To a sports gaming addict like myself, visiting Electronic Arts is the ultimate experience. It simply doesn't get any better. Throw in an early preview of Madden 06 and the opportunity to get hands on experience of almost their entire sports lineup for 06 and you wish you could stay for a week, let alone 2 days. The Hot Summer Nights event is EA's opportunity to invite the world's media to check out the majority of their titles due for release in the remaining 6 months of the year. Obviously in this case the sports titles dominate my agenda, but for many checking out the latest Sims or Burnout title is equally exciting. The event also includes a party where the attending media are lavished with free drinks and great food... free Heineken even! The fact that the Community Leaders Event coincides with this makes the entire trip double the fun it otherwise would be.

EA is an incredible place but the buildings themselves are not what makes the place so unique - it's the people within. Every person I met at EA was both warm and welcoming in their manner towards us but don't make the mistake of thinking that our invitation to the event is some kind of opportunity to bribe us into lavishing praise on both the company and the games they make. Whenever I meet the producers of the game I get the distinct impression that they welcome our constructive criticism because, as far as they're concerned, it's about being able to make the game better. The only way they can do that is to find out our impressions about what they are doing, both positive and negative. In that sense they want to guage our reactions, listen to our feedback and hear what we have to say in terms of new ideas and future developments. The fact that this is a two way process is again to the credit of EA.

Walking into a room and seeing 5 screens with Madden 06 loaded up on each is a sight to behold. The event began with the opportunity to play the game and get a feel for the new features which I will discuss later on. The primary new feature is Vision and Precision, something which makes aspects of the passing game harder and it certainly proved more difficult to start generating drives with Madden 06 right out the box with V&P turned on. I was glad to have the chance to get a feel for this feature and the game as a whole before embarking on what is now an annual tradition, the community leaders tournament. The tradition of the tournament is superceeded only by one other annual tradition, which is my first round elimination from said tourney. I lost in what was ultimately a close encounter with Ray (MaddenWars) but what at one stage was threatening to turn into a blowout. In fact the score gives me more credit than I deserve (but my time was to come later). It normally takes me a bit of time to get to grips with a new version of Madden (that's my excuse anyway) and an early interception didn't do much to help me on my way to a 14-0 halftime deficit. Nevertheless I wasn't to be deterred from my original gameplan and I managed something of a mini revival but ultimately lost out by 3. With my modesty somewhat intact I was able to get back to playing the game sooner than most and give the new Superstar mode a try ... that was why I lost, right ?

The remainder of that day was spent playing Madden, while in the evening steaks were on the menu with a visit to the legendary Izzy's Restaurant. Legendary in the sense that if you manage to eat a steak whose size is in excess of three times your own bodyweight you get your name added to a role of honour. Needless to say I didn't attempt this myself, a steak of more modest proportions was satisfying enough for my palette.

Thursday was the main day of the event and the majority of our time was again spent playing Madden. The feedback from last year focussed mainly on the lack of hands on experience with the game so naturally EA put things right this time around and we were able to enjoy many more hours with the game. The afternoon was dominated by the Hot Summer Nights event which I've already discussed above, but to which I will add one more thing - which is that EA does an outstanding job having producers and developers on hand to respond and answer questions. There is simply nothing like playing NBA Live or Tiger Woods and having the producer of the game stood beside you - although when you miss a putt from 2 feet away it's twice as embarrassing. However, rather than being a further example of my gameplaying inadequacy it proves that EA have also made big changes to their Tiger Woods game, something that is definitely welcomed by me.

Before I talk about Madden I'll take a moment to mention my two major accomplishments on this trip - a big win over Damon which was achieved thanks to 8 interceptions which BigD tossed my way, before I partnered with Damon to destroy the reputation of VGKobra in a win that was as close to a defeat as you could possibly imagine. He took it well though, although apparently the controller disagrees! The victory over Damon was especially memorable as I ran the score up and had Nathan take over to close it out. The other memorable pats of the trip were Damon's hair color, and I'm happy to provide this link (http://www.garnier100color.com/us/) which I know Damon will find especially useful (thank goodness he has a sense of humor)... and Sims (you can now pick fruit from a tree you'll be pleased to know) 2.

One further thing which shouldn't go without mention is the difference between the games on PS2 and XBox this year. For me, the difference between them is the most striking I have ever seen. Graphically, the XBox games looked a lot more impressive. It's true that in in recent years the comparison between consoles has been extremely close. Obviously the XBox graphics have been a bit cleaner and there has been less slowdown than on the PS2, but really there hasn't been much to choose between them. That has changed. Put each game side by side this year and you'll see a notable difference. It's worth bearing this in mind when you are picking which platform to buy your games on this year, should you be fortunate enough to own both consoles.

But onto the game itself, and as I eluded to earlier '06 will feature a steeper than normal learning curve mainly, although not entirely, because of the new Vision and Precision feature. For anyone for whom this is breaking news, Vision and Precision is the new passing system introduced by EA Sports this year. Each QB is given a cone of vision based on such attributes like awareness, the size of the cone being wider for a quarterback like Peyton Manning (who has good awareness) as opposed to one like Josh McCown (who doesn't) and throwing accuracy. Passing outside of the cone of vision is significantly less accurate and more likely to result in an incompletion than a pass thrown within the cone. Let's just lay one myth to bed though, which is that a pass outside of the cone will automatically be an interception and a pass inside of the cone automatically a completion. It won't, although the chances of throwing a pick are certainly much higher outside than inside the cone.

Vision and Precision as a concept is an outstanding idea because a Quarterback has to look in a particular direction before he makes a pass. That part makes sense. He rarely throws blind, except for maybe passes in the flat which ironically are taken care of by EA because passes outside the cone but into the flat are more likely to be completions than any other passes outside of the cone. A quarterback goes through a progression, beginning with his primary receiver but looking towards a second, third or fourth receiver depending on who is open. The cone is simply a graphical illustration of what an NFL QB puts into practice each Sunday afternoon. The other effect however is to give the defense some indication as to where the QB is going to throw the ball. We've all heard about defensive backs following the eyes of the quarterback. V&P allows you to do precisely the same since it gives you some indication as to where the ball is going to be passed and you can follow where the QB is looking. In reality, it has a third function which is hopefully to eliminate some of the 'drop back 20 yards and launch the ball downfield' cheesy gameplay which happens online, but only time will tell if that's the case. One thing's for certain, you'll need to hit the practice field and learn how to move the cone before you even take the field.

The cone can be moved from one receiver to the next in two different ways. The first is to move it using the right analog stick. I found this difficult however because I was either moving it too far or too short of the intended receiver. If the QB has a large cone of vision that would be fine because the receiver would still most likely be inside the cone but for a QB with a smaller cone it would be much more difficult. The second method is probably the most convenient and the way I would recommend. Pressing the R2 shoulder button (PS2) brings up the icon (square, triangle, circle or cross) for each receiver. You can then press the corresponding icon in order for the cone to switch straight to that receiver. One thing you will find is that you will need more time to perform both methods, whichever you try, and there is an automatic temptation to drop the QB further back in order to give yourself more time. The further back you drop the QB the less likely the pass is going to be a completion, so you need to avoid that if possible. It took me a few games before I started getting comfortable with the new system but once I knew which buttons I was pressing it started to feel realistic.

However, Vision and Precision isn't sold on everyone yet and it was definitely the case that some of the guys playing the game had trouble getting to grips with the cone. You will throw more interceptions early on, you'll definitely find yourself throwing into coverage and you'll get frustrated. The important thing is to stick with it because once you get it down it is extremely satisfying to use.

After we played a game I was checking out the stats and something new that EA have included this year is the passing and running log. The log is just a graphical indication of how often you passed or run the ball to each side of the field along with details of formations that can also be broken down by each quarter. It's a nice addition although I can't recall whether this information was retained in your profile or bio from game to game...

