Best Madden NFL

[spidey07]

I don't know anything about the game, I just could never get into it but I love football. So basically which one should I get, and for 360 or PS3? I'd like to play against my girl so if one of them is easier to learn/play that would be a BIG factor overall game quality.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Originally posted by: spidey07
I don't know anything about the game, I just could never get into it but I love football. So basically which one should I get, and for 360 or PS3? I'd like to play against my girl so if one of them is easier to learn/play that would be a BIG factor overall game quality.

I have the 360 version and enjoy it, plus our Anandtech Madden league is for the 360 version. I think there are 8 or 9 teams left and you can join any time.

I think the gameplay is probably very similar, with one not being inherently harder to learn than the other.

 

[spidey07]

I was asking more about what year? My goals are:

1) Easy for the girl (and me) to learn/play
2) Fun factor over simulation
3) Feel of being in a real game

 

[BlueWeasel]

I'd just go with the current version or one of the last couple years. Probably go with the one that that got the highest Metacritic reviews. I really enjoyed '09 but didn't play either '08 or '10.

Goals #2 and #3 are easily accomplished by any version. The gameplay consists of a moderate learning-curve and that's really not going to be different from year to year.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Get '09 or '10. Most of the time it gets better from one year to the next (the main complaint people have with Madden is that sometimes, the year-over-year difference is very minor). '09 was the last major improvement as far as I know (caveat: I have not played '10, just going based on what others have said). And some people purposely only buy it every 2-3 years and wait for a version that gets especially good reviews. Another thing is you can customize the rosters however you want. So if you're a Vikings fan and you want to put Favre on your team you can do it even with an earlier version.

You could probably get '09 for really cheap now that '10 is out.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Originally posted by: spidey07
I was asking more about what year? My goals are:

1) Easy for the girl (and me) to learn/play
2) Fun factor over simulation
3) Feel of being in a real game

Don't get a version of Madden older than 09. Madden 09 is where the next gen version really started to shine, IMO. You can get any of the 3 above with Madden 09 or 10. Madden 09 seemed to have more wide-open offense, whereas Madden 10 has some really cool features (like online franchises).

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Get '09 or '10. Most of the time it gets better from one year to the next (the main complaint people have with Madden is that sometimes, the year-over-year difference is very minor). '09 was the last major improvement as far as I know (caveat: I have not played '10, just going based on what others have said). And some people purposely only buy it every 2-3 years and wait for a version that gets especially good reviews. Another thing is you can customize the rosters however you want. So if you're a Vikings fan and you want to put Favre on your team you can do it even with an earlier version.

10 is actually quite a bit different than 09. The gameplay feels different and the offense is not as wide-open. This is probably the first year that I remember where EA actually slowed the game down over the previous year (though you can now select 1 of 5 speeds), and in many ways it does help.

 

[gorcorps]

Look, any way you slice it madden is a very complex game to learn. None of them will be easy for the gf, but if she's interested in football games at all she'll play enough to get better. I think Madden 10 is a great game, of course with it's share of bugs. There's really no reason to NOT get the newest version unless cost is an issue.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Tecmo Super Bowl

 

[spidey07]

Thanks. Very helpful.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: gorcorps
Look, any way you slice it madden is a very complex game to learn. None of them will be easy for the gf, but if she's interested in football games at all she'll play enough to get better. I think Madden 10 is a great game, of course with it's share of bugs. There's really no reason to NOT get the newest version unless cost is an issue.

DING!