golfrewind.com

Just picked it up last night. Truly awesome. I've had almost every Madden since the beginning in college for the Sega Genesis. As the years have gone by, I'm getting worse as the strategy gets tougher. This year the game is so incredible, I'm going to commit to getting good. Even if that requires me to spend more money on a strategy guide......there have been some ABSOLUTELY hilarious articles on Madden on Page2 and Page3 on ESPN.com the last couple of days. If you're a grown man and excited about a video game, these articles will make you laugh out loud.

Here's to acting like a kid, even at 36 years young!!

P.S. I was up until 1:30 playing football last night, probably will be again tonight.....man, I'm a loser

I usually played the college games instead of Madden, but this year I actually picked up ESPN NFL 2K5 instead of either one of the EA games. I was really skeptical, thinking it was just ESPN getting their paws in another "cookie jar", but I'm VERY impressed. And its $30 cheaper than Madden!!!

Of course my PS2 cratered the other night, so now I'm stuck with trying to figure out how to fix it, or dip into the piggy bank for a new one. Grrrr....

I did read that "Page 2" article on ESPN. Pretty hilarious stuff. I have a PS2 but mine isn'tn working anymore, either. It just won't read the discs for some reason so I called Sony support and they told me to mail it in to fix but I've just been too lazy.

I've had a problem with my PS2 not reading discs before, too. Google search for PS2 help. I ended up taking mine apart (voids warranty but who cares if it's over 1 year old) and ended up adjusting the 'eye' that reads the disc. I found real detailed instructions on-line somewhere and it solved my problem 100%. We've got lots of scratched discs from years of my boys playing frisbee with some and a few wouldn't read at all--now they all work every time. Definitely worth the effort.

I rented NFL 2K5 last week. I was impressed. I thought it was great until sitting down with Madden last night. I really like the $20 price tag, but it doesn't compare to Madden. IMO, there's more than a $30 difference. Madden is that good. Of course, I could just be trying to justify my $50 purchase of a video game.

That Page 2 article by Bill Simmons (his stuff is the funniest on the internet--every article is classic) is so true.....I think my wife channeled his wife last night, she was thinking those same thoughts......

Game on!

Maybe I'll have to give Madden a trial run if I can get the PS2 working. I've seen some of those instructions for adjusting the eye online, if you find the one you followed, let us know!!! :) It used to be fixed by knocking the top of the console, but that doesnt work much anymore, I think its time to dig around in the guts!!! Just to check that we have/had the same problem, its sounds like the disc is loose in there, with alot of "scraping" type noises. Maybe that will be a project for me while I'm internet-less the next two weeks. (UGH!!! :mad: )

I used to love the Simmons articles, and he still does have some really good stuff, but if I have to read one more article about the Red Sox or Celtics, with the overused random references to a half-baked 80's movie, I might scream! Of course, as I say that, he'll come out with another "diary of a Vegas weekend" article that will restore my faith.

i think this is the link:
http://www.tweak3d.net/articles/ps2repair/

it's 5 pages long and the stuff on page 4 (adjusting the little wheel that sets the angle of the laser) is what did it for me.....using the pen to mark the level and adjusting a couple of clicks one way or the other did the trick.....good luck....

I agree with the boston references for Simmons....but he's a big NBA fan and so am I....he loves video games and so do I.....and he loves Las Vegas and so do I......so like you, I'll put up with way too many Red Sox articles.......I wish I knew as many movie references as he did though.....

Good luck on the PS2 repair......keep us posted of the progress......

so i'm without internet access for a few weeks, but I tried what was posted on that site, at least as far as marking the little wheel and turning it a few clicks at a time to see what happens. it didn't work. believe me, I'll keep at it before dropping the cash on a new system, but it doesn't look good.

too bad. i was hoping it worked, and you weren't posting because you were too busy playing games......good luck. who knows, if you bang around enough on it, it might work.

hmmm... re-reading those instructions at that link you gave, I wonder if the "turning it on its top" would work... if its sitting funny and rubbing on part of the casing, I wonder if a different angle would help me out.

just got madden last weekend and i am addicted although i will say that running the football in this game is really hard its pretty much feast or famine but im sure after a while i will get better at that.

I didn't know there were so many PS2 problems. I decided to check the site out and opened the case of my PS2 but I found out the problem was that the disc doesn't even spin. Now my warranty is voided but I already called Sony and they gave me a case # to ship it in. I hope they fix it but if they don't, it'll be good for me. I don't want to be sitting in front of the TV playing Madden for hours. Or do I?

I took mine apart again, finally saw what spinning the wheel does to the tray, though I think I've had it at every angle, and it does the same thing. GRRR!!! Though I looked again, and while turning the white wheel tilts the tray from front to back, my disc seems to tilt "right to left". That and the long screw-looking gear down the left (while looking from the back) seems to make a "scraping" noise upon start up as well. The really frustrating thing is that I could hold the disc steady with my fingers as it spun, with none of the obnoxious noise.. unfortunately, that would make it much harder to play the games.

Of course you do.