While we’ve heard all about Madden NFL 17’s new booth, and seen it’s graphics in action (it looks great by the way), we haven’t heard a whole lot about what’s new in terms of gameplay and features till today. EA’s press event, called ‘Play’, changed all that though as the mega-publisher dug into the meat of the all-new franchise mode.

According to EA and developer Tiburon, the goal for Madden 17 was to streamline the play experience, but also add more to it, and keep things seamless. All of that sounds pretty counter-intuitive. Oh yeah, and with all that, the game has to still be -you know- fun.

The new elements basically narrow down to two areas: off field play, and Play the Moment. And of those two, Play the Moments is far and away the biggest game changer. The new mode allows gamers to sim games through all the ‘tedious’ stuff, CPU vs CPU style, while waiting for each single game’s big moments.

When there’s a three and out, you won’t be called on to play, but as soon as “red zone drives, vital third downs, game-winning drives and more” pop up, you’ll be yanked of the bench (in this case, couch) and have control over everything as though you were playing a normal game of Madden.

The big idea is to make games general move faster and make 0laying through a whole season more appealing. EA says you can play a full 16, playoffs, and Superbowl all in a weekend if you like – and I assume they don’t mean nonstop play, because it sounds like you could probably play two or three seasons if you did that.

Personally, I enjoy playing complete games, so this might not be my cup of tea, but than again I’m not much for playing through seasons anyway. I’m more of an ‘exhibition game’ guy. So if you do play full seasons often, Play the Moments might spice things up nicely. Oh, and you can turn this feature on and off whenever you like. So if you don’t dig it, no worries.

And then there’s the off field elements I mentioned. Off the field stuff has seen an expansion for Madden 17, and now includes several elements that it never has before. Namely, you can gain in-game boosts by analyzing your opponents strengths and weaknesses and tailoring your strategies to match. You can also make ‘Big Decisions’ as though you were in the front office like “bringing players back from injury, signing free agents, negotiating new contracts and more”. Lots to like there if you’re a longtime fan, even more if you’re into the aforementioned season play.

There’s even more new stuff though, like “practice squads, full player editing and a dynamic score ticker”, all of which was directly requested by series fans. So EA’s listening folks.

August 23rd is the date, mark it off on your calendars, as that’s when Madden NFL 17 comes to the Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PS3.

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New season, new voices. Madden 17 welcomes in a pair of new talents to the video game table, but also longtime football experts in their own rights, as neither Brandon Gaudin nor Charles Davis are a stranger to the sport.

Gaudin will be joining the team at the Big Ten Network as a play-by-play man this Fall, but you probably know him best as the voice of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, where he’s been since 2013. He’s also a part pf Westwood One though, and will call NFL games for the network, as well as covering men’s basketball.

As for Davis, he’s a mainstay on the NFL Network and NFL on FOX, and has also covered the NLF draft for the NFL Network. He knows a ton and a half about the game itself, and you can look forward to his analysis of what you’re doing on the field during games of Madden 17.

Madden NFL 17 hits for the PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PS3 this August the 23rd from EA Sports and developer EA Tiburon. Subscribers to the EA Access program on the Xbox One can get an early chance to play the game too, via the Play First Trial system. So if you can’t wait for Madden Day, make sure you log on to check that out.

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Ground plays tight end of the New England Patriots, though you probably already knew that even if you’re not an NFL fan. Gronkowski has been all over the place in the last few years, hitting talk shows, commercials, and everything else. And now he’s the Madden cover star.

Madden NFL 17 will host the player on it’s cover, which you can check out below. Unfortunately, there isn’t a ton more to share as of yet about the actual game, which has yet to be detailed. Though if you’re already a fan, you know more or less what to expect.

That said, the pair of new screen shots that emerged along with the Gronk-ouncement today do looks pretty sharp. Madden always seems to set the bar a little higher in terms of looks every year, and it certainly looks like 2016’s edition will follow suite there.

Stay tuned, we’ll be getting lots more on this one over the next few months, as we head towards the game’s release for the Xbox One/360 and PS4/3 this coming August.

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So, think of this as an announcement for an announcement, but yes there’s Madden news a-coming… and soon. The latest in the long (long) running NFL series of sports games is set to arrive right on time this August, and with it will come a new cover athlete and some new features.

Sure it might be the only game in town, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be a reason to upgrade if you’re a big NFL fan. Developed in beautiful Orlando, Florida by EA Tiburon, the new version of the game is sure to have some new bells and whistles, al of which you’ll be able to hear about first on May the 12th, which is in just a few scant days.

Tune in during the 6pm eastern/3pm pacific time edition of ESPN SportsCenter, and you’ll be treated to the reveal of the Madden NFL 17 cover athlete and a new gameplay trailer, so you can get an early peek at the legendary gridiron game in action.

If you’d actually like to play early, well, you can do that too. Check out EA’s premium service, EA Access ($4.99 a month), and become a member. From there you’ll be able to take part in the game’s Play First Trial when it becomes available, and play Madden 17 before non-EA Accessers.

As for the full version of the game, you can expect to see Madden NFL 17 appear with its new cover athlete in tow, on August 23rd for the Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, and PS3.

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