Maddening Massacre on Madden 08's Midnight Madness

Madden 08 debuts today and I got my hands on one at 12:01 am this morning/last night. There was the prequisite mad dash for the game around the city. I drove by three game stores that had a midnight madness opening for the game and seen a gathering at a 24-hours always open "mart-store". I bought mine [for PS3] at game store pictured, where there was a nice bunch of guys ... ranging in age from 25-35 ... ready to shill out $50-$60 on the game.

The one drawback immediately, I guess, is that there is no John Madden in Madden. Huh? Whatever. The play by play announcer sounds like a robot calling the action. The only life comes from former Madden cover boy Marshall Faulk who does a generic drive by before and after the game. Really, that's just one of few complaints. The highlights:

• The gaming is tight. Players actually move like players really would move.
• Tackling is a lot nicer with gang tackles, low tackles and big hits.
• One of the cool developments is the fact that warm weather teams will struggle when they visit cold stadiums. So, the Miami Dolphins will struggle with the cold elements of Chicago in a late season game at Soldier Field. However, the Bears may have a problem dealing with the heat in Miami during September.
• Players get tired during a play. So if a guy like Vince Young scrambles around, he won't just be speedy the entire time he's running. He'll wear down and get tired as any normal person would. This also works in the "Hail Mary" plays. Many people just ran a ton of hail marys ... but the receivers running back to the huddle takes a toll on them. Nice.
• There is a weapons feature that looks really cool at first, but really cheapens up the reality of the visuals of the game. I just don't like my football guys running under huge icons of a brick wall or something.
• ESPN has its name on this, which mainly is used for internet connection to send you highlights and NFL news.
• There are these cool halftime and postgame "shows" which show replays of the five best plays of the half/game.

Many of the new function are to take the "video game" out of the video game. You can't just use Michael Vick [who is in the game] to bootleg out and pick up big chunks of yards or get favorite plays you can run over and over again. The AI, so far, seems pretty tight and the fatigue factor is a great addition, although it does take time to get used to if you've been buying Madden games since you were in junior high. Check out MJD's breakdown of the game for elaboration on what I've said.

As far as "midnight madness" goes, Madden does pretty well. Several of the guys there were like me: just getting off the night shift at work, pissed off and ready to get this game and go home. Some, like the guy in this picture, decided to put their NFL jerseys on to stand in line. I drove by one place and Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson and Ben Roethlisberger jerseys were adorning fans waiting outside. Yeah. Outside. The place I went let come in and hang out watching the demo play on HD TVs.

I've been to the DVD launch of the original Star Wars trilogy ... so no midnight madness could ever top that as far as sheer volume and lunacy [I understand being dressed up as Darth Vader, a jedi or Princess Leia ... but a Death Star commander???]. However the place I bought the game is having a huge tournament tonight with the top Madden-ites from around the Greater Cincinnati area there competing. Maybe that will be a bit more "maddening".