Another year, another Madden. The Madden "machine" is an unstoppable force that brings in new gamers and returning casual sports aficionados into the gaming-sphere every August. This year is special, though, as it marks the 20th Anniversary of the Madden series with 2009 on, well, pretty much all systems.

Special Packaging

Madden has done very little when it comes to adding extra features, dvds, etc. to up the price of their game, but this year will be different.

You can go for the plain version of the game for $59.99 (PS3, Xbox 360) or dive into the 20th Anniversary Edition for $89.99.

The package will include the game (of course), the full version of NFL Head Coach 09, the classic Madden '93 with updated rosters, and bonus video content.

Standalone Head Coach was poorly received last year and proved to be a glorified stat-tracking and board-room meeting simulator that fans quickly turned away from. This year's edition will serve as a companion piece to Madden 09 as you'll be able to manage your team off the field, preparing them for the match out on the gridiron.

Brett Favre's Curse

Green Bay Packer's star QB will be gracing the cover of this year's Madden, but was it a wise choice? He's already facing guys probably half his age out on the field now, does he need the stigma of the "Madden curse" to top it off?

Every Madden cover athlete has been victim of the "curse" that looks to injure NFL players, usually putting them out of commission for a few games or like the case with the Falcon's QB, Michael Vick, missed all his games but five after making the 2004 cover.

Presentation is King

EA Sports' next-gen (now, current gen) Madden offerings have been mediocre upgrades to the already available PS2 offerings and it looks like they'll change their tune this year.

The visuals will finally show off what the PS3 and Xbox 360 are capable of as new player models, prettier weather effects, and better animations make it into the game. And finally, the game will run at a steady 60 frames per second clip, where only the 360 version did that before.

What's Your Madden IQ?

The biggest addition to this year's Madden is "Madden IQ" where you go into a Tron-esque field to test your skills and the game will determine what difficulty is best for you to play on. If you'd rather do it yourself, though, feel free to dig into the menus and adjust it by hand.

Besides the "Madden IQ" feature, there's also a Rewind option which should level the playing field when newbies try to take on expert players. The game will let you redo a down that has gone terribly wrong and give you chance to stop that game-ending interception or QB sack. Backtrack will give you live commentary on what you did well and what you could've done better, as well.

Madden NFL 09 is out August 12 on every imaginable system (except PC), just in time for you to throw the digital pigskin around for a bit before the season kicks off again.

Carlos Macias is a featured writer for Xomba.com. Read the rest of his work here .