Madden 06

It's that time of year, another new Madden game hits the stores August 9th I believe.
I was never much a fan of the series but its fun for the occasional game.
Besides the obvious graphical improvements and supposedly improved soundtrack the new games a variety of new features.

Superstar Mode: You play as a college student and work your way up to the pros. You first select your parent’s traits and qualities and somehow that determines your background and work ethics. You live in a simple apartment and with more earnings you are allowed to purchase upgrades. Sounds like it could be repetitive and dull but I'm willing to give it a try. I doubt the the causal gamer will find this feature exciting.

Improved Passing System:

QB Precision Placement is designed to let you put the ball exactly where you want it. By moving the left analog stick in the direction you want to throw the ball, you can lead receivers on deep passes, and throw jump-balls to take advantage of a receiver’s height advantage, allowing him to go right over the smaller DB to get the pass. This should help some of the game’s better receivers stand out from the rest of the pack. This feature wasn’t as easy to get used to as the Vision Control, as it is currently very difficult to aim your pass while scrambling. Any time I was moving up towards the line, I ended up leading a receiver, instead of hitting in the numbers.

I can tell the majority of ZUsers probably despise the Madden Franchise with a passion. Despite its lack of depth and simplicity I'd say there's nothing wrong with Madden. I'm not really a sports fan but it's nice to take a break from Zelda, FPS's, and puzzle/strategy games.
Your opinion on Madden?

I only buy one Madden game per generation. I do hate Madden, and the sales and sucess it recieves, with a passion ( justas you said). I hate that it is largely a boring and overrated game. However, I cannot hide the fact that I am an enormous football fan, so I buy it just for that. It's pretty sad, but making offseason moves and acquisitions is more fun than actually playing the game for me.

I like Madden, but dispise EA. Madden is the best NFL simulator not to mention the only one now that EA had to have total control. I still like Madden and I love the franchise mode because of how much you have control of. I can't help that I am a big football fan so I will buy it most likely.