Madden 08 vs. All Pro Football 2K8

[Nirvana]

Did anyone buy the new Madden? I heard it was better than the ones before. However, I will ALWAYS love the 2k football games more than Madden. Madden is way too arcadey for me. 2k sports games are amazing; the animations are so detailed, and the gameplay is overall much better.

I just want to know what your guys' opinion is on both games, and if anyone bought the new Madden. Despite not liking Madden too much, I'll consider buying it only so I can be my lovely Chargers.

[Doonzmore]

No, but here's a toast to what appears to be the last Xbox game.

Cheers.

[Nirvana]

Is it really? o_O There's gotta be other crap comin out for it.

[segagamer4life]

not really, I think that M$ has no more tricks up its sleeve for that great system....

[bangtango]

People criticize EA for "doing the same game year after year" but the company is smart enough to know that there are still a lot of people sitting around with an XBox or GameCube who are looking for something to play on it. Madden 08 on XBox 1 and GameCube may seem like a bad idea to some people but there is still something resembling a decent installed base for both of those formats.

[smork]

I say bring back NFL Blitz! Make it like the old games (say, '99) with next-gen graphics. Hell, update it for the GTA crowd, allow weapons for 'special moves' a-la the opening of "The Last Boy Scout". :)

(as you can tell I like arcade-y sports games)

[Mangar]

People criticize EA for "doing the same game year after year" but the company is smart enough to know that there are still a lot of people sitting around with an XBox or GameCube who are looking for something to play on it. Madden 08 on XBox 1 and GameCube may seem like a bad idea to some people but there is still something resembling a decent installed base for both of those formats.

Bingo

Count me as one of them. Not to say I'm buying this installment for sure, but i am considering it. Especially since i haven't purchased a Madden since i believe it was '06 (or '05)

[Rogmeister]

I pulled out my copy of Madden 07 last night and played it a bit on my GameCube just so I can say I played Madden on the day the new one came out...even if I wasn't playing the new one :D My nephew told me he heard All Pro stinks but I haven't seen any reviews myself. I may get the new Madden myself eventually just so I can say I got the final GC game but I won't get it at full price.

[Rob2600]

I say bring back NFL Blitz! Make it like the old games (say, '99) with next-gen graphics. Hell, update it for the GTA crowd ... as you can tell I like arcade-y sports games

I assume you're a fan of Sega Soccer Slam on the GameCube. :)

[bangtango]

Bingo

Count me as one of them. Not to say I'm buying this installment for sure, but i am considering it. Especially since i haven't purchased a Madden since i believe it was '06 (or '05)

Yes, the fact that EA releases a high-profile game for two systems that are basically dead says something about them as a company. It may be an easy money grab since those versions will cost next to nothing to produce, I'm sure, but it is also being somewhat considerate towards people who haven't upgraded to a newer system. For all of their other faults, EA isn't leaving those last generation customers out in the cold.

[Rob2600]

Did anyone buy the new Madden? I heard it was better than the ones before. However, I will ALWAYS love the 2k football games more than Madden.

So far, the Madden NFL '08 series has received slightly higher scores than the All-Pro Football 2K8 series. However, both series have received positive reviews, so you'd probably enjoy either one.

One thing to keep in mind is that according to 1up.com's review, Madden NFL '08 runs at 60 frames per second on the Xbox 360 and 30 frames per second on the PlayStation 3.

[koster]

I say bring back NFL Blitz! Make it like the old games (say, '99) with next-gen graphics. Hell, update it for the GTA crowd, allow weapons for 'special moves' a-la the opening of "The Last Boy Scout". :)

(as you can tell I like arcade-y sports games)
EA should put out a Mutant League sports compilation - new versions of Mutant League Football, Hockey, Basketball, and Baseball, along with the classic Genesis versions of Mutant League Football and Hockey.

That would be a sports game I'd pick up.

[8-bitNesMan]

not really, I think that M$ has no more tricks up its sleeve for that great system....

Microsoft gave up on it right after the 360 came out. Now it appears that it's the end of the line for third party support as well. Still had a damn good run!

[pacmanhat]

I've played a both quite a bit now, and...it kills me to say this as a 2K5 fanatic, but I've gotta go with Madden.

Without the NFL license, 2K8 had to be downright spectacular to contend as a football sim. It's a pretty darn good game, but...spectacular it is not. Madden, on the other hand, really rose to the occasion this year and is a very, very solid game. Still a bit arcadey, but nothing too serious.

[BydoEmpire]

So far, the Madden NFL '08 series has received slightly higher scores than the All-Pro Football 2K8 series. However, both series have received positive reviews, so you'd probably enjoy either one.
For what it's worth, GameRankings says:
All Pro 2k8: 75% 360, 75% ps3
Madden 2008: 90% 360, 84% ps3


Madden NFL '08 runs at 60 frames per second on the Xbox 360 and 30 frames per second on the PlayStation 3.Both Madden and All Pro are 60fps on 360 and 30fps on ps3

[bangtango]

Both Madden and All Pro are 60fps on 360 and 30fps on ps3

That is a joke. Where the hell did the other 30 fps go on the PS3 versions of those two games?

[Anthony1]

I haven't played the new Madden yet, but I have played the demo of NCAA and the demo for All Pro Football 2K8. Since NCAA's game engine is very similar to Madden, I feel I can comment on this briefly, even though I've yet to get my hands on Madden. First off, I'm one of the people that believes NFL 2K5 is one of the best games ever made, PERIOD. So, to say that I was hyped for All Pro 2K8 is an understatement. But after playing the demo, I have to admit that I was very dissapointed. The game isn't bad, but like pacmanhat said, to beat out Madden, considering 2K8 doesn't have real players or teams or anything, and considering Madden has everything, 2K8 would have to absolutely smoke Madden in almost every other category. Unfortunately, I don't think that's the case.

Really, after playing the 2K8 demo over and over, I got the feeling that 2K8 was a bit of a rushed game. Also, hearing interviews with VC, it appears that they actually weren't working on 2K8 as long as most people would have thought they would. In fact, they pretty much rushed the game out. I just don't think it had been in the oven long enough. I think VC could still make a killer game that could take the spotlight away from Madden, but they need to get back to work and think about next year. They need to make an awful lot of improvements, to get things where they need to be, considering their handicapp without a license.

As for Madden, like I said, I haven't gotten my hands on it yet, but I'm sure the engine is similar to NCAA and I think NCAA flows pretty damn well at 60 fps. I think that is a huge boost to Madden this year. My biggest problem with Madden overall, the last couple of years, is that it's pretty much impossible to defend the deep pass, if the other guy has a decent quarterback and a speedy WR. The only way to try to defend it, is to try to bump and harass the receiver off his route in the first five yards, and to avoid a pass interference penalty. But if somebody really knows how to play, it almost doesn't matter. It just becomes a high score-a-thon, if people just play deep ball on you. Then you have to play deep ball too, cause if you fail to score 7 on any of your drives, it's pretty much game over. That's pretty sad, if you ask me. Hopefully EA recognized that this was the biggest weakness in their game, and they gave the defender some better ability to defend the deep pass.

[BydoEmpire]

That is a joke. Where the hell did the other 30 fps go on the PS3 versions of those two games?The system is not as powerful as Sony's marketing has fooled everyone into thinking. And the system's architecture makes it difficult to get good performance without majorly redesigning code to accomodate it. More and more 60fps games will appear in the coming year(s), but it's going to take a little time, and you're going to have to sacrifice other things to get there. For example, the dynamic crowd attendance from NCAA 07 does not appear in NCAA 08.

[bangtango]

Really, after playing the 2K8 demo over and over, I got the feeling that 2K8 was a bit of a rushed game. Also, hearing interviews with VC, it appears that they actually weren't working on 2K8 as long as most people would have thought they would. In fact, they pretty much rushed the game out. I just don't think it had been in the oven long enough.

I haven't even played 2K8 yet but I would agree with this statement in a second. It seemed like one minute news of this game broke and we were just reading about it and the next minute it was being released. A lot like a movie that bombs at the box office and is suddenly out on dvd/video 2 weeks later. That was what it felt like to me, anyway, unless this spring/summer has just gone by too damn fast.

[Anthony1]

The system is not as powerful as Sony's marketing has fooled everyone into thinking. And the system's architecture makes it difficult to get good performance without majorly redesigning code to accomodate it. More and more 60fps games will appear in the coming year(s), but it's going to take a little time, and you're going to have to sacrifice other things to get there. For example, the dynamic crowd attendance from NCAA 07 does not appear in NCAA 08.


Eh, I'm not sure I agree with your take. This is simply a case of the 360 being the lead platform for this game. The game was designed on the 360 first, and then they attempted to port over as much of that as they could to the PS3. That's why all these PS3 multiplatform games are suffering. Most are having framerate problems, being delayed additional months, etc, etc. It's because you can't shoehorn a 360 game onto a PS3 very well. Games designed specifially for the PS3, like Ratchet and Clank, Lair, Heavenly Sword and Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, will prove there is nothing technologically wrong with the PS3. It's just a matter of where you put your priorities. Burnout Paradise is supposedly one of the very first multiplatform games that have the PS3 as the lead sku. This means that Burnout Paradise is basically being designed from the ground up on the PS3, and then ported to the 360. We'll have to see the results of that to know what's really going on with all this. There could be a day when Madden is designed for the PS3 first, and then ported to the 360, or maybe they will use two completely different teams to design it. Either way, the PS3 definitely has much power, but developers need to stop using the RSX as a crutch, and start utilizing the Cell.

