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Edit Player, Fantasy Draft confirmed for Madden NFL 08
Through a Producer blog, EA Sports has confirmed the return of player editing and the fantasy draft in Madden 08.
This news is another step to regaining confidence from the hardcore players who were disappointed that they weren’t included in the 360 or PS3 versions of Madden thus far.
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The uproar over corrupted 360 roster files
With the recent Xbox Dashboard update it seems that many roster files were intentionally corrupted. At the same time, specific consoles from the distributors were locked out. You can read up on the details here.This in effect would keep people on the 360 from transfering saves (which include rosters) from one console to another. In the past, this is how those files for college games were distributed.
While panic and outrage has set in, it really isn’t much of a concern. In all likelihood, NCAA Football 08 will make use of the EA Locker. The Locker was last seen in March Madness 07, and created a much easier and more fluid way to transfer roster files amongst the users. Simply having the file in your locker allowed anyone on your friends list to retrieve it and use it for themselves.
If all the EA games make use of the Locker feature, I would actually be glad to hear about the saves not working in that traditional manner. It should cut down on the jackballs who create (or in many cases steal) the rosters in order to profit off them. Surely the NCAA would be glad to cut into that business. If there is no EA Locker, then yes this will be a real problem.
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NCAA Football 08 Campus Legend Walkthrough
While many of the details were discussed in the recent NCAA Football 08Ā hands-on,Ā this developer walkthrough video of Campus Legend modeĀ gives you the opportunity to see some of the setup to the mode as wellĀ as someĀ footage from on the field in the high school and state championship game.
There is also a brief look at the video highlights feature which is something brand new to see in action.
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Madden 08 Power Rankings (32-28)
Over the course of the next couple weeks I’ll be posting up my power rankings for Madden 08 based on the current NFL team rosters. The first set begins with the bottom five (the weakest teams heading into the season).
32- Buffalo Bills
The Bills were a decent team last year, however their off-season has really been a tough one. Losses include Willis McGahee, Nate Clements, and Takeo Spikes. Replacing them with rookies isn’t going to get the job done in Madden. They did do a good job of improving the offensive line, despite that Buffalo has earned the bottom spot in the rankings.
31- Oakland Raiders
Through the draft they were able to start building for the future, but it isn’t going to pay off for this year. The defense is solid, but the offense is going to be significantly worse after trading Randy Moss away.
30- Houston Texans
Bringing in Ahman Green and Matt Schaub makes the Texans a more viable team. However there are just too many holes elsewhere to believe they’ve made a move to the next level in Madden.
29- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
So many QBs, yet none are that great. Actually Jeff Garcia will be an improvement due to his mobility. Cadillac Williams and Joey Galloway help to make the Bucs a sleeper choice but overall they don’t match up to most of the other teams.
28- Tennessee Titans
Having the cover athlete Vince Young is a boost of course, as he’ll get favorable ratings because of it. Outside of that, the team is worse than last year. Travis Henry and Drew Bennett are gone, and Pacman Jones is suspended for the season so he won’t be on the roster. If it wasn’t for Young, the Titans would arguably be the worst team in Madden this year.
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Tecmo Bowl making a comeback
At the recent Tecmo “Night Out 07” event, it was revealed that the company is working on a Tecmo Bowl for one of the new consoles. This will be a totally new game, not a port of one from year’s past. Which console it will be on remains a mystery.
“I can’t tell you what platform we’re making it for. But I can tell you that it’s probably not going to be on the platform that you’re expecting… if that makes any sense.”
Will consumers be open to a new, unlicensed Tecmo Bowl? Or is the attraction to the name only due to the nostalgia of playing the old Tecmo Bowl games when growing up?
It’s difficult to guess what system the game will be on, and the cryptic mention of not being on the one you would expect doesn’t help. If it was being made for the PS3 or 360, it would seem likely that they would want to port it to the other. That would leave the Wii appearing to be the likely destination. There is always the chance it could be going to a handheld such as the Nintendo DS also.
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Darren McFadden is the highest rated player in NCAA Football 08
Arkansas RB Darren McFadden will be rated a 99 in NCAA Football 08, making him the game’s highest rated player.McFadden is the only returning Heisman Trophy candidate (Brady Quinn and Troy Smith moved on to the NFL) where he finished as the runner-up behind Smith. He won the Doak Walker Award for the nation’s best running back tallying 15 rushing touchdowns on 1,558 yards as well as adding in 3 TD passes.
Receiving the highest rating in NCAA Football 08 was certainly deserved based on McFadden’s performance from the last two years and the spotlight being on him to begin this season. Some others such as West Virginia RB Steve Slaton and Hawaii QB Colt Brennan will likely be right on his tail ratings wise.
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A closer look at NCAA Football 08 Campus Legend
Gamespot has posted a hands-on look at NCAA Football 08’s Campus Legend mode. The videos of the game that have recently come out have been from Campus Legend so it is giving people a good opportunity to get a feel for it early.
Overall it seems to have a lot of potential, especially since it appears significant changes were made to the camera angles that single-handedly killed Madden’s Superstar mode.
Some things of note from the GS hands-on:
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Nascar 08 trailer
The first trailer for EA Sports Nascar 08 has been released. I've never really gotten into the Nascar games, but there is something about this year's title that intrigues me. I'm guessing it's the next-gen graphics and 16 players online that is catching my attention. This trailer makes it look pretty exciting. (Trailer removed as the game has been released)
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