[vodaPlaps]

ESPN is still a bit buggy, and that's partially why I give the nod to Madden 2005. It's not apples and oranges, but they are two different types of football games. ESPN is for the folks that enjoy playing exibition games to their heart's content, whereas Madden is becoming the game for people who enjoy intense Franchise mode play.

As far as ESPN's bugs (I played this game for about a week before I purchased Madden):

You could get a big run and have it called back on a holding or clipping play and it affects your stats. Instead of the play being negated on a 30 yard run, for example, you'll be credited with one run for -45 yards (-30 for the run, -15 for the penalty). That's simply unacceptable.

You can't substitute players at other positions on the depth chart, something I had seen in past versions of Madden and the old NFL 2K, as I recall. For example, Jim Kleinsasser is listed as a fullback for the Vikings, but plays the position of Tight End. I can't change him to tight end in ESPN because it won't let me change a FB to a TE.

To make him a TE, I had to go through the playbook and change every single formation to put him out there. I saved my playbook, and when I would try to play the game, he'd be gone again. Where did he go? I saved my playbook, made sure my profile was active and everything. I go to look up my playbook again, and the plays are back to the way they were before I made the changes. Huh?

Going along the lines of the profile, that is also messed up. I set my VIP up as active, only to see that I didn't get points for the game I played because apparently my VIP wasn't declared as the "active" one, even though I already went through and made it my "active" profile.

Then we go into the player ratings. Being that I went to the Vikings first, that's the part that sticks out most. I noticed that Antoine Winfield was rated at a 79, yet Marcus Robinson was rated at an 83. Regardless of where you think Winfield should be rated, I don't think any of you would say that Marcus Robinson is better than Antoine Winfield. Rating mishaps like this plague the game.

As far as Madden, I just got it, so I can't really make much comment on it except to say it looks much improved from 2004.

[KRbGA0Bg]

ESPN is a better game if your idea of a good sports game is one you can turn on, play for 30 minutes, and then walk away from.

For a stat junkie like me, Madden is the hands down winner...I'm lucky to play 1 or 2 games in any given season (This goes for NCAA 2005 also) as I am more anxious for the offseason moving and shaking as I try and build a winner.

[zttrftwsq]

I used to simulate about 90% of the games in a season, but that got really old for me. I'd sometimes go through two seasons in an hour, and that started to ruin the excitment of the off-season.

I've since learned that if you play the majority of games in a season, it's easier to see where you have weak spots on your team. It makes the off-season more special.

I think the ESPN franchise mode is as good as Madden's, except for the training camp feature. I haven't gotten to Madden's off-season mode yet (i'm on game 11 of the season), but I didn't think that they changed much. Did they change the contract negotiations? They really need to do that to give you more cap flexability. In 2K5, you can change contracts to frontloaded, backloaded, accending, decending, edged, balanced, and if you lowball somebody, they'll either jack up their demands, or quit negotiating all together. I also like the trading better in 2K5. If you send a trade proposal, and the other team rejects it, they'll send a counter offer.

I think that after a couple years of tweaking and fine tuning, ESPN will have a better overall game then Madden, unless Madden finds a way to make their game more realistic.

[cinggooft]

i own both games and feel that ESPN is a vastly superior game for those who take the time to get good at it. Madden has become very stale to me. ESPN has the presentation that madded could only dream of. As far as Madden's new great defensive schemes, well...everything can be done in ESPN. I play both on live, and ESPN seems to have the players that understand the game of football a bit better, where as madden is filled with people who know what plays ALWAYS work in madden, and they run them over, and over and over.... plus ESPN is only $20.00

[posimoka]

This thread should set off a firestorm of controversy.

Which game is better... Madden NFL 2005, or ESPN NFL 2K5?

ESPN is a lot more fun I think just is a allround better game than Madden.

[nikolapegayyyaasss]

It shouldn't.....with Madden's new in season features, it wins hands down!

^^^^^^^^ What he said!

[Beatris]

Ill let you all know which is better in a few weeks when I get my mod chip and 120GB hard drive for my Xbox. ill rent them both and burn em.

anyone want to buy the Madden O5 collectors edition for PS2?

[namaikaimvputka]

this is probly biased too, but madden is much better imo.
maybe im just not used to espn like i am madden but i dunno

[23InetrySypekek]

ESPN -

Has better presentation, by far. It makes sense, considering that this is a game with the network's licensing all over it. I love the SportsCenter stuff and the highlights from other games. The weekly training structure is a nifty gimmick to have, but first-person is just stupid.

