GameRevolution, JoyStiq, WorthPlaying, 1UP and IGN have posted reviews for the game and on the whole it has received a pretty good reception – by the looks of things the game doesn’t differ too much when you compare the Xbox 360 version with the PS3 version, so lots of critics have just reviewed one platform version of the game.

GameRevolution gave Madden NFL 12 a B+ score, they said that the soundtrack and collision system were great, however didn’t like the lack of old mini-games and poor commentary. You can see their full review here.

We like IGN’s reviews and following hands-on time with the Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 12 and gave it 8 out of 10. They also criticized its fragmented and repetitive commentary, but in terms of graphics, presentation and gameplay the game impresses – to sum their review up they say that small improvements have been made to every aspect of the game – check out the full review here.

You can see JoyStiq’s review here – they give it 3.5 stars out of 5. 1UP scored it a B- here and finally WorthPlaying say that it deserves 9 out of 10, their review can be seen here and “wholeheartedly recommend Madden NFL 12 to gaming football fans”, they do say that there are some AI issues, but in terms of graphics they were very complimentary.

You can see more reviews of the Xbox 360 version of the game here and the PS3 version of the game here. At the time of this post 17 critics had submitted reviews to MetaCritic for the Xbox 360 of Madden 12 resulting in a metascore of 79 / 100, whilst ten PS3 reviews have been averaged out and resulted in a score of 80 / 100 – which suggests that there is not much difference in the two platforms.

Have you got your copy of Madden 12 yet? If so, are you impressed?

Madden NFL 12 will be the first game under the season ticket, which means access three days before the official release date. This is perfect for die-hard NFL fans but comes with a cost, and that’s $24.99 for PS3 and Xbox 360 owners. You’ll get many more perks with the season ticket, which launches today. These include the ability to play other EA Sports games early like FIFA, NCAA Football, and Tiger Woods, plus a 20% discount on EA Sports POLC, premium web content, and an exclusive badge.

Three days after you access the Madden NFL 12 download you’ll get to keep all achievements by moving them to your full retail copy. You can watch a video here that details all you need to know about EA Sports Season Pass, including frequently asked questions and how to buy the new service.

Some highlights from the new gameplay in Madden NFL 12 include a custom playbooks feature; AI enhancements, a new collision system and awareness for concussions, distinct throwing motions from quarterbacks, and opening presentations have been enhanced with cheerleaders and mascots for selected teams.

While Electronic Arts see the “season ticket” as a good deal for the gamer, how good it really turns out to be is yet to be seen. The user has to part with money upfront in the hope that these perks end up being worthwhile, and the main one seems to be early access to the full game. You may want to read about the online communities feature in Madden NFL 12.

Do you like the idea of playing full EA games before their official release date?

However, according to Anthony Taormina over at gamerant.com, it wasn’t just the finalized cover art that the publisher EA Sports unveiled recently either, as they also announced and detailed the new ‘Hall of Fame Edition’ of the Madden NFL 12 game, which features Marshall Faulk as the cover star.

Besides from featuring a premium bronze, foil embossed cover with an image of Marshall Faulk and a full retail version of the Madden NFL 12 game, the ‘Hall of Fame Edition’ also comes with a few cool goodies and NFL-related collectibles including an autographed Panini Card signed by Faulk himself.

It also comes with more exclusive cards that have been dubbed as the Platinum Pack. The ‘fantasy football-type’ trading cards include former Madden cover stars and players from a select pool of 13 NFL Hall of Famers. The game will be released on August 30th for the PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360.

Are you looking forward to the release of the Madden NFL 12 game?

This trailer features brand new gameplay, and it’s definitely the most revealing trailer to date and gives you an idea just how impressive the visuals are looking this time around. Vick may have lost out to Hillis in the cover star battle, but EA still found the time to give him a good segment in this trailer, and you can see how his player model looks like in-game.

The trailer shows off some mascots and the much-talked about weather affects during play. You can also see various player celebrations and some cheerleader segments too, all of which are packaged with the ‘Champion’ soundtrack by Chris Brown and Chipmunk.

If you previously were not interested in Madden NFL 12, this trailer may change your mind. At the end, we also get a reminder from EA that the game will be due out on Xbox 360, PS3 and other platforms on August 30th.

Watch it below and let us know if Madden NFL 12 is a day-one purchase for you or not, as we’ve read some complaints online that Madden NFL 12 is just ‘recycled formula’ from every other Madden game that EA release each year. What do you say to this?

