OK the offseason is officially here. The other day my son picked up some video games for his Nintendo ds and I saw a Madden 07 for $5. I figured that was a pretty good deal since the new one was $50. At first I thought they must have given me the wrong disk, because the newest Charger team was 2005; I guess it takes them a year to get the new stats in. The graphics are pretty amazing, but darned if I haven't learned some things from the play by play stuff they do in the background.
I also like all the formations you can choose and then you pick out the plays from there. The quarters are greatly reduced so you can get a full game in within a reasonable time frame. I have been running the Chargers; the only issue is it seems a bit too easy to get the feel for, you can pretty much whomp the computer in AI mode. It just gives you a better feel for what a quarterback goes through too; how many guys are covering which receiver, do you need to go to the check down target, and to do all that while avoiding the rush. I let the computer avoid the rush and just choose which target to pass to.
I don't have much knack for running yet, typically 3-4 yards is what I get even with LT. I make moves too slowly to be effective I think. On defense too, it's pretty cool to see the different forms of zone coverage; what happens when you blitz the corners and so on. I've just played other teams a few times; and you get a better appreciation for different offense types and the plays out of a 4-3 defense too. One thing you don't get a feel for is rotating players out; the starting 11 just play every down and don't seem to tire out at all. It's nice that you can see a run defense and put somebody in a hot route with an audible too. I don't quite have a handle on changing defenses at the line yet. In any event I think I may keep an eye out for Madden 08 so I can take the '06 Chargers; that must be good fun. I was just wondering how many of you played and if you learned much from it.