[Nirvana]

Ugh...if only EA didn't have that NFL license...there would be an amazing football game out. An NFL game with 2k8's playing engine would just be amazing for me. I don't understand how people don't enjoy the game. It's gameplay is superior to Maddens, IMO. Madden may have the features, but gameplay wise, it loses incredibly. The animations put into all the cuts the receivers make and the dives are just insane. Madden is too easy for me, and player movement is just so weird to me.

[Anthony1]

Ugh...if only EA didn't have that NFL license...there would be an amazing football game out. An NFL game with 2k8's playing engine would just be amazing for me. I don't understand how people don't enjoy the game. It's gameplay is superior to Maddens, IMO. Madden may have the features, but gameplay wise, it loses incredibly. The animations put into all the cuts the receivers make and the dives are just insane. Madden is too easy for me, and player movement is just so weird to me.


I wish this was so as well, but I think you're giving 2K8 way too much credit. I'm a huge fan of VC's work on the Dreamcast and Xbox 1, but All Pro 2K8 was a rush job, plain and simple. The playability is good, the response time when you hit the buttons are good, no question, but the graphics are ass-tacular. Not to be a total graphics whore, but come on. You can't have pitiful character models like that, and goofy stadiums and stuff, with no NFL license, and charge the full $59.99 and expect to compete. I would have loved nothing more than 2K8 being the dream of dreams, and handing Tiburon and EA their ass on a platter, but it didn't happen. I'm not saying that 2K8 doesn't have pretty good playability, cause it does, but it's severely lacking in many of the other areas. For 2K8 to have slapped Madden down this year, it would have to have been sensational in all facets of the game. Not just competent. It needed to make Madden look like a joke. It also didn't help that Tiburon decided to finally make the first decent Madden since Madden 2005 on the PS2.

[Nirvana]

Those are some excellent points. It was indeed, a rush job. However, are the graphical differences really that noticeable? Because I didn't notice much at all when looking at both games. And even if this is true, when it comes to animations, All Pro Football 2k8 wins in a heartbeat. The cuts the receivers make are just insanely detailed, not to mention the jukes and stuff.

Ah well. There have been rumors of 2k9 coming out. And if this is true, then well, they'll have another chance to step up to the plate and make an amazing game. And for you Madden fans, if Visual Concepts brings more competition to the table, then it'll increase the chances of EA putting more effort into Madden like they did this year.

[ProgrammingAce]

The system is not as powerful as Sony's marketing has fooled everyone into thinking. And the system's architecture makes it difficult to get good performance without majorly redesigning code to accomodate it. More and more 60fps games will appear in the coming year(s), but it's going to take a little time, and you're going to have to sacrifice other things to get there. For example, the dynamic crowd attendance from NCAA 07 does not appear in NCAA 08.


Eh, I'm not sure I agree with your take. This is simply a case of the 360 being the lead platform for this game. The game was designed on the 360 first, and then they attempted to port over as much of that as they could to the PS3. That's why all these PS3 multiplatform games are suffering. Most are having framerate problems, being delayed additional months, etc, etc. It's because you can't shoehorn a 360 game onto a PS3 very well. Games designed specifially for the PS3, like Ratchet and Clank, Lair, Heavenly Sword and Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, will prove there is nothing technologically wrong with the PS3. It's just a matter of where you put your priorities. Burnout Paradise is supposedly one of the very first multiplatform games that have the PS3 as the lead sku. This means that Burnout Paradise is basically being designed from the ground up on the PS3, and then ported to the 360. We'll have to see the results of that to know what's really going on with all this. There could be a day when Madden is designed for the PS3 first, and then ported to the 360, or maybe they will use two completely different teams to design it. Either way, the PS3 definitely has much power, but developers need to stop using the RSX as a crutch, and start utilizing the Cell.

Anthony, i'm inclined to agree w/ Bydo, he generally knows what he's talking about. If you think sony told some whoppers to the consumers, you should hear what they told the developers on the PS3's power. I've said this before, but i personally disagree with how Sony is forcing devs to use the Cell. Without boring you to death, instead of being massively hyperthreded in the traditional sense, the threading doesn't occur until much later in the pipeline. Don't get me wrong; for straight mathematical calculations the PS3 kicks ass (floating point division FTW!) but it's not as wide a margin as people would think.

On top of that, i'm of the personal belief that the PS3 sdk sucks. Microsoft set a bar in the original XDK, then raised it with the XeDK (the 360's SDK). Intel built a strong compiler for the CELL, but Sony's engineering team can't hold a candle to Microsoft when all they have to do is build an extension into their already excellent visual studio.