Madden NFL 08 hits the streets at midnight...

...and why should I care? Because it means I can pick up a used copy of Madden 2007 for under 15 bucks.

I'm an old school gamer, dammit! I'll school your PS3 ass! Intellivison was the bee's knees!
I played Madden against the Kaiser! What time does Matlock come on!?

You may think you're going to read the rants of an aging video game Luddite curmudgeon, but that's far from the case. I'm an old school gamer. Been one for over 30 years.

My first game system was Pong back in the 70's. It was in stunning black & white, and we LIKED it! (I also walked 5 miles uphill to school, wore an onion on my belt, and wasn't allowed to drink water during 2 a days, and we LIKED it! Kids today...)

It could play handball too. The 70's weren't the damn Stone Ages, you know...

I spent hour upon hour with my Mattel Intellivison, and then bonded with my Colecovision. Both were much better systems than the ubiquitous Atari 2600. Plus I'm left handed, and the fire button is on the wrong side for me...

I was never a Nintendo fan boy, missing out on the NES and SNES years as I was busy doing what 20-somethings do, like starting a career, getting married, and drinking.

But I received a Sega Genesis from the then wife for Christmas in the early 90's, and I jumped back into gaming. That was also when I got my first exposure to the Madden franchise, with Madden '94. I loved it, as you could actually play full seasons with real NFL teams and rosters. By the way, Barry Sanders was unstoppable.

Barry Sanders was to Madden 94 as Bo Jackson was to Tecmo Bowl .
You couldn't stop him, and you couldn't hope to contain him!

I've played Madden on and off ever since, but I fell off the gaming wagon again when life got in the way in the late 90's, missing out on the PS1 years. But jumping back into gaming after buying a PS2 when the prices finally got reasonable, ($250 was my sweet spot, around 2001-ish. I'm now on my 2nd PS2) I began to play Madden again. But I haven't bought a Madden release since '02 edition. For good reason...

I became a fan of the competition. I bought a copy of NFL 2K5. Blasphemous, right? Not in my mind.

Why? Because it was $30 cheaper! I have much more loyalty to my wallet than I ever would for EA and John Madden. (It's also a damn good game, just as good as Madden, and I've played the Hell out of it)

If the 2K games could hit the streets with a $19.95 price point brand new, I couldn't see spending top dollar for a game that was basically the same thing. In fact, I'm still playing NFL 2K5, when I feel the need for a little football video gaming.

But it's more than just the money that keeps me from buying Madden every year. Well, to be honest, a lot of it is about the money, but there's a few other good reasons...

Unlike the Madden sheep, I don't feel the need to have updated rosters, as I could care less if I have the correct 3rd string running back when I'm playing as the Jacksonville Jaguars. With game systems having memory cards and hard drives, and the ability to go online, couldn't EA just sell, or make available for download, the updated rosters for the completists of the world? No, as that makes too much sense, and would cut into their cash cow.

I'm never in the mood to get my ass handed to me 100-3, and be trash talked to boot, by a profanity spewing 15 year old who obsesses over Madden 12 hours a day, so online play isn't for me.

I don't want the latest questionable "Improvement" in game play, as it takes me forever to master all the button combos as it is. I never understood the gamer's need for minimal improvements in game play, as it's nothing more than a cash grab by EA. And it can be argued that often the "Improvements" EA makes aren't improvements at all, but only change for the sake of bullshit change.

Most of all, I really don't appreciate to being bent over, then anally raped, while having my pocket picked of $50+ by Electronic Arts, a monopolistic corporation who said, "If we can't beat 'em, we'll outspend 'em, so we'll buy exclusive rights from the NFL, and force 2K Sports to go away."

Let alone there's the fact I don't have a spare $400-$600 laying around to buy a next generation system, either a Xbox 360, or a PS3. Thank goodness for small favors, as then I'd be paying $60+ to be bent over by EA.

Even though I don't have the slightest idea what the video game bearing my name looks like,
give me all your money! BOOM!

I guess if you don't mind being led around the nose by a corporation that only cares about wringing every last stinking dime out of gamers, go ahead and spend your hard earned cash on the latest entry of the Madden franchise.

Personally, I'm more than happy to wait for the inevitable price drop, and even then, I'm not sure I'll drop my cash on the line.

Screw Madden, and screw EA. I'm off to cruise eBay, see what Intellivison's are going for nowadays. Now THAT was a video game system...