As Sam Clay over on the xg247.co.uk website recently noted, the Madden NFL 12 game – which is scheduled to arrive in stores on August 30th – features an all-new collision system, which will enable gamers to maintain full control of the players right up to the point of impact.

The game has also received more than 100 defensive A.I. enhancements, which result in the smartest Madden defence ever. The Madden NFL 12 game also features hundreds of visual improvements, including new player equipment, 3D grass and new player specific animations.

Madden NFL 12 also features a completely overhauled presentation, including a new network-inspired broadcast graphics package, 32 team-specific run outs featuring cheerleaders and mascots and more than 500 dynamic broadcast cameras that are authentic to every stadium.

The upcoming game also comes with online communities, which will provide players with a great way to meet and play with other Madden NFL gamers. You can read about the other new features over at xg247.co.uk. Are you a Madden NFL fan?

Without further ado, Cleveland Browns player Peyton Hillis has somewhat upset the odds by being selected by the fans as Madden NFL 12 cover star ahead of Michael Vick who plays for Philadelphia.

According to ESPN’s website, the overall result was actually an easy victory for Hillis, as he received 66% out of more than 12,000,000 votes. But are you happy about the decision or do you think Vick should have been chosen instead?

Either way, the fans had the final say, so no-one can really argue about it. A lot of you are now wondering if Peyton Hillis will manage to escape the ‘Madden Curse’ and go on to have a great season next year. Some say that Dree Brees, cover star for Madden 11 escaped the curse, so it will be interesting to see what happens with Hillis.

Did you vote for Hillis to be cover star for Madden NFL 12? If so, let us know your thoughts on the result. We also want to hear what Michael Vick fans have to say too.

But the obvious question we’re going to ask you, is who deserves to be on the Madden NFL 12 cover the most? You could argue that Michael Vick is a firm favorite since he is considered to be more popular than Hillis, but on the other hard, you may feel that Hillis should get the vote based on merit for his hard working performances this season.

Either way, the decision will be announced on April 27th via SportsNation on ESPN2 at 4PM Eastern Time, so don’t miss it. If you still haven’t voted yet, head to ESPN’s official website here to cast your vote.

If you are planning on picking up Madden 12 later on this year, let us know which player you’d like to see on the cover the most – Peyton Hillis or Michael Vick?

Some were worried that the NFL Lockout would affect the game’s release date, however according to a recent article posted on JoyStiq the lockout will not affect the video game. EA Sports‘ President Peter Moore released this statement: “We’ll be shipping this year, regardless of what the labor issues are, whether they’re resolved or not”.

Moore went on to say that Madden NFL 12 will arrive on August 30th 2011, hopefully a demo will hit Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network before then, however NFL fans will just be happy to hear that the game is still arriving this year.

You can check out some of our previous articles to remind you why you are looking forward to this game so much, the first teaser trailer can be watched here, whilst this post tells you all about the new concussion rule.

When we come across more Madden NFL 12 news, rumors, screenshots and videos we will keep you posted, will you buy this year’s NFL release?

For those of you that still don’t know, Madden 12 has already been given a release date of August 11th for the Xbox 360, PS3 and there will probably also be versions on the way for the Nintendo Wii, PSP and PS2 as well, if we follow trends from previous games.

Not much details are known on the game yet, and this latest trailer doesn’t offer much, except a glimpse of future reveals which EA are planning to unveil soon. However, EA has already announced that Madden 12 will introduce a new ‘surprise onside kick‘ feature and Tuner Sets which you may already be familiar with from previous games. Click the links to the EA blog to find out more about both.

The teaser trailer is below, take a look and let us know what you think of it. Have you voted for your cover star yet? You can do so here if you haven’t.

In the running this year are a range of different players, most notably, the coverstar of last years Madden Drew Brees who is in the line-up for a second turn at the cover position. Competing with him are the likes of Larry Fitzgerald (the 2010 Cover), Hakeem Nicks who scored 11 Touchdowns in 2010, and fans can even vote for ‘The 12th Man’, a symbolic reference to the supporters readiness, will and desire to help out their team.

Other contenders include Chris Johnson, Philip Rivers, Michael Vick, Dwight Freeney, Preyton Hillis and many more. The selection is quite wide and logic suggests that the a player who represents the team with the greatest backing will come out on top, but nothing is set-in-stone.

In order to vote you can visit this site and start your voting. We can’t wait to see who will be on the front of this years Madden NFL title and seeing as the buzz has begun we’d like to know who you’re voting for.