Is there a reason to buy Madden or NCAA Football every year?

From my experience, they're all variations of the same game from year to year. What's the draw to buying the "new one" every year?

no, but im still stupid enough to do it haha

I'm not a big fan of sports games but I am a huge football fan. I pick up the new Madden about every other year. I got it last year and haven't really played it much so I won't be getting it this year. To me, there just aren't enough updates to justify getting it and they could just update rosters with a patch.

The one reason for Madden is the updated players and teams. They should really put a new game out every 2 years and just make you pay a $10 or even $20 update fee for the second year.The game itself is usually pretty much the same thing, with a few tweaks thrown in.When EA bought the exclusive rights to the NFL, it means they have the power to put out the same old game year after year. It really is a shame though, because whether you were a fan of Madden or 2K sports football, at least they gave each other competition to put out a better product each year. What really pushed EA to buy the rights, was the last year 2k sports put out a football game, (I think 04 or 05)they only charged $19.99 for it, and it was a great game. I preferred it over madden. I thought it ran much smoother, and was more realistic. Then the evil empire that is EA, bought the rights to the NFL, and charged full price for a few updates every year.

The one reason for Madden is the updated players and teams. They should really put a new game out every 2 years and just make you pay a $10 or even $20 update fee for the second year.The game itself is usually pretty much the same thing, with a few tweaks thrown in.When EA bought the exclusive rights to the NFL, it means they have the power to put out the same old game year after year. It really is a shame though, because whether you were a fan of Madden or 2K sports football, at least they gave each other competition to put out a better product each year. What really pushed EA to buy the rights, was the last year 2k sports put out a football game, (I think 04 or 05)they only charged $19.99 for it, and it was a great game. I preferred it over madden. I thought it ran much smoother, and was more realistic. Then the evil empire that is EA, bought the rights to the NFL, and charged full price for a few updates every year.

RapidTurtle

On the other hand, nothing forces a pricedrop for previous years' games than a new installment every year. Sports games from 2008 and 2009 are ridiculously cheap.

SOme people just enjoy the game enough to buy it year after year. It's probably like Call of Duty to where there isn't a world of difference game to game but enough for the loyal fan to justify the new installment. This is just my guess though, I don't play sport games myself.vashkey

No, actually it's NOTHING like Call of Duty. Since when did a COD game come out EVERY year with little changes? The sports games dont have much DLC , story missions, or new locations (there hasnt been a new team in years). but true there is not a "world of difference" between Madden10 and Madden11 to most people. and somebody might not think theres a big difference between Cod4MW and MW2, but i'm pretty sure you could find a LOT more actually changed.

A big fan of the games will know all the big and little differences, but most of us just dont see the differences being worth $60. Honestly they need to do something like sell "Madden Football" as a subscription that lets you update for 2 or 3 years in a row, because the old games are just collecting dust or being practically given away to Gamestop. The only reason I would rather play Madden 11 or Madden 10 is the roster updates. If they allowed you to just update Madden10 so all the players moved to the right places and you could add the new rookies, then it would be just fine. Since EA is the ONLY NCAA and NFL football games out there, they are really not motivated enough to make BIG changes every year. back when they had NFL2K, they tried a lot harder (and lost in my opinion along with many others) I definately dont buy NEW madden games anymore (last time i did was for my Sega Genesis), I just find the new games very similar each year. They should just update the previous year and charge it as an update, not release it as a NEW game, when most of it is recycled. Like paper that is 30% recycled, they should say "this game is X% recycled content" and discount it by that much. I honestly liked the demo for Backbreaker more than Madden11, the physics are so much better.

I'm not a big fan of sports games but I am a huge football fan. I pick up the new Madden about every other year. I got it last year and haven't really played it much so I won't be getting it this year. To me, there just aren't enough updates to justify getting it and they could just update rosters with a patch.

hangman418

same here. but i play more shooters then sports games these days and no longer a madden head. Halo Reach will be embedded in my disc tray for the rest of the year anyway.

i just traded in some games towards reserving madden 11 and TBH i think they improved it more this year than they ever have they enhanced the graphics, got rid of sprint, added a quick play feature( plays picked automatically) and much much more.

I agree with this on many maddens but i truly think this is the one worth buying if you love madden.

There's no reason, but I do. Well, with NCAA, I usually pick it up every other year. Madden on the other hand, I buy every year. I took advantage of the extra trade in credit towards Madden 11 @ Gamestop. My out of pocket costs - $5.

Interesting question... I, personally stopped buying Madden once they got the exclusive rights because to me the only thing they did was claim every year that they have a "new innovation" that they are adding to the current edition. When you are the only NFL simulation on the market you don't have to put forth much effort into making your game great, especially if your numbers show that people will still buy your product regardless. But I definitely agree, they need to work on putting out a new Madden every other year, while releasing updates between titles. But if people keeping buying their product at record numbers, why wouldn't they put out a new title every year?

madden is terrible, but NCAA is great. with the NFL you get what, 32 teams? with NCAA, its limitless. You can play with all div1 schools, and then after that, you have all the Teambulider teams that people can use to play online with. More bang for your buck with college football.