Madden 16 Playmakers

August 24 – 30

Section: 

Ah Madden, my old addiction. You’re enough to bring me out of a sleepy retirement and back once more into the clutches of TWA. Madden 16 is the 28th major release of the longstanding football franchise, and at this point is roughly as sure a thing in the gaming industry as we get. Honestly, how could anything else be my game of the week.

It’s an odd numbered year, this 2015, which means that it’s probably time for me to buy a new Madden game. In much the same way that watching every other Star Trek movie was just the way to go, I apply a similar methodology to my Madden purchasing schedule. I’m not sure there’s the same variability to quality, but if history is any judge, I’ll buy Madden, play it for two solid weeks, and then be completely burned out on Madden for the next 102 weeks.

All that said, I do like what I’m seeing of the changes to the passing mechanics this year. Offering more control on whether you want your receiver to go up aggressively, catch the ball in stride to gain more yards or make a possession catch, immediately after you pass the ball as the QB, you’re given a kind of passive control of the way the intended receiver responds to that pass. It’s a cool idea, and one I’m interested to try.

When it comes right down to it, though, how can you not give GOTW to a game that makes this commercial. It’s the end of August, time to get some Madden on!

Chris "C" Cesarano
I'm pretty sure at this point I've played more horror-based video games than I have seen horror films. Granted, I haven't really played much in the way of horror games, either. The current trends of Amnesia, Outlast and Five Nights at Freddy's have graced neither television nor monitor within my home. Yet the trailers for Until Dawn, which would go by with a mere yawn were I to see them before a movie in the cinema, have gotten me curious and eager to try out Sony's new IP.

I suppose part of the draw is that I enjoy games like Heavy Rain and Telltale's The Walking Dead, but would love to see those concepts used better to take the interactive nature of storytelling to its furthest potential. With Until Dawn the draw is choice, and I'm curious if it will be as different and varied through each playthrough as they seem to be advertising.

Erik "wordsmythe" Hanson
I'm actually leaning toward the Audiosurf-esque Sound Shift over Hegemony III. Must have been something in those mushrooms.

EDIT: Felix “timezonemaster” Threepaper

Late boomerang for Hegemony III. Longbow is doing well with this series. Tribal warriors, take up the hoplon shields of your enemies!

Greg "DoubtingThomas396" Decker

Lots of nightmare fodder this week. Amnesia, Fran Bow, and a game that spells "Crooks" with a Z.

Brr. So cold. So cold.

In the midst of all that is an iOS port that is all about sweet dreams. No, not Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire. I'm talking about Back To Bed for the various Sony platforms. I've played it on my phone, and it has a beautiful art style and charming presentation where you guide a dreaming subconscious back to his own body. I recommend it to anyone.

This week:

PC

  • Grandia II Anniversary Edition
  • Planet of the Eyes
  • Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire
  • NOVA-111
  • Crookz: The Big Heist
  • Party Hard
  • Amnesia: Memories
  • Hegemony III: Clash of the Ancients
  • Mega Man Legacy Collection
  • Pillars of Eternity: The White March - Part 1
  • Age of Survival
  • Evoland 2: A Slight Case of Spacetime Continuum
  • Capsule Force
  • Sound Shift
  • Lamia Must Die
  • Fran Bow
  • Calvino Noir
  • Dead In Bermuda
  • Country Tales
  • One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3
  • All Guns On Deck
  • Close Your Eyes
  • Caveman Craig
  • Xenocide
  • Razenroth
  • CAT Interstellar

PS4

  • Until Dawn
  • One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3
  • Madden NFL 16
  • Back to Bed
  • I Am Bread
  • Dishonored: Definitive Edition
  • Ascendant
  • NOVA-111
  • Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition

Xbox One

  • Madden NFL 16
  • Mega Man Legacy Collection
  • Dishonored: Definitive Edition
  • Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
  • Don't Starve: Giant Edition
  • Nova-111
  • Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition

Wii U

  • Pixel Slime U
  • Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition

PS3

  • Madden NFL 16
  • Back to Bed
  • Nova-111
  • Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition

Xbox 360

  • Madden NFL 16
  • Frozen Free Fall: Snowball Fight
  • Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition

PS Vita

  • Nova-111
  • Back to Bed
  • Amnesia: Memories

Nintendo 3DS

Comments

I will not let Kaepernick Pacino convince me to buy Madden.

I will not let Kaepernick Pacino convince me to buy Madden.

Kaepernick Pacino.

Kap Pacino.

Hoo Ahh!

Grandia II Anniversary Edition is kinda tempting. It remains one of the very few JRPGs I've actually managed to finish.

*Legion* wrote:

Kap Pacino.

Straight from your fingers to everyone's brains, brother.

Grandia II is tempting, but I think Mega Man Legacy Collection is the only thing I'm going to purchase this week.

I'd be a lot more tempted for Mega Man Legacy Collection if I hadn't recently cleared out the PS2-era Anniversary Collection.

Grandia II however is really tempting although I remember the original Grandia had some really atrocious voice acting.

Five posts, plus the above writers, and nary a mention of Pillars of Eternity's first expansion/DLC. I'm shocked. Truly.

Disney Infinity 3.0 means that the Star Wars stuff is upon us. Too bad I don't like the way the game plays because the toys are pretty cool.

