There's an old (albeit imaginary) adage in the game's industry: If it can play games, Madden will undoubtedly follow. EA Sports is rushing Apple's App Store with a brand new game that takes full advantage of the iPhone's (and iPod's) touch screen. Unlike the console variants, the handheld Madden 10 experience is more accessible to the casual player. Beginners will be able to get by without thinking about the playbook, as the game automatically recommends appropriate plays. The action slows down when the quarterback has the ball, and color-coded icons appear on the screen, indicating the likelihood of making a completion.

In our brief time with the game, it was clear that EA Mobile placed a lot of effort into ensuring Madden could be played in short bursts: not only does the game launch within seconds from the iPhone menu, the game auto-saves after every play, allowing players to stop and resume a match any time they want. Hardcore football fans are likely to appreciate the added depth that casual gamers wil avoid: there are 2000 players in the game, voiced (tinny) commentary from John Madden, and a feature called "Hot Route" which allows players to manually draw plays to carry out. A ridiculous number of stats are also tracked by the game with full sorting, so you can know exactly who has the highest 3rd down conversion ratio in the league.

The game will be available for $9.99 in the App Store, though you can snag it for a discounted $7.99 today. We've been told that multiplayer is being worked on, as well as DLC, such as roster updates and "authentic jerseys."