Madden 2009 for Xbox 360 Still Needs Some Work

The NFL loving sports fanatic world of video gamers eagerly anticipated the release of EA Sports Madden NFL 2009 for almost an entire year. But after hurriedly ripping the shrink wrap packaging off and discarding the Microsoft seal, I was abound with joy and the similar letdown that I have experienced with all previous Madden Franchises. And it seems that the dudes over at EA, while they have made a pretty decent video game, have also made it entirely clear that they do not keep their ears to the ground when avid gamers complain of common problems with their games. That being said, here is my scoop on Madden NFL 2009 for the Xbox 360 gaming console.

What they Did Wrong – Or Could do better!
I know that they only have about twelve months at best to release the next version of the game, but how do you go backwards when you already have a 20 game series of platforms and code to build on? For starters the training mode in the Franchise game play is terrible. Last year’s was great, the graphics were good and the players looked real. This time they are all jutted, they walk weird and they look weird; the graphics look a lot worse. So why even touch this to make it worse when the training was fine? Also, I must note when playing a franchise two player, you can sometimes both be on the same team you train, and others you can’t. No reason why, it’s just a glitch. And don’t try playing two-player same-console on a team on Xbox Live – that’s not in the books.

Why Can’t They Fix the Obvious Bugs?
There are few obvious bugs that I would like to point out. NCAA 2009, made by EA as well, will allow you to mass substitute your players when you are creaming the hell out of an opposing team. But if you do this in Madden, you must sub one player out at a time. WHY? Also, you can’t call multi-button plays from the play call screen in Madden unless you hold the left trigger, but in NCAA 09 you can. Why? Other obvious gaming glitches are constant hanging of the game, the Madden IQ is terrible is nearly impossible to maintain and the players, both the defensive and offensive lines, don’t do their jobs ninety percent of the time.

The NFL Official Franchise Scam
Perhaps the reason for the number of complaints is because EA has no competition to their Madden Franchise, literally. They bought the sole rights from the NFL a few year back and ousted rival Sega’s ESPN NFL Football – so now gamers like me have but one choice: Madden or nothing. This expires in 2010 – and one can only hope to see Sega or 2k Sports as they like to be called come back with another version.

My Opinion
I love football, and I play Madden because I have no other football video game to play. Otherwise I would more than likely be a 2k guy. One can only hope they have a hitch into the next NFL contract, and that EA doesn’t get to dominate with an exclusive license this time around. Seriously.