Back in August, rumors started to fly that EA was working on an arcade version of their monopolistic Madden NFL franchise. Today those rumors were proven true, as the company has announced Madden NFL Arcade will be coming this year to XBLA and the PSN. Featuring a gameplay style similar to 3 on 3 NHL Arcade, but with a less cartoony graphical presentation, the new game will bring all 32 NFL teams to a 5 on 5 matchup.

Rather than keep all the cumbersome rules of a regular NFL regular season game, EA has decided to toss out penalties and field goals. Each team gets four downs to go 60 yards to paydirt, and the first team to score 30 wins. The game will also include 13 unlockable "Game Changers", which will act as power-ups, enabling the game to be broken open on any given play. These will include expected power-ups, like charging up the d-line for a sack, or freezing out your opponent, but will also include more meta upgrades, such as turning off your opponents passing icons.

“When you look around the office and see your whole team playing and having tons of fun with it, you know the game hit the right mark,” said marketing director Nathan Stewart. “We have diehard Madden fans who have worked on the franchise for a decade, and more casual gamers who are all playing together and enjoying it. If our productivity the past few weeks is any indication, we’ve created a game that everyone will love."

No solid date is given in the press release, but it does say that the game will be coming in December. It will sell for $14.99 (PSN) or 1200 (XBLA). EA also sent along a handful of screenshots for the game, which you can check out below (click to enlarge). I'm in, anyone else?