The "New" Madden NFL: Just Because We Keep Playing it, Doesn't Mean Mark Duper Doesn't think it Sucks.

The difference between EA Sports and Mark Duper, is that when Mark Duper tells you that there is only one leading receiver in yardage for the Miami Dolphins, he isn't selling you free donuts when he tells you it's him. But ever since EA Sports bought out the contract for sole use of the NFL license back in 2005, longtime fans of NFL-based video games have had no other choice but to purchase this yearly box of snake-oil.

EA snake-oil salesmen with their latest scam.

If it weren't enough to completely isolate, ignore, and completely crap all over the massive fan base of the 2K games, (as well as every other NFL-licensed video game prior to the 2005 season... including Tecmo Super Bowl, featuring yours truly), EA has continued to have the nerve to slap us all in the face annually, with each newest and shiniest installment of the same boring, lifelessly text-driven, soullessly un-emotional game that essentially cost them the crown in the first place.

See 1:16 for fellow Marks Brother #83

Mark Duper doesn't like to brag, but his 217 yard performance against the Jets back in '85 is still a team record. It was my first game back after a devastating leg injury, and my fans came ready to witness the spectacle. That was real life, and it was exciting. Mark Duper understands the difference between real life and video games, however, there is no reason you can't convey some level of drama with such events in the video game world. Consider the fact that in 1990's Tecmo Super Bowl, when a player came back from an injury, before the next game there would be a quaint little animation showing a generic looking, pixelated player, waving goodbye to a generic looking, pixelated nurse, as she stood in front of a little white square with a red cross on it, signifying his return from the hospital. There was even fairly uplifting music, (in classic video-game-music fashion of course), helping remind you, the player, of the fact that one of your stars was now coming back to help lead your team to victory. In 2008's Madden game, there is absolutely nothing to even inform you of a player's return from an injury, let alone something that might emotionalize such an event.

Just like in real life, except for the sad career-ending part.

Now look, Mark Duper realizes that to create a scary parallel world, where we dramatize a career-ending, fictional injury to a multi-millionaire, highly regarded athlete, would be absolutely inappropriate. However, that shouldn't mean to strip our video game down to nothing but text and terrible "hip" music. The new Madden game is about as exciting as reading about Mark Duper's performance in the newspaper the next day... in a newspaper written in vague, generic statements, with no direct references to Mark Duper or his team.

Player excited about performance. Points scored.

Year after year, Madden programmers and developers boast about the new "weapon system" and all sorts of other nonsense that are moot points. They refuse to understand that we don't want a "quarterback vision cone," we want to see ESPN-style highlights after big plays, we want halftime shows, cheerleaders and all. We want fireworks, realistic broadcast replays, and detailed analysis that actually references your game... not general statements that repeat each time, regardless of who you are or who you're playing. It's rather pathetic actually, especially when you consider that the game which finally upset the mighty Madden, four long years ago, had every single one of the features I just mentioned. In fact, ESPN NFL 2K5 actually still has an underground following, simply because it's the last time you got to see such seemless, fun gameplay, mixed with unprecedented broadcast realism and visuals.

But no, EA just doesn't get it, and instead they add all sorts of fancy new bells and whistles to a bike that no one wants to ride, but there are no other bikes, and it's a long road ahead. Listen, you can't put a number "85" jersey on Scott Schwedes and expect him to produce like Mark Duper... but if he's the only receiver to throw to, what choice does Dan Marino have?

There is no doubt that at any given moment within a game of Madden, (especially in 1080p High Definition magic), it truly looks awesome. And if you are just playing against your little brother and his friends over and over again, it's great. In that kind of a setting, you aren't seeking the kind of realism that this game has lacked for almost a decade now. And no, Mark Duper isn't talking about realism as in, "you must be facing the correct way with your quarterback to throw the ball, otherwise it will be utterly inaccurate." I am talking about the kind of realism that whisks you away into another world, where you can actually feel the emotion, anxiety, and drama that comes from getting your team to the playoffs... or the realism of being a fan at home, watching the weekly highlights on ESPN.

You, your little brother, and his friends playing an early Madden game.

Come to think of it, EA, what the hell happened to the crappy pre-game show you've had all the way until this year's game? It was better than nothing, because nothing is what we got with this Madden, in the year 2008. Let's have some jets fly above or something! (...and no, not "Jets," as in, the team who chose Reggie McElroy with the 52nd pick in the '82 draft, leaving me for Miami to take next.) (Who? Exactly.)

No, not even a picture will help you remember who Reggie McElroy was.

Other than looking at stats, words, and a bunch of numbers on a screen, this game leaves no other reason for someone to waste their time in a 30-year franchise mode borefest, taking their favorite team to the Super Bowl, only to have the biggest game in all of sports look, feel, sound, and play exactly like any other game they have played in, including pre-season... that is ridiculous.

By continuing to butcher anything resembling emotion in your games, I ask you this, EA Sports; If, "Its In The Game," then why isn't it actually, in the game?

In conclusion, Mark Duper realizes he wasn't around anymore by the time Joe Montana's Sportstalk Football came out... but even so, he didn't like that game as much as everyone else. He was busy playing Madden '92. So it's amusing that now, ironically, Mr. Mark "Super" Duper only plays Madden '09 because he's got no other choice.

The trash can is wide open!