Yeah... comparing two football games. Crazy.
Good write up. I have yet to purchase Madden as I have only purchased it used off eBay since the 2005 exclusive license tragedy when the NFL and EA consorted to ruin football gaming for a half a decade (now to be what, 8 years of sticking it to the fans?).
I finally got NCAA for under $30 delivered. It got good reviews on the game sites, but many gamers are trashing it... so I don't expect a lot out of it especially since it was Madden who saw most of the gameplay updates.
What I'm seeing from the APF2K8 Gamers who bought the hype is that at first they were happy with the game as there were gameplay improvements, but the more they played it the more they disliked it as they realized that the gameplay though improved still falls short of APF2K8 (not to mention numerous bugs). Most have come back to APF2K8 and the others seem to only be playing the online franchise (primarily based on forum posts / friends list conversations).
I played the Madden demo and I was still disappointed with the game. Still no route based passing. Still issues with running mechanics (no momentum / proper footwork / direction changes). Still instant turn changes (glossed over with a pretty little circle now, but still there just different animation).
I'm pretty much on board with the poster who said the game engine needs an overhaul. It seems that there are just too many foundational issues with Madden that keep it from being a quality football game from a gameplay standpoint.