Today is the big game. When the Giants take down the Patriots (yeah, that’s how I see it going). Unfortunately, Madden 08 didn’t see it that way. Here’s how it all went down according to EA’s juggernaut.
The NFL is trying to expand their market into Latin America. This is prevalent with the recent Latino Appreciation Month Commercials and preseason games in Mexico City. There now is an official Spanish version of the game complete with new box art, soundtracks, commentary and more. Here is the official press release from EA Sports.
Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that Madden NFL 08 En Español will be available this December for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360™ video game system from Microsoft. Fully translated in Spanish, Madden NFL 08 en Español will feature San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo on the box cover. Madden NFL 08 en Español features exclusive Spanish language content, including additional music tracks, and Spanish play-by-play and game analysis voice-over.
An auto update for Madden 08 was posted today for the Xbox 360, with a PS3 patch coming shortly. Here’s what you can expect from this update:
Franchise: Editing a player causes his contract value to change
Franchise: Former user coaches do not fill their new team’s roster causing the game to stop simulating.
Franchise: The game crashes when simulating if the user releases all the HOF players from the Player Management Menu and then starts a franchise
Train for This Game: Certain Player Weapons Stat Points are not being recorded after Training.
Online: In Game: If the Client pulls connection at the end of game, prior to the Match Up screen, they will crash the Host.
Online: When the client ejects disk after the game clock has been reduced to 0:00 but before the opponent gets the match-up screen the Host will crash.
Yeah, I was expecting more. Maybe like tweaking the CPU defense to tune down the interceptions and fumbles.
In the many hours logged playing Madden, have you ever wondered how the players feel about their various rankings. This is a supposed letter from Ethan Albright, the Washington Redskins long snapper who is the lowest rated player in the game. Could this be fake, maybe, but I know that the side splitting humor is very real. Enjoy.
To: John Madden
CC: Electronic Arts Sports
From: Ethan Albright
Re: Being the worst rated player on Madden ‘07Hi, John, my name is Ethan Albright. I play line for the Washington Redskins. You probably already knew that, so I’ll continue. I am writing in regards to the overall player rating of 53 that I have received in Madden NFL Football 2007. I feel that this is fucking bullshit and you should kiss my mother-fucking ass. Ahmed Carroll was rated a 78 and the Packers just cut his ass on a Tuesday morning after his performance in a Monday night game. That is pretty terrible. The worst part is that his overall rating was sniffing 80.
Is Madden 2008 the best football game to ever hit next gen? Despite a few flaws, yes, yes it is.
Presentation and Graphics: EA Sports has not changed their basic menu structure in the past few years and I see very little reason to do so. They are very simple to follow and Madden especially points out the many new features on this years installment and trust me, there are plenty. More on that later. The graphics run at 1080i and a sweet 60 frames per second. This is a HUGE difference from its PS3 counterpart which stutters at a mere 30 fps. The animations and capture videos are also top notch. The one thing I noticed was how polished the uniforms and helmets looked. Very shiny and detailed, especially the bright colored uniforms such as the San Diego Superchargers powder blues and white helmets. The stadiums looked improved and are extremely life like. You need to check out Seattle’s home field, Quest Field. Looks and feels like the acoustical monster it is in real life. There is only so much you can realistically expect from a football title. Plus with other games like BioShock out there, the graphics are very good but fall short of great. 4.5 of 5
I am a football fan. There is no denying that, so I have been a little biased with my opinions of recent Madden games for next gen. I was never that upset with the past two installments but basically everyone outside of EA Sports disagreed with me. Well, this time, they got it right. Madden 2008 kicks some serious ass and here is why.
First, the Xbox 360 version runs at a smooth as a baby’s ass 60 fps and looks glorious on my 46′ LCD TV. The game runs at 1080i, which is still pretty impressive. The commentary is a little beat with the radio broadcast style from a no name announcer, but when my friends play, we just blast the classic rock station on Sirius so it doesn’t matter to me. The game really excels in the gameplay. This is not your little brother’s Madden. Forcing throws into double coverage or running with LT all game will lead to you one place: turnover country. Having 7-10 TO’s in a game is not out of the question. The defensive AI has finally caught up to the player. I would consider myself a very good Madden player and putting up 50 points on All Madden level got old real fast. I don’t foresee this happening.
In case you thought EA made a game without lots of bugs, here’s some proof that the world hasn’t turned itself upside down.
Yeah, this guy is a bit angry.
If you weren’t lucky enough to go to Times Square for the Madden launch, here’s your chance to see Ozzy Osbourne rocking out at the event.
What really strikes me about this video is the fact that Xbox 360 is plastered EVERYWHERE with the EA logo. It’s almost like PS3 and Wii don’t exist. Peter Moore is sure to make that relationship even stronger. No wonder the Xbox 360 version is superior… Can anyone say payola?
We all know the PS3 version only runs at 30fps. Yes, it sucks. For whatever reason, EA can’t get a proper handle on the PS3 hardware. Saddening as it may be, here’s a video to show the differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of this year’s title.
I’ve been playing the 360 version for a while today and it looks damn good. I did play the PS3 version, and unless you’re looking side by side, you can’t really see the differences, other than minor framerate changes that are easily noticeable.
Here’s your HD goodness.
Here’s a great video showing you how to take advantage of your different receiver weapons in Madden 08. Study hard, because the game drops next week.
Here’s your HD goodness.
Coming Soon!
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