EA Sports is trying something new this year to tap into the craze over fantasy football: incorporating a proprietary fantasy football system in Madden NFL 09 for PS3 and Xbox 360.
Called EA Sports Fantasy Football, the service will include a new Web site and will have fantasy football applications specific to the Xbox 360 and PS3 later this summer. The Web-based service will be free, while members of Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network will need to download the fantasy-football applications for a fee.
Once the application is downloaded, gamers will be able to play as their fantasy football squad in Madden NFL 09. EA Experts, a team of internal fantasy-football gurus, will serve as a go-to source for all fantasy football information.
EA Sports Fantasy Football customers will be able to download the EA Sports Fantasy Football Live Draft Tracker and experience a fantasy draft on their Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Once they make their pick, gamers will be able to view video clips and hear the EA Experts team provide commentary on top players.
When tracking the progress of your Madden NFL 09 fantasy football team, you can view the scores in two ways: a full-screen mode with complete rosters and details, or a picture-in-picture mode that lets players to keep an eye on scoring updates while watching live football action.
Now, as for importing your fantasy team into Madden…. Through the Web site mentioned and hyperlinked above, players can designate which fantasy team will be imported into Madden NFL 09. The fantasy team will be a fully functional created team and can be played in all areas available to created teams, including online head-to-head games.