Not a Madden fan, but if EA would make a game based on that commercial I'd play the hell out of it.

And my next RPG character is getting named "Sticky Buns"

I own a PS1 and Xbox original so no Madden for me maybe 1 day they port it back for Windows

Before anyone gets excited about a new Amnesia game (on Vita, no less!), Amnesia: Memories is a Japanese visual novel and entirely unrelated to the Amnesia series of horror games.

Hooah.

garion333 wrote:

Five posts, plus the above writers, and nary a mention of Pillars of Eternity's first expansion/DLC. I'm shocked. Truly.

Still need to play through the initial game.

At first I was confused as to why Grandma II Anniversary Edition wasn't at the top of everyone's list, but then I read the comments and was like.. oh.

Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire

How did I miss this before...

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/dyaW5EP.jpg)

Got my preorder for Disney Infinity all lined up, I'll be getting Dishonored for PS4 at some point on deep sale (already have it for pc and ps3) and PoE will get bought when I hit a slowdown on other games in the pile

Grandia II Anniversary Edition beckons, as I never did complete my DreamCast copy of it before I sold of the noble little console.

Pillars of Eternity: The White March - Part 1 is a must, as I'm nowhere near the point in the plot where I would tackle this expansion, but it's just nice to know it's there.

Evoland 2: A Slight Case of Spacetime Continuum is a sleeper for me. I really enjoyed the original on my mobile phone.

I think I'm more of an every three years Madden guy. Just when I think I'm out...

That commercial is something else. I wish the Gronker had a couple more lines, but I feel bad criticizing such a masterpiece. (or something)

I think I like Until Dawn just on the spirit behind its creation. "Oh, you think those teenagers are dumb? Let's see how you do in their place."

Mega Man on PC? Interesting. I had one Mega Man game on floppy disk back in the 90s...

Ah here it is:
IMAGE(http://themechanicalmaniacs.com/gallery/albums/official/MegaManPC_front.jpg)

*Legion* wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Five posts, plus the above writers, and nary a mention of Pillars of Eternity's first expansion/DLC. I'm shocked. Truly.

Still need to play through the initial game.

Yeah, I can only make that comment about an RPG expansion once per month. I gave myself a limit.

*Legion* wrote:
Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire

How did I miss this before...

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/dyaW5EP.jpg)

I checked it out. It didn't look good.

Looked busted to me.

garion333 wrote:

Five posts, plus the above writers, and nary a mention of Pillars of Eternity's first expansion/DLC. I'm shocked.

It was a runner-up in my tally, but I voted for the game I'll be buying.

PoE is atop my Unbought Pile of Shame.

Felix Threepaper wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Five posts, plus the above writers, and nary a mention of Pillars of Eternity's first expansion/DLC. I'm shocked.

It was a runner-up in my tally, but I voted for the game I'll be buying.

PoE is atop my Unbought Pile of Shame.

It has a coveted position next to "Wasteland 2" on my UPoS.

...

We might need to work on that acronym.

PoE sale to go along with that expansion. But it's still the same $30 it was in the summer sale. Probably will wait until holiday sale at this point when I can get both it and the expansion on sale.

Also, not exactly on sale this week, but the Divinity: Original Sin 2 Kickstarter is up.

The Week Aheads have gotten massive!

A look back at the first, TWA
https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

Certis wrote:

Every Monday at Gamers With Jobs we plan to post the notable (to us anyways) releases for the week ahead. This will include games, movies and maybe some other stuff once in a while. Let's get on with it shall we?

Games:
January is pretty slow for games as you can see here.

Panzer Dragoon Orta (14th, Xbox) -
The Sims (14th, PS2)
Resident Evil 2 & 3 ports (14th, GC)
War of the Monsters (15th, PS2)

DVD Releases:

About A Boy
Blue Crush
FearDotCom
Moulin Rouge
Undercover Brother

These aren't all of the releases this week, these are just the titles we feel are worth noting for various reasons. Ok, so I don't want to list every crappy GBA port coming down the pipe, is that so wrong?

- Certis

groan wrote:

The Week Aheads have gotten massive!

A look back at the first, TWA
https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

Certis wrote:

Every Monday at Gamers With Jobs we plan to post the notable (to us anyways) releases for the week ahead. This will include games, movies and maybe some other stuff once in a while. Let's get on with it shall we?

Games:
January is pretty slow for games as you can see here.

Panzer Dragoon Orta (14th, Xbox) -
The Sims (14th, PS2)
Resident Evil 2 & 3 ports (14th, GC)
War of the Monsters (15th, PS2)

DVD Releases:

About A Boy
Blue Crush
FearDotCom
Moulin Rouge
Undercover Brother

These aren't all of the releases this week, these are just the titles we feel are worth noting for various reasons. Ok, so I don't want to list every crappy GBA port coming down the pipe, is that so wrong?

- Certis

For some reason, I find this reassuring.

Resident Evil 2 & 3 ports (14th, GC)

Why don't they ever dip back into that port well again?!

Certis wrote:
Resident Evil 2 & 3 ports (14th, GC)

Why don't they ever dip back into that port well again?!

Who are you referring to? Nintendo or Capcom?