10 Reasons Why Madden Gamers Will Want to Make the Switch Over to Madden 08 on the NG

Defensive Individual Hot Routes: Making their way on to the next gen are defensive hot routes.

Our Thoughts: Anyone remember the first time you were able use them in Madden 05 and how much they improved your defensive play calling. Well on the next gen you will get that same feeling once again. The only downside of them is we hope that EA doesn’t allow players to drop 11 men in pass coverage. It really watered down Madden 07 on the current gen.

Responsive Controls: Better control over players on both sides of the ball.

Our Thoughts: One of the biggest gripes about next gen Madden is lack of control. With responsive control you should be able to perform manual jukes, catches, and all the other manual stick control maneuvers we have grown use to on the current gen.

Madden Challenge on the 360: It looks like the Madden Challenge makes it debut on the 360.

Our Thoughts: If you plan on playing in the Madden Challenge this year, then you better be picking up a 360 soon. From all indications, it looks like that’s what the challenge is going to be played on. On a side note: personally (Kobra) I am a big fan of the 360 controller Vs the lite PS3 controller. I know a lot of you have played the PS2 version of Madden Vs Xbox version because mainly of the controller. If you give the 360 controller a chance, I am sure you will agrees it’s a real mans controller Vs the PS3 lite. The reason I call the PS3 controller lite is because it feels half of the weight of the PS2 controller. I just don’t care for it. It feels cheaply made.

Pure Dynamic Gameplay: You control the animations, the animations don't control you.

Our Thoughts: From what we read it looks like you will have complete control of over player animations. For those of you who felt like you didn’t have the same type of stick control over players on the next gen, we believe Pure Dynamic Gameplay is right up your alley.


60 Frame Rates per A Second: Madden 08 next gen goes from 30 fps to 60 fps.

Our Thoughts: Faster frame rates mean better overall game play. Madden 06 and 07 on the next gen felt slow and choppy. Sure the game looked great, but played sluggish. From what we hear, it looks like EA had to tone down the graphics to some degree to achieve faster frame rates. We have always said no matter how beautiful a game may look , the game play untimely determines the lasting appeal. By EA toning the graphics some to improve the frame rates; that alone will make this year’s game better and worth getting.

New Player Ratings and Weapons: More individual player ratings make cyber players on the field play more life like.

Our Thoughts: Lets face it over the years, have players ratings really meant that much. What we mean is for instance say you have a defensive end with an overall rating of an 93 matched up with offensive tackle with an overall rating of 79. Did you ever see the defensive end dominant the offensive tackle like you would expect based off the overall ratings? The answer is not really. Outside of speed, jump, height, throwing power, and handful of other players ratings, most of the rest of the ratings really didn’t mean that much at all. In Madden 08 based on what we are reading, player ratings will really mean something. If you got a lock down cornerback such as Champ Bailey and he is matched up with a weaker receiver, he is going shut that receiver down during the game. If this is really the case, players ratings are going to going have a huge impact on how games play out and what team’s we choose to play.

If the Weapons System is balanced right, this will be one of the better game play additions to the game. It will change how we use and attack with certain players.

Gang Tackling: Last year gang tackling made its debut on the PS3. Now all the 360 also gets it, plus it’s been improved.

Our Thoughts: Where was gang tackling at when I (Kobra) was getting my butt handed to me by Fred Taylor in the VG 360 League AFC Wild Card Game. I kept thinking if the 360 version of the game had gang tacking, would Taylor be running all over my Charger defense. One of the biggest game play requests of all time is now being added to the next gen platforms. For those of you like me, who got tired of being ran all over on the 360, Gang Tackling is a much needed game play addition that will help the run defense out as long as the right plays are called and the right defenders are on the field. From what we hear, you will see 2, 3, or 4 defenders making a tackles on the field at the same time. We can wait to see this in actual action.

Hit Stick 2.0.: Now you can tackle high or low by flicking up or down on the right stick. This takes manually tackling a ball carrier to another level.

Our Thoughts: Being able to lay the wood on a ball carrier or a receiver with the Hit Stick over the last few years has been cool, but it always felt like there was something missing. Sure you could hit the ball carrier high and deliver a crushing blow, but you could never take feet out from under him. With Hit Stick 2.0, now you can. This will help will trying to bring down bigger ball carriers.

Line of Scrimmage Improvements: Zone blocking, double team blocking, pull/lead, stretch and read blocks are now all part of the game.

Our Thoughts: Madden 07 on the next gen made major strides in how the run game works. Some may say running the ball was almost to effective, especially from the goal line formation. Hopefully with the new line of scrimmage improvements, the run game will be more realistic. If you your team has an excellent offensive line, then you will reap the benefits of the new improvements. However if your offensive line is weak, then you should not reap the benefits of the new improvements as much.

Pre-Play Cut Scenes Are Gone: You won't see the same canned animations of 11 players jogging back to a huddle in unison.

Our Thoughts: Outside of the game play commentator, pre-play cut scenes were about most annoying part of the game, especially on the defensive side of the ball. How many times while playing defense online did you have to wait for your opponent on offense to skip past the player cut screens. It looks like based off the articles and videos we have read and seen, you can now by-pass that and get right into setting up your defense. Being able to do that will drastically improve playing defense on the next gen.

Well there you have it, 10 reasons why you should make the switch from the current gen to the next gen in 08. Feel free to post any of your comments in this thread about what was written or anything else you have heard or concerns about Madden 08.

VG Staff