Don't worry guys, I'm sure FOXSports Arena Football 2K6 is gonna kick ass.

And Aussie rules football is completely unexplored territory...

If you're not into a franchise, then I could see why you'd much prefer ESPN. Franchise/simulation is the only reason I buy these games...

As for gameplay, I personally think the physics engine on Madden is better. The running game (specifically the o-line play) on Madden is lacking, but can be fixed somewhat with sliders.

I give the edge to ESPN in the presentation and graphics departement, and that's about it.

The strategy & depth is far and away better than Madden '02, '03, etc... but like I said, IMO, the AI seems to shift from one season to the next, without any actual improvement in gameplay. They seem to cater to complaints more than trying to make a realistic game. ...and when I see EA change the physics of NCAA so the ball is tipped up 95% of the time, it seems like they take offense to complaints. Instead of improving the collision engine so their would be more tipped passes, they do something so drastic, that it was better the other way. Same thing with their claim of "more dropped passes and less acurate quarterbacks"..... the best QBs in NCAA '05 aren't that good, and neither are the receivers.


I noticed the same thing before I quit buying Madden... One season, there's tons of plays that work every single time you run them, no matter how many times you run them (even consecutively), and then the next year every defenseman is Superman. I wouldn't even call it an improvement in defensive AI, because it's overkill, and it's certainly not an improvement overall.

eh, espn 2k5 is great as far as gameplay/presentation... plus, it was only like 20 bucks

from the dudes I know who work at EB games, madden's gonna drop to 30 bucks next year (29.95)--which isn't half bad, really--you can pick up either without hurting the wallet

-EB-

EA just locked up the Arena license, as well...

Hopefully this will free up VC to make a Playmakers style world of football. Drug suspensions, players beating their wives and kids, the occasional gay player getting outed and being shunned from the league, money-hungry owners threatening anyone who gets in their way of making more money...

I own both espn 2k5 and nba2k5. These two games are awesome. Madden AI flat out sucks. Players are robotic in movement and look like cheap GI Joe figurines.
How can EA have exclusivity rights to a brand such as the NFL? Wouldn't that conflict with so many other companies that create similar products for the NFL? I never thought that NFL, NBA and so on ever gave exclusivity rights because it limits their licensing ability. I can understand ESPN rights, you are buying the use of character names and overall feeling of what they present to use in your products. But not a complete entity like the NFL. And if it is true isn't it considered monopolizing in not giving the consumer choice like they have had for many years now?

Man you guys clearly dont know your football games. Both EA and Madden present acceptable products, however each has issues. For example:
Madden:
Terrible Secondary play
Terrible WR play
Unadjustable contracts
ESPN:
Just underdeveloped.
Laggy when it snows....
Franchise AI sucks.

Granted, there are still features I would like to see in both.

I will really miss the ESPN layout of SEGA's games.... maybe they can sign on with Fox or CBS?? Just what we need.... a cyber-Randy Cross ROFL


The naming rights isn't a huge deal, as long as SEGA allows you to upload a roster, like from ps2rosters.com .......it's not like anyone likes the rosters when they come out anyway. There's always roster movement after the rosters are done, so people are looking to update rosters.

I have to laugh at all the people praising ESPN while simultaneously saying Madden's AI sucks.

What do you expect out of the box? It's called sliders and they put them in the game for a reason.

Amen to that. I switched to ESPN this year due to the far better gaming experience; the $20 price made it that much better. I probably won't buy a Madden game for a while; Sega was catering to the FANS while Madden was just trying to get something out. This can only hurt the people who buy the games...

Not true. On my trip to Australia, I found ARF at a store and yes, it was made by EA.

You know, things could still work out ok. Sega didn't produce a college football game the last few years. Maybe, they could focus their efforts on the college game and just kick the crap out of EA. That being said, I really like EA's college football...

ROFL

Like I've asked the many others that have asked that question before --- What kind of question is that? Out of the box, I expect a fairly realistic, very playable game. Of course everyone has a different idea of what their video game experience should be, but the default middle-of-the-road sliders should give everyone a good starting point.

Sliders are [should be] there to tweak an already fairly realistic game. Past obvious reasons for why this should be, it's really hard to not just pin down a problem, but to adjust it so it's accurate across the board. They have plenty of testers to do it, but it's always a problem. I usually have to rely on someone else spending hours adjusting sliders, because it's so tedious. Play one game against one team, adjust sliders, play a few games, play another team, adjust them again, etc.

I don't think it's asking too much.... I loved NCAA '04 out of the box (even though I ended up tweaking when I went to Heisman level), loved ESPN NHL '04 with a couple of minor tweaks... don't even remember if Madden '01 or '02 had sliders, but they were fine, IIRC. OTOH, Madden '03/04, NCAA '05, EA's NHL '04/05, --- were all completely unacceptable out of the box.



IMO.




I've only been talking about those 4 things since Madden came out in '03 and ESPN came out this year ;)

ea's hockey games make me puke

Yeah.... haven't played '05, because it can't possibly be better than ESPN's ('04 or '05)..... With '04, EA had had this bright idea to have all 10 skaters just chase the puck, and not care where they were on the ice...... you can't say your defensemen pinch when they're constantly going in deep. Don't know how many times I'd be skating along with a forward, and Adam Foote would end up behind the net, passing to Peter Forsberg, who was on the blue line :banghead: But the big hit feature was cool :rolleyes:

Franchise mode in '04 sucked, but it got much better this year.... haven't been playing much of anything lately, but ESPN's NHL might have to get me through '05, too :sulk: