First details on Madden 09 for the Wii

As with what we’ve seen from NCAA Football 09, this year’s release on the Wii for Madden 09 will help to kickoff the All-Play brand of games on that console. The idea behind it is to make the games more inviting to inexperienced players who have felt the games have been intimidating and confusing. The entire line of All-Play will be designed from the ground-up for the Wii as opposed to receiving a port of the PS2 version with motion controls tacked on and mini-games added.

Yesterday Peter Moore showed off the Wii version of Madden 09 and talked the media through the thinking behind it as recapped by Kotaku. Included in the game this year will be simpler menus, a five on five mode, and the ability to create plays on the fly by outlining receiver routes. There will also be less that gets in the way of playing by eliminating timeouts, huddles, and cutting down on penalties which will keep the games moving at a brisk pace. We also know there will be online play, however whether it will differ in structure or options from last year has not been discussed.

Clearly the hardcore crowd isn’t going to be very interested in that but that isn’t who the game is marketed to for obvious reasons. The hardcore gamers will get what they want from the 360/PS3 and aren’t looking to the Wii for that experience. It is a different crowd on the Wii with those looking for more accessibility and fun, or for a different game than what they would already own on their 360/PS3.

Whether this will end up being more successful than the previous attempts remains to be seen. But given the focus on producing the titles to specifically take advantage of the Wii and offer a unique experience there is reason to be optimistic.