Unlike previous years, EA Sports and developer EA Tiburon aren't going to talk about upcoming title Madden NFL 13 during the Super Bowl. But that's not going to stop us from unveiling our wishlist for the game.

Apart from the usual baseline of bug fixes and improvement tweakings, Madden 13 has a long way to go to improve upon Madden 12. We don't know what EA Tiburon's focus is going to be this year, but we hope that as a whole the spotlight is on getting this series back on track instead of adding new features nobody asked for.

This year the Madden franchise faces a particular challenge in trying to move on after the departure of long-time development veterans like Ian Cummings, Phil Frazier, and a host of other personnel that have left. There's no way to know how this will effect the series, so here's hoping that the new blood will be good for the franchise.

Feel free to post your own ideas in the comments section – we know you've got plenty.

THE MADDEN NFL 13 WISHLIST
+Items italicized where also specifically mentioned in last year's list and have yet to be implemented or fixed!

General

• No more fan voting for the cover athlete. We don't need another Peyton Hillis debacle
• A better menu system. The current system obscures info onscreen, buries other menus, and is confusing in general 
• Better crowds and sideline players
• Create-A-Play feature
• Fix numerous bugs

Gameplay

• AI that can accurately throw short passes to the flats and sidelines
• QBs take too many sacks instead of either getting the ball off or throwing a wobbly pass
• More information on the GameFlow plays so you know when you're choosing a 4-3 Cover 2 formation vs. a 3-4 one, for instance. Could we get a thumbnail of the play art?
• An improved kicking game taking more variables into account and which is more challenging overall
• The ability to create offensive and defensive player packages outside of a game situation
• A better range of penalties called and fixes to the challenge system. Challenges aren't available when they should be, and the final calls can be baffling (like real life, we guess!)

+ New blocking logic for the second level so fullbacks and pulling guards put their hats on the immediate threat
+ True gang tackles
+ New passing trajectories to cut down on linebacker interceptions over the middle and scaling down of jumping linebackers
+ More ball awareness by players in the passing game, including better head tracking
+ Receivers come back for the ball and more jostling between the DBs and WRs – including the importance of the pass interference penalty
+ Make the fumble animations, minigame, and outcome match each other. Too many times what you see and who comes up with the ball is completely different
+ Defensive ends aren't effective in rushing the passer: A far cry from their importance in real life
+ Too many gimme INTs dropped
+ Better special teams blocking
+ Fewer canned animations and more real physics-based movement

Read on for more of our opinions on how to improve the series.