Madden NFL 09, developed by EA Tiburon and published by EA Sports

After the results of the Game Critics Awardswere announced two weeks ago, we reached out to several winners for their reactions and some updates about their games in progress. In the Best Sports Game category, Madden NFL 09 took home the trophy. We emailed some questions to Steve Chiang, co-founder and chief of EA Tiburon. Here are his responses:

Four of the five nominees for Best Sports were EA studios. How competitive are the various teams within EA? How soon after the awards announcement did you send taunting emails to the folks working on NBA Live 09, Skate It and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09?

Having four of the five nominations is a great testament to the quality of game teams we have within EA. Sports is competitive by nature, and our teams are constantly driving to be the best. That said, also within sports is the concept of team, and within EA Sports we have been and are building a culture of cross-team collaboration, team work and quality. We have amazing people behind each of these titles and we are constantly focused on innovating and re-inventing the genre. When our teams see features like video uploads, GamerNet, Be a Pro or Online Team Play, the first reaction is "cool", the second is "how can I get it in my game."

Madden has no direct competition by virtue of EA's exclusivity agreement with the NFL. What motivates you to improve the game?

To read the rest of our Q&A with Steve Chiang, click on the link below.

1. REA...d his lips: Home will be released by the end of 2008
   
2. FIN...Beat? Finished? Conquered? What do you say at the end?
   
3. ALL...for none: E For All's exhibitor list looks very Mother Hubbard
   
4. RND...Who will be appointed the spokesperson for white America?