Right now there is an online petition going on about the controversy of having Vince Young as the cover of Madden 08. Apparently some people are having issue with this disagree, they rather have LeDanian Tomlinson on the cover of Madden 08. Regardless who should grace the cover of Madden 08, here is the first look at Madden 08 via 360monster.com:

So the draft has been and gone. Ginn?s pick is still the most talked about selection in the draft and the Browns are on cloud nine after getting their two high-profile draftees. The next NFL item on the agenda is the impending release of Madden ?08. Previous Madden installments were nothing more than a roster update and a few new modes thrown in for good measure, but this time around EA are going to have to pull their finger out as they have some stiff competition in the form of recently announced All-Pro Football 2K8.

Luckily EA have started to reveal some information about the upcoming title and it looks set to be one hell of a game. Tiburon have already said that they are putting a lot more work into the gameplay, as well as the game?s graphics. Madden being Madden, when it?s released it will look sublime, the helmets, jerseys, cleats, fields, stadiums and players will no doubt be re-created perfectly. Let us only hope the gameplay matches the game?s graphical prowess.

The newest features to be included in ?08 include bigger catches. This includes one-handed dives and sideline foot dragging; it will be interesting to see how well this works in the game. Many previous Madden owners will know that it was a big risk throwing the ball out to a receiver near the sideline. Simply because a lot of the time they?d jump out of bounds in an attempt to catch the ball. In the newest title you will in fact watch in amazement as your Wide Receiver (WR) drops his feet to the floor so that they stay in-bounds.

The thing is despite having these ?bigger? catches EA have made things just as difficult by improving the Defensive Back (DB) AI and actions. One thing the DBs can now do is smash into a WR?s side while they are in mid-air trying to grab hold of that 60-yard long bomb. These mid-air collisions will result in some dropped passes, fumbles and the highly sought after injuries.

This swiftly brings me onto the next feature hurdles. Hurdles aren?t new as you can quite happily do it in ?07, but they have been updated. Although you can dodge tackles at your feet hurdling means you are up in the air, which means while floating like a butterfly you will be smashed in the side by a Rhino as you try to make that 1st down. Gang tackles made a very quick appearance in the PS3, and it was surprising just how well it worked. With the new game the gang tackling will be even better, which means the running game in Madden won?t be anywhere near as powerful. A plus in any Madden fans eyes.?

The entire Defensive AI has been given a major overhaul as well. Slant plays for one opened up holes in the crappy AI, which made passing extremely easy. When players rolled the Quarterback (QB) out to the sideline it resulted in the game?s piss-poor AI all going towards the QB. which in turn left the opposing wide receivers wide open. Luckily all that has changed (at least that?s what we?d hope) with the new game and the various Defensive flaws look like they have been ironed out.

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