Vick played so well that it reminded me of his video game counterpart in the 2004 version of Madden. Anyone who grew up playing Madden knows the version I’m talking about.  Vick fittingly graced the cover of that year’s edition and he was pretty much unstoppable.

This got me thinking: Who is the greatest football video game athlete of all-time?

When having this debate, there are really only two people who can be in the discussion:  Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson and the Madden 2004 version of Michael Vick.

I will objectively break down each player in the latest edition of “The Great Debate.” After reading my arguments for both, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section.

The Argument for Michael Vick

I’ve owned nearly every version of Madden since the mid-90’s and I can say without any doubt that Vick is the best player in the history of the Madden franchise.  With a 95 speed rating and a cannon for an arm, there was no way to defend him.  In the words of Dan Patrick “You can only hope to contain him.”

A smart Madden player could just send all his receivers on a streak, which would push all the defensive backs downfield.  Vick, since he was faster than everyone else on the field, could then just rush past the linebackers for a huge gain.  If the defense countered by spying Vick, that would leave a man in single-coverage downfield, which allowed for him to zip a pass to the open receiver.  Even if the defense did successfully cover all the receivers while spying the quarterback, Vick could usually still outrun the linebacker and get a decent gain.

It was completely unfair.

In fact, it was so bad that when I played against friends we had a rule that neither team could play with the Atlanta Falcons.  An inferior player using the Atlanta Falcons could defeat a stronger player convincingly playing the 2004 version of Madden.

Vick had only one weakness. Like many QB’s in Madden, he was prone to the fumble when scrambling out of the pocket.  If you were playing the Falcons, your only chance of victory was to score every single possession and hope that you could recover a fumble from Vick at some point.

The Argument for Bo Jackson

Tecmo Bowl for the original Nintendo was probably the first football video game to really become popular.  The game was pretty basic.  Each team had only four offensive plays to choose from.  Typically you had two run plays and two pass plays.   On the defensive side, you had to guess which of the four plays the offense would choose.  If you guessed correctly it would almost always results in a sack in the backfield.  Bo Jackson was the exception to the rule.  Even if the defense guessed correctly, he would still bust off a ridiculous gain.

One other thing to remember: During the 1980’s the L.A Raiders featured a two-headed running attack of Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen.  Thus, in the original version of Tecmo Bowl, Marcus Allen was the runningback for one of the running plays.  Therefore, there was only one Bo Jackson play you could use!   So anyone with half a brain would just pick the corresponding play on defense every time to counteract Bo Jackson.

It didn’t matter.

Bo Jackson could not be stopped.  In all the times I played Tecmo Bowl as a kid, I think had Jay Schroeder drop back to pass about three times.  There was no need to pass if you played with the L.A. Raiders.  No matter what the situation, the correct play call was to hand the ball to Bo.   Every once in a while, I’d get bored and hand off to Marcus Allen.  But 90 % of the time, #34 would get the call in the huddle.

There was only one player who could contain Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl.  Lawrence Taylor was nearly the defensive equivalent of Bo Jackson.  Just like Bo Jackson was guaranteed a touchdown almost every time he touched the ball, Lawrence Taylor would sack the quarterback nearly every time a QB dropped back to pass.  Taylor was almost as fast as Jackson was in the game.  So if you wanted any chance to beat the Raiders, you had to play with the New York Giants.

My Choice

I’ve given this a lot of thought. Probably more than I should.  Both of these video game characters were dominant, but if I had to pick one, I’m taking Bo Jackson.  I was on the fence until I saw this youtube video:

This is just absurd.  Jackson runs for like 300 yards on the play and uses up the entire quarter!  As good as 2004 Madden Vick was, he could not have pulled this off!

My vote goes for Bo Jackson. What’s yours?

On a semi-related note, I’ve often joked with some friends that I wanted to try to draft a fantasy football team composed of entirely white players. However, it’s essentially been impossible to field a complete team…until this year. Thanks to a number of injuries recently, a few white players have been thrust into a starting role. Not only could you have a team of all white players but you’d probably manage to field a fairly competitive team. Here’s a potential fantasy roster of white players.

Starters

QB- Any QB not named Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb or Vince Young
HB-Peyton Hills- Cleveland Browns
HB- Danny Woodhead- New England Patriots
WR-Wes Welker-New England Patriots
WR-Austin Collie-Indianapolis Colts
WR- Danny Amendola-St. Louis Rams
TE- Zach Miller- Oakland Raiders

Bench

QB- Any guy not named Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb or Vince Young
HB- John Kuhn- Green Bay Packers
HB- Toby Gerhart-Minnestoa Vikings
WR- Jordan Shipley Cincinnati Bengals
WR-Riley Cooper- Philadelphia Eagles
TE- Chris Cooley-Washington Redskins

Now I don’t know if you could win a title with this team but you’d probably pull out a few victories.

Written Reviews

Official Modern Warfare Page
IGN Review
Gamespy Review
Gamespot Review
Game Informer Review
Game Pro Review

Video Reviews

However DJ Hero gives the Guitar Hero franchise a fresh look. I’ve always been more into rap and dance music so I’ve been waiting for something like this to come out.

Take a look at a few video reviews. The game looks great but I don’t know if I can justify spending $120 bucks for one game. If it comes down in price, however, I will definitely be buying it.

Check out some of the video reviews below. If you like it, help me out by purchasing it from the link provided. As you’ll see the price on Amazon can’t be beat.

