feel.

Last year EA introduced a new feature called “Game Flow” which provided a choice of plays for the user, based on their team, which received a fair amount of criticism due to the lack of customization. Of course EA knew this had to be fixed, so they added a Game Flow enhancement to Madden 12. Users can now rate their plays, allowing Game Flow to recognize the users favorite plays.

EA also made some desperately needed changes to the Tackle Mechanics. In previous versions, users would lose control of their selected players 2-3 yards before the collision, lining up for a hit, and delivering. With the new improvements, users now have full control over their players, with collisions starting when the players are in front of one another, and not 2-3 yards in advance.

Finally, EA has thoroughly worked on their environment mechanics, providing a HUGE realistic boost. For example, if your team is on the West Coast and is going to play an East Coast game, be prepared for the time change, weather change, and different fan enthusiasm.

Keep in mind that this was just the first of many Madden 12 presentations. This time around, EA is going with the “staggered” news approach, the kind that worked well with Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Users you can be sure that I’ll have more news on the game as the release date (August 30) nears.