So what you are saying is the game basically plays itself but you as the user have limited control of the environment. Great job EA thanks, if I wanted to play a game that only let me control 1 or 2 things I would be playing Oregon Trail still you aholes.

@ Ritalin:

I would so play that game.

Eh, the Wii was about simplifying gaming. This is an extension of that.

That said, something like this makes me glad there's no hard multiplayer online configurations just yet. I don't think people would handle being bested at Madden by a stoned frat boy over the Nintendo WFC.

Additionally, why are any of you bitching? It's Madden fer chrissakes. I haven't played Madden, ever, why should you?

It's a good idea to be fairto EA, c'mon, most of us have surely experinced the frustration of trying to explain the controls to a family member or girlfriend/boyfriend or just a mate who isn't into games. It's a nightmare, they always get it wrong and the spontaneous fun is lost forever.

This "family play" option means that I can "keep it real" whilst the non gamer can understand what the fuck is going on. Can't see why anyone would think this is a bad idea in any way. It simply allows gamers to switch on the console and play with 'anyone' without having to explain the history of gaming every single time.

@ dvddesign:

I'm not bitching, really.

But allow me to open myself up to fire for a second and say that this is indicative of a trend, and its one of the reasons I probably won't get much use out of my Wii. Personally, I'm not interested in simplifying gameplay experience that I'm already familiar with. I'm interested in fun and innovative games, whether that's with motion controls or a standard controller. I'm not interested in "dumbed down" (this can apply to gameplay or visuals, actually) versions of games I've already played.

It's just another indication that maybe the Wii just isn't for me, and ultimately I'm fine with that. But I really do enjoy many Nintendo IPs, so it's disappointing to me. It's still early in the life of the system, so I'm not damning it or making any final judgments. I'm just thinking out loud here.

i agree with you, Nick. if family play was the ONLY option. but don't you think the advanced control is a very innovative way to play a football game?

@ saxomophone:

Good point. I'm not denying that the Wii has potential for some truly stand-out experiences, in terms of control. I don't really play sports titles, so I can't speak too much on Madden (I played it briefly at last year's E3 and it seemed like a cool idea ... although from anecdotal experience, most traditional players seem to have rejected it).

I have to think this is a good idea, but Nick's right -- there's a fine line between "everybody can play" and "dumbed down". What I would like is this type of forward thinking with, say, a new IP. Accessible Madden? Fine. Now, give me something new that's equally accessible.

"Personally, I'm not interested in simplifying gameplay experience that I'm already familiar with." Exactly. I want EA to give me something I'm not familiar with.

@Nick

I wasn't griping at you, and yeah, I agree that new game genres are definitely needed. But the Wii is selling because of it's simplicity in gameplay as well as the unique controls.

Also, so long as people have to buy the Nunchuck and the Wii-Mote separately, there should be a catered to audience for wii-mote only games. Nintendo dropped the ball on selling those separately.

If my parents bought a Wii, they wouldn't think to go buy the nunchuck when getting a second controller.

Ok, all fair points being made here, but what I find baffling about the venom aimed at Wii (not necessarily here) by the so called 'hardcore gamers', is that gamers really thought that things were going to remain the same forever. Nothing stays the same forever. The games industry at some stage was going to have to expand and change it's identity, these are early days of that change, and whilst some gamers might not like it, you really aren't the best people to make judgements about it.

Why? Because the gaming community always claim to want new experiences or innovative new games, the reality is that they want to play the same thing over again, just with more polish, I have the last decade of gaming as evidence. Gamers shoudn't say that want innovative games, they should say "I want innovative games that conform to my idea of innovation" because this is what they mean. It's kind of like people who say " I want to have new experiences" and they catually mean they want new experiences just aslong as those experinces trigger the same good feelings as my old experinces. This equals no new experience at all.

There are some quality film directors who blame George Lucas for the demise of intelligent film making, Star Wars dumbed down thought provoking film making and turned it into a summer franchise with a constant eye on kiddie merchandise. Ok, fair enough, they are right. But my response to this claim is the same response to the claim about the Wii dumbing down gaming - It was always going to happen - if George Lucas didn't create Star Wars, some other fucker would have made something which created the summer blockbuster. Same apllies to the Wii, if Nintendo hadn't expanded the market with the Wii, some other company would eventually had done it. Just be thankful that it was George Lucas and Nintendo that got there first, it could have been much much worse.

But my main point is this, the Wii isn't dumbing down anything, it's a piece of hardware, it dictates nothing, as always and as ever, it's the fucking developers who should be getting the blame, the Wii is a perfect machine for experimentation and visuals based on art direction rather than hardware showcases. People can't blame Star Wars for the dross that came after it, just like people can't say the Wii is not for them. The Wii is for them, it's just that the lazy clueless developers aren't for anyone.

I'm not aiming this directly at anyone here, it's just a general response to the tone which constantly hangs over anything Wii related.

Nick, I don't understand why you are against or afraid of this trend; giving an option to allow people unfamiliar with a game to still play. It is an OPTION. Are you really that elitist? I think you'd have a point if it was the only way to play.

Many people argued that the controls in madden 07 wii were actually harder than what we were used to.

OWLICKS, if the virtual boy was in anyway popular or successful, it would have.

Watching Nintendo apologist trying to rationalize, and defend EA’s “you're not really doing anything” control scheme is hilarious.

@ Owlicks Did you ever play a Virtual Boy, I'm gonna say no. Well I owned one, the Wario game and that flight sim it had were the BOMB. The games looked slick and the 3d was amazing.... but it was a first-gen 3d headset and it wasn't the most comfortable thing. Nintendo tried something new... It didn't work, but it hadn't been done before and was worth and attempt. Can you tell me whats new about the 360 and the PS3... NOTHING. They've both even carried the same name.

So tell me how any console TO DATE was more innovative than the Wii? The motion control may be in it's infancy, but since playing RE4 on my Wii I see how awesome FPS's can be with a Wiimote. I would bet I can simulate about 95% accuracy of my PC mouse (getting a steady 90%+ accuracy in RE4), the 360 and PS3 controllers can't compare even with the game helping you aim.

Also, if the Wii brought nothing new to the table, why did Sony bust it's ass to copy the controller just before release? Six-axis being in a PS3 controller shows Sony KNEW Nintendo was on the right path and tried to follow them their (but failed so far).

@ Nick Brutal So Nick, can you show me the press release that says that EA stopped adding in all new content on Madden '08 to implement the "family controls." How does them adding a new control scheme make any difference at all to a hardcore gamer? Just don't use it...

I have a couple fiends and family that like Madden but aren't hardcore Madden players, and when I tried to get them to play with me on '07 I was constantly explaining controls to them as we played. I can see "family mode" being a huge success when you are playing with people who aren't Madden'o'holics.

From what I've heard the Wii version of Madden will actually have all sorts of new mini-games too. How does a football sim that has barley changed between each iteration need a full dev time for the basics? They don't, they have the engine and basic play down to a science, LET them add new stuff, cause Madden '07, '06, '05, '04 are all the same game with a few new features added in each.

who said I wanted anything new?

Nothing fails because its good. Many pieces of shit are successful.

@ dvddesign

EA stated that they are going to use their own kind of online service for madden because they hate friend codes, bu yeah ea is online with the wii.