Madden 10 is approaching and we’ve got a new gameplay feature in the next installment of the Madden franchise.  One major problem from previous Madden games was when a quarterback threw the ball to a player near the sidelines, the player would step out of bounds most of the time.  However in Madden 10, this will no longer be the case.  To fix this, three main changes have been made:

1. AI players slow down as they approach the sideline, instead of running full speed.
2. New animations added so players drag their feet better
3. Players can also “steer” the catch animations in a certain direction

Players with a higher awareness rating will actually be able to “steer” better than other players and they will be more successful at dragging their feet than other players.

“This new ’steering’ technology is being used in many other areas that we’ll be talking about soon, but even in this simple example I think it’s evident how we can really improve the passing game with this addition,” said Madden 10 lead designer Ian Cummings.

According to the new Madden 10 website, Madden 10 is set to hit store shelves in North America on August 14, 2009.