Well, as the summer starts rapidly approaching, it means a few things up coming.  One, no more good sports on TV until the fall, number two, kids are getting out of school, and finally (and most importantly) within the next few months, the new football titles from EA Sports will start to arrive, first with NCAA Football in July, and then finally with Madden NFL in August.  While I have been a huge fan of both the Madden franchise since the Sega Genesis days, and the NCAA Football franchise since it was Bill Walsh's College Football, I always find myself asking the same questions every year:  Why do we feel compelled to constantly purchase a new game every single year? 

Especially with our current generation of consoles (XBOX 360 and PS3), why do we constantly feel the need to purchase the entire game every single year?  Now with the on-line capabilities that most households have, as well as any gamer would have, you would think that it would be fairly simple for EA to make some sort of down-loadable pack, for some of the smaller tweaks and roster updates.  Now while I understand completely that they are running a business, and business always comes first, sometimes shouldn't we, as the consumer, come first? 

A few years ago when  Madden NFL 2004 came out for the PS2, it truly was revolutionary.  With the first addition of the playmaker control, and the owner mode, it almost felt as if you were playing an entirely new game (even if Michael Vick did turn into the new Bo Jackson in that game).  You could truly spend hours upon hours before you realized that the time had flew by.  You had total control with the owner mode, and you began to tinker with just about anything that you could.  Now while the subsequent years didn't add too much (with the exception of Madden 06 and the QB Vision Control), there really wasn't too much to add.  

Now while I totally understand with the capabilities of the old XBOX and the PS2, that you would pretty much need a new game every year, I still wonder as to why udpates can't just be downloaded.  Now from what I have read, this years crop of games is going to add quite a bit, so hopefully, I don't get the feeling that I have been bamboozled after I have purchased them.  But let's say next year, all that they add are just the new rosters, new ratings, and now if you hold select and the b button, you can make the coach go into a tirade on the sidelines.  Does anyone really think that's worth anoter $60?  Especially as popular as the micro-transactions on XBOX Live have proven to be, I bet people would even be willing to pay.  I mean c'mon, I actually spent points (not allot of money, but some in general) on horse armor for Oblivion!  Had they not made the download, I probably would have never thought about armor for my horse at all.  But since it's there, sure, why not?  They have already done a few stadiums and alternate uniforms, so why not just say "Hey, either buy Madden (NCAA Football) 2009 for $60, or spend $20 or $30 worth of points for a download, and your playing the same game?  How many people out there would be really willing to do that?  I know I would.  But I guess for those of us who are, we are just living in a world of wishful thinking.  Until that time comes, I guess we will have to just deal with the new disc every year.  And we do, because most of us (and I am EXTREMELY guilty of this) must have the best, or newest there is.