My Thoughts on "Modern Warfare 2"

"Modern Warfare 2" pulled in $310 million for its first day sales. That’s approximately 4.7 million copies in the U.S. and U.K. alone. Incredible! In fact, when it comes to first day sells "Modern Warfare 2" has blown past box office hits. Analysts expect "Modern Warfare 2" to make $500 million by the end of the week. Call of Duty is a great game. I've bought my own copy recently.

It has have a very strong fan base and new gamers flock every time a new Call of Duty game is released. Just last year I decided to try Call of Duty to see what it was all about. I started off with "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare". I liked it. It was a pretty good war game. I could sort of understand why the game was such a hit. Also, I think it's a hit in the military as well, I mean why wouldn't it be? "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" was good and I wouldn't expect Infinity Ward or Activision to go back to the drawing board and create anything less than the superb "Modern Warfare 2".

I expect "Modern Warfare 2" to exceed all expectations and become one of the best selling entertainment items ever. The fact that "Modern Warfare 2" sold $310 million in one day, or 4.7 million copies goes to show the demand for this game. I expect that demand to only grow as "Modern Warfare" continues to sell. Money wise, I expect "Modern Warfare 2" to make at least $850 million or maybe even hit the $1 billion mark some time next year. This game only has time to make more money. If it stays on the same track it should actually reach $1 billion within the next two weeks.

Great Marketing Translates Into More Sales

Successful marketing has brought Madden 10 into the hands of adventure gamers. Adventure gamers are players who like to play Gears of War, Army of Two, COD (Call of Duty), Naruto etc. I have a lot of friends that play those kind of games. But I noticed that since Madden 10 was released most of my friends who are adventure gamers bought Madden 10. That is incredible! Most of these friends who have Madden 10 said, in the past that they don't really like sports games.

Most of my game catalog is sports games so I found that statement absurd. I have Madden dating back to Madden 07. However, I haven't gotten Madden 10 yet. That’s because I have a system in place where I give the most recent Madden game a month before I purchase it. The main reason why is because of glitches and bugs. Usually in a month glitches and bugs should be fixed. However, if you buy Madden 10 the day it's released you may buy a Madden 10 with all the glitches and bugs. I learned my lesson from Madden 07. I think Madden 10 may have the most sales in the Madden franchise, once more adventure gamers start getting Madden 10, it's a rap.

Madden 10 4th Quarter Thriller

By Amir Ali Said

Wow what a game. That Madden game was worth it. The game came down to the wire. I was winning for practically the whole game until less than one minute was left in the game. From the beginning of the game I knew that my run game would play a big role in this game. After three touchdowns from Darren Sproles I realized how much it would affect the game. Whenever I got in trouble I was able to pull out a run or a play action pass, since both combined ruled his defense. The game was going well, especially when I got a pick before half time. Before time ran out I was able to get a 65-yard pass to Vincent Jackson; which put me up by two possessions. For three quarters I scored nothing but touchdowns and took up time. Then the fourth quarter came.

In the fourth quarter we were going score for score. However, there were no field goals involved, until I decided to kick a field goal at about 1:15. It put me up by five points, 32-27. On the ensuing possession my opponent threw a 75-yard pass to Greg Jennings. That play devastated my team. The score was now 34-32 with only 32 seconds left and I only had one timeout.

I took my kick return back to the 30 yard line and began my drive. First play took up about five seconds as I tried to do a quick corner strike, to no avail. Next play I lined up in Shotgun and decided to do the same play, but instead of doing corner strikes, I chose to hit the receivers going on slant routes. I passed to Legedu Naanee who took it to the 48-yard line; but I didn't get out of bounds. So I was forced to use a timeout. On the next play I did the exact same thing and got the ball down to the 30; happily, after going out of bounds I got an unnecessary roughness call that put me on the 15-yard line. With 5 seconds left, I brought the kicking team out and kicked the game winning field goal. The final score was 35-34 Chargers. What a great game.

Migration Back To Madden 09

By Amir Ali Said

There are a number of people that have purchased and played Madden 10. But the problem is, did they keep playing Madden 10? Well, I know that Pop and I purchased Madden 10, but we stopped playing it real quick. The game is whack and it moves to slow for us. Also, sometimes the defensive players act really weird and fall for the simplest moves. Pop and I couldn't take anymore of Madden 10, so we stopped playing.

Then Pop and I went back to playing Madden 09, and we'll play to about August, when a new Madden comes out. When Pop and I first went back to playing Madden 09 nobody would be on XBOX Live for us to play. It was really hard to find somebody to play. But lately we've both been noticing more and more players coming back on XBOX Live to play Madden 09. I haven't played Madden 10 in I'm not sure how long, so I couldn't say if more people are coming or leaving. But I know that more players are coming to Madden 09.

