this is due to the inability of most people to be objective. It goes in the other direction too. The problem with guys who blindly defend the game or tiburon for that matter, is that they are doing it because they are not seeing the game as it really is as opposed to how they WANT to see it. Everyone wants madden to be great again. The fact is that it's not "great". It's ok. The improvements come in drips and drabs each year and usually at the expense of something else. Then there are excuses upon excuses that get fed to the consumer base. For those who say that competition won't change much, that's ludicrous. Just look at what happened in 2004. 2k introduced online leagues and ea scrambled to add theirs as well shortly after. It also lowered the prices. Imagine that... Other sports games are pushing the envelope and raising the bar. Madden struggles just keeping pace with what's barely acceptable. It's a shame too because there is so much potential too. The ea marketing machine will dictate what gets left out to create hype for the next year. It is what it is and it won't ever end. Once this season is over you can expect the NFL to extend the exclusive for a long long time. Maybe in 10 years we will actually have real penalties, proper player movement, a working challenge system and sliders for online franchise.