'Madden 10': Five Things to Know

'Madden 10': Five Things to Know - ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=4105808)

Some interesting new additions to the game

Wow, DeAngelo Hall really pissed someone off at EA. They dropped the guys rating to a 68 or something like that. I'm not to big into Madden Ratings but from the one's I have seen they do seem to play favorites from year to year, especially anyone who's been on the cover (ie Vick and Culpepper).

They adjusted all the ratings to make the gap between the stars and the decent/average players bigger. I'm kinda interested to see how the game will play with the new ratings.

Wow, DeAngelo Hall really pissed someone off at EA. They dropped the guys rating to a 68 or something like that. I'm not to big into Madden Ratings but from the one's I have seen they do seem to play favorites from year to year, especially anyone who's been on the cover (ie Vick and Culpepper).

I do not think that they can justify dropping Hall to 68. Hell, if 70 is considered average on the new standard, then he has to be between 75 and 80 at least. There must be some Oakland fans on the EA design team.

They adjusted all the ratings to make the gap between the stars and the decent/average players bigger. I'm kinda interested to see how the game will play with the new ratings.

Sounds like they're taking the FIFA approach. In FIFA 09 I think the best player was rated a 91. At the same time they had other guys who were considered the best players in the world rated in the high 80's. Though of course I have heard that Albert Haynesworth has a 99 rating so I guess it's more of a hybrid.

We'll see how this new dramatic gap in player ratings works out. I tell you this though - they had better have fixed franchise mode if they are going to do something like this. As it is now, drafted players almost never climb above 90, and anyone taken after the third round rarely cracks 80. Thus, after 10 or so franchise seasons, you are left with a league with a few 38 year old 98 rated players, and then a bunch of pretty much the same guy.

This has been a problem in every madden for 360. It's obviously something they haven't addressed. Every year people complain and they do nothing. Moreover, this innovation, while perhaps enhancing online play where you are only using a team for one game, threatens to exacerbate already existing problems with franchise mode by further widening the gap between real guys and the scrubs the computer generates.

I've just got a hunch they haven't changed anything in franchise mode for the fifth consecutive year and it's going to be a mess. Every year I see innovations in the game which, while impressive, are only geared towards online play.

We'll see how this new dramatic gap in player ratings works out. I tell you this though - they had better have fixed franchise mode if they are going to do something like this. As it is now, drafted players almost never climb above 90, and anyone taken after the third round rarely cracks 80. Thus, after 10 or so franchise seasons, you are left with a league with a few 38 year old 98 rated players, and then a bunch of pretty much the same guy.

This has been a problem in every madden for 360. It's obviously something they haven't addressed. Every year people complain and they do nothing. Moreover, this innovation, while perhaps enhancing online play where you are only using a team for one game, threatens to exacerbate already existing problems with franchise mode by further widening the gap between real guys and the scrubs the computer generates.

I've just got a hunch they haven't changed anything in franchise mode for the fifth consecutive year and it's going to be a mess. Every year I see innovations in the game which, while impressive, are only geared towards online play.

It seems like every game that EA makes has made huge strides except Madden, who for the most part seem content to create virtually the same game every year. At this point FIFA and NHL are easily EA's best sports games and with FIFA I've seen the game make huge strides every year (where as this is my first year with NHL). Hell even NCAA is better then Madden. Then of course you got EA releasing games like Dead Space, Spore, the Sims, and Skate all of which are fun and innovative (only played Dead Space and Skate but the other two have gotten rave reviews).

Of course you have to consider Madden's.....target market
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On a side note this whole elite player thing is just begging to be exploited online. Anyone that plays Madden better expect virtually every other game to be against the Colts, Steelers, Patriots, and Cardinals.

We'll see how this new dramatic gap in player ratings works out. I tell you this though - they had better have fixed franchise mode if they are going to do something like this. As it is now, drafted players almost never climb above 90, and anyone taken after the third round rarely cracks 80. Thus, after 10 or so franchise seasons, you are left with a league with a few 38 year old 98 rated players, and then a bunch of pretty much the same guy.

This has been a problem in every madden for 360. It's obviously something they haven't addressed. Every year people complain and they do nothing. Moreover, this innovation, while perhaps enhancing online play where you are only using a team for one game, threatens to exacerbate already existing problems with franchise mode by further widening the gap between real guys and the scrubs the computer generates.

I've just got a hunch they haven't changed anything in franchise mode for the fifth consecutive year and it's going to be a mess. Every year I see innovations in the game which, while impressive, are only geared towards online play.

I used to be a big franchise guy but it's lost it's luster to me too over the years. Now I get bored after a couple of seasons and I just end up starting over. They've ignored developing the franchise mode for years in favor of the online mode which really doesn't appeal to me much at all. It's a shame, franchise mode used to keep me busy all year round.

I do not think that they can justify dropping Hall to 68. Hell, if 70 is considered average on the new standard, then he has to be between 75 and 80 at least. There must be some Oakland fans on the EA design team.

Yeah 75 would probably be more reasonable to me too. But with the in-season updates I'm sure he will earn a lot of his rating points back.

I used to be a big franchise guy but it's lost it's luster to me too over the years. Now I get bored after a couple of seasons and I just end up starting over. They've ignored developing the franchise mode for years in favor of the online mode which really doesn't appeal to me much at all. It's a shame, franchise mode used to keep me busy all year round.

There was a time during my freshmen year where my friend and I ran a franchise that lasted around 15 or 20 years. We also did it the next year with a third friend. It was probably the most fun I had playing Madden. I remember we would pick a team in the same division, first year it was the AFC East and the second year it was the NFC South.

We would then simulate all the games except for the ones where we would play each other so it was really more of a draft and free agency focused franchise as opposed to playing the games. Of course the next year I gave up video games for a while and since then I haven't really played Madden that much.

Even when I bought it this year for the first time since 06, I found myself board after about a month. Since then my focus has been online play with FIFA and NHL both of which look to be amazing with their 2010 upgrades.