I buy it ever year but agree, the game seems to just get stale regardless of difficulty. I used to be able to play deep into franchise but can't remember going past year 3 in years. I think I did 15 on Madden 2001 range.
The game was better in those days in my opinion. Now the gameplay is being driven by the animations. I feel less in control. I lost a job because I was working on a competing title when EA got the exclusive NFL license so I have some bitterness towards their product. That deal cost hundreds of people their jobs at the time.
2K?
No, it wasn't 2K. I almost got a job with them after the Madden deal to work on another sports title but I wasn't ready to leave Texas at that point. I had an opportunity to work at Tiburon, the developer of Madden, a few years later but didn't like the deal. They are also notorious for firing employees through no fault of their own. I had enough of the crap. I've managed to stay at my current company for 14 years, which is unheard of in this industry. We make smaller titles but I'm happy with the stability.
Big time on animations controlling gameplay, certain runs/catches/tackles at a certain angle let's you know what type of animation you may get sucked into. So you end up playing on how to beat animations instead of realistic gameplay choices you may actually want to make; spin and huge crossing routes this year, high point catch last year. I've also noticed the programming let's the cpu make up for terrible 1st and 2nd down plays on 3rd unless you get them backed up at a certain distance. All Madden, but even little bit on all pro
