I'm assuming the same will go for the 360 but i've played madden on the 360 & the PS3 and taking off the glasses, the PS3 version was much better and much more realistic.. this years game looks totally fucking awesome. finally can do some of the crap you should be able to do
I'm an NCAA guy, but i've been playing madden on the ps3 since there was no ncaa 07 on it, i'm gonna read about ncaa 08 here, but i may become a full time madden guy, cant compare the realism.. much more fun game to play because it really is playcalling, making big plays etc and not bullshit cheap crap:
per
IGN
As for AI, EA wants star players to play like star players. Peyton Manning is going to pick apart a defense, call audibles and shift his team at the line. On the flip side, a QB like Rex Grossman is going to be inconsistent. Cornerbacks like Champ Bailey are going to shut down an entire side of the football field. You've never feared a cornerback before in Madden, but that's about to change. EA is also rewriting the defensive zone AI to eliminate money plays, especially deep balls and corner routes.
As such, look for matchups to play a more important factor in 08. Taller receivers will take advantage of small DBs on fade routes. A tight end like Antonio Gates split out wide will burn a slow linebacker trying to play man coverage. EA is trying to emphasize the chess match that is the gridiron on any given Sunday. And don't forget about the defensive side of the ball. If you think you can roll out with a QB right toward a healthy Jevon Kearse without throwing out a double team, you got another thing coming.
Midair Collisions
A quarterback lofts a pass to a streaking receiver that is well covered. The receiver jumps and extends his arms to receive the ball just as the corner buries his helmet into his ribcage. The receiver is upended and falls on his back while the ball bounces into the hands of the safety creeping over to help. If you're going to expose yourself in traffic, expect to get hit. We can see the alligator arms growing now.
Big Time Catches
To balance these big hits in the secondary, EA has made star receivers play like, you know, stars. Guys like Larry Fitzgerald are going to go up and get the ball and they're going to take the hit. What's more, you'll see them reaching out for one-handed grabs and leaping into the end zone for six. That's not to say a good corner isn't going to shut down some of these plays. But a scrub DB? "He's toast," Cummings said.
To do this, EA had to better emphasize the roles receivers play by looking at situational awareness and catch-in-traffic ratings. So expect to see a big difference with possession guys like Keyshawn Johnson and showboats like Terrell Owens. Johnson won't stretch the D, but he will do the little things -- in the end zone on a timing patter, he'll catch the ball with his hands and fall right to the turf to avoid the hit and secure the football. Along with highlight catches, you can also trigger possession catches that ensure you catch the ball, get the feet down and tuck it away safely at the expense of some speed running after the catch.
Hurdles
A few years ago, players were able to cheat with the hurdle button to escape tackles. The easy solution was simply to remove hurdles. They're back in 08, and a great tool for ball carriers looking to evade tacklers going for the knees. On the flip side of that coin, you are exposed in the air, as we saw in this video:
LaDainian Tomlinson takes a pitch and sweeps right. As a linebacker bears down, LT hurdles. Bad move. In the air, LT is unprotected. The LB takes his legs out from under him and LT flips over, fumbling the ball toward the sideline. "If a guy is running at you and you jump at him, you're dead," said Cummings. "We emulated that."
Hitstick 2.0
If LT is going to hurdle to avoid a tackle, you have to be able to answer on the defensive side of the ball. Enter Hitstick 2.0. This will allow you to tackle high or low by flicking up or down on the right stick, respectively. This opens the door for all kinds of possibilities.
If you're an undersized corner and Lorenzo Neal is barreling toward you, you better take out his knees at risk of getting trucked. If it's Warrick Dunn dancing toward you, on the other hand, you may want to hold off on the hit stick altogether at the risk of losing your shoes. But if you're Zach Thomas and the situation is right, a high tackle is going to ring some bells.
Gang Tackles
We saw a bit of gang tackling last year on the PS3, but this year the feature looks to be fully fleshed out. Cummings said with confidence that it's "the best gang-tackling engine ever created," a bold statement considering the old 2K franchise. But consider this:
You can stand a guy up and come in with a linebacker to clean house. Yeah, it's been done before. But from here, Cummings said you can add on dynamically at any point. So maybe it takes two, three, four guys to haul Larry Johnson to the ground. Or if you're running in with a linebacker, you can actually knock the other defenders off the ball carrier with a poorly-aimed hit. Or blockers can come in and try to knock defenders off. Or you can try to strip the ball. A runner can cover it up. The list just keeps going.
The Line of Scrimmage
EA enlisted an engineer that played offensive line in college and the Canadian Football League to design a new blocking scheme. This season you'll see double teams, stretch blocking and linemen extending to the second level. A lot more holes will open up this year and you'll need to follow the game plan to take advantage.
For running backs, that means reading and following blocks. Of course, a few gargantuan defensive tackles can ruin your trap play faster than you can say Corey Simon, so it's important to be able to improvise. Last season if a hole didn't open up, a back would simply run in place behind a lineman-- ice skating as it's known in the biz. This year, big backs will push the pile and force their blockers forward. Smaller backs like Reggie Bush will hesitate behind the line, waiting for an opening to develop before bouncing outside. Both moves are context-sensitive and automatic when you run into a blocker.
Fatigue
Guess what? Temperature and location play a factor in a football game. If you're a Green Bay Packer playing at Dolphin Stadium in September, you're going to feel the heat while the Dolphins are well-adjusted. And don't start on the Dolphins playing in Foxborough in December. Weather will play into the home-field advantage next season.
But fatigue is caused by a lot more than a hot day. Consider this: If Reggie Bush scampers left, then right, then backward, then left and right again and finally into the end zone as only Reggie Bush can, he's going to be tired at the end of the run. In Madden, you'll notice him slowing and, with a different set of running animations, you will see that Bush is gassed. But really, does that guy ever get tired?
For those of you that enjoy sprinting from sideline to sideline with Michael Vick, it's time to get a new strategy. Then again, the defense will tire too...
After a play, you won't see the same canned animations of 11 players jogging back to a huddle in unison. Players will huff and puff with their hands on their hips, longing for the oxygen tank on the sidelines. This will add a new dimension to clock management as you can't simply run Hail Mary after Hail Mary with a no-huddle offense. Those long patterns (and the jog back to the line) take a heavy toll. Instead, you'll need to complete a pass and -- dare I say it -- spike the ball to stop the clock. Just waiting a few extra seconds to snap the ball will have an effect.
How funny, the AV posters reveled in the thought that the format war was done, with HD DVD coming back with a killer blow. This isn't to say Wal-Mart won't still buy cheap HD DVD players in the future, Blu-Ray appears to still have the upper hand /w most available players sold. Apparantly Blu-Ray disk and HD DVD disk sales are neck and neck though, if Blu-Ray DVD prices drop, the number of people owning Blu-Ray players will eventually buy more movies.
