Alright, boyz!! Here we go...Madden 08 First impressions

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Icy

Keeping with my jbmagic style copy/paste here are some user reviews and questions/answers for the PC version:

http://football-freaks.com/forums/in...pic=20370&st=0

Resume from that thread (yeah i not only copy&pasting )

The good:
- Finally widescreen support.
- The SS mode has some things from the next gen version, like for example, apart from creating a new rookie, you can also play as any of the real rookies.
- Gameplay and controls feel a bit better.

The bad:
- It's madden 07 with some new faces and graphics updates, the old custom tools developed by the modders work perfectly.
- Simmed stats keep being as bad as in 07 (for example, Vince Young 1500 rushing yards in the first season)
- The new players ratings are not included, the ratings used are the same than past year or than current gen (like no new zone/m2m coverage ratings etc).
- A lot of the unis are wrong ( i don't care about this a lot, but some guys do).
- Still no next gen gang tackling.
- Rosters are not up to date (T.Green still in the Chiefs for example)

Hate to say this, but i'm going to purchase the Ps3 version (already preordered) just to continue my CL to the pros. The PC version... will just download it to see if the user mods are able to fix the franchise stats/bad draft AI etc as they did in 07. No way i'm going to pay for both versions seing the crap work they did (not that i'm surprissed).

I see myself this year playing mainly CL and SS modes from NCAA to Madden 08 in the PS3 as it's being really fun for me. I doubt i'll play franchise knowing all the bugs they have (like INT's counted twice as we talked before and really crap simmed stats).

Man.....disappointing for sure but it sounds like a piece of crap game that they're just counting on people buying. Sounds like NCAA actually might be better.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Icy

Keeping with my jbmagic style copy/paste here are some user reviews and questions/answers for the PC version:

http://football-freaks.com/forums/in...pic=20370&st=0

Resume from that thread (yeah i not only copy&pasting )

The good:
- Finally widescreen support.
- The SS mode has some things from the next gen version, like for example, apart from creating a new rookie, you can also play as any of the real rookies.
- Gameplay and controls feel a bit better.

The bad:
- It's madden 07 with some new faces and graphics updates, the old custom tools developed by the modders work perfectly.
- Simmed stats keep being as bad as in 07 (for example, Vince Young 1500 rushing yards in the first season)
- The new players ratings are not included, the ratings used are the same than past year or than current gen (like no new zone/m2m coverage ratings etc).
- A lot of the unis are wrong ( i don't care about this a lot, but some guys do).
- Still no next gen gang tackling.
- Rosters are not up to date (T.Green still in the Chiefs for example)

Hate to say this, but i'm going to purchase the Ps3 version (already preordered) just to continue my CL to the pros. The PC version... will just download it to see if the user mods are able to fix the franchise stats/bad draft AI etc as they did in 07. No way i'm going to pay for both versions seing the crap work they did (not that i'm surprissed).

I see myself this year playing mainly CL and SS modes from NCAA to Madden 08 in the PS3 as it's being really fun for me. I doubt i'll play franchise knowing all the bugs they have (like INT's counted twice as we talked before and really crap simmed stats).

boooo hiss. will save my cash and dl updated rosters for 07

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Icy

The PC version... will just download it to see if the user mods are able to fix the franchise stats/bad draft AI etc as they did in 07. No way i'm going to pay for both versions seing the crap work they did (not that i'm surprissed).

The only reason I have Madden 07, and have it for the PC, is screenshots for WOOF...

[Bee]

I haven't decided yet on Madden 08. I didn't care for 07, but I really would like to continue my Campus Legend career into the pros.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I had actually considered reading impressions over the next week and then buying Madden this weekend, but the doubled interceptions bug is still in, huh? Count me out.

[Kodos]

At least that is only the PC version -- there's still hope for the 360 version!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

At least that is only the PC version -- there's still hope for the 360 version!

You know the simmed interception bug is in the 360/PS3 versions as well, right?

I wanted to buy Madden especially since I'll be off Thursday and Friday for my aforementioned medical procedure. They report a patch is coming for the interception bug, but I'm going to wait to buy until the patch is released. If I still want the game whenever the patch is released, then I'll buy it.

[FBPro]

Crap, I pre-ordered the PC version but may switch to PS2 or 360 now because of the crap here. Anyone have a recommendation?

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

You know the simmed interception bug is in the 360/PS3 versions as well, right?

Honestly, I think I will be able to ignore that problem. If the game plays well on the field, that will be good enough for me. I can draft for the whole league if need be. I just want to have fun when I'm on the field.

[stevew]

I found a coupon for $10 extra on a trade in, and wasn't really playing Super Paper Mario much, so after the raping, I got wii Madden for an additional $17.99 after trade. I'm really hoping the Wii version sells good this year, cause if it does, hopefully that will lead to NCAA Wii.

I believe it's an online game, so if anyone ever wants to play, just let me know.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Honestly, I think I will be able to ignore that problem. If the game plays well on the field, that will be good enough for me. I can draft for the whole league if need be. I just want to have fun when I'm on the field.

I'll buy it, like usual.But it's going to be tough to dethrone 2K8. I'm having a lot of fun with that game. Then Bioshock out the following week. Madden better be damned good or it'll end up on the shelf for a couple of months. (Bioshock, Mass Effect, Halo, etc.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Honestly, I think I will be able to ignore that problem. If the game plays well on the field, that will be good enough for me. I can draft for the whole league if need be. I just want to have fun when I'm on the field.

Originally Posted by TroyF

I'll buy it, like usual.But it's going to be tough to dethrone 2K8. I'm having a lot of fun with that game. Then Bioshock out the following week. Madden better be damned good or it'll end up on the shelf for a couple of months. (Bioshock, Mass Effect, Halo, etc.)

I keep going back and forth. If it was a new bug, I'd almost certainly buy tomorrow based off the good early impressions, but the fact that it was there last year and is still there, pisses me off. Yet, I keep reading good early impressions re: the gameplay (with sliders to reduce interceptions) from some people whose opinion I usually share, and I'm starting to cave again.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I keep going back and forth. If it was a new bug, I'd almost certainly buy tomorrow based off the good early impressions, but the fact that it was there last year and is still there, pisses me off. Yet, I keep reading good early impressions re: the gameplay (with sliders to reduce interceptions) from some people whose opinion I usually share, and I'm starting to cave again.

Is the interception bug in all simmed franchise games? Just your team's simmed franchise games? Draft league only?

[Eaglesfan27]

If you sim any franchise game (your team or other team's games) than you will get all defenders getting twice the credit for interceptions.

[Kodos]

I guess my feeling is that as long as it's not changing the outcome of games, I can ignore the interceptions thing. I can just divide interceptions by 2 when looking at stats. By far the most important thing to me is that I am having fun for the hour that I am playing a game.

[rowech]

gamespot review -- 8.5

hxxp://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/madden08/review.html


ign review -- 8.7

hxxp://xbox360.ign.com/articles/812/812241p1.html


At this point, the only things I'm worried about is the number of fumbles/ interceptions and the broadcasting. I find it no coincidence that it's the only thing that bugs me about NCAA as well.

The whole smart QB thing sounds awesome.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I guess my feeling is that as long as it's not changing the outcome of games, I can ignore the interceptions thing. I can just divide interceptions by 2 when looking at stats. By far the most important thing to me is that I am having fun for the hour that I am playing a game.

And that is why I'm caving. It's mostly a cosmetic thing, although I imagine it could have an effect on progression as well. If I cave tomorrow, I'm just hoping the patch that is supposed to be released "soon" doesn't end up being a few months away.

[techguy]

MY concerns are the franchise stats, AI drafting, and will it have accelerated clock & coach mode for the xbox 360.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by techguy

MY concerns are the franchise stats, AI drafting, and will it have accelerated clock & coach mode for the xbox 360.

No accelerated clock per many people. Russell describes a quasi-coach mode by controlling the receiver on offense and some trick on defense, but no true coach mode. People who have posted simmed stats show that they are far from perfect (but not quite as bad as past years), and AI drafting is still crap with teams such as the Titans drafting a QB in the 1st round and the Saints taking another HB in the 1st round.

[Kodos]

The lack of an accelarated clock sucks. I can get around the draft AI by running at least the first couple of rounds myself. I can live with bozo stats too, even if I'd prefer them to be realistic.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by rowech

gamespot review -- 8.5

hxxp://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/madden08/review.html


ign review -- 8.7

hxxp://xbox360.ign.com/articles/812/812241p1.html


At this point, the only things I'm worried about is the number of fumbles/ interceptions and the broadcasting. I find it no coincidence that it's the only thing that bugs me about NCAA as well.

The whole smart QB thing sounds awesome.

Ign gave the PS3 version a 7.7. They say the frame rate and stuttering in the PS3 version detract significantly from the game and cause control issues:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/812/812702p1.html

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Ign gave the PS3 version a 7.7. They say the frame rate and stuttering in the PS3 version detract significantly from the game and cause control issues:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/812/812702p1.html

I don't know how it wouldn't. I debated waiting for the PS3 and you and some others talked me into the 360 really. Best decision I ever made.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

And that is why I'm caving. It's mostly a cosmetic thing, although I imagine it could have an effect on progression as well. If I cave tomorrow, I'm just hoping the patch that is supposed to be released "soon" doesn't end up being a few months away.

The thing that kills me is if it has an impact on contracts. I don't want to be forced to spend 80 million bucks to keep a CB who had 6 INT, because the game determines that number is really 12. An all pro type CB could end up being the highest paid player in the game if it isn't handled right.

Still, the gameplay reports are good. Many of the features I like are back. And if that's the only thing that really pisses me off, I can live with it. It could be two months before I get seriously into it anyhow, so maybe a patch will be released before hand.

[Anthony]

i just want a football game that will play well. that's all. i don't look towards console football games anymore for realism or FOF-type stats. we have such high expectations, but really, when has any of these games every really been extraordinary? yes, for the times maybe madden '04 or whatever was innovative, but if you look at the games then and compare them to now, those games are crap. so we're holding these games to some never-before-attained level. it's not like people can say "it's a good game, but it's no [insert uber football game]". there has never been [uber football game], so i don't know where we are basing our expectations on. it's silly, really. FOF has all your franchise needs. for game-by-game fun, madden is doable. i just wanna have fun. i'll let you video game nerds pick these game apart.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

i just want a football game that will play well. that's all. i don't look towards console football games anymore for realism or FOF-type stats. we have such high expectations, but really, when has any of these games every really been extraordinary? yes, for the times maybe madden '04 or whatever was innovative, but if you look at the games then and compare them to now, those games are crap. so we're holding these games to some never-before-attained level. it's not like people can say "it's a good game, but it's no [insert uber football game]". there has never been [uber football game], so i don't know where we are basing our expectations on. it's silly, really. FOF has all your franchise needs. for game-by-game fun, madden is doable. i just wanna have fun. i'll let you video game nerds pick these game apart.

Basing it on potential. At least in my opinion, as the system gets better the closer we should get to having a fantastic game. Instead, we're not. In many ways, I wish these guys would spend some time with this generation of system (10 years?) and not be so quick to go right to the next thing that won't live up to its potential.

[stevew]

The "family play" mode at least sounds like a good idea. I may have to buy another nunchuk if my daughter wants to try playing the game as well.

