I’m now convinced that EA Sports has my phone tapped. I literally had a conversation on the phone last night talking about how this year’s Madden was vastly improved in so many areas over last years iteration. But that said, there were still things I missed from the last gen version of the series — things like trading cards.

Well here they are … sort of. Cards will contain players, coaches, and jersey options, but special ability or perk cards offering up things like “rocket arm” or “scrambling legs”  don’t look like they made the next-gen transition. You will however be able to collect cards and do something new with them — build a custom team.

Cards will apparently come in different flavor decks (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) with each deck costing a different amount of “points” and each deck containing higher quality players than the previous. Points won’t cost you money (which is refreshing) but will instead be earned via on-field achievements.  It also looks like there will be periodic “weekly deals” offering up discounts on the rare cards.

Collecting players from the same professional or college team will grant special on the field rating boots and different instances of a single player will be able to exist on the same team. So, while you will need to build your team with lower level players at first, with a little dedication and hard work, it won’t be long before your squad resembles the John Madden Ultimate “Brett Favre” Team shown above. Boom!

The Madden 10 “Ultimate Team” feature will be available for free sometime in January via download on Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network. Below are some screen images provided by EA Sports. What do you think of this latest addition to the game?

Even though this eagerness process repeats itself every year, nevertheless, Madden 10 is one of the most anticipated titles of 2009. To help quench some of this anticipation, Ian Cummings, the Lead Designer on Madden 10, has recently posted updates in regards to the development process on a weekly basis. This week, Cummings talks about new animations that have been added to WRs/DBs for a more overall realistic experience.

Go here to read the full blog by Lead Designer Ian Cummings as he delves into what will make Madden 10 an enjoyable experience when it comes to WRs and DBs. Ripten will continue to keep you informed about Madden 10 throughout its development from now it’s release.

Last year at E3, we were able to unearth information about a yet to be released NFL Head Coach game which ended up being confirmed several months later. This year’s conference has its share of surprises as well.

It has been confirmed to me that the chain gang and on field referees will in fact be making a return to Madden banded NFL football in the 2010 installment of the game. That’s all the information I have at this time, but be sure to check back often for updates.