I'm 99.999999% sure that I'm not the only person who is really fucking sick of seeing the newest franchise titles that production studios crap out every year. The next time I see a release of Madden 200X, I'm going to kick the first kitten that I see.

In my opinion, there is no excuse for studios to re-release what is essentially the same game every year (EA, I'm pointing the gun at you right now). This is especially true with the advent of Downloadable Content, where you can get the roster update every year, rather than dropping $50 on a new copy of the same crap.

It would be different if each subsequent release of a franchise title brought something actually new to the table. Halo 2 had swords, dual-wielding, and a plethora of other features. World of Warcraft pretty much validated the existence of MMORPGs. Hell, even though Square-Enix is guilty of this sin, they at least revamped the battle system with FFX and FFXII.

What do you get with the new Tony Hawk games? New levels, a few more things to run around and collect.

Madden/any other sports game? New rosters, and they change the button sequences around. Yeah, you'll get your "Team Management" bullshit, but I'm not playing to count coins, I'm here to play a damn football game.

What I'm talking about is real innovation. Titles that are born in the the heads of the design teams in studios everywhere, and not in the board room budget meetings. Titles that take everything you know about gaming and blow it all to hell. Sure, you need to go back and add major upgrades to the system, or improve the way the controls flow. Releasing new titles in those cases is perfectly acceptable. But expecting people to drop money for "NOW YOU PRESS RB TO PASS LOLZ" is the absolute, most pure form of industry bullshit.

Give me Madden, and give me $10 yearly updates. Don't give me $55 Madden 2006 and $55 Madden 2007. I will hate you forever.