'Madden NFL 08' Screenshot Gallery

On August 14, millions of football fans around the country will snuggle in front of their game consoles and fire up the most heavily played sports franchise in gaming today. Do you have your copy preordered?

EA has promised thousands of brand-new animations to complement the graphical overhaul.

A feature that has been on the wish lists of countless Madden players for years has been gang tackling. Finally, EA has answered their call, and the ability to pile on top of a single player is now possible in-game.

Now that EA Tiburon has had some time with the next-gen consoles, they are finally able to include everything they want in the game. This means we'll get to see Owner mode along with the ability to lateral.

Additional new features of the game include an upgraded fatigue system and improved defensive artificial intelligence.

Thanks to the addition of thousands of new animations, receivers will now "attempt" to stay in bounds when catching a ball near the sidelines--a disastrous bug that plagued the Madden franchise until now.

The running game in Madden 08 will allow players to break tackles more easily than ever before, thanks to the improved physics which result in more "breaking points." But be careful--the new Hit Stick 2.0 can still stop you in your tracks.

Madden 08 has also taken things out. Wide receivers will no longer be able to "jetpack" (jump unnaturally high to catch a ball). EA claims catching passes in the middle of crowds will be drastically reduced as well.

EA has expressed a desire to increase the effectiveness of midair collisions and tough angle tackles. It looks like holding on to the ball may be as difficult in Madden 08 as it is in real life.

The early consensus tells us that the overall theme of Madden 08 will concentrate on bringing the franchise back to basics. Instead of focusing on one aspect of gameplay, a more rounded-out improvement is something gamers are sure to appreciate.