I may be old, but I'm not, as the kids would say, a "square." The week turned hectic fast and I missed the yearly madness around the release of Madden 08.

My $50+ bones are still burning a hole in pocket, and I sit Madden-less as I type this. However, I'm a little hesitant after buying the 07 version for my PS2 only to find out that it was nothing compared to the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Now an Xbox 360 runs about, what, $450? So that's out of the question, unless I can find a volunteer among the TST readership to write up a nice little explanation for my wife as to where a chunk of the vacation money went, why the back bedroom smells funny, and what those bags under my eyes are.

Thus I pitch the question to you: to get the most out of August's favorite video game, do the new generation consoles make that much of a difference? My understanding last year was that there were oh so many more features, particularly in the online play, on an Xbox 360.

Is the 08 version significantly different than the 07 version, other than rosters?

While we're on the subject of Madden 08, Tecmo Blog has a very thorough rundown of the rankings for each team and the key players on that team.

The Rams rank seventh overall, which is pleasantly surprising. However, it always seemed to me that these games value the offense much more than the defense, i.e. if your thumbs and eyes work together better than your friend's you can walk a couple into the end zone as the Raiders to his/her Patriots.

Holt and Jackson lead the Rams' players in individual rankings on offense, garnering a 98 and 96 respectively. The passing game lets you dominate an inferior opponent and, as you well know, the Rams are loaded in that department. Here's the recommendation from Tecmo Blog:

Uh, "Greatest Show on Turf" should be capitalized.

Little leads the defensive player rankings with a 95. For those of you out there who have played the game, how does Carriker rank, what about the rest of the defense? And if you opt to play a full season, do you suspend Fakhir Brown for the first four?