The following comments come from Yuri Bialoskursky, lead designer on Madden NFL 13 for Wii U...

On the speediness of using the GamePad...

"It's all about speed. It's all there in front of you."

On off-TV play...

"It literally acts as a second TV."

On time in development...

• Pre-production on the Wii U version began in February and full production started in April
• Game is currently going through Nintendo's certification process

"We constantly [had] to evolve the game along with the [Wii U] hardware. We wanted to make sure that we were doing it right."

• Hoping to bring Infinity Engine over to Wii U next year (FIFA 13 on Wii U is missing the engine also)

• View basic formations, specific sets within them, and the available plays on the GamePad
• All this can be viewed at the same time
• Select a play to see a real-time view of the line of scrimmage on the GamePad
• Use the touchscreen to redraw the play entirely with your fingertips
• Tap on a player and drag to change their assignment
• Text descriptions pop up for the color-coded zones
• No touch controls while Off-TV mode initiated
• Includes Connected Careers