I expect it to be severely stripped down as well. Which is why I decided to wait on the next gen system until next year.

I like it a lot. Its very deep to me. A lot of stuff to do, so its time consuming which will keep me interested. The owner mode especially.

Gotta adjust prices, do the roster, fix the stadium, upgrade players which is the most fun aspect. I thought I would hate that part.

I wish the interface was CBS/FOX/NBC/ESPN. Hell maybe get more than one of those networks just for the interface. Make Sunday and Monday night games look like they're being broadcast on NBC and ESPN. I understand why they probably couldn't do that, but they have plenty of money right? Hell they could even get more than one pair of announcers. That would be EPIC. Hard work, yes, but god damn it would be cool.

The EA Sports interface/broadcast is just plain out f'ing UGLY. And I'm tired of it.

That's why it's impossible to please everyone. One guy complains that he plays games that end up 65-49 while another plays 15 minute quarters and ends up with realistic scores. One guy says its too easy to pass while the other throws 10 picks in three games (I'm looking at you, Alex Smith).

If you're having issues with the difficulty then you have to adjust the sliders yourself.

Which really used to piss me off. Adjusting the sliders I mean. I had this notion that the game should be perfectly balanced, no if ands or buts about it.

But now I realize that the more you play, the better you are going to get, and you have the opportunity to make the game harder so it never gets stale.

I don't need gaudy stats. I want realism.

And with my sliders, I have that, and im adjusting them as I go. Im in week 3 now, and I am having to make them harder..

But still. Best madden I have played in a long time.

My main issue with passing is that you are constantly penalized for being aggressive. If you stick with conservative routes, it's fairly easy to move the ball. But if you try to, say, lob it up to Bowe on a seam route up the sideline, it's almost definitely getting picked off if the defender is anywhere near Bowe. I don't know if that's a legit issue with Alex Smith's limitations as a passer or an issue with the game. But I'm pretty sure that, in the past, sometimes those long throws would be caught, sometimes they'd be picked, and most of the time they'd end up dropped or batted out of bounds. There was at least a balance, y'know?

Fair assessment, I guess.

In all likelihood though, it's probably just the fact that you're not used to the next gen Madden. If I remember right, this is the first one you've played since PS2? I was the ****ing KING of Madden 07. I must have played over 500 games with friends and friends of friends from out of town that had heard about me and I think I lost maybe 6 times total. I remember it was a huge ****ing deal when someone would finally beat me. Then I stopped playing video games for years, picked up the sticks in Madden 10 on 360 and got slaughtered by my friend, who had his difficulty rating on All-Madden while mine was on Pro. It was pathetic.

Just keep playing and you'll get a better feel for the types of passing routes that work the best against certain coverages. For instance: I find that flag, out and hitch routes are lethal against man coverage, but absolutely worthless against cover 4 and sometimes cover 2 and 3 looks. Also, I find square ins and drag routes to be pretty much worthless against man, but are great against zones- you just have to wait for your man to clear a zone and fire it in there.

Yeah, I guess it'll just take some getting used to. I played a little bit of 09 on the 360 with friends, but this even feels different than that.

Agreed. I wish they'd do what NFL 2k5 did: use real TV presentation and fictitious commentators. No-name voice actors are WAY cheaper than Jim Nantz. They could afford to record way more audio and make the commentators both less repetitive and more responsive to the action on screen.

That's why I am as well. Madden, COD Ghosts, Battlefield, Watch Dogs are all coming out on the current gen. Why spend $500 this year? Titanfall? Knack? Ryse? Ill stay current gen for awhile.

This is the kind of shit I was afraid of. I'm a first year owner of a ps3 and haven't had Madden game since 09 ps2.

I still plan to get it and hope I can still enjoy it.

Ever since playing espn tk5 madden games have been shitty to play.

I'm about to get down on this for the first time. My plans free'd up for the night so I might just play all night.

Gonna do some single player first but if anyone wants to play a friendly game later, my PSN is BuckinKaeding.

LMAO

It's ****ing hilarious how every year for the last 4-5 years I think about buying this game, come on here, read reports of how ****ING TERRIBLE it is, and just laugh and ignore Madden again.

How can a company get it SO WRONG SO CONSISTENTLY.

The squib kicks suck. You know what was great about madden '09? The weapons aspect. Fades in this game suck

Does anyone else have trouble against the practice team?