System: X360
Dev: EA Sports
Pub: Electronic Arts
Release: Nov 2005
Players: 1 - 8
Preview By Vaughn

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Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

Electronic Arts rocked the gaming world with their announcement that they had locked in the NFL license exclusively, instantly killing off competition from Midway and Sega. Just days ago, they also announced that they had sewn up the rights to the college teams as well, guaranteeing them 100% of the NCAA pie later this year. I guess someone at EA enjoys the game of "Monopoly" a little too much...Now they've unveiled the first shots of Madden on the 360. Nice.

Competition is healthy and let's face it, the consumer wins if there are a few companies vying for the piece of the pie. If there was only one game console, chances are software would be about $100 a shot and systems would weigh in at $500 each or more. Last year Sega released their awesome sports games at a lowball $19.99, which obviously pissed off Electronic Arts to the point where they wanted to ensure that wouldn't be happening ever again. Hence the NFL monopoly.

With Madden 2006 your only choice for officially licensed football this year, will you support Electronic Arts and their Draconian policies or will you show them with your wallet that you don't care for their business practices? You can tell what I'll be doing, but hey, I wasn't going to buy Madden 2006 anyway. The last football game I purchased was NFL 2K on the Dreamcast.

Electronic Arts has announced that the new game will feature, for the first time in ten years, a completely revamped passing game. Yay! So what does that really mean? It means you've been spending $50 each year for the last ten years (do the math, that's $500) on upgraded visuals. Nice way to screw us over EA, but that's why you're the big dogs I guess.

The new innovation called QB Vision, lets you scan the field, look off defenders, and make perfect throws within your quarterback’s unique field of vision. QB Precision Placement will let you put the ball exactly where you want it. Lead the receiver into the open field or throw a jump ball and let your receiver go get it

We aren't sure of what features will be added to pump up the excitement for the X360 game, but we're imagining all sorts of crazy ideas that have no basis in reality. Fenix suggested that the X360 version will come with a dozen cheerleaders that will live with you in your home and cheer you on. I'm not sure about you, but I am ready, willing and able to accept that as 100% complete truth.

Since Madden first appeared on the Genesis in the early 90's, sports games have always played an important role in system sales. We have every reason to believe the same will be true with the next gen consoles. Clearly if the game plays as good as it looks, guys aged 18 - 34 will be flying out the doors of Best Buy with Xbox 360's and copies of Madden this November.

Hey, we're the predictable sex, what can we say?