Thursday
September 4, 2003
michigandaily.com
artseditor@michigandaily. corn
RTS
8A,
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while, the Dynasty Mode, where the player acts
as the coach and takes a team through all the rig-
ors of running a college football program, has a
new Sports Illustrated license that adds to the
game's already high level of realism. Michigan
fans should not fret as the Wolverines are pretty
accurately represented, but unfortunately, have
only a B rating, when the talent on the team
deserves higher.
In spite of all of the excellence shown in NCAA
Football, Madden is still king of the gridiron. Con-
taining all of the gameplay improvements of its
college sibling and all of the modes introduced
last year, Madden still finds ways to improve.
The brand new Owner's Mode addition to the
already incredibly deep Franchise Mode lets the
player set the prices of merchandise, tickets, con-
cessions and numerous other abilities for his
team. Like the NFL, parity is apparent as almost
all of the teams feature similar ranks; however,
Michael Vick, the Falcon's QB and this year's
coverboy, is nearly unstoppable.
The largest addition and tweak to the tried
and true formula is the Playmaker control.
With Playmaker, the player can change his
offense or defense before the snap, or change
receiver's routes and move blockers during a
play. These enhancements provide even more
control over the game and truly make Madden
the best football game
out there.
The decision as to which
game to buy truly depends
on whether the college or
OR 2004 pro game is preferred. If
that does not factor into the
decision, then Madden's
Playmaker addition makes it the superior
choice. Only the Playstation 2 versions
of the games feature online capability,
which enables ready competition at all
times. These football games are the
best on the market and EA Sports
continues to show why it is the
leader in sports videogames.
'Nick and Jessica' an
off key reality mess
By Niamh Slevin
Daily Arts Writer
The world has taken a turn for the
worse for today's pop diva wannabe.
The shy schoolgirl days are out, and the
reign of the rebel has begun. Britney
Spears has given the old knee-highs the
shaft in favor of a more sleazy dress and
has finally confessed the truth about her
virginity. Christina1
get down and dirty
now in her risque
new videos. And
of course, they
both enjoy a good
romp on the floor
of an MTV show
complete with a
little tongue from
Aguilera prefers to
Newlyweds:
Nick and
Jessica
Tuesdays at
10:30 p.m.
MTV
level of superficial entertainment.
Instead, the audience is subjected to
a half an hour of whiny, inane banter
from the couple without even a twinge
of feeling between the two. In the most
recent episode, where Lachey and
Simpson embark on the camping trip
from hell, the most romantic thing
Lachey could muster throughout the
duration of the vacation was, "Of
course I don't want to switch lives with
anyone else. I get to (expletive deleted)
Jessica Simpson."
But Simpson doesn't exactly make
the show any easier to stomach either.
Between her incessant complaining and
her habit of belching in mid-conversa-
tion, she proves herself to be a real gem
on the screen. Her speech skills rank in
the range of pure embarrassment with
such witty retorts as "Nuh uh" and
"He's checking his weenie for ticks."
The plotline for the show is unbe-
lievably overused and stereotypical at
best. The diva bride wants a maid at
her beck and call, and her man has to
stress the importance of good old fash-
ioned housework. Lachey feels a
manly need to bond with nature, and
Simpson predictably whines about the
bears and the dirt in the woods. While
the situations may vary, the concepts
remain painfully stagnant.
As difficult as it may seem, "Newly-
weds" actually brings more shame to
the reality TV genre. It struggles to
find a shred of humor and originality
amid boring dialogue and cliched situ-
ations. With Nick and Jess along for
the ride, MTV confirms it has plum-
meted to a new low.
Get used to It, Joey. Miles of mayhem.
FOURTH AND INCHES
EA RELEASES TWO NEAR-PERFECT FOOTBALL GAMES F
By Adam Rottenberg
Daily Arts Writer
VI DEOGAME REVI EW * * 9
The dog days of summer often leave a lot to
be desired on the videogame front, but every
year, EA Sports unleashes the latest editions of
its two venerable football franchises. This year is
no different as both NCAA
Football 2004 and Madden
Football 2004 have both suc- NCAA and
cessfully updated their Madden
respective franchises and Football
included numerous upgrades. 2004
Each game captures the Gameube, PS2
essence of the sport and has and XBox
millions of fans for a reason. E
NCAA Football is the best EA Sports
college football game on the
market. The graphics are beautiful and the game-
play features plenty of refinements from the pre-
vious version to warrant a new purchase.
Featuring well over 100 schools as well as numer-
ous classic, all-time and even mascot teams,
NCAA provides all sorts of different gameplay
opportunities. New to this year's edition
is the College Classics mode that
allows players to relive 20 classic
moments, and depending on the indi-
vidual game, either recreate it or
rewrite some famous
endings.
Unfortunately
for Michigan
fans, the only
college classic
game featuring
the Wolverines
is the highly
disappointing
game from
'94 with its
heartbreaking
Stewart-to-West-
brook hail mary known
as the "Miracle at Michigan."
As far as gameplay goes the
play action plays have been
revamped and are now signifi-
cantly more effective. Mean
Madonna. With these sly, rabblerousing
vixens on the scene, there's nowhere for
Southern belles like Jessica Simpson to
turn for her share of the publicity except
reality TV
Luckily for her, MTV was looking to
make yet another shoddy entry into the
overdone genre, and "Newlyweds," an
'inside' look at the marrage of Simpson
and hubby Nick Lachey (of 'N Sync),
must have seemed perfect for the next
ratings boost. Sad to say, however, trite
reality series like "Joe Millionaire" and
"Meet My Folks" have more appeal
than this sorry attempt. Viewers tune in
to such drivel for the sense of daily
drama entwined with romance that this
reality show craze conveys. "Newly-
weds" fails to provide even that basic
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