With every new season of NFL football, there's a new version of Madden to look forward to.  This year, Madden 11 is available for Microsoft Xbox, Sony PS3, and Nintendo Wii consoles (though the Wii version has to be less impressive than the other two).  On the go, you can play Madden 11 on the Sony PSP or on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad portable devices. 

This is the first year that EA Sports is putting Madden, a game it has sold almost 100 million units of over the years, on the Apple App store with versions for the iPhone/iPod Touch as well as an HD version for the iPad.

I decided to test out Madden on the PSP Go, the iPhone 4 and the iPad just to see how they differed. 

PSP Go

(Blurry image -- taken with camera since there's not a screenshot utility on PSP)

Downloading Madden for the PSP Go took more than an hour and cost a whopping $39.99.  Once downloaded, the first thing I noticed was the sound quality was slightly better than the Apple devices due to the separation between the stereo speakers on the PSP.  From there, it was all disappointment.  The graphics can't be compared to the amazing clarity on the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch Retina display.  The PSP Go also responds more slowly to key presses than the other versions.  

iPhone 4

Instead of $39.99 for Madden, EA is only charging $7.99 for the iPhone/iPod Touch version to Apple users.   Due to the fact that the iOS devices do not have keyboards or physical button controls, everything is done with the multi-touch screen.  It took some getting used to the on screen stick for moving players and selecting receivers by tapping them on the screen.  Now that I've played a game with it, I have to say I prefer the touch screen version of the game much better.  

iPad

The iPad version of Madden costs $12.99 and seems to have more panning graphics and interstitials in it. The game play is similar to the iPhone/iPod Touch version, just mostly rearranged for the larger screen. Definitely the best of all three I played.

Conclusion

Even if you buy both mobile versions of Madden for your iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad, you will spend $19 less and have a much better gaming experience than if you go with the PSP version.   With game publishers like EA selling their biggest titles like Madden via download for less money and on better, and more flexible mobile hardware, the single purpose gaming devices such as the PSP and Nintendo DS are in very big trouble.  It's surprising to me that Sony is selling its latest PSP Go for $30 more than the least expensive iPod Touch.  The Go fails to deliver a seamless purchase/download/play experience and has nothing else to offer but possibly a few titles not available for iOS devices.

Apple launched Ping this week and so far its a bust.

The friending process is asymmetrical like Twitter but it's a messy process. Users have to comb through their address books manually for email addresses of friends to add them to their Ping friends list. Facebook and Apple had plans for integration that fell through, but the back up plan could have been much better. Why not let us check Twitter friends, Gmail address book or even the Apple Address Book?

Once you find some friends, there doesn't appear to be much to do with them. You have to go to the iTunes store to rate, like or comment on anything which seems backwards considering the place that knows what you are interested in most is not the iTunes store but rather your own media library. From your media library, you have to click through to the store to do your pinging.

The social functionality of Ping is completely hidden from iTunes users. Unlike Apple's Mail, iCal and other social web apps like Facebook, there's no "Unread" count for events happening on Ping. The iTunes icon in the dock should tell me how many new events have happened on Ping so there's a reason to go look and participate. This is just one of many areas where Ping misses the mark in its first release.

Looks like they have increased production of these things to meet demand but still requiring pre-orders to be placed.  This case has to be the most serious one I've ever seen.  The fact it bolts together means it will never have the loosening issues other cases have or develop over time.  Definitely a serious way to deal with the attenuation issue. http://www.elementcase.com