Alright, so I went and got it from Blockbuster. Just played my 2nd game. Having rented NCAA 2008 earlier this year, I can say the games are almost interchangable save for the spotlight players, this year's "feature/gimmick". That being said, it does play quite a bit different from the last few years versions (only due to controller layout) and the animations are quite a bit better. Of course there are the obligatory menu tweaks and a few button changes ie:hurdle and hit stick 2.0, plus in pass rushing you use the shoulder buttons to make moves which seems awkward, in my hands at least.
What I'm saying is this: IMO NCAA is the better game. If you'e an NFL fan and don't care much about NCAA then go for Madden. I happen to like the presentation factor and the announcers on NCAA, plus I can artifically make the game more difficult by taking a team like the Indiana Sycamores and setting up my schedule to play teams like USC, OSU, Notre Dame etc....
Don't get me wrong I like them both, but all the rants of marked differences and this being the next step in football evolution are BS. I'm not seeing the amazing AI upgrade it was supposed to get. It's the same thing madden has given us the last decade. Tweaked graphics, tweaked controls, tweaked menus and a new gimmick feature. The best part of it are the new animations, those are pretty nice.
