What's all the Hype about?

I joined an ever-growing group this morning. It began a few weeks ago when I realized that with the PS2 I'd been given for Christmas last year (boy, does that make me sound like a kid, or what?) I'd be able to purchase the new Madden game. I also realized that if I was going to purchase it, I probably needed to pre-order it. Alas, I called up the local EB Games just the day before it's release and they informed me that they only had enough stock for their pre-orders. So, I couldn't pre-order with them. BUT - there just happens to be a Game Stop just down the road from the church here on Highway 23. And when I called over there - bingo, they had at least one extra in every system. So, I mosyed on over yesterday afternoon, pre-purchased it, and was informed that the store would be open at 12am for anyone desiring to pick-up their pre-order. Hmmm...

I said, at the time, that I wasn't sure. But that set my mind in motion... "I'm not going to be able to try the game at all Tuesday, during the day and I have a meeting Wednesday night. If I'm pre-ordering it and still not getting to try it until a few days later, what's the point in pre-ordering. So, like hundreds if not thousands of peole across this nation, I hopped in my car at 11:45, drove down to the video-game store, and picked up my copy of Madden 08. I was concerned that there might be an abundance of enthusiasm and maybe a huge line. But when I rolled in, there were but a handful of people waiting outside the store (because of some "policy" about 4 people in at a time). The store could have easily accomodated the entire group inside and more. But I waited patiently for about 60 seconds, walked in, waited in line another 60 seconds or so, produced my receipt from earlier that day, and walked out not 60 seconds later with my - still cold from the shipping box - copy of Madden for PS2.

I got home 20 minutes later, said goodnight to Bridgette and headed downstairs to my old 19" television to see if the game was as good as everyone said. I quickly realized the ENORMOUS difference between the PS3 and the PS2. Everything you see online and in commercials are from these new "next-gen" gaming systems (PS3, XBox 360, Wii). While they've continued to make most games, like Madden, for the older systems (PS2, XBox) they're not putting the same time and energy into these versions, they don't have all the same bells and whistles and they ASSUREDLY do not have the same graphics - how could they? But, after a couple hours of kicking the tires, and only a slight disappointment that my Bengals, after an atrocious 8-8 season had dropped slightly in their overall rating (93-91), I was happy with my purchase. The trick now will be to make sure that I use my time wisely as I play this game over the next few months of the NFL season...