EA oughta be happy this has started to happen months after the release of Madden 10, because if this were to have happened immeadiately they would've had a big problem on their hands. Since this is starting to happen now, it won't really effect EA, because they've already gotten the majority of their money in the first two months of Madden 10's release. Point is, EA needs to make a much better game in Madden 11 or this same problem may arise, only this time it'll be sooner.

Pop Wins Two In A Row! (Part 2)

By Amir Ali Said

I used two parts for this article, coincidentally for two reasons. Number one, to show how Pop demolished me in the first two tournaments with the Colts. Number two, to show how I did in the following tournament. Here in lies the outcome of the third tournament. With a combination of the Broncos and Ravens, I was victorious.

In the first game, I won. However, the game is under protest by Pop and I. I won't lie, I offered not to count the game and to play a rematch. I pretty much got half of my points on miscues, that weren't created by Pop. But, Pop said go ahead, you can have that win. That was a really good game too, I was doing well, and Peyton Hillis certainly helped my offensive attack. With help on defense coming from Champ Bailey and Elvis Dumervil, I was able to have a good defensive game as well. All in all, I won the game by 4 points.

The second game had the same result, I won. But unlike the first game, no protest needed. While I played with the Ravens Pop just couldn't stop me, I was on fire. Ok, I'm just playing, Pop was winning for at least 3 quarters. I was still able to come out with a win after another game deciding play coming to fourth down. The only problem is that, I left way to much time on the clock for Pop to score. Pop was driving down the field, until he got a fourth down of his own, fourth and about twelve. On that play Pop had me chasing up and down the field, but eventually I got a interception and ended the game. I look forward to the next tournament, when I play with the Ravens as my base team.

Pop Wins Two In A Row! (Part 1)

By Amir Ali Said

Pop has won two Superchamp tournaments in a row. Both with only the Colts. I used four teams: the Chargers, Falcons, Jets, and Raiders. All where given the "Pop-treatment", which meant I loss. None of the games reached the Superchamp round.

I tried to use the "I'm-just-getting-used-to-Madden-09", but I just got beat, badly. Pop has skills, I know that, but damn, the Colts aren't even his base team! They're unstoppable. I just can't stop Peyton Manning.

Whether its 3-4 or 4-3, Pop's passing attack with Peyton Manning has been incredibly enhanced. I pretty much have no answer. I'm looking forward to the next tournament. Since, I already know who I'm playing with, the Broncos and the Ravens. If these teams don't do it for me, then I'm done. There's no longer any chance for me.

Superchamp Round Comes Down To Fourth Down (Part 1)

The first ever Superchamp Madden tournament has come to an end. After three hard fought games, my three teams proved to be the best. However, it came down to the Superchamp round, the final round of the tournament. All of the games were close and pretty much down to the wire. Here's a look at how the Superchamp round went.

Pop and I played with our base teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers vs the Philadelphia Eagles. I played with the Eagles and Pop used the Steelers. The game started off with a defensive stand by Pop, followed with a touchdown. Then I got the ball back and rushed for 34 yards with Michael Vick, bringing me to around the 30 yard line. From that point on, I went into shotgun and inched my way into the endzone. By the end of the first, the score was close, but Pop was in the lead. The second quarter came around and so did the fumbles. Pop fumbled and I recovered it around the 15 yard line. I was able to punch it on a run from Michael Vick out of the Singleback formation. At half I gained the lead by about 4 points.

Gotta Research For Superchamp Madden Tournament

My Pop and I are having a three day Superchamp Madden (10) tournament. Ever since I got the news, I've been researching teams. I know two out of the three teams I'm playing with, but I can't pick the third. Also, the third team that I pick will play in the first game. I need a team that can give me a win because then the Saints can come in and wrap the tournament up. But here's the hard part, my Pop is playing with the Colts in the first game, but he might not because its suppose to be a, "Game time decision." If Pop plays with the Colts first then I'm fine with that.

I have the Saints in the next game, possibly against the Vikings. That's a scoring game, where the Saints are going to win. I'm not making predictions, but Saints vs Vikings, feels like a automatic win for me. Drew Brees? Marques Colston? Who's holding them? Drew Brees is going to be handing out gits all over the field and the Vikings D can't stop it. But I'll have something to worry about on defense, oh wait, no I don't. So Pop might want to play with the Colts in the second game, because that would be in his best interest. Maybe play with the Vikings in the first game, or just don't play me with them at all.

