As of late, the battle between ESPN and Madden has been nonexistent. The last ESPN football release was ESPN 2K5 back in 2004. In 2005, ESPN lost their NFL license to Madden and the ESPN title was no more. Never again did gamers expect to hear that ESPN was releasing another football game, but they’re back with ESPN All-Pro Football 2K8.

Madden comes in this year after a disappointing release on all new generation systems. Madden 2007 lacked some of the luster that it had shown in the past and their sales reflected this. Total PS3 sales in the United States were only $402,707. This ranks number four in Playstation 3 sales, but only number 50 in all system sales. Madden 2008 promises to live up to the hype of the Madden legacy, unlike Madden 2007.

The falling out in the series competition came into place because of the battle for NFL rights, won exclusively by Madden. Owning these rights knocks any other potential football simulator out of the running. While I have always been happy with the Madden title, the exclusive rights forced me to accept Madden. I personally love the game of football and these rights guarantee that the most realistic and current simulator on the market is Madden. This creates a mini-monopoly and ESPN has been knocked out of the competition for years.

Looking back on Madden 2005 and ESPN 2K5, the different series have taken different approaches to their games. Madden has always been huge on gameplay. They pour time into creating the best looking players and environments, creating the most realistic experience possible. The in-game features they add are there to increase the realism of the game and create the best overall experience for the gamer. To me, their mini-games and features were never all that dazzling and it seemed like they were completely independent of the actual gameplay.

ESPN on the other hand felt like they wanted to take an opposite route. Its graphics and gameplay, while still good, were a bit lacking compared to Madden. It did not seem like they poured in the same amount of time to create that realism. Instead they poured the bulk of their time into connecting gameplay with their features. ESPN 2K5 introduced the VIP system: a system that analyzed how different players played the game. The system would tell how often you ran, where, and what times. After recording all of this information the computer could then be set to play like that person, allowing for some real practice against certain styles.

Madden’s major focus this year will again be to improve their gameplay. The list of newly added features is almost overwhelming. Big time players have now been added into Madden’s “weapons” system. The system allows those special players to have special abilities: clutch catching, possession receiver, etc. The days of wide receivers catching everything within a couple foot window is over. Big time catches will allow your receivers to make some of those crazy catches in traffic; however, big time catches take big time receivers. The addition of midair collisions is added to balance out this new feature. If you throw the ball into traffic the receiver will get hit and not many guys can take those hits and come up with the ball.