Sorry to hear you feel like that. but people were warned early about what madden12 had really brought to the table this year. the same bugs that plagued the o-line, d-line getting pancaked, not blocking properly is still there from three years ago, or longer. These things you talked about are still there. Hardcore gamers were shouting on mega-phones not to believe the hype this year; and guess what most of us did, according to EA Sports, their numbers are up from last year, meaning what? i could not tell you.
From here on in; all you can do is play around with sliders to get yourself some decent none cheating games against MADDEN12.

cheers

Your right and that's why I only got madden this year bc I got it for free! But that's sad when you dont care to keep a free game just sad. I messed with sliders and everything and I cant find a happy medium. I played the demo and actually liked it and thought ok i know it still has some madden problems and would still be better but yet again bad outways the good. Yeah sucks because their numbers are up so Im sure the nfl will be pleased and keep the contract with them which Im pretty sure they was going to do anyway. Madden NEEDS COMPETITION anybody doesnt have to be 2k but we need another option. I never believe madden hype ever bc thats all it is! No sliders can help horrible wr/db interactions and dbs going thru recievers. Thanks anyway I will just be selling or trading in my copy.

Do you know what EVERYONE'S problem with the Madden series really is? We have all set our expectations way too high. Way too high. We see the NFL get a fresh coat of paint every year and have the audacity to think this will transition into Madden. Do you really think you are going to see actual gameplay and player tendencies of the NFL be put into Madden? REALLY? Do you really think you will see actual competitive games that play and feel like real NFL games in Madden? REALLY? Do you really think you will see a cerebral chess match in Madden if you are playing a Patriots vs. Colts(with Peyton of course) game or an all out defensive brawl with a Steelers vs Ravens game? Really? Do you really think you will hear commentary by Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, and Mike Jaworski(yeah, i thought this would be in Madden 12 too)? REALLY? How about blood on arms and legs, players sweating inside helmets/through unis, trash talking, the beauty of watching Brady, Manning, or Brees point out blitzing LB's and yell "KILL KILL KILL", and grusome on-field injuries? REALLY? If you don't already know by now just stop thinking like this. We all keep thinking Madden will be the "dimepiece" football game every year, then we pop the disc in and the same ugly chick keeps showing up on the screen, bad breath and all. Let's all accept Madden for what it is...the ugly chick that may look a little better than last year, but is still ugly with the dragon breath. I'm not bashing Madden nor defending it. I would like my community brothers/sisters of OS to have closure and stop thinking Madden will hear our cries every year and make a game that plays and acts like the real NFL. IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Jamake you're right in saying Madden needs competition, but we have nothing to choose from other than the ugly chick. Have I fell victim to the OS slider changing forums and countless hours of reading "just do this for a better Madden experience" forums? Oh yes bro...wasted hours of my life I will never get back! Truth is the devs spend soo much time putting the game out by the release date every year they don't really disect the game like we do, hence the patch phenomenon. The devs already know the game is 60% complete on release date, but why tell us that and loose money? Just force feed us the patches while working on Madden 13, which will also be 60% complete this time next year. Makes good business sense to me, but of course not fair to the consumers(me again)... it's the american way. I accept Madden for what it is: ok hum vs. hum games with glitches/defense exploits/teleporting/non NFL gameplay and bad hum vs. com games with the same negatives mentioned increased. This is what we will get every year from Madden: a non-NFL gameplay feel, glitchy, 60% game. But don't trip, remember we have patches. Oh...and sliders forums that we can spend countless hours on.

Bottom Line: choose to drink the kool-aid or stop buying Madden(REALLY?). The masses will continue to drink and the others on here who say they will never buy Madden again will drink when they think no one is looking or thinks no one remembers what they said last year...or the year before...or the year before. I will keep my ugly chick, thank you. Can't wait to read the impression threads next year that will be repeated for Madden 13!!!

