A Note on Reviews

Tomorrow you are going to start seeing a lot of reviews for Madden and Head Coach pop up. My Madden review is basically done, but I still need to test some stuff, but I should be able to hook up with my online football buddy tonight to test out the multiplayer. I know the league stuff is nowhere near what a lot of us want -- a Round Robin format with no NFL scheduling. That means if you have, say, 30 guys in a league you'll have to play 29 games. Yeah, I don't get that either.

In the end I think Madden is ok. Some good, some bad, some design decisions I simply don't agree with, but if you are a 2-player gamer you can have a blast with it. Solo franchise guys? It's still a mess. What irks me most about Madden is that the focus was clearly on the casual gamer. Hardcore football and Madden fans seem to be put on the back burner. That's EA prerogative, but damn.... right now I am leaning "B-" as a grade. I think that's fair. An above average videogame.

As for Head Coach, the game simply takes much longer to review so expect to see that later this week, maybe as late as Friday but if you read this blog you know how I feel. Head Coach 09 is one of the most significant sports game releases in a long, long time. It's not perfect, it's got some flaws, but it is incredibly deep and entertaining and I HOPE that EA Sports sees this game for what it is -- a game that fills an important niche to its fan base. I hope is sells like mad and that EA looks to increase this series into other venues. NCAA Head Coach, NBA Live Head Coach, NHL Head Coach...I'd be down for all of that.