Madden 2009

Madden 2009, the latest release in the most popular football game franchise in the world, is set for release to the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, Playstation 2, Nintendo DS and PSP. The series has been trucking for nearly 20 years, and it's still adding new features. This entry will include probably one of the most in depth dynamic difficulty settings ever implemented in a game. It continually assesses how well that you play, and adjusts the artificial intelligence appropriately to continue to give you a challenge.

In addition, there will be training modes that can identify and help you improve on the weakest spots in your game. Bret Favre will be the headlining athlete, as he appears on the box - despite his recent retirement. Of course, anything is possible in games, and you'll be able to play as Favre or put him on a custom team, just as has been possible in previous games in the series. The graphics continue to improve for next generation systems, and it looks quite good on the Wii and PS2 as well.

The franchise mode has been reworked statistically to be more realistic. There won't be nearly as many over inflated statistics relative to the real players in this entry as there were in 2008 and before. Years of intensive statistical analysis have gone into trying to make the franchise mode as accurate as possible. Of course, superlative players will be able to turn the tide here, but the dynamic difficulty will make that a greater challenge than it's ever been before.