What's the best Madden EVAR?!

[TheSonicRetard]

QB vision was one of the features that separated the ballers from the bitches I loved it. There were far more "hardcore" features in these games then the current gen that made games between 2 amazing players awesome. Disguising man/zone coverage was awesome, being able to play zone and put your cb's in man on the fly was awesome, there were so many things that made games with 2 elite players feel like a chess match.

This guy gets it. I play the NCAA games instead of madden, so there are slight differences between the two, but NCAA 2009 was the best game of the series. I stopped playing NCAA 2011 to go back to 2009 a while back, and I have no intention of getting NCAA 2013. I assume the madden games are largely similar. Luckily, there should be a complete overhaul of the series in the next two or so years as the new generation launches.

[TheSonicRetard]

Who cares? Just because you like football the best doesn't mean it's superior to Hockey, or any other sport for that matter.

Football is the best sport period. I watch all sports, and football is king. Football dominates the sporting news I keep up with too - I'm gambling heavily in the playoffs right now, and I still spend hours a day reading up on football. I did absolutely nothing yesterday but press F5 on warchant.com waiting for FSU to the Big XII news.

[TheSonicRetard]

One more thing, what's this? So you're saying that white people can't play sports? I find that comment to be very racist and ignorant. I'm now putting you on my ignore list.

He's saying people from the north don't produce good football talent. The south - especially Texas and Florida - have centuries of selective breeding for football. Out states were retarding the development of all other sports - especially basketball, to put out a superior football talent. There's a reason why those two states put out something like 75% of NFL talent.

People up north don't put out good football players. It's genetics along with conditioning. This is why you shouldn't talk about subjects you're not knowledgeable about.

[The Jackal]

I have no idea how to play these games; I got a cart-only copy of Madden '92 as a freebie when I brought my Mega CD off Ebay in '06 and all I do is stare at the screen in utter confusion.

I've tried doing some research online into understanding American football in general, but I came back even more confused. Goes right over me head.

[tz101]

I have no idea how to play these games; I got a cart-only copy of Madden '92 as a freebie when I brought my Mega CD off Ebay in '06 and all I do is stare at the screen in utter confusion.

I've tried doing some research online into understanding American football in general, but I came back even more confused. Goes right over me head.

This is about like me with Rugby. I picked up a copy of EA Rugby for Genesis and cannot figure out how to play it. If you clue me in on the finer points of Rugby, I'll return the favor with American football.

[TheSonicRetard]

You guys just need to watch a full game. I promise watching the right game can turn your opinion.

Might I suggest this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu0ZMLxvHKo

EDIT: Actually I suggest this instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGEwepUcFqs

[TheSonicRetard]

Oh, I just noticed you guys don't understand the rules to begin with. The basic rules are simple - the offensive team has 4 tries to move the ball 10 yards. Every 10 yards, you get another full 4 tries. Negative yard plays can happen. So, for instance, you begin at first down with 10 yards to go. If you gain 2 yards on that play, you now have second down and 8 yards to go. If you lose 3 yards on this play, you now have third down and 11 yards to go. If the offense doesn't go the original 10 yards in fewer than 4 plays, the defense gets the ball at that spot. A single play ends when the person with the football's knee touches the turf, regardless of who originally touched the ball, or if the ball is thrown forward and not caught. A ball thrown backwards but not caught does not end the play.

If the offense takes the ball all the way down the field, called a touchdown, they score 6 points, and then can choose to either try and run another touchdown in from 10 yards out for an extra 2 points (called a 2-point conversion) or kick a ball through the goalposts for 1 extra point.

Because the position on the field is so important in the game, a team may opt to kick the ball away on 4th down instead of trying to get the first down, which surrenders the series, but makes the other team start with the ball at the location the kick lands, rather than the spot of the 4th down. This is important because in football, the clock is a major factor in the game.

Going the length of the field to score a touchdown is a very time consuming process. Football consists of only 4 15-minute quarters, and the clock is constantly counting down, even between plays. An average drive - one that results in a touchdown, beginning at the 20 yard line - would consume about 6 minutes. That means you only really have time for 2 or 3 real successful drives in a single quarter of play. You will not score on every drive. To reward drives which get close to scoring, but not quite there, a team can opt to kick a field goal on 4th down, instead of trying for the first down or punting away. In this case, a kicker tries to kick the ball through the goal from the location of the last play. So if you're on the 40 yard line, staring down about a 55 yard field goal, you're basically asking your kicker to make up over half the field on one play. Kicking is hard and that's not desirable.

Now, to control the clock, teams have a few tools they can use. Any time they run the ball out of bounds, the clock stops. Any pass that isn't caught also stops the clock. Finally, each team has 3 time outs, which stops the clock, per half. In addition to the constantly running clock, there is also a play clock, which dictates how much time a team can spend between plays to line up and figure out what play to run. Teams have 40 seconds from the end of one play to run another play, or else they endure a penalty. Calling a time out stops the clock, and also gives the team 30 additional seconds to figure out what to do between plays.