@ NevaBroke you are right. Madden community will never hear our cries i mean ppl having been asking for stuff years and years now and still nothing. Cant play online b/c lag sucks and ppl cheat so no fun. Another problem is ppl who complain and complain about madden but year after year they go buy madden on release day and help EA's bs numbers. I would love to know the return rate of madden games lol. Anyway I dont buy madden and this is only the 2nd madden i bought this Gen and only b/c got it for FREE. I got madden 07 for FREE. I refuse to give ea and madden my money. Hell just stop calling madden a sim game and call it arcade i would prob respect ea more and not expect a damn sim game. It just sucks b/c football is my fav sport and come football season every year im excited and want to play an nfl game like i do with my baseball and baskeball games but cant b/c I know I only have madden and refuse to be dupped every year. I told myself because I got it free i didnt care how much it sucked hA that didnt last long bc im so tired of madden i can stand to play or look at. Well this Ugly Chick is going back in her cage!

LMAO Jamake you hit it on the head... ea should just call it Madden NFL Arcade 12! No one could complain if that happened, but you already know ea wants us to believe Madden is the NFL in video game form. It used to be back in the day, but NFL evolved and Madden didn't. It's good to know there is somone else out there that can call Madden out for what it is. I only play Madden hum vs. hum games so I don't notice the ridiculous gameplay as much and it don't feel like my ugly chick is cheating on me as far as gameplay, upgrades, and features like she did last year lol Thank goodness for franchises like MLB The Show and NBA2K. Ehhh, may even try out Fifa and NHL this year. Your blog title sums up how many feel this year, but what will the masses do next year when Madden 13 drops??? Later Bro!

I'm not a huge football fan but if it's anything like Madden 10 I feel your pain. I'm and NBA,WWE gamer mainly with some RPG's and Zelda as well. 70% of my gaming though is NBA/NCAA basketball games. I love those so much so a few weeks ago I thought well if I love those sports games I'll try Madden and MLB The show. So I bought MLB 10: The show and Madden 10. I love MLB 10: The Show and I'm not that big of a baseball fan either, but that game is fantastic. Madden 10 however is very bland. The only thing I like really is the soundtrack,the end game season show, and the half time show. The footbal part of the game itself I find broken. Games finish with scores way to high I had one game that ended 101-41 I mean come on in NFL 101 is never reached. I also don't like the camera angles. I'm thinking about trading it back in. Last time I buy a madden. I had bought Madden 07 years ago and actually liked it very well. but Madden 10 was a different story

@eaterofworlds888 I can honestly say its better than madden 08 but really what kind of feat is that b/c its not really saying much. I have accepted a long time ago madden is madden and dont expect anything more. That's why havent bought the game this entire yr. I got madden first week i really liked it but more I played and watched replays and seen unrealistic non fundemental football basics i couldnt ignore it anymore. Mlb the show is an amazing game amazing. You look at nba 2k games, mlb the show, fifa, nhl and just mind boggling as to WTH EA and madden are doing. Bc to release these Madden games like this yr after yr they do not give a you know what.

I am enjoying Madden more than ever.

I am also done with madden. This year I got smart and didn't buy it I have the
blockbuster ! out at a time deal. actually I have not brought Madden since 10. I feel that Nevabroke is wrong though because our expectations are not to high. With the amount of money EA has the game we all want is possible this gen. It's just not in EA's budget to produce it. They cant report a loss to the share holders now can they? But the game we all envision is possible and we all no it thats what makes us so upset. To bad the US government doesn't need a football simulator.

Yo this is kinda funny because like you i enjoyed the demo, i played on all-pro and i was surprise because i haven't brought/played a madden game since 06. Then i started thinking if someone who hasn't played a game since 2006 can just pick up and play on one of the hardest difficulties then this must be the same madden. Now imagine if the last NBA 2k game you played were 2k6 (which was the first next gen NBA 2k game) and you picked up and tried to play NBA 2k11 on superstar or Hall of fame, the results would be the cpu handed you your butt,(no cursing).But you would see and feel how different 2k6 is to 2k11. Luckily I held out waited for the reviews, it was hard because NBA 2k12 is taking forever and my video game library isn't very stacked and the lock-out was over. Once i read the reviews I smiled that my 60 bucks are still in my pocket. I feel like the only reason madden was slightly improved were because sales were down last year. To get a decent game of football we probably needed two years of bad madden sales.

Well Im glad I got madden for free this year. B/c I will def be purchasing Nba 2k12 day one. 2k has no competetion right now and could easily get lazy and not improve that much. But no they work hard and keep pushing to make it better and more realistic. The previes for 2k12 sound great and i have never had a prob with 2k sports games except maybe mlb 2k recent years. Thank goodness i can buy mlb the show. @Gdalionheart you are correct our expectations are not too high b/c games like the show, 2k fifa and nhl proves that to us. They deliver year after yr with their games. This just sucks the most popular sport in America gets butchered like this yr after yr. SMH.

I feel you boss. I actually did the smart thing for once and rented Madden this year. I can definitely see the improvements, but overall I didn't think it justified the purchase. The improved presentation has been touted, but once you get past the intros and the new camera angles I dont see where it's been drastically improved. The halftime show is pathetic. How about expanding on the Extra Pt show??

Anyway - my approach to sports gaming has changed this past year or two. Buying these yearly installments is becoming a thing of the past to me. For one, I am getting older, and busier and have less time to game now. So when I do game I value my time tremendously. Secondly, I have kids and less money to spend. With the amount of effort gamers are putting into rosters now, I can enjoy games like NBA 2K11 and All Pro FBall 2K8 with the latest rosters without the pressure of spending 60 dollars with every new release. Of course, major changes and graphic engines or features are worth spending the money.

@nevabroke - I think SOME expectations may be high, but they are only built off of the high marks set on last generation games. Madden 04-05, NFL 2K5, and NCAA 06 are still the best football games I have EVER played. I put in NCAA 06 on the 360 a few weeks ago. I was blown away with everything (but the graphics of course). The features were excellent, presentation was amazing, animations were so much better than this generation. If any of you still have NCAA 06 I encourage you to try it one day and tell me if it does not play a better game of football than next-gen Madden/NCAA.

We as gamer are the fat man who wants his body to change but doesnt want to work every year its the same. We let our minds justify why we think this game will be different and we convince ourselves into buying. We I didnt buy the game and im hear to say...STOP EATING THE F'N CUPCAKES! It will never change unless we boycott madden13, im hear to start the charge. Spread the word boycott m13 if you ever want things to change. Foreal some start a post, just dont buy, I want a better game to but sometimes we must make sacrifices so are future games can be better.

I cant tell ya how glad I am I didnt buy this crap.

Wow. All across the web people talk about the same thing, madden sucks and I wish 2k made an NFL game. You know what? Forget about it! I have owned every madden game on release date through to the next year, EVERY year since Madden 96. Madden 96 was the greatest game for creating players as there were great mini games you would play to create your ratings including the coach that said directions and you mimicked them with the controller. Then eventually PS came around and major improvements were made with franchise modes and better commentary and sound, etc...then ps2 and xbox versions, great additions went into games then, some of which haven't translate into versions even Madden 12. Now here we are with Madden 12, best graphics yet, best commentary, best jukes, best defensive control including intereceptions, update franchise mode, online franchises, smooth online servers where ranked games dont get cheesed, THIS IS THE BEST FOOTBALL GAME OF ALL TIME. People complaining like blog dude here are doing it simply to just voice opinion, if 2K would make a game it would have to be at that $20 price tag because for all the failures and triumphs madden has experienced with the next gen consoles, 2k would for sure put out a sub par product and people like blog guy would still attempt it's better than Madden. I'll give another quick example. Michael Jordan. The greatest basketball player of all time in many people's mind. If Kobe Bryant or any oter basketball player gets more Championships than Jordan, more points, more clutch shots, more everything, there will still be those stating Michael Jordan is the best of all time. These people refuse to accept a substitute for things that are so driven in their head that they miss out. Instead of watching and admirig Kobe's skills your still stuck on Jordan and mosaic out on seeing this new legend in the making. Same thing with the Madden-2K debate. It's time to move on people, this madden is fun all around and should be enjoyed. I'm out.