Madden 12 Surprise Onside Kick Revealed

Published February 7th, 2011 by GoMadden

The first-ever Madden 12 blog has just been released as we said it would, and while there were no major announcements apparent, there should be some level of excitement over the confirmation of a long-wanted addition; Madden 12 will feature surprise onside kicks.

Madden 12 surprise onside kick

Over the past few months, a lot of discussion has been waged over Twitter with Madden NFL 12 creative director Ian Cummings over the possible inclusion of surprise onside kicks into everyone’s favorite NFL video game. While the community has wanted such a feature for a while, the maneuver’s lack of presence in Madden became more noticeable with the release of Madden 11, shortly after the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl with the sneaky kick style. We’ve even had our own spats with Ian on the issue.

Now, however, all that debate can be put to rest as EA has confirmed its inclusion in Madden 12 in its first Madden 12 blog post.

Ian Cummings: “For those of you that may not have been following me closely on Twitter or anything, I fiercely debated against this feature for a while with many members of the community. This wasn’t because I didn’t want the feature (as of course it does happen on Sundays), but because I thought frankly that there were just more important tasks to do before we got to it. More importantly, I was worried about the exploitation of the feature online.

There were multiple members on the design team that kept bugging me about it because they also wanted the feature in, and we went back and forth for weeks on all the problems it might cause and the time it might cost to implement. After much debate, I just decided to take a look at the code myself and see if I could bite it off. I came in on a Saturday and hacked away, just trying to get some semblance of it working.”

Check out the video below for a first look at an early build of the surprise onside kick in action, and remember to leave us your thoughts on whether or not you think surprise onside kicks should be in the game.

Madden 12 Surprise Onside Kick



Madden 13 Video Game Design Talk
  • http://GoMadden.com GoMadden

    Just as I told Ian at the time, I definitely think surprise kicks need to be in the game, however it should come with increased attention to special teams. Players need more flexibility on how they use their special teams units, how far off they are from the kickoff, etc etc. Give players the options they need to make whether to use a surprise onside or not a tactical decision.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LNTZAKX6MSK63HJ46NBUJQ7FIM Gregory W

    Instead of worring about new features like onside kicks. How about fix some problems first to make the game better.

    1.Put my online record on the main page once I log on line. It is impossible to see my online record on Madden 11.

    2.Bring back the in-game save feature from Madden 2005. That was a great feature, why take it out?

    3.Bring back the ability form me to look up my opponents last 10 games played history after I played them online. The person who took that feature out should be fired.

    4.Bring back the screen shack after a good hit stick.

    5.Bring back the Highlight feature that shows more than one play over and over. I use to like to see four shots of the game highlights.

    6.CONSECUTIVE HIT TACKLING!!! Pro tak is not consecutive hit tackling, its consecutive hit hugging. Stop the one tackle at a time animations. Let a player be able to be hit twice on one tackle.

    7.Let players where their own team helmets in the pro-bowl.

    8.Let the field affect the player’s jerseys. I use to like it when player’s jerseys would get dirtier during the game

  • Anonymous

    I like the idea but not how it is executed.  So far, between me doing a surprise kick and other players, the kicking team recovered the kick 99% of the time.  Just another cheap trick for those online players who look for the cheapest edge to win.  Yea, you know who you are.  Also, how about fixing some of the features that have been neglected.  Once again, I spend good money on another Madden game where they change just a few things and call it good.  Yea, you put in the surprise kicks and took out the hit sticks.  I thought the hit stick features was one of the best things.  I wonder if the NFL had something to do with that, since they are cracking down on the hard hitting.  It’s a shame I have to hear Collinsworth again as an announcer.  Thanks EA for monopolizing the NFL franchise, you are ripping off every hard core sports gamer out there

  • Anonymous

    I like the idea but not how it is executed.  So far, between me doing a surprise kick and other players, the kicking team recovered the kick 99% of the time.  Just another cheap trick for those online players who look for the cheapest edge to win.  Yea, you know who you are.  Also, how about fixing some of the features that have been neglected.  Once again, I spend good money on another Madden game where they change just a few things and call it good.  Yea, you put in the surprise kicks and took out the hit sticks.  I thought the hit stick features was one of the best things.  I wonder if the NFL had something to do with that, since they are cracking down on the hard hitting.  It’s a shame I have to hear Collinsworth again as an announcer.  Thanks EA for monopolizing the NFL franchise, you are ripping off every hard core sports gamer out there