Now that the reviews for NCAA Football 08 have been posted for the XBOX 360 and PS3, it's time to use one prominent football game as a prediction tool for arguably the biggest blockbuster in this multi-billion dollar industry, Madden NFL Football 08.

There isn't much information left about Madden that everyone else doesn't already know about. People know about the new features, they know about the new gameplay mechanics, and they know how the game will work online. It is also widely known that Madden and NCAA work off the same base engine for both of the current generation consoles, which are the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 for most hardcore Madden fans at this point. But the fact that everyone knows Madden and NCAA are built off the same engine also ties into a dispute that continues amongst owners of the PS3 and 360. For those that have perhaps been in a sack induced coma, the dispute I'm talking about began about a month ago when EA confirmed that the XBOX 360 version of both NCAA and Madden would run at 60 frames per second and the Playstation 3 versions would run at 30 frames per second. Basically what that means is the XBOX 360 versions of NCAA and Madden look smoother and run faster than the Playstation 3 versions. Since this news released, e-fights have commenced on many message boards and everyone has been searching for someone to blame. Frankly there has been an equal amount of finger pointing in the direction of both EA and Sony. But this article isn't about those tired feuds; it's about what potential owners of Madden on either console can more than likely expect when they boot up the game this August.

That's where NCAA Football comes in. If everyone knows that the games run off the same base engine, it's logical to assume that while NCAA and Madden probably won't play entirely the same, they may perform similarly from a technical standpoint. So as someone who owns and reviewed both versions of NCAA Football 08 on the current generation consoles, I feel it's time to make a point with two things in mind:

1. NCAA Football 08 is able display at 720p/1080i/1080p on the XBOX 360
2. NCAA Football 08 only displays at 480i and 720p on the Playstation 3

The fact is NCAA Football plays and looks better on the XBOX 360. Obviously this is due to the points above about resolution as well as the frames per second difference. But don't fret PS3 owners because it's not that NCAA looks bad on the PS3, just in comparison to the 360, the graphics aren't quite as sharp and the game doesn't look quite as good while in motion. Also PS3 owners should know that the differences are noticeable only when NCAA is pulled back to the gameplay view. In other words during replays and close-ups there really doesn't seem to be much of a difference visually between the consoles.

But the question for the present and future is will these differences deter PS3 owners from enjoying their football games this year? The simple answer to that question is no, but the convoluted answer is maybe.

The simple answer is no because if PS3 owners don't play the XBOX 360 version of NCAA Football they won't know what they're missing. What PS3 owners will know is that they are playing a tightly controlled and feature rich game. Of course since Madden and NCAA are using the same engine it would make sense to use the same logic for both games.

The convoluted answer is maybe because once you've gripped the XBOX 360 joystick in your hands and played NCAA on a nice big television screen, you might not want to go back to the PS3 version. In that case out of sight and out of mind may have to be every PS3 owner's motto when it comes to football games this year

Personally as an owner of both versions of NCAA Football 08 I find no reason to ever play the PS3 version again now that I've reviewed it. Sure I might hang on to the PS3 version of NCAA so I can play with certain friends online, but I don't want to play any game on any platform when there is a technically superior version of the same game on another platform.

So will the same differences apply when Madden launches? I'll let the reader be the final judge, but I've heard more than once that the past predicts the future.