I thought of a fun [for me] update to do regularly! I recently picked up <a href=”http://maddennfl.easports.com/home.action” target=”_blank”>Madden 10</a> (I really hate linking to that evil corporation… Yes, Danza, they <span style=”font-style: italic;”>are</span> evil) and got started with a Redskins franchise.<br/><br/>I suppose I owe a quick review of the game. It’s visually beautiful, has updated rosters, doesn’t have the goofy “QB head direction” feature that made me hate the series in the past, and it was cheap since a good friend works for the company. I didn’t like the game at first because it was so pretty that it actually didn’t feel as smooth as previous iterations, but I’ve gotten over it. I’ve also turned off the in-game commentary. <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cris_Collinsworth” target=”_blank”>Chris Collinsworth</a> is freaking obnoxious spouting the same 15 canned lines over and over again… I could swear they had more variety in previous versions. Another thing that really irks me is the game is FULL of advertisements. I paid for a game, I shouldn’t be subjected to “This game brought to you by Snickers,” “The Sprint Game Update,” and TV show ads always present in the bottom right corner when I’m not in the action. It borders or ridiculous, but I’ve noticed the TV ads are currently gone so I’m appeased a bit. Overall, a worthy game, especially if you’re a football head and can get over a big evil corporation taking advantage of the consumer (they own the NFL license… kind of a monopoly situation).<br/><br/>And what is franchise mode? I become the GM, coach, and controller of the team in the future. I draft players, trade them, sign them, and more. I usually play in this mode with all sports games since I’m a stat/sim junkie, but I’ve decided to actually play this one out; it gets kind of lame when you breeze through a dozen years and it’s all make-believe players.<br/><br/>I’ve already played two games at this point, but I’ll set the stage. I chose the Skins. Based on the ratings the developers choose, they come out to an average or maybe ever so slightly above average team. Average QB, good RB, average WR, good TE, good D, poor special teams, and poor coaching. Pretty accurate, no? I’m very much unhappy with our wideouts so I remedied that by picking up <a href=”http://www.nfl.com/players/marvinharrison/profile?id=HAR608874″ target=”_blank”>Marvin Harrison</a> off the free agent wire. He’s not exactly what I was looking for (a [physically] big possession guy), but he’s not tiny like the other guys, has great hands, great route running, and provides a nice veteran presence. Additionally, <a href=”http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20090909_Gunshot_wounds_kill_Harrison_accuser.html” target=”_blank”>he can’t shoot anyone in a video game</a>, so that’s a plus. His addition bumps my WRs to “good,” I’m pleased, and the season begins… with preseason. I didn’t much care about the preseason so I’d get all my play training in during the first half of the games and simulate it once the s[cr]ubs came in. Worked out pretty well… We went 3-1.<br/><br/>Stay tuned for a recap of Week 1.<br/>