Madden 2008

So about two weeks ago I purchased Madden 2008 for my PS2 (yeah, I still use PS2). After playing for a bit I have some impressions that I would like to share.

I should state upfront that I am a Madden Guy, but I only buy it every other year, unless there is something really revolutionary. So I am judging 2008 after playing 2006 for the past two years. With that in mind, I am pretty disappointed overall.

Don't get me wrong there are some great things about the games that I love. I love precision passing, the hit stick, the audibles and line adjustments, even the alternative jerseys, but all of that was available in 2006. My biggest issue with 2008 is that there is very little new. They added some new tackling animations, which are really cool, the roster update which is expected, and a pretty interesting training process, but the took away some things that I liked. First of which is Tony Bruno. You may be asking yourself WTF?!? Who the hell is Tony Bruno. This is the guy who did the "radio show" in between games. It was nice to hear discussion about what was going on each week while trolling through the menus.

They did add a great deal of texture to the game, making it look really good, but this causes the game to preform pretty badly, it is slow, sometimes herky jerky and don't even try to pull up the national or local paper. You will need to wait quite a while for those articles to load, even when you are just switching between them.

This brings me to my final point, there are to many things in the game that are EXACTLY THE SAME in this version when compared to 2006. Finish a training camp drill, here there is the same cheesy cut scene. Win a game, you will see your QB, TE and RB with there silly poses. The news articles are the same... SAME SAME SAME.

Look EA does a great job with Madden, and If i was on a next gen console I may have a different experience, but at this point I am just not as impressed as I have been in the past. Don't get me wrong, I will be playing Madden pretty much non stop for a while, I just wish I was playing something better.

Overall, i am going to give Madden a punt for this year. Hopefully Madden 2010 will be different.

Let's talk about Michael Vick

It has been a couple of weeks hearing about Mike Vick and the Bad Newz Kennels (seriously, Bad Newz Kennels), and I thought I would through my two cents in with the pundants.

First, DOG FIGHTING IS WRONG, DOG KILLING IS WRONG....

Second, Mike Vick is an amazing athlete with extremely unique skills. His talent as a running quarterback is basically unmatched in the history of the NFL.

Ok, I sympathise with the fact that Vick is going to jail. I hear it is not a fun place to be. Vick brought this upon himself, he financed the ring, he was centered within it and it is his cross to bear, and bear it he will. He is going to do 1-2 years in a federal penitentiary, or if he gives up alot of other people, for other crimes, maybe a year of house arrest.

As for his football career, I don't think it is done, but I will say it will not be the same. After his time is done, he will have an additional year suspension handed down by the Commissioner. The earliest he will play is 2010, he will be 30 years old. He will not be the QB he has been.

Here is the deal, this is a huge blow, to Vick, the Falcons, the City of Atlanta, and the NFL. In a few years we will move on, Vick may play football again, he may not, but the biggest part of this whole thing is the potential crimes that Vick will hand over to the government in the form of testimony. I hope people realize that Vick will pay for what he has done, and become valuable for what eh knows.

Remember DOG FIGHTING IS WRONG, DOG KILLING IS WRONG and VICK IS GETTING WHAT HE DESERVED