Madden NFL 10 suits up August 14

In January, EA confirmed that as part of its cost-cutting measures to reduce the company's total headcount by 11 percent, it had sacked a number of developers at its EA Tiburon studio, better known as the development house behind Madden NFL, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and NCAA Football.

Championing the "do more with less" ethos, EA today said that the last undated annual sports sim from its Tiburon studio--Madden NFL 10--will be available August 14. This year, Madden NFL will ship for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, and Wii.

As it does every year, EA Tiburon has continued to evolve its professional-football formula. Though EA has yet to fully delve into specifics, the publisher did say that the game will feature all-new animation technology. EA also promised that players would have more control over the outcome of a play, giving examples such as fighting for a loose fumble, dragging a defender toward the first-down marker, or stepping up in the pocket to avoid a rush.

With EA confirming earlier this month that NCAA Football 10 will sit out a year on the Wii, the publisher did say that Madden NFL 10 will appear on Nintendo's console. However, it appears as if the publisher will continue its sports-game experimentation on the Wii, saying that the title has been "completely redesigned and built from the ground up." Curiously, no mention was made of the casual-gamer-oriented All-Play label.

EA plans to methodically reveal more information through the Madden NFL 10 official Web site, which launched today. According to the site, a demo for the game is expected to arrive in early August.