Though "Madden 16" doesn't officially hit shelves until Tuesday, Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith has already spent some time playing an advance copy of the video game. And like nearly every NFL player who plays it, he checked out his rating the first time he fired it up. Unlike a good portion, though, he was actually fine with his numbers. "They've got my acceleration at like a 90, speed at like an 88 or something like that, and I said, ‘OK, that's fine,'" Smith said. "As long as I go through all the linebackers and see who's the fastest, if I'm top five, OK. If I'm not, I've got to call somebody. I'm calling EA [Sports]."

 

Quit it, and watch this. Because it's Madden season, it's Friday, and you deserve to have some fun with your pals Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Julio Jones, GRONK, Colin Kaepernick, Antonio Brown, Rex Ryan, and a dinosaur. They're all in the trailer for the fake but totally would-see-right-now movie Madden NFL 16. Watch it, let the bliss wash upon you like a cooler full of Gatorade, and then do it again and again. Everything that involves player-to-player contact has been improved. Blocking-especially in the run game-is clearly more realistic. There are far less suction blocks, more frames to each animation and variability in the contact.

 

If you're getting your copy of Madden 16 from either Target or Walmart then you'll need to call your local store and find out if they're doing a midnight release or not. Sometimes the Target/Walmart strategy can pay off since they're not the sites most gamers go to for midnight releases and the lines can be shorter. However, every location is different so your local store might not be doing a Madden 16 midnight release. Use the Target store locator and Walmart store locator to find out which place near you will let you get your baseball on at 12:01 a.m. In addition, one rider from each of the 32 cities will win an "Xbox One ultimate prize pack," which comes with a new console, a copy of the game, "and more," Uber said. This prize pack will be delivered to you by an NFL player from your city's team, possibly a player from the recent "Madden: The Movie" trailer.

 

Madden NFL 16 launches on August 25 for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4. Xbox One owners with an EA Access membership can start playing the full game right now. The game-winning scenario is eerily reminiscent of the Steelers' Super Bowl win over Arizona back in 2009, when Roethlisberger found receiver Santonio Homes for the game-winning touchdown with just 35 seconds left for a 27-23 victory. EA Sports was right on the money with its prediction of last season's Super Bowl, nailing the exact final score in New England's 28-24 win over Seattle. Still don’t believe me? In 2010 the cover featured two athletes, Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu. Fitzgerald had a decent enough season while Polamalu sprained his MCL in the first half of the first game of the season and missed the next four games. Then after returning, Polamalu played in three more games before injuring his PCL and missed more games as a result! So good luck to Sherman this season!

 

For those of you that think you already have the skills needed, head on over and try to run The Gauntlet. Available within the Skills Trainer menu, The Gauntlet allows players to put their Madden NFL skills and football knowledge to the test. The Gauntlet features forty increasingly difficult challenges testing all aspects of your game. Early challenges may be as simple as utilizing Acceleration Burst to gain a couple yards, while more complex stages require advanced skill at reading the defense or, conversely, containing a high-powered offense. Madden has hit the ground running this console generation and is in a better position to push forward than it has been in a while. This year's game is like the lone bright spot of the last generation: Madden NFL 13. That year we got Connected Careers and an improved passing game. Madden 16 improves these two facets, but it feels like other areas of the title have not progressed enough. Despite this uneven performance, Madden 16 demands you raise your game to the next level, and hopefully is in the process of raising its own. I'm disappointed in the areas that haven't been addressed.