Before you can do anything you need to own a copy of the game and familiarize yourself with how the controls work. Madden has gone to great lengths to create in-depth and very informative tutorial videos which are included with every copy of the game.

Simply access the training menu and you will be able to watch several different videos all that span roughly five minutes in length. These videos are absolutely essential if you wish to win at Madden. Since the controls change ever so slightly with each released version, watch the videos and learn about all of the new features and exactly how the controls work and why.

No matter what team that you choose, there are bound to be plenty of lackluster players onboard. This is typically not a problem. First of all, look for the players in the player management screen that have no signing bonus; these players will not cost you cap penalties to cut. Cut any players that you choose, but make sure to save high-rated players for trades, as you can get rid of them to the right teams for the players that you do want.

Sometimes there are lackluster players that come signed to fat deals that have really big cap hits—you can easily resign these players to a one year contract and drop them after your first season; keep in mind to create the ideal franchise it takes a few seasons of hard work. Always make sure that you read what the cap penalty, if any, will be for cutting or trading a player. Otherwise you could end up broke come the next season and royally screwed.

Even though the free agency period does not begin until the end of your first season, there are ample good players that Madden allows in the actual free agency roster; players that you can easily sign should you have the cap room and the need for them on your roster.

If you need guards you can sign Ron Verba or Chris Variella—these veterans will surely beef up any lagging offensive line. Antonio Bryant is available in the wide receiver position and even if you have several good receivers, he is young; signing him will not be costly and will certainly improve your receiving core. Finally, in the realm of defense they offer Al Wilson (MLB) and Donavan Darius (SS). If you are in need, sign these guys—they will greatly beef up your defensive muster.

Once you are finished mucking around, signing players, trading players and releasing players, it is time to arrange your depth chart accordingly. Madden will not auto arrange for you so you will have to access your depth chart and move all the players that you wish to start into their corresponding starting positions.

A key note here: do not start your best receivers or running backs in the kick or punt return positions. These returnees get hit hard each time, which increases their chances at sustaining an injury. And, if you have guys who are starters returning the ball, when you get them on the field following a kick off they will be tired for a few plays. Again, use second and third stringers to start positions on special teams.

Depending on what type of team that you put together, obviously different playbooks will best suit your players. However, there are some proven playbooks that almost always have worked for me, regardless of the team that I chose. I recommend using the Patriots defensive playbook and the Colts offensive playbook, they are the best two playbooks in the game. Remember to learn all of the pre-snap plays on both offense and defense.

Use your quarterback to call an audible all of the time, which confuses the opposing computer team. Frequently change up your defensive spreads and remember to mix up your play calling. The computer learns how you like to play, identifies the pattern and then whoops your butt unless you constantly change it up. If you have a great d-line, then call lots of plays that have blitzes in them, just make sure to keep your safeties in the backfield should they try to pass big on you and actually beat the blitz.

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Sure it may be fun to play with your favorite team, but if your favorite team has barely any cap room left on the roster, or has a roster that is filled with ageing and nonproductive players, then your best bet may lie in choosing a better team. I never choose the top teams, such as the Patriots or the Colts, simply for the fact that they greatly take away from the challenge and the fun in building your own team up over a few seasons and winning it all.

I prefer to take teams that have plenty of cap room and have a decent roster with several youngster players on them—teams that have the ability to work around and to be improved, as you fight your way through each intense season. Choose whichever team suits you, but make sure that you keep this in mind when you are doing so.

This is ever so important when working in franchise mode. You want to make sure that you do not exceed the cap, or you will not have any money come the next resigning period. Also, when you do sign or trade for players, make sure to note how that will affect your cap. Finally, you can free up lots of cap room, in most cases, by resigning your higher-rated players to lengthy 6-7 year contracts. When resigning the players that you like to increase cap room, make sure to adjust the bonus, sometimes it can increase your cap room for that season, which greatly helps.

Contrary to popular belief, holding on to your draft picks in Madden typically is not worthwhile and for several reasons. First of all you have to scout drafts and fight amongst other teams to get them, rarely getting the draft picks that you desire come draft time. Another problem is that you have no idea what the rating is of such draft picks come draft day. Madden will not let you know the player rating until you have signed them. If you happen to sign your number one overall draft pick to a huge whopper of deal, but then find out he is only rated 70 as a player, you may find yourself a bit distressed.

But there is a really easy fix to this: trade your draft picks for young and already established players that have a good rating. Most teams in Madden will jump at the chance for your draft picks. Offer them up and you will get your hands on some of the top players in the league; players that you know are rated great and that you know will perform great on your team. I recommend trading your 1-4 draft picks, 1 and 4 for the first trade and 2 and 3 for the second trade; this way you get two great players to add to your roster.

Madden allows for you to train three players before every game. There are several training modes, most of which are very finicky and hard to play. However, the best training mode is the 40 yard dash—which increases a player’s speed rating. The speed rating is the most important rating in Madden both for defensive and offensive players.

Always work on your quarterbacks speed, running backs speed and wide receivers speed first. Once you have trained a player six times, you can no longer train them that season. Get your main offensive guys stats on speed way up and then move on to your cornerbacks, linebackers and free safeties. The faster these guys are, the faster they will plummet down the sidelines to catch an errant pass or to return an interception for a touchdown. Simply put, speed is everything in Madden.

If you are winning big against an opposing team and you are certain that you will keep the fanfare up for the duration of the game, PULL YOUR STARTERS! I can not emphasize this point more. Madden operates much like the real game, the longer you play your starting guys the more apt that they are to sustain injuries.

Once you feel that you have won, sub in your secondary and let them take the hits; save your best guys for when you truly need them, not to run up the score on the other team. Madden allows you to sub players out in the depth chart menu of the in-game options screen. You will have to sub each player out individually, which can take a few minutes. But it is well worth it when you have a healthy starting roster come the playoffs.

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Unlike the other previous versions of Madden, where two players could not play on the same team at the same time in franchise mode, in 2008 they fixed this so that you can. This is some of the most fun that you can have in Madden. Whoever is player one controls the play calling and the quarterback. Player two controls the running back and the wide receivers.

On defense you both control any player that you like, and you can easily switch players. Playing with your best buddy and taking your favorite team to the Super Bowl is great fun. It will take some getting used to as opposed to simply playing in one player mode, but I highly advise you do this if you can. It greatly enhances the experience of the game overall. 

Official Madden 2008 Video Trailers: