I just read this thread in GGD. I haven't played Madden 07 yet so I can't speak on how well it stands up to the presentation of a two year old game. I will says that I was one of those individuals that was disappointed when EA got the exclusive rights to the NFL license; however, that being said, don't think that this blog entry is just another 'Death to EA' rant and that they have nothing worthwhile that comes out of their company. That's simply not true. This blog entry is about the lack of quality in the first and current iterations of the Madden franchise on the 360 and how it gives credence to most of the 2K fans out there that like to pine for the death of everything EA.

Maybe someone should have warned Sega and Visual Concepts that this game not only heralded the death of their videogame football franchise but the guy on the cover also helped the breakdown of the Philadelphia Eagles.

This years Madden is the second offering on the XBox 360. With a new console being released after the official release of Madden 06, I don't think anyone was surprised by EA rushing out a game to capitalize on the new console launch. I think a few people were surprised by the lack of certain features on the game however. One of those being the ability to challenge plays. To a non-sports fan the features that were removed may seem trivial but it's akin to the RE series going back to the tank like controls of earlier games after the change made in the control scheme in RE4. I like Alex's quote from his review, "Yes, Madden NFL 06 has made its debut on the Xbox 360--but not in a form that could really be called next gen." There weren't many expectations for that game, not compared to this years version. Complaints about the lack of features and care EA took with Madden 06 were chalked up to Sega and VC fanboys ranting again. Who can blame those kinds of threads being downplayed? I don't want to hear "Death to EA and they're lazy" every time a game is released. It gets tiring; but doesn't the release of this year's game give a little validity to those that complain about EA?

The simple fact of the matter is, if you want to get an NFL licensed football simulation style game on console, you're going to have to get it from EA. This is year two of five! Madden 07 has improved from Madden 06 on the 360, but still has significant issues that affect enjoyment of the game. What's really telling is reading the reviews on the other platforms and seeing comments normally heard in EA rant threads. One comment that I found shocking in the XB review concerned the graphics and animations, "...since the focus seems to have been on developing for the 360 version of the game this year." How is that possible when there are animation concerns in the 360 version? I'm not going to call EA lazy because I don't know what the hell was going on. What I really want to see though is when the PS3 is released and the version of the game on that system. Have resources from the last gen and 360 games been taken away to concentrate on the PS3 version? I honestly doubt it and figure the PS3 version will more likely be a port of the PS2 or 360 version.

I don't feel there is anyway to justify this type of behaviour on EA's part. It has nothing to do with VC and their work on another sports game. I don't think VC is perfect by any means, but does VC being imperfect mean EA shouldn't strive for perfection? I was resigned to purchasing Madden 07 this year because it's the only football sim out there. I have to say I've honestly been rethinking that over the last twenty-four hours. I don't want to spend sixty dollars and regret it a month down the road.