Man, that's a weird sentence.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by rowech

Basing it on potential. At least in my opinion, as the system gets better the closer we should get to having a fantastic game. Instead, we're not. In many ways, I wish these guys would spend some time with this generation of system (10 years?) and not be so quick to go right to the next thing that won't live up to its potential.

maybe we're at the potential. maybe this is the best we can do, perhaps we need another 2 generations of video games to get it right. point is, we've never had a perfect game before, so to compare all these football games to a non-existant standard is foolish. you wind up not enjoying something that's good just cuz it ain't perfect.

it's ok to compare young NBA players to Jordan, because Jordan set the bar. he's the best to ever play the game. he is, as far as we can tell, the example of perfection with regards to an NBA player. at least we have that model to base everything else off of. but what video game nerds say about football games is basically "yeah, he's a Jordan, but he's no Joe Jones - who never missed a shot and blocked every shot the other team took and grabbed every rebound". that guy has never existed, so to compare basketball players to that level of perfection is completely stupid.

there has never been a perfect game, and i'm willing to say madden 08/ncaa 08 are the best football games thus far, as far as the marriage of graphics, stats and gameplay in the same package go, despite any of the bugs they may have. stop chasing the Holy Grail, it doesn't exist. only thing that matters is if you can have fun playing the game on the field.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by rowech

Basing it on potential. At least in my opinion, as the system gets better the closer we should get to having a fantastic game. Instead, we're not. In many ways, I wish these guys would spend some time with this generation of system (10 years?) and not be so quick to go right to the next thing that won't live up to its potential.

Yup, this is exactly it right here. I don't expect a perfect game, but I expect a game that builds on the last one by fixing mistakes and improving or adding additional features that will themselves be tweaked in future generations of the game. We don't get that in the Madden series. Instead we get additional features added yet never refined (and often dropped several releases later), bugs carried over to the next year, features removed for seemingly no reason, and then, just when it seems like the game is (finally)moving in the right direction, it's next-gen time! Back to bare-bones with stripped out features which will then be added and subtracted to until the next-next-gen is ready. Rinse and repeat.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

Yup, this is exactly it right here. I don't expect a perfect game, but I expect a game that builds on the last one by fixing mistakes and improving or adding additional features that will themselves be tweaked in future generations of the game. We don't get that in the Madden series. Instead we get additional features added yet never refined (and often dropped several releases later), bugs carried over to the next year, features removed for seemingly no reason, and then, just when it seems like the game is (finally)moving in the right direction, it's next-gen time! Back to bare-bones with stripped out features which will then be added and subtracted to until the next-next-gen is ready. Rinse and repeat.

Madden is a business, it's a job for probably a company of several hundred people. if they didn't do it the way you described, they'd have been finished roughly around Madden '98 and there wouldn't be any need for developing more games. the "start from scratch" approach every generation of consoles is so people can keep paying their mortgage. i don't agree with that approah, but i can't say i don't understand it.

[stevew]

Here's a coupon good for like 2 more days if anyone is trading any wii or ps3 games in.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Hell Atlantic

Madden is a business, it's a job for probably a company of several hundred people. if they didn't do it the way you described, they'd have been finished roughly around Madden '98 and there wouldn't be any need for developing more games. the "start from scratch" approach every generation of consoles is so people can keep paying their mortgage. i don't agree with that approah, but i can't say i don't understand it.

Yeah, I have no doubt that that's exactly the reason it is as it is, and the reason it's so frustrating is that a little competition could have changed this. Look at the NBA Live-NBA 2K series battle. NBA 2K7 completely blew NBA Live 2007 out of the water, and everyone knows it. Now look at some of the videos on NBA Live 2008 this year. It's clear as day that they are putting in a shit load of effort to get the Live franchise back in the race.

Just very, very frustrating on the NFL issue though. I hope that 2K's football game sells well and convinces them to make something else in a similar vein, because those guys seem to go about their games the right way - probably because they are far smaller than EA.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Ign gave the PS3 version a 7.7. They say the frame rate and stuttering in the PS3 version detract significantly from the game and cause control issues:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/812/812702p1.html

Yeah, there's a pretty severe backlash amongst the PS3 owners concerning the Madden release. It's actually much worse than the 360 version. EA has already said that they'll use the PS3 as the primary development system for the '09 version. The problem is that they have alienated so many gamers at this point (PS3 due to performance, 360 due to lacking features and gameplay bugs) that no one may give a damn by the time next year's version is released. If it's not one thing with EA............

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Yeah, there's a pretty severe backlash amongst the PS3 owners concerning the Madden release. It's actually much worse than the 360 version. EA has already said that they'll use the PS3 as the primary development system for the '09 version. The problem is that they have alienated so many gamers at this point (PS3 due to performance, 360 due to lacking features and gameplay bugs) that no one may give a damn by the time next year's version is released. If it's not one thing with EA............

I seriously doubt that. It sold 7.4 million copies last year which made it the best selling game. I'm fairly confident it will sell at least 5-6 million this year (I think they will take a hit on CG just like NCAA did.) Also, there are rumors floating around that it will be developed on the PS3 and ported to the 360, but Russell and other community managers who were actually at the community days and talking to the developers have said that rumor is not true.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Yeah, there's a pretty severe backlash amongst the PS3 owners concerning the Madden release. It's actually much worse than the 360 version. EA has already said that they'll use the PS3 as the primary development system for the '09 version. The problem is that they have alienated so many gamers at this point (PS3 due to performance, 360 due to lacking features and gameplay bugs) that no one may give a damn by the time next year's version is released. If it's not one thing with EA............

Sadly for us Ps3 owners, it doesn't' work that way most of the time, this is just an example based on me:

1- I hate EA lazyness and lack of customer care year after year.

2- I purchased NCAA08 for PS3. Heard about the 30fps vs 60fps, but as i can't compare with a 360, i'm happy enough, the gameplay is far from bad and 30fps is enough (unless you compare side by side in two monitors at same time, that none of us will do). I find other worse problems with NCAA than the 30 vs 60 fps stuff and still i'm having a big fun with it.

3- Read that Madden has 30fps too, about all the bugs it has, tons of INT's and crap stats etc.

4- Did i say i hate EA?

5- Even with all that problems, I have purchased Madden08 to continue my CL to SS as i'm having a huge fun doing it. $60 is not a lot of money, i don't' have any problem expending it the same way that i buy all the text sims in the market even if i end not playing most of them more than a week.

I must say i admire you guys who follow your ideas and don't purchase those products, but i'm so weak. I pay money to play games and to enjoy them. Sometimes i get a great experience and sometimes i don't. I tend to complain at forums etc to try to push the developers to make better games, but at the end, if the playing value i get from a game is good enough, i end buying those games and giving the developer another chance, even more if the developer has the exclusivity and no competence.
Right now, the only way to play NCAA and NFL games is to be a sheep and to buy EA products and as most of us are sheep, we keep buying them no matter how crap they are as we always have the hope that we can have enough enjoyment from our $60. This is bad for the customers, but... most of us are not strong enough to pass theses games and going against the river.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I seriously doubt that. It sold 7.4 million copies last year which made it the best selling game. I'm fairly confident it will sell at least 5-6 million this year (I think they will take a hit on CG just like NCAA did.) Also, there are rumors floating around that it will be developed on the PS3 and ported to the 360, but Russell and other community managers who were actually at the community days and talking to the developers have said that rumor is not true.

Oh, there will always be a group that continues to buy the game year after year. But I have no doubt that they'll see a significant decline in sales this year. A 10-20% hit in sales would be a major hit considering the money that they have invested in licenses for players, stadiums, and leagues. That would be a big disappointment for this franchise and it's honestly likely to happen.

[Eaglesfan27]

A workaround for the interception glitch has been proven to work. If you supersim games, the interceptions for defenders aren't doubled. Of course, that would make simming each week of games quite a bit longer and the qtr time should be knocked down to 5-6 minutes for supersim, but it is a workaround for those who are bothered by the interception glitch.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

A workaround for the interception glitch has been proven to work. If you supersim games, the interceptions for defenders aren't doubled. Of course, that would make simming each week of games quite a bit longer and the qtr time should be knocked down to 5-6 minutes for supersim, but it is a workaround for those who are bothered by the interception glitch.

That actually might be fun for awhile. It'll take a little longer, but not ridiculously so. And you could watch a key play here and there to boot. Not something I want to do forever, but I could do that for a bit.

Only question is how good stats are that way.

[Kodos]

That seems like a lot of work to me.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

That seems like a lot of work to me.

It doesn't seem like that much work to me, just a time consumer. If I get Madden, I'll just surf FOFC while letting it do it's thing supersimming the game unless it is an interesting match up that I want to watch. I'm hoping this might give less wonky stats than simming all games as well.

[Kodos]

Hasn't supersim been shown to produce more wonky stats in NCAA than the regular engine?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Hasn't supersim been shown to produce more wonky stats in NCAA than the regular engine?

I don't know. I don't remember reading anything about that, but it is possible.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Hasn't supersim been shown to produce more wonky stats in NCAA than the regular engine?

Only if you has the Q time to more than 6 minutes. With 6 minutes Q supersim produces really accurate stats. Before noticing it, i had it in 9 minutes and each team had like 600 yards per game.

[MikeVic]

I'm thinking of buying the Wii version. Kind of a double-edged sword is that I'm happy online play is in (with no friend codes!!!), but IGN says the lag is crazy.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Icy

Only if you has the Q time to more than 6 minutes. With 6 minutes Q supersim produces really accurate stats. Before noticing it, i had it in 9 minutes and each team had like 600 yards per game.

Yeah, I guess the quarter length issue was what I was thinking of.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

A workaround for the interception glitch has been proven to work. If you supersim games, the interceptions for defenders aren't doubled. Of course, that would make simming each week of games quite a bit longer and the qtr time should be knocked down to 5-6 minutes for supersim, but it is a workaround for those who are bothered by the interception glitch.

Every year, gamers have to find new work-arounds for games that are just flat-out broken. I'm shocked that people put up with that.

With that said, maybe you all that purchased the game and now realize certain features are broken have no choice but to deal with it because of the screwed-up retail system. It's one of the few retail purchases where you have no return options if you get a bum product. There's no real incentive for the Madden creators to improve their product. They know a group of consumers/NFL fans will buy it on name alone or because it's the only NFL product and they aren't responsible for fixing anything once it's out, good or bad.

[Icy]

One of the problems i just found with supersim (in ncaa08 but i guess the same in madden) is that it doesn't seem to have in account the weather, and also the fumbles and int's are way lower. So if you, like me, are playing a CL mode as QB and supersimming the defense, you could face a weird game like the one i just had:

It's raining a lot, a typical Miami's storm, you can barely see the field (well done btw). Probably because the slipery ball, my team (Miami) fumbles 9 times, i fumble 3 times and the other 6 are from team mates. Even being exaggerated, it's fine with me because the heavy rain... until i notice FIU, the team i'm playing against (and that is way worse than Miami) has zero fumbles for the whole game.

It looks that when i supersimmed their offense, the storm ended and everything was dry, to get wet again just when i was playing offense again...

Damn EA, i can't stop to think how fun could be this game without these stupid glitches.

[Kodos]

And today we are expecting intermittent monsoons...

[stevew]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

I'm thinking of buying the Wii version. Kind of a double-edged sword is that I'm happy online play is in (with no friend codes!!!), but IGN says the lag is crazy.

Yeah, i want to test that out, but right now I'm having a hard time figuring out why my Wii won't go online. Only thing I can think is that my network just isn't strong enough.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by stevew

Yeah, i want to test that out, but right now I'm having a hard time figuring out why my Wii won't go online. Only thing I can think is that my network just isn't strong enough.

You too?? I've been having problems getting the last couple of updates. I thought I might have changed my wireless router's settings and forgotten to update the Wii with the new info... maybe there's something wrong with the network.

[MikeVic]

Gamespot is kinda dumb with this review. gave both the 360 and PS3 the same score... but they say the PS3 has a lower framerate. Shouldn't that lower the score?

There's also no Wii review up yet! I want to see if anyone else mentions the lag.