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Destructoid Boot Camp: The Maddening photo

As the Features Editor here at Destructoid, I get to force my will upon others here. I had the urge to try and stretch the staff's creativity by putting together themes from month to month for content. This would let us rope in various columns, features, and the community together to have some fun and explore some ideas. So here's our first attempt at the thing.

I wanted to cover the topic of sports because it's a bit of a paradoxical genre. Pretty much all the activities that go on in the game we could easily do ourselves, if we just got up off the couch and went outside. Similarly, for whatever disdain hardcore gamers have towards NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. titles, "extreme sports" titles seem more accepted by the game crowd. All in all, I feel like it's a genre we could explore a bit more here at Destructoid.

One of the things we'll be doing in these themed months is have a guinea pig project, as well. One of the editors will submit themselves to some sort of torture for a month. Is there a point in it? I'm not too sure. For this first month, though, I'm leading by example. For the entire month of December, I'll be playing Madden NFL 08. I've never played the game before, and so I want to see if in a month's time, I can learn to play the game competently, and actually enjoy it.

Many of the columns on the site will take on the sports theme for an article or two, along with CTZ working with the community bloggers to bring sports-related posts to the front page. We're hoping this will turn out to be a fun project for everyone, both the staff and the readers. If not, we'll just chalk it up to sports games sucking at it being no fault of my own.

So, I hope you enjoy this upcoming month of Madden. I've got no choice but to.








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24 comments | showing # 1 to 24
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Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 15:29
Darren Nakamura
Hahah, have fun with that. I don't doubt that after a month of playing it, you will be able to do so competently, but I doubt you will be enjoying yourself come New Year's Eve...
Brian Szabelski's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 15:37
Brian Szabelski
Guess I'm writing sports-related crap for the next month...
Fading Star's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 15:37
Fading Star
I would like to see a Mario Hockey game. That might actually work :D.
Aerox's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 15:38
Aerox
Smash Tennis for the SNES is the greatest sports game of all time.
J Murda's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 15:47
J Murda
oh yeah look at Peach stretch her arm. I wonder if she could use some help stretching out her vaginal area.

...did I go too far?
grrza's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 15:49
grrza
yeesh. Better you than me. Have fun with the tedium...
Def JM's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 16:01
Def JM
Me I love football, but I suck so bad at madden games that I have given up playing them. But I still like the Nba Live, All the old school Nhl Hockey, and Little League Championship could be the best baseball game EVAR!!
jdub28's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 16:17
jdub28
as some one who actually plays and enjoys madden, playing by yourself is the equivalent of playing the solo missions in bomberman. I would try to find friends to play it with and then you might be able to jump online
BlueWolf72's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 16:32
BlueWolf72
wow i read your mind!

http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/BlueWolf72/cowboys-vs-packers-56721.phtml
Maurice Tan's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 16:33
Maurice Tan
Yugh, sports :(
Samit Sarkar's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 17:13
Samit Sarkar
Awesome! I’m glad you guys are focusing on sports games, as that genre always seems to get slighted here at Destructoid. Apparently, it’s not cool for “hardcore” gamers to like or play sports video games because Madden and its ilk are best left to the fratboys (AKA casual gamers). I mean, god forbid that someone who loves Shadow of the Colossus also enjoys some NHL 06 and MVP Baseball 2005. I never understood why Dtoiders always hated on sports and sports video games...I love both of those things. Let’s get this straight, folks: enjoying so-called “hardcore” gamer video games and playing sports sims AREN’T mutually exclusive.
jdub28's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 17:17
jdub28
@bronxbombr21
I've already tried making that argument Here
Syn's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 17:24
Syn
I can't really say I support the sports thing...when is the last time a cool new feature was added to a Madden game? All that really changes from year to year are player names and team stats.
Now if they added destroyable environments, or maybe just changed everything to Mutant League, THEN they might be cool.
Samit Sarkar's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 17:29
Samit Sarkar
@jdub28: Ah, I missed that particular c-blog when it went up. I’m glad at least one person on here agrees with me. I’m selling my copy of Madden NFL 08, though...it blows on the PS3. Hopefully next year EA Tiburon will get their shit together.
Josh Wanamaker's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 18:57
Josh Wanamaker
The only sports game I've ever enjoyed was Hyperblade.
WDot's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 19:26
WDot
Bronxbombr21: It's not that I think sports games are beneath me, it's just that I'm not terriby interested in sports. I did enjoy Mario Tennis though (for GBC and N64), as well as the mini-Golf game in Super Monkey Ball, So I'm open.
emotaku's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 21:20
emotaku
peach is such a cock tease.
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/01/2007 23:02
Joseph Leray
@Bronx -- I don't have a problem with playing Madden in and of itself (I love the FIFA series, for example); my gripe concerns EA's business model. Madden is fine -- pumping out the *same* game year after year isn't. Actually, EA is well within their rights to publish is -- they *are* a business after all -- I just can't find it in my heart to support that.

Like I said, I love the FIFA franchise, but draw the line when there are multiple FIFA games released each year. For example, that World Cup game? or the UEFA Champion's League version? Fuck those! They feature *less* teams and *less* content and serve only to capitalize on the hubub surrounding these events. It would be the equivalent to Madden 2008: Playoffs edition. The lack of new content bothers me to no end, but I will gladly play FIFA (the one version I bought) for hours on end.
ZekeThePlumber's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/02/2007 01:18
ZekeThePlumber
I've never even bought an EA published game, that and I'm not even sure if I've played on either. Better you than me DMV.
Bob Muir's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/02/2007 03:19
Bob Muir
I pity you, DMV.

Also...there are articles in the cblogs about sports games? :P
smackifilia's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/02/2007 19:36
smackifilia
i like sports, and i like football as well, but madden is just pure bullcrap. The things that happen in that game will seriously make you burst a blood vessel in your eye. Enjoy the first moment when you're about to sack a QB and your player magnetically sucks into an offensive lineman. I couldnt get a boner for 3 days after the last time me and a friend played. By the way, while we're on sports games, baseball ones are the absolute best...and MLB Power Pros is damn fine.
nilcam's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/04/2007 12:45
nilcam
I've been doing my part by playing tons of the Wii version of MLB Power Pros. Arcade sports games, FTW.
Mizruko's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/12/2007 14:46
Mizruko
I have some major hate for these types of games and ive never really come up with why. All i know is somewhere around the 10000000th time of watchin ma flat mates play pro evo something snapped and it was learned that a guitar hero control can really do some nice damage.
mispelt's Avatar - Comment posted on 12/19/2007 03:01
mispelt
You know, I'd like to see an "aftermath" post, where the editor in question sits and watches a game of the sport in question.

I found that after becoming engrossed in a(n American) football game, I really enjoyed watching the sport. The same can be said for NHL Hitz (Hockey) and Virtua Tennis (Tennis).

So have the Boot Camp graduate of the month tell us: Can you now appreciate the thought that goes into the purely thoughtless sport to which you resigned yourself?
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