Me.

Looking great and it is on my to get list.

As for the complaints, I must say, they have done a good job of addressing some of the core issues with the franchise and improved some of the features they have added over the years (superstar, hit stick, COOP play, etc). Big wins and should be great. I am excited about weapons personally. And 60fps? Oh yeah.

But as a Madden baller, let me list some of the irks that get to me, especially after the last 2 years being absolute TRASH. After 3 years of dev time I was expecting more in some areas, and seeing as Xbox gamers were doing some of this stuff I don't see why it shouldn't be in here. No online leagues... still? And while they improved the animation system -- finally some gang tackles and more broken tackles -- the mocap is still years behind 2K and the branching, while welcomed, seems to be jerky and the actual animations don't appear to have much weight (momentum), they instead jerk from one animation and transition into the next. Seeing a WR go up for a catch, get hit, and then morph into an animation that is odd and not in the right direction or right body parts being jerked around still looks poor.

And the announcing is horrible. They bought the ESPN license... for nothing! Just to take it away from 2K -- how trashy.

Anyhow, Madden 2008 will find a place next to my 2005, 2004, and 2003 editions (all the others are packed away). I like the changes, but on the other hand I feel they needed to do even more considering how much they took away for 2 straight years. 2006 and 2007 were some of the worse Maddens ever, worse than the Xbox and PS2 versions. Just adding back in missing features and a couple new twists doesn't gloss over some of the fundamental franchise issues like highlights, game announcers, superbowl rewards/story, online leagues, etc.

Acert, by the time you get a 360, Madden 3008 will be out! Amirite?

uRrite!

Ps- And John Madden will still be alive 0_o

PASS OR RUN?? PASS OR RUN??

I'll pass..

I prepared a pic for this thread, incase something like this were to occur. Gentlemen, please witness the secret project.

Football is ALL about sitting on your ass!

http://www.easports.com/maddennfl/videos.jsp

Some of the new animation stuff in YouTube quality on EA's site. The GameTrailer's review showed that while gang tackling is an improvement, it still needs a lot of work. Seeing a runner slowed down and grabbed by 2 tacklers and then seeing all the other defenders around... falling down?!... instead of grabbing on and piling on/pushing looked just like normal, which isn't good. So an improvement, but still broken, just less so which is GREAT for gameplay as this was a really bad part of Madden. The blocking looks improved a bit too which is welcome news to me as I love to run.

Not my favorite back, but yes, I have been playing with Seattle since the first Madden. Although I did enjoy playing with Detroit during the Sanders' years. I always thought those Dallas teams were a little unfair -- Emmit + unstoppable line.

Seattle over the last few years has been fun to play with, offensively, for me. A good OL (until last year), a star HB, a solid FB and decent pair of TEs allowed me to really grind the clock... and set up the pass. And although Seattle WRs are not the very best, they were adequate and Hasselbeck was a solid performer.

Personally, and I keep screaming this, they need a "control the clock" button. I hate 5 minute quarters because people feel cheated when you play "real football". I like to run. Ball control is a huge part of the game. A 10 play series can waste an entire 5 minute quarter. People hate that... but it is how the game is played "right".

Having a button to accelerate the clock and tick some time off would be great. Get my play selected and then chomp off 20 seconds really quick. This could justify 10, even 15 minutes, quarters. Then they could include the dynamic of people who go for fast-fast-fast play calling, no huddles, etc their players get more tired, make more mistakes, and are more prone to injuries (as the season progresses). So they can have the short term payoff of some quick strikes, but they also run the risk of their DEF being on the field waaay too long, losing OFF rhythm, and running their guys too much. 30 OFF plays in 1 quarter could kill a lot of linemen!

This dynamic of the series, as stands, allows for a lot of abuse, unrealistic gameplay, and a lot of disgruntled people who say you "cheese" because you run and try to control the clock. Mind you I don't try to run out all 10 minutes of a half -- that is lame due to the constraints -- but I don't have any qualms with an intentional 15 play drive where I eat up 4 or 5 minutes. Of course people don't like you if you do that.

Of course I hate it when people glitch, exploit, and use the broken mechanics of the game to get quick scores instead of playing the game as real football (my current hate in 2005 was the new coverage where you could audible to a line press, but you could rarely pass over the DBs new/better AI, and you would get guys doing nanos at the line and the realistic option, a quick toss over the DBs heads, doesn't work... grrr).

Football is pretty complex though in terms of strategy, and lives/dies on contact and how a game handles it, which games... don't. There probably will never be a perfect NFL game in terms of gameplay due to input limitations and simulation limitations. Madden and 2K both represent good takes on a quality gameplay model to immitate the core values.