That's all there is to football really. There are specific rules which dictate why some plays are illegal, but those can be picked up by watching the games. The strategy is what makes the game so great. There are libraries of books out there detailing the strategies offenses and defenses can employ, but really the best way to pick it up is to watch a game.

If you really want to give the sport a try, and I absolutely recommend it, you should watch the Texas vs Oklahoma game I posted above. It's considered one of the better games in football, and it wound up being an extremely exciting game.

EDIT: I changed my suggestion above from the Texas Oklahoma 2008 game, to the 2005 National Title game. It's more exciting, with bigger, flashier plays, and it's probably easier for somebody to understand the significance of that game vs the red river shootout. That, and because it was the greatest football game ever played.

[16-bit]

NFL Blitz 2000

[The Jackal]

Oh, I just noticed you guys don't understand the rules to begin with. The basic rules are simple - the offensive team has 4 tries to move the ball 10 yards. Every 10 yards, you get another full 4 tries. Negative yard plays can happen. So, for instance, you begin at first down with 10 yards to go. If you gain 2 yards on that play, you now have second down and 8 yards to go. If you lose 3 yards on this play, you now have third down and 11 yards to go. If the offense doesn't go the original 10 yards in fewer than 4 plays, the defense gets the ball at that spot. A single play ends when the person with the football's knee touches the turf, regardless of who originally touched the ball, or if the ball is thrown forward and not caught. A ball thrown backwards but not caught does not end the play.

If the offense takes the ball all the way down the field, called a touchdown, they score 6 points, and then can choose to either try and run another touchdown in from 10 yards out for an extra 2 points (called a 2-point conversion) or kick a ball through the goalposts for 1 extra point.

Because the position on the field is so important in the game, a team may opt to kick the ball away on 4th down instead of trying to get the first down, which surrenders the series, but makes the other team start with the ball at the location the kick lands, rather than the spot of the 4th down. This is important because in football, the clock is a major factor in the game.

Going the length of the field to score a touchdown is a very time consuming process. Football consists of only 4 15-minute quarters, and the clock is constantly counting down, even between plays. An average drive - one that results in a touchdown, beginning at the 20 yard line - would consume about 6 minutes. That means you only really have time for 2 or 3 real successful drives in a single quarter of play. You will not score on every drive. To reward drives which get close to scoring, but not quite there, a team can opt to kick a field goal on 4th down, instead of trying for the first down or punting away. In this case, a kicker tries to kick the ball through the goal from the location of the last play. So if you're on the 40 yard line, staring down about a 55 yard field goal, you're basically asking your kicker to make up over half the field on one play. Kicking is hard and that's not desirable.

Now, to control the clock, teams have a few tools they can use. Any time they run the ball out of bounds, the clock stops. Any pass that isn't caught also stops the clock. Finally, each team has 3 time outs, which stops the clock, per half. In addition to the constantly running clock, there is also a play clock, which dictates how much time a team can spend between plays to line up and figure out what play to run. Teams have 40 seconds from the end of one play to run another play, or else they endure a penalty. Calling a time out stops the clock, and also gives the team 30 additional seconds to figure out what to do between plays.

That's all there is to football really. There are specific rules which dictate why some plays are illegal, but those can be picked up by watching the games. The strategy is what makes the game so great. There are libraries of books out there detailing the strategies offenses and defenses can employ, but really the best way to pick it up is to watch a game.

If you really want to give the sport a try, and I absolutely recommend it, you should watch the Texas vs Oklahoma game I posted above. It's considered one of the better games in football, and it wound up being an extremely exciting game.

Thanks man, I'll read over your post in detail tomorrow; I'm too tired to read it now.

[M4R14NO94]

NFL Blitz 2000

What this guy said.

[profholt82]

I think my favorite Madden is 04 for the PS2, the one with Vick on the cover. That one felt more arcadey than any Maddens since, but I always preferred the 2K games.

Has anyone played All-Pro Football 2K8 for PS3 or 360? It's got a bunch of retired players because they don't have an NFL license. I'm thinking about picking it up because it only costs a few bucks, and if it plays anything like the old 2k football games, it should be fun. Plus Barry Sanders is on the cover.

[gamevet]

Has anyone played All-Pro Football 2K8 for PS3 or 360? It's got a bunch of retired players because they don't have an NFL license. I'm thinking about picking it up because it only costs a few bucks, and if it plays anything like the old 2k football games, it should be fun. Plus Barry Sanders is on the cover.

It's not a bad game. It definitly has the old NFL2K feel, with the player AI and play-calling.

You basically build your team using a points system, with bronze, silver and gold player rankings. Once you've played through a whole season, you can use the additional points to improve your team for the next season.