ESPN just has a lot of things that are nifty as extras, but they aren't make or break points on the game (like the contracts, which I love). Their window-dressing is good, but the big stuff (like player ratings) need a LOT of work.

And their announcers are awful.

MADDEN -

Has the goods with gameplay and nobody does it better on franchise mode. I'd like more flexibility on contracts, but virtually everything else is still there that an obsessive slappy like me could ask for. (Except expanded preseason rosters, why can't we get this going?)

Hands-down, the best part about Madden for me is that you can import classes from NCAA. I do all the work of editing NCAA rosters, so when I get a draft class, it really will have Braylon Edwards and Cedric Benson and Derrick Johnson in it. No matter how much Mel Kiper you have, no matter how cool the gameplay might get, ESPN will never have that function unless they get a college football license. As long as Madden sticks close to ESPN in everything else, the tiebreaker is college draft classes, and that's EA Sports all the way.

I've been playing Madden for a couple weeks now, and as far as improvements go, defense is king! I love the defensive playmaker, and the AI is vastly improved. The old habit of finding one money play and running it over and over again doesn't work. The in-game radio show with Tony Bruno is a nice touch, though I think they need to work out some bugs with things like position battles and morale (good ideas, just not quite perfected yet). Position switches were something I'd wanted for years. I'd like to see them add in NCAA's in-game momentum swings, where a hot QB gets a rating boost for a drive or two if everything is clicking. Overall, it's a solid game, but they need to step up their graphics, presentation, and variety of Al and John's commentary to hold off ESPN.

[Turbo-ip]

Each game has it's strong points.


ESPN has much more realistic game play, but it's also really choppy. The ability for a runner to break tackles is great, and there are ample moves a runner can make (spin, dive, lower shoulder, stiff arm, juke, stop short, studder step, hurdle). The passing engine is almost perfect, except for CPU controlled defenders playing a zone (they tend to look lost in coverage).

Madden is really smooth, but the game play could use some adjusting. I've found it more rare for a runner to be able to break tackles in Madden 05. Also, it's nearly impossible to run up the middle, it's just too congested. In real life, tackles are broken all the time, but in Madden, 8 times out of 10, the runner will go down on the first attempt at a tackle by any defender (DT or CB, it doesn't matter)

I would give the nod to ESPN 2K5, but it's got a couple things that need to be changed. They need to get rid of that stupid tapping speed burst, and they need to get some sort of training camp feature.

I think Madden has fallen behind in game play and graphics, but it still has the best features (hit stick, training camp, hold button for speed burst). The only thing that I think sucks about the new Madden, is that you can't change the controls. I always switch the defensive speed burst to X instead of O, but you can't do that anymore.

[Ladbarbastirm]

I am pretty partial to Madden, but both games have their strengths and weaknesses. Just depends on the style of the gamer for which game they prefer.

[Audi_z]

This thread should set off a firestorm of controversy.

Which game is better... Madden NFL 2005, or ESPN NFL 2K5?

It shouldn't.....with Madden's new in season features, it wins hands down!

[mymnduccete]

What i love about Madden is the gameplay is just vastly superior and the offseason stuff is sweet. I simply owned ESPN AI too quickly...as in a quarter of the way into my first season. ESPn has better graphics but Madden owns ESPN in any other meaningful area.

A few other things I love about Madden: In season progression, building your own stadium and finding ways to maximize your "investment", being able to pick up and move to a new city.

By the way, the dude that wanted to find a way around the contract bug; If you dont want to pay a player the asked for dollar amount bring the dollar amount down to an acceptable level for you then just make up the difference in signing bonus. As long as the players moral is ok it'll work. Usually I only do it for 2 years, draft someone at that spot and dump the player for picks.

The 1 thing that kills me about Madden though: Does anyone know how to bring a created playbook into the franchise mode?

I swear my created plays are absolutely killer and I can ring up 100+ pts on the ALL Madden CPU (usually 6 minute quaters) in the single game mode but it kills me to not have it in franchise mode.

[fedordzen]

This thread should set off a firestorm of controversy.

Which game is better... Madden NFL 2005, or ESPN NFL 2K5?

[PymnImmen]

i would have to say madden. i have played both and i am just biased to madden i guess since i am so used to the gameplay.

[jabader]

i think madden is the better game

[Yswxomvy]

Madden is the better game. ESPN messes up a lot. VIP don't work, plus, IMO, it's easier. Offseason is bad, I was unable to sign most draft picks, because my salery cap would be messed up. Although first person football is amazingly fun, and its on;y 20 bucks, I still like madden.