I recently purchased Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Xbox 360 on an impulse buy when I was bored one day.  Usually an impulse purchase will result in buyer’s remorse.  This was not one of those times. There are plenty of great features that make this game worth the purchase. 

Photo Game Face

This is by far the coolest feature of the game and it’s one of the best features I’ve seen in any sports game.  You can now upload a picture of yourself on the EA sports web site and the game will create a digital version of your face.  I must say, it does a pretty good job too.  My golfer bears a remarkable resemblance to the real me.  The whole process takes about 20 minutes but it is definitely worth the wait.

Live Weather

Another cool feature of this game is live weather.  If it’s raining in New York and you’re playing Bethpage Black, then it’s raining in the video game. 

Pro Shop

This isn’t a new feature to Tiger Woods but it’s always been my favorite part.  I love pimping my golfer out with the nicest threads.  There are tons of clothing and equipment options to personalize your golfer in a way that fits your personality. 

Tournament Atmosphere

You’ll notice an increased crowd population on each hole, which gives it a more realistic feel.  There are also digital scoreboards on each hole and live updates from the rest of the field.  You’ll also be able to play the U.S. Open championships for the first time. 

Game Modes

There are a number of game modes that help keep the game fresh.  You can play a full PGA Tour season or you can do the Tournament Challenge.  The Tournament Challenge puts you in some of golf’s most memorable scenarios.  These are pretty challenging and can be a good alternative once your golfer gets to be too good for the PGA tour mode. 

Online 

There are also a number of online tournaments you can play in and test your skills against real people.  I don’t even bother with those because I know I have no chance to win when I see the leader shoot a -23 in one round. 

Overall

The game is loaded with impressive features that make it worth the purchase.  However, when it comes down to it, it’s still a golf game and golf can be boring at times.  So I wouldn’t recommend buying this game unless you are a golf fan, or at least a sports fan.

RATING: 4.25 out of 5

**Note: If this review has convinced you to buy this game please help support this site by following the link below to purchase it. Thanks**

I remember before the days of online play, I’d start my franchise with the New York Jets or some other crappy team and go 16-0 every year on the All-Madden level. I’d draft fake college players and turn them into studs overnight. I’d pull off blockbuster trades and run up the score on the computer. All was good in Madden world. I went about my day thinking I was the best Madden gamer the world had ever seen.

Then I bought an Xbox 360 and signed up for Xbox live and my Madden world came crashing down. Suddenly I wasn’t so good. I struggled to scratch out a victory. Twelve-year old kids from Utah were beating me 56-3 through three quarters and going for two-point conversions and on-side kicks just to rub it in. Madden wasn’t so much fun anymore.

Back in 2004, Michael Vick was still a model citizen and his likeness in Madden was carrying my team to video game glory

Now you may ask: why not just stick to franchise mode? Franchise was no fun for me either. The allure of playing online was just too much. I always floated towards playing online and I usually regretted that decision after breaking another controller in frustration.

Not to mention, now that I’m living with a woman, Madden NFL 10
might not be healthy for my relationship. I’m pretty sure I’ll ignore her for at least the first two weeks I have the game. She’ll also think I’m a psychopath once she sees how worked up I get about it. I don’t want her re-thinking her decision before she marries me. Maybe after I get married, I’ll buy Madden again. By then she won’t be able to back out.

So for now, I’ve decided to quit cold turkey. No more Madden for me. It’s for the best.

Wii MotionPlus Controller: Wii Sports Resort comes with a new controller add-on that snaps onto the Wii controller and adds motion sensitivity.  Anyone who played the original Wii Sports knows you could pretty much wave the controller up and down while sitting on the couch.  With the new controller, the motion sensitivity is much more accurate.  This is most apparent in the ping-pong game, where you can put slice on the ball, or in bowling, where can put spin on it.

Brand New Games: In the original Wii Sports there were only a handful of games to choose from: bowling, tennis, golf, boxing, and baseball.  Now there are 12 games (sword play, wakeboarding, frisbee, archery, basketball, table tennis, golf, bowling, power cruising, canoeing, cycling and air sports) offered in the new version, with some of them having multiple variations.

I had a blast playing all the games but there were a few that I had a little more trouble pulling myself away from.

Duel: Duel can be found under swordplay.  You faceoff with another person in what can best be described as a combination of Star Wars and American Gladiators.  The first person to knock the player off the circle and into the water wins.  The winner then gets to laugh at his opponent as he flops into the water.   

Frisbee Golf: It’s basically golf with a frisbee.  You can choose from a “driver” frisbee, an “iron” Frisbee or a “putter” frisbee depending on how far away you are from the hole.  I easily spent the most amount of time playing this one.

Three-point shootout: This is exactly what you would see on the three-point shoot out during the NBA all-star game.  You don’t have to worry about accuracy. It’s all about timing.  It’s both intense and challenging as you’ll have to be quick to get all your shots off in time.  Even if you don’t have a friend around, you’ll come back to this game since you’ll always want to top your high score.

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5.  Like Halo for Xbox 360 and Metal Gear Solid for Playstation 3, this is the game that defines a system.  All Wii owners must get this game. You’ll instantly become the most popular person among your friends. Don’t be surprised if people start inviting themselves over to your pad.

If you’re still not convinced, IGN has a you tube video review of Wii Sports Resort that is very helpful: