I have been playing a lot of Madden 08 on the Wii since I finished Metroid Prime 3. This is the first Madden I've owned since 03 or 04 on the X Box. Besides the buggy and laggy online, PS2-type graphics, and laggy menus, it's a very fun game to me. The motion controls work great if you actually take the time to learn them, which is the sole reason I was interested in getting Madden(along with online play). Sadly, the hit or miss online portion of Madden on Wii has been pretty much left for dead by EA. Well, that sucks, but at least I have franchise mode to go though. I love my franchise mode. I love drafting young players, building a solid team, and most of all, tracking their stats through the years. I don't know why, but I have always had a thing for stats. Baseball stats, football stats, music sales, box office, and videogame sales data. Which brings me to my point... Because of the buggy-ass game that EA has released, I again got robbed of some incredible stats I had in a game of Madden today. Not only do I record the yearly data in my franchise, but I also record single game records, for both the regular season and post season. Since I made the switch to All Madden a few seasons ago, most of my player's stats had been suffering, but things are starting to turn around this season. I felt like I finally had my break through game against the Jaguars a few minutes ago. Statistically, I had one of my best days ever for a QB, a TE, a DL, a PR, a kicker, and a FB. As a team, I not only had my highest score in All Madden(beat the old record by 9), but my defense also recorded a shutout to boot. In the game I had tied many positional records, and also had many second place records. I think the stats I will miss the most in this game is my QB passing yards, my record shattering FB stats, and my punt returned for a TD(only my third ever). Anyways, after recording the stats when the game was finished, I exited out and hit the "end game" tab, only to have the game freeze. This has happened quite a few times to me already, maybe 10 or so. Another time I had the game glitch out while I was playing, but mostly it happens when exiting a menu or when a save file refuses to load. Couple this with the junky online and half-assed PS2 graphics, and you've got a fun game buried under a pile of crap. I've owned many Maddens through the years on the SNES, PS2, and X Box, and they have had their share of bugs and annoyances(particualarly on the PS2), but nothing that compares to Madden on the Wii. Earlier this year I purchased Godfather on the Wii, which ended my 2 year boycott of EA games. After dealing with the frustrations of 3 fun, yet flawed EA games this year(Madden, Godfather, SimCity DS), it has me thinking of sitting out on EA games again. With money being so tight for me this year, it may not be worth risking my money on any more. Now that I've vented and got that off my chest, I plan to have a great day no matter what EA or my wife try to throw at me. So in closing, let me just say: EA, kiss my grits. :)

My apologies. :(

I still plan on picking up Madden 07 Wii, I had fun with the rental of it, but I don't care for football enough to spend $50 on it.

Now, if Tecmo should release a new Super Tecmo Bowl for Wii (where it plays like the old NES version), I'd be there first day $50 in hand. :D

Buy fewer EA games.  Your wallet with thank you as well as your Wii.

I bought MySims for Wii and rather enjoy it. :p

Soriku said: Well, if you're just gonna rant about EA, why bother buying their games?

Because I don't buy any games with the intention of ranting about them. As a matter of fact, I don't partake of any activity with the intention of ranting about it. The rant comes from the feeling of being had. The rant does not come for the sake of ranting. The purchase of Madden did not come for the sake of ranting. The rant comes because a pretty fun game is riddled with bugs. If the game itself sucked, I'd have no problem with it. I'd have been a fool to have bought a game like that. It's the whole game-not-working and crashing/locking up that really bugs me. If Madden on Wii is basically the same old PS2 game with nifty motion controls, why the heck is the game so buggy? The PS2 build has been around for ages. So you'd think that the problem would be with the new fangled motion controls, not locking up between menus and save files that won't load. RolStoppable, a life without EA games sounds pretty nice. However, every few years I have to have a Sim City game. :)

What was wrong with Godfather, just the graphics? I haven't heard anything really bad about this game and it's only $30 most places now.

As for Madden and SimCity you can pretty much pick up on the fact that they're really buggy by reading the text of the reviews which scream out that fact. :p

This is exactly what is wrong with EA. They have tortured me over the years as my wife requests one Sim game after another and then asks me to fix her comuter when they are buggy. Leave the game bugs on teh PC it is bad enough that I have t odeal with them there.

And the OP is right. It would be ideal to live without EA but they have some good ideas and massive franchises. So big that they are perpetual money makers allowing them to keep sswallowing smaller developers.

They are two things I never want to see in a console game. Framerate slowdown, and lockups. No mater how many generations we go through the technology apparently isn't there to fix them with companies like EA at the helm.

DKII, the only real problem I have with Godfather on the Wii is the graphics. Obviously, I'm a gameplay kind of guy, but just realizing that EA took the time to craft some really good motion controls, all the while keeping mediocre PS2 graphics, irks me. I've actually heard that the Wii version is a port of the X Box version. If that's the case, then those are some mediocre X Box graphics. Some things in the game look ok, while other things are just completely bland and/or jag-infested. The only other real problem I had with the game has a lot to do with me being a fan of the movies. The storyline of the game is fairly weak, especially considering it's carrying the name "Godfather". I didn't expect something epic and truly moving, like in the movies, but I did expect something with more substance.

I read IGN's review of Madden. It's been a while, but the only bug I remember them noting was the occasional problem where you're stuck with a blurry view of the field after clicking out of the big moment/panning the field cam. This doesn't bother me, it's the locking up and unloadable save files that get me.

SimCity DS was worth the money to me. I haven't experienced any bugs that I can recall. What bothers me is how EA touted connecting cities with your friends and having Will Wright in the game early on. They also made a big deal about the in-game advisors. All of these things were either non-existant or useless. But really, all of that is pretty minor; the game runs fine and I had plenty of hours of good times with it.

Happened again today. I had a poor day with my qb, throwing 3 interceptions, but I had a killer day on defense. One of my LB's and one of my CB's had two interceptions. I had a safety with one interception, and another CB who had a 106 yard int return, besting my old record by 6 yards. I go to end the game and it just freezes.

So I sent EA customer support an email, telling them all of the problems. I asked if they had a patch or newer pressings of the game without the bugs. I told them if neither is coming, I wouldn't be buying any more of their products. I threw in the fact that I've bought EA games since the early 90's, just to give it a little weight, but I'm sure they get these emails all the time and couldn't care less.

On a happier note, I might start playing Beyond Good and Evil here soon. :)

Battlefield 2142 is an EA game and it is amazing. Aside from that..............I was pretty much without love for EA. Until now. I bought the Madden Wii 08 even though I had heard terrible things about it. I was shocked to find that the controls are not bad at all. I have not had a single pass into the ground upon snapping the ball. The problem exists. I have seen it. My son has it happen to him once in a while, but hell the kid is 8. I am enjoying it as much as I can enjoy a Madden game. EA provides an OK experience, year after year, but just OK.