[sroz39]

I'm as big a 2k5 fan as anybody. But I have to say that this year's Madden on the 360 has the potential to help guys like me move on. FINALLY. There's lots of little things I wish Madden had that 2k5 did, but the same can be said the other way. So I'll stick to the big stuff:

1. Player interaction/Collision Detection: Pile-on tackling is a given, but there's more than that. Offensive Linemen that double team, RB's getting skinny instead of Mario Running, no "pinball" effect when two players collide and an animation doesn't kick in etc. There's alot to this, but these would be a great start.

2. I wanna say presentation, but not in the way everyone's thinking. I've resigned myself to the fact that Madden 08 having 2k5-like tv style presentation is highly unlikely. But I do like what I am starting to see with this on-field feel. So what Tiburon needs to do is take the on-field aspect as far as 2k sports took tv style presentation, and I think the majority of people would be very pleased. Presentation doesn't have to be "ESPN" banners everywhere. First, make the crowd smarter by alot, and make it seem like you're at a game. The fans don't stand waving their arms for 60 minutes of football like they do in Madden, so start with that. Make them more a part of the action. If the home team's QB throws a deep ball, make the crowd start cheering with anticipation of a big play like you hear on Sundays. Secondly, add a lot more cut-scenes that bring you down to the field, more player chatter etc. Add the crowd into some of these cut scenes as well, for example, when a player messes up large and he's getting off the field, show the camera right behind him and have fans heckle him. The sky's the limit.

3. Realistic ratings: Let's face it, the ratings for the players in Madden are way too high. Go the route 2k5 did and make a player in the high 60's to low 70's an average player. This would help a few things, like making the special players who deserve a rating in the 90's actually feel like special players. This would also help the draft, as it's almost impossible to draft someone in ANY round to replace a starter and be a difference maker when most of them are rated in the 70's. But in the NFL, 1st round picks have a huge opportunity to be big-time players right off the bat, and so do 2nd and 3rd rounders, just to a lesser degree.

4. Realistic Cap Increases: Though 2k5's Franchise Mode pales in comparison to anything Madden has had since about Madden 2001, the salary cap increases way too much in Madden games, forcing guys like myself to make up house rules to have realistic cap management. In 2k5, you actually had to make some tough decisions on players, just like GM's in the NFL have to.

5. Penalties: This is sorta two parts. One, increase the amount of times things get called, as it seems with some penalties no matter what you set the slider to, you never see it called. And the second part is have the penalties look like they actually happened. 2k5 did this really well, and this would alleviate problem number one with penalties too.

That's it for me. There's other little things, like I said, but if those 5 things were a part of Madden 08, I would be in football heaven. 2k5 could finally be put away for good, and Madden would finally be "next-gen". As it is, aside from the looks, there's not much "next-gen" about it.

But like I said, I'm actually really enjoying Madden 07 on the 360, mainly due to the SS Mode. But the gameplay is definitely showing promise, and to be fair, this is what Madden 06 on the 360 should've been in the first place instead of the atrocity we got instead.