Madden '08, sports titles in general, move to real-time play

Electronic Arts has gone the extra mile with their next-gen iterations of sports titles. They've birthed a partnership with ESPN to dramatically increase real-time content. If you ask us, this may actually force EA to build yearly games with actual gameplay tweaks and enhancements instead of updated rosters and slight graphical boosts. Let us explain.

Starting with the summer's release of Madden '08, if you've got one of them fancy high-speed internet connections, you can have streaming information directly impact your gameplay experience. It's going to be like fantasy baseball, or whatever those fake online things are. If a player gets injured, guess what? He won't be on the team in your game. If it's raining in such-and-such stadium for real, it's going to be pretty wet for you in the game, too. On the flipside, stat increases will crop up to reflect a player who's having an unexpected hot season.

Some games have already implemented some of these elements, allowing gamers to get sports news displayed as a ticker or podcast during their gaming sessions. While there will be a lot of people praising the innovations to bring sports games closer to real-life, there will be those who cry foul. Where do you guys stand? Is this a good move, or will it hinder the experience for you?