Madden '08

As every 20 something single male is doing this time of year, I am playing Madden. I purchased the new XBOX 360 last spring because I was told that Madden ’08 was only to be released on the new platforms, only to figure out they had planned to release it on the original XBOX as well.

There are still a lot of problems with the Madden game on the XBOX 360. First they will tell you that the detail on the game is unbelievable. That is true for the details they choose to detail. There are a lot of things they overlooked. The first one being the over weight “bench players” on the sideline. They look like fat slobs swaying in unison. Most of them all wear the same numbers. When you play with the Indianapolis Colts there is a fat number 15, not only do the Colts not roster anyone who wears the number 15, but that would be a backs/ kicker/ receiver number. Not a lineman number. That is a huge oversight.

Another major flaw I see in the game is that the kicker always kicks touchbacks on the kick offs. Only on penalties or in Mile High does a kicker kick that many touchbacks. Most NFL kickers reach about the goal line.

I think that with video games becoming as high tech as they are today there needs to be a change in the ratings of the players. Different players fit with different schemes. One example would be that a huge defensive tackle who is slow is known as a two gap type tackle. In the Indianapolis Colts defense in real life he would be a lot less effective than a Booger McFarland who is a one gap tackle. A road grader offensive lineman who is an awesome run blocker would be a good free agent pick up for the Denver Broncos, but wouldn’t fit the Colts passing style of offense. Reggie Bush would not be a good back for the Colts because he is a finesse back, on the other hand a TJ Ducket might fit well into the Colts power offense style. This is important in franchise mode because you cant just sign free agents for no reason and it forces you to do your homework.

Although I haven’t gone through a training camp on the new franchise mode, I think there needs to be a way to develop draft picks besides inflating their stats during the game. This is especially true for lineman. In the former Madden games there was no way to make your line better or worse. I would always draft linemen and they would always stay in the low 80s no matter what. You should be able to make your players better.

The positives to the new madden is the running game. On the original XBOX version I could never really get the hang of the running game. The blocking helped but if you did not block absolutely everyone you really had no chance. I think it makes players like LT and Reggie Bush more popular. This was a huge problem and I am glad the people at EA sports fixed it.

I also can not figure out how to disengage my blocks when using defensive lineman. But I have about a league average of sacks so it is cool.
Anyway, I think the detail is overrated. When playing video games I could really careless what the players’ faces look like in the huddle. They fellas at EA Sports really use the detail where it is not necessary. Mostly during times when the game is loading, plus they still use first down graphics that look “Techmo Bowl-ish” after first downs. Those graphics have to go. They look cheap and thrown in there at the last minute while waiting for the game to load.

Finally, I think the NFL is making a huge mistake but protecting their brand name so much. I think they are starting to take it out of the hands of the fans. In the long run this will hurt them. I keep thinking back to when I was a kid and Indy Car was the popular racing series and NASCAR was kind of on the back burner. They never made video games for Indy Car and if the did they were cheap and didn’t use the drivers names and what not. NASCAR embraced everything it could do to get their name on anything and it benefited the rise of the sport. The NFL is really dancing with the devil on this.

There should be more competition in the NFL video game market. I think competition is what made Madden what it is. Madden 03-05 are horrible games. NFL Fever and NFL 2k5 were better games. Because of the competition Madden made itself into what it is today. If there is no competition then it can not improve.

I think overall Madden ’08 is a solid game. It doesn’t really impress me. There are to many flaws to call it an outstanding success. It would not sell nearly as many games if there were more NFL games out there. The NFL needs to get rid of this contract ASAP. They also need to stop the NFL network crap. If you look at history it really is dancing with the Sports Devil. Pay per view is a major reason no one watches boxing. There is obviously a demand for that type of sport if you look at the ultimate fighting craze that is so popular these days.