Back to my research. I've gotten my selection down to two teams. About 10 minutes ago, I had my team selection up to four! It was between the Broncos, Bengals, Chargers, and Titans. I eliminated the Broncos first because of all their injuries. Also, Kyle Orton is the starting quarterback, and that's certainly not gonna help my chances. The next team to be eliminated was the Titans, they have an explosive offense but I don't know if their defense can stick with the Colts or the Vikings. So that leaves me with the Bengals or the Chargers. I'm leaning towards the Bengals, but I still can't say, its going to be a, "Game time decision" for me as well. Your thoughts...

The tournament starts today and I'll be posting about the results in each round.

We're Getting Madden 10!

Yesterday, I got the verdict from that I would be getting Madden 10. After playing the Madden 10 demo I had a lot of doubts. I didn't like the game speed, because it moved way to slow for us. I also didn't like the way we chose our play. The last thing I didn't like was the gimmicks and overall experience of Madden 10. But all of our questions have been answered and our minds have changed.

For the last couple of weeks leading up to Madden 10's release, I've been doing my research. My research was directed at our doubts and dislikes. I spoke to one of the Lead Designers on Madden 10, Ian Cummings, and he told me that if you don't like the default game speed, you can speed it up. That was great to know. Game speed was at the core of my concerns for Madden 10.

Another thing that helped the verdict was the explanation of the play selection. Play selection in Madden 10 is going back but for the good. Madden 10 play selection is good because it cuts down on cheating (play looking), making it a much better game experience. I could actually get used to that.

My last concern was the gimmicks and overall experience. However, when I thought about it again, Madden 10 doesn't have gimmicks, but features that are closer to real life. When Madden 10 went in and added the chain gang, fumble pile-up, and more gang tackles that was a good decision. The three things I just mentioned actually happen in real-life, which makes the game better. It also makes the game more realistic. I think the overall experience has been improved, based on the information I've gathered since playing the demo in July. I'm certainly getting Madden 10 and not ending my Madden streak.

5 Reasons Why EA Went BackWards

1. Gameplay
Madden 09 did a pretty good job of having good gameplay. Under the umbrella of gameplay includes: Defense algorithims, Offensive algorithims, Hit Stick, game speed, player movement. All of these things factor into Madden gameplay. However, in Madden 10 they weren't able to accomplish the same thing. Yesterday I played the Madden 10 demo reluctantly. The game was so slow and the overall experience was so whack. One of the big disappointments was the way you choose your play. Instead of picking your play individually, you had to press the corresponding letter with the play you wanted to choose. I played Madden like that when I had a PS2, that's around Madden 06.

2. Ratings
I've been tracking Madden 10 team ratings since EA allowed people to see them. So far, I've come to the conclusion that most teams ratings have declined. But the question is why? The ratings in Madden 09 were just fine, teams got the ratings they deserved. Also, I think the players got ratings they deserved. However, in Madden 10 ratings for teams and players have declined. If you look at a list of Rookie ratings you would see that ratings range from 50-85. That's a huge margin. I wonder how the EA comes up with these ratings because they're low for no reason. Now mediocre teams have gotten worse. For example, the Texans, Jaguars, Buccaneers and Saints. Each team's ratings that I just mentioned range from a 71-79 overall. I have no clue why EA decided to decline ratings this year. If EA is trying to make Madden 10 more like an NFL experience I don't think they should have ratings decline. Players drafted in the 6th and 7th round in the NFL draft can still contribute to a team. But they probably won't be able to contribute in Madden 10.

3. Design/Artwork
The Artwork for Madden 10 looks so similar. To bring up a point I made earlier, the way you choose your play is so simple. Then comes player faces, they also look simple. The design for picking your team went backwards just a little bit, in Madden 09 when you picked your team it look so much better. But in Madden 10 it looked so simple, as if they were biting themselves.

4. Gimmicks
If you've played the Madden 10 demo and watched the intro all the way through you would under stand what I mean by gimmicks. But that isn't the only gimmick. Another gimmick is the cursor that shows where the ball will appear is now red, and it opens or closes based on how far the ball is away from the closest player. I know, it's that complicated, which is why it qualified as a gimmick. Yesterday I didn't actually experience this next gimmick but it's advertised like it will be used, the battle for the fumble. From the articles that I read on EA's website the fight for the fumble will occur at the bottom of a pile-up. This fight is won after a person presses a series of buttons repeatedly in order to win the fumble.

5. Overall Experience
The overall experience for Madden 10 is very bad. The game moves too slow. Players run and throw weird. There are too many gimmicks and Madden 10 has gotten away from it's roots. It's not like a real video game. Madden 10 is fake to me. Hopefully, in the last days before Madden 10's release EA can make some significant changes. But I don't plan on picking Madden up until September, maybe October because by then EA should have made some changes. I'll also find some way to play Madden 10 in it's full version before I buy it myself.