[datni99achris]

I generally stay on the sidelines alot when it comes to this forum, but to actually see a game developer come on line and conversate about what we like and dislike as gamers is truely commendable, makes me come out of my shell a little bit. It really shows that you care about your product as well as what we, as gamers, feel the game should play like. And after watching the few clips that you posted, it seems as if the gang tackling has gotten better and more realistic. And honestly in my opinion, I think that gang tackling is important in this game, but the madden series has alot that can be corrected before we can say that it is a complete game.

I am a ESPN Football player that happens to play madden due to lack of choice....but I was an original madden player before I became a 2k'er (as most people were). I still play 2K faithfully and still feel that 3-4 years later that it is still better than any iteration of Madden that has come on out since, but this is no knock on the madden series. I know that you hear alot of fanboyish comments about how much greater 2K5 is than madden....but honestly, there are only a few things in ESPN 2K that keep people playing that game that can be added to future iteraions of Madden that could really propel Madden out of the 2K Shadow.

The first thing that you as a Dev and EA as a company is swallow your pride. Just because another company did something does not mean its off limits to your product. No one is going to say well 2K did this, do something different. In professional sports teams ride the coat tails of what another team is doing to be successful. You should have this same mentality in the corporate world as well as in the Video game world.....Most people will say that main things that seem to give 2K the edge are very simple things.

The first thing is 2K gave you full control on almost ANYTHING that goes on the field. I will admit that madden has expanded the options and audibles on the defensive side of the ball and have pretty much matched the 2K side of the ball...But what happened to the formation shifts on the offensive side of the ball.....What happened to sliding protection(I remember this from PS2 versions of Madden)? And the next thing of course is animations, it seemed as if the animation has not changed since the days the PS2/Xbox versions of Madden.2K trumped madden in the animation department because of the "player momentum" variable that really pushed player movements in a realistic fashion, no throwing rockets and perfect passes when not planted. But it looks as if you all are working on this issue which is a positive step in the right direction. Lastly on my list is presentation (you can go back to my "Pride" comments), ESPN presentation is about as perfect as perfect can get, it immerses and sucks you into the game. Its really makes you feel like your are watching a football game on the TV. EA has the ESPN liscense to recreate the NEW version of ESPN's Monday Night football's presentation to implement into the game. UYou don't have to copy what 2K did graphic by graphic and replay be replay, but you don't have to avoid it and think that you will be called a copycat for doing what they did. You ate putting your own spin to it, and hell, you have the liscense, make it work for you.
The common football fan would say the perfect game would be 2K's Animation + Madden gameplay + 2K's presentation = the Perfect football game. Well I believe this to be true. I apologize if I seem like I am rambling, but I have always wanted to say these things and have someone who is actually creating the game to actually read and hear me. Good Luck in the future, and I hope that My comments did not offend anyone and I hope that they will help the 09 version of Madden be all that us Gamers would want it to be.

**Sorry For the Long Post** LOL