The second big new feature is the Truck Stick. Think of this as the offensive equivalent of the Hit Stick but with less brutality. It's much more effective though and the Truck Stick will help you charge your way through the defensive line. It's usefulness changes depending on the type of back you have. It's tough to accelerate and use Hit Stick at the same time, so if you have a slippery running back you will want to concentrate on using his speed. For a running back like Jerome Bettis though the Truck Stick will be at it's most useful. He will break tackles and push opposing defensive players out of the way while picking up nice yardage. It comes with a consequence though and that is in terms of fatigue. Use the Truck Stick on successive downs and you'll need to give your guy a few plays to rest while he gets his breath back. This is nice because again, it's realistic. My reaction to this feature before playing the game was that it sounded like the kind of gimmick best placed in the NFL Blitz series. My reaction after playing the game is contrary to that and I am confident it will go down well with most 06 players. Could it be abused online ?... only time will tell.

The improvements to the running game don't stop there because the offensive blocking appears to be much better than 05. I'm saying 'appears' because at least when I was running the ball I was finding my O-line could open holes up to run through and I could follow my blocker nicely. This is extremely similar to the improvements in the running game found in NCAA, and the comparisons with NCAA don't stop there because Madden now has the (long awaited and much anticipated) head tracking feature found in the NCAA series. Now your receiver will look at the ball when he catches it.

The third big new feature of 2006 is the 'Superstar' mode. IGN and Gamespot have been posting tons of screenshots and clips from this mode in recent weeks so we entered it knowing what to expect. Selecting your parents, taking an IQ test, hiring an agent.. everything is in there. I, along with Damon, gave this mode a test and we finished scoring 50% on the IQ test. Now before you draw any conclusions as to our intelligence based on that score we deliberately got a bunch of answers wrong so we could see who would draft us given that we didn't score too well (honestly... we did!) and in the end we were taken Arizona Cardinals in the 3rd round. Had we got a higher score perhaps we would have been drafted earlier, but even then it's tough to be taken in the first round. Your best bet is to either import a player from NCAA Or NFL Street to get picked earlier on according to the information I received while I was at EA. That said, this mode is going to be awesome fun for a lot of gamers.

One further observation... helmets were popping off at a dramatic rate and this is something that EA might want to consider toning down if they have the chance. In a few games I played the helmet seemed to pop off at least twice in each game. That's possibly more than the NFL average (I'm sure there's a statistic to track helmets popping off ?).

On the defensive side of the ball, EA has added some new formations, plays in the playbook on both defense and offense, and new defensive audibles. There is also a new option to 'shade' the receiver but I will admit that I didn't manage to activate this during any of the games I played so I can't comment on its usefulness. Playing defense was also just as much fun as it was last year. I think the balance between offense and defense is there to please most gamers this year without one appearing to be dominant over the other.

We were fortunate to get a brief glimpse of Madden online while we were at EA. In truth the screens and menus look very similar to those found when playing NCAA online so anyone who has experienced that will be more than comfortable with the setup of Madden online. The big online feature this year is the locker that you can upload files to online although beyond that it looks pretty similar to last year. I can't comment on how stable the online gameplay was because we didn't gain any experience of that but I anticipate that we will be able to give some impressions on that more fully when EA send us copies of the game next month.

This year EA has relaunched their Fantasy Football product and we were again fortunate to be given a presentation on the new features that EA are rolling out. It certainly seems that EA have taken big steps towards creating their own unique fantasy game, distinct from that offered by ESPN or Sportsline and are building on the solid foundation established last year. Uniquely, the EA fantasy football game will be integrated into Madden. You will notice a distinct flavor of Madden on the Fantasy football website each week as EA play out games and posts video clips involving the teams and players for the upcoming week to help you pick your lineup. It sounds good and it looks good, now all we have to do is draft ourselves a decent enough team and be able to compete. Just like last year the winners will receive prizes but EA have now added weekly awards in the form of medals, meaning there is an incentive to continue playing from week to week even if you are at the bottom of the league standings. Being able to compete in smaller games each week and collect medals along the way is a good idea, designed to counter the inevitable fall off in interest that every league experiences once players find they are out of the playoff race.

The trip to EA lasted only 2 days so we squeezed a lot into and got a lot out of our brief time there. However I'm personally grateful to everyone at EA and in particular Nathan who put a tremendous amount of effort and time into preparing the itinerary and scheduling everyone's arrival and accomodation. Keep checking out Madden Planet for many more impressions and detail on all the new features in the lead up to the release day.