Is That Madden? Can I Play?

For the first time in probably six years, I was not a part of the midnight rush that went out to buy the first copies of the annual Madden game. You would think, with Brett Favre on the cover and all, that this would be a must have for any Packer fan (or Jets fan, sigh). However, this year, I missed out on my annual tradition of buying Madden, playing it all night, and then calling in sick for work.

It's not that I lost any love for the game of Madden, I do have plans to purchase it in the future. In fact, the only reason I really bought a Playstation 2 in the first place was for Madden. I even referred to my PS2 simply as my "Madden Box".

Much of it has to do with the fact that I'm ready to upgrade to PS3 (I'm a Sony guy), although my bank account tends to differ with me. I don't have the cash I once did to blow my money on a game I'd play relentlessly for two weeks, and then not at all, and then sporadically when I had friends over before we went out to the bars.

So as I see all the hoopla surrounding the 20th year of the video franchise, I am sadly standing on the sidelines. I'll buy the game in due time, I'm sure, but in the meantime, these late summer nights just won't feel the same.

What's that? You did buy the game? Can I, um, come over?