Just as the sports gaming world has had to adjust to the idea of EA Sports being the only player in the NFL gaming market, after the publisher signed a multiyear contract with the league in December 2004, so too has the company had to shift its perspective in releasing a product on which all eyes will be focused come release day. With the release of Madden NFL 06, believers will be expecting more out of their favorite football game than ever before, while Madden skeptics will be analyzing the tiniest flaws in each year's release and signifying each blunder as indicative of the lack of competition in the football marketplace. In the lead-up to the release of Madden NFL 06, the first game in EA Sports' football world, the spotlight will shine harshly upon every aspect of the title, for better or worse.

　　Well lookie here. Is that a wide receiver looking back at the ball before catching it? Yep, head tracking makes its debut in Madden NFL 06.

　　If you believe the Madden team at EA's Tiburon studios, it was prepared for this type of scrutiny and criticism from the get-go. In fact, as the game's producers told us, it was actually the NFL that initially approached EA about the idea of an exclusive deal, after being courted by a number of disparate media companies across the globe. Exclusivity certainly isn't a new notion for the NFL, as the league has already created unique exclusive partnerships with companies such as Reebok and Gatorade to be the sole providers of their respective products. Despite the inevitable criticism that was to follow, both the NFL and EA knew that, as the sports business (and sports gaming business) grew, so too did the opportunity to harness that growth, and an exclusive license was the tool with which to make it happen. Despite the criticism, the producers of the Madden series said they realized the tremendous opportunity an exclusive licensing deal could provide to the franchise, especially in terms of access to an NFL now wholly dedicated to the games emerging from a single publisher.

　　So how does all of this marketing-speak translate into the next Madden game? If you listen to the folks at EA, they'll tell you about unprecedented access to NFL assets such as game film, coaches, and players, all of which is designed to create a game that's even more realistic than before. In more tangible terms, the NFL licensing deal means that Madden NFL 06 is now perched in a unique spot in the sports gaming world, and the team has been freed up to branch out and try some new things with the venerable franchise.

　　In a previous preview of Madden NFL 06, we talked about the offensive focus of the game, especially regarding the passing game. While the EA Tiburon team is determined to deliver the same kind of offensive makeover to the game that Madden NFL 2005 delivered on the defensive side of the ball, there's more to the story than just a revised method of tossing the ball in the air. Over the coming week, we'll be delving into everything new in Madden NFL 06, from the mundane but necessary tweaks that make their way into each iteration of the game, to entirely new modes that take the Madden NFL series in a direction heretofore unseen.

　　Here's what you can expect to see over the coming days as we dive headfirst into the deep end of Madden NFL 06:

　　NFL superstar mode

　　What is it like to take control of a rookie NFL hopeful and build his career over multiple years? What is it like to live the life of a well-paid, well-scrubbed, and well-known pro athlete? These are just the types of questions answered in the biggest new gameplay addition in Madden NFL 06: NFL superstar. Superstar mode puts you in the position of rookie football star, trying to make a name for himself both on the field and off. From college all-star games, to hiring and firing agents, to off-the-field drama, to balancing commitments to your team mates and to those who pay your bills, to pumping up your stats on gameday, NFL superstar mode puts you in the driver's seat of an NFL star's career. In the coming days, we'll be taking a close look at the inner workings of this mode's gameplay, the unique ways you go about creating the look and temperament of your player, and the impressive amount of content this mode contains.

　　New gameplay implementations

　　Last year's Madden was notable for a single innovation: the defensive hit stick. In Madden NFL 06, not only has passing received an overhaul of sorts with the implementation of the vision and precision system, but you'll be sticking it on offense as well with the implementation of the offensive hit stick, which should add an entirely new arsenal of moves to your running game. Speaking of the running game, what kind of improvements can we expect to see when playing possession-type ball and pounding the ball up the middle? Smart routes get smarter this time around too, with receivers not only paying attention to the routes they need to run but the distance markers they need to run to when playing a game where inches mean so much.

　　Madden NFL 06 may be focused on offense this year, but that doesn't mean the defensive side of the ball has been ignored. Far from it, in fact. The so-called adaptive AI, especially concerning the defensive secondary, has been specially tuned to cut down on money plays that work snap after snap. We're eager to take a look at what these gameplay tweaks mean to you when trying to score or when trying to prevent your opponent from scoring.

　　We are not going to say "Ron Mexico" here. We are not going to say "Ron Mexico" here. We are not...

　　Online Features

　　By now, online play and Madden go together like Charles Woodson and INTs. Still, as the EA Sports online community has continued to evolve, so too has the implementation of online play in the Madden series. One of the most compelling new additions to the Madden NFL 06 online menu will be the formation of online clubs, essentially gathering places for you and up to 100 of your closest Madden buddies to congregate, challenge one another, and settle scores on the gridiron against rival clubs on your server. Madden NFL 06's online features will not only let you gather your friends together around the sport of football, but also make sure that your online games are as cheese-free as possible using a unique online rating system that will let you provide feedback on opposing players that's deeper and more accurate than anything currently available. Will it be the end of cheesers and quitters? Probably not. But it's a pretty good place to start. Finally, an upgraded matchmaking system and an interesting server-side save system that EA's calling the EA Sports Locker are just a taste of what Madden NFL 06 has in store for you online.

　　With E3 quickly approaching, the gaming world will be focused on EA Sports and particularly its flagship title. That said, rest assured that everything we know about Madden NFL 06 so far will be coming straight to you. Check back later in the week for details on all of these attributes and more as our complete coverage of this